Tuesday, May 19th 2009

Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

6:22 PM

"Zee," she let out an exasperated huff, "will you stop squirming?"

The little brown-eyed toddler was giggling and clapping his small chubby hands in glee. For the past thirty minutes Junie had been trying to feed her younger brother but every time the spoonful of porridge came his way he would wriggle and turn his head away.

Scooping up some porridge with the spoon, Junie hovered it in front of his mouth but as expected he refused. He was being difficult and she suspected he was enjoying this. This had not been Junie's plans for her Tuesday evening.

After school, she had planned to go to the skate park with Dylan but Audrey needed her to babysit Isaiah because she had dumped with a night shift at the store. She wouldn't be back home until eleven.  She sighed and dropped the spoon back into the bowl of porridge. She stared at her little brother for a long moment.

"Fine, you don't want any? Then I'll have it," she said, scooping up some of the porridge and popping it into her mouth. A sharp and tangy flavour attacked her tongue and her face scrunched up at the disgusting taste.

Spluttering and coughing, Junie grabbed Isaiah's cup and guzzled down the milk. Her brother laughed, eyes alight with glee as he clapped his chubby hands erratically. Junie glanced at the bowl of porridge with a repulsed grimace, "God, that's disgusting. No wonder you don't like it."

This baby food, no matter how disgusting, was the cheapest they could afford

Times were hard, to be honest, times were always hard for the Bennetts. Audrey had been demoted from Assistant Manager to Store Clerk because the boss had caught Audrey giving sixty percent discounts to her friends. They were living off the small pool of money in both Junie's and Audrey's bank account and that wasn't going to last long.

Junie was already balancing schoolwork and a waitressing job at the cafe on Wickham Street. Taking care of Isaiah plus studying for school was beginning to take its toll.  But, what else could she do? As her uncle had always told her, when life handed you lemons, you throw them right back. You kept moving and you didn't stop no matter how much weight you had to carry. 

Junie was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of the house phone ringing. She told Isaiah to at least try a bit of the porridge, before she left kitchen and came into the living room She went to the small table by the window and picked up the phone.

"Junebug!" Dylan greeted on the other line. 

Junie smiled in spite of herself. It was stupid and probably unhealthy, but even though she had seen him only three hours ago, she missed the idiot. "What is it?"

"Come to my place," he said.

"Why?"

"Today's your sixteenth! It's your birthday and we are going to celebrate!"

"New Zealand," Junie sighed, "I can't. My mum's not here, I have to take care of Zee."

"Bring him with you then," he said matter-of-factly.

She paused, humming in thought as she contemplated his offer.

"Junie, c'mon, I have a little surprise for you," Dylan coaxed, "It's your sweet sixteen, I can't let you spend your sweet sixteenth by yourself. So, I'll see you in an hour?"

She sighed once more, like she could ever deny Dylan Mercer of anything. She nodded, "Oh, Okay then, see ya."

She ended the call and rushed back into the kitchen, not too surprised to find Isaiah had the porridge splattered all over him, the little minx had threw the bowl onto the floor. Shaking her head, she removed his bib. She bopped his nose, a habit she had picked up from Dylan, and he giggled.  

"Come on Zee," she said, "We're going out!"

From the unpleasant smell, Junie guessed he needed his diaper changed. She sung and made comical faces to distract him as she cleaned his bottom and took him to the bathroom to bathe him. He kept splashing water at her face, laughing at her annoyance when he did so.

Once she dressed him, she set him down on the floor, facing him away from her and gave him some toys to play with. Junie quickly tore off her shirt and skinny jeans and zoomed into the bathroom, where she had a speedy shower. She came back, stumbling to her wardrobe and desperately began searching for something to wear.

Her clothes either needed washing or they weren't nice enough. If she had the money, she would have brought new ones. Junie soon spotted a black dress peeking out from a pile of suitcases. She trudged towards them and forcibly yanked it out. Junie stumbled back and fell to the floor.

She groaned, pushing herself back up, she observed the piece of clothing at arm's length. Hm, pretty. It was a knee-length yellow dress that actually looked like it had already been washed.

The last time she had worn it was three years ago at her grandfather's funeral. She frowned, wondering if the dress would still fit her but when she did slip into it, it fit perfectly. Junie wondered whether she should be dressing in the clothes she had worn to a funeral.

"Doesn't matter," she muttered.

It wasn't as if she had any other washed clothes to wear. Junie opened the drawers of her dresser and threw on several bracelets. She quickly slipped into some white converses and as she quickly tied her shoelaces, she glanced at the clock. It was already twenty to seven.

She looked at her reflection in the long mirror and carefully styled her hair up into a neat bun. Three years ago, Junie would have scoffed at the idea of wearing make-up but that was three years ago and this was now and her views of a lot things had changed since then.

She didn't know why but she had started wearing make-up, she just knew she wanted to look pretty for a change. Not a lot, just some mascara and eyeliner. Junie loved liquid eyeliner, one of the best things invented. She sat on the edge of the bed and applied the mascara and liquid eyeliner. There was no point in denying it, Junie wanted to look pretty for Dylan, she needed that idiot to start seeing her as a girl.  

Once she was ready, she picked up Isaiah and placing him in his pram, they left the house.

7:18 PM

"You took your sweet arse time didn't you?" Dylan said as Junie walked into the back garden.  

She didn't respond, she just stared in wonder at the sight before her. Dylan was sat on a picnic bench that was adorned with all flowers and ribbons and it was set with all sorts of sweets, sandwiches, and a great big white cake that was situated in the middle of the table. There were candles situated all around them, lighting up the dark garden and giving everything a magical glow.

"Dylan," she breathed, "Did you do this?"

He grinned, "Yeah, do you like it?"

All she could do was nod because she couldn't even begin to find the words to express just how much she liked it. Like, wasn't the correct word to use.

"How did you do all this?"

"My sisters helped," he replied.

"This, this...is amazing, Dyl."

"Well, no use standing around," he laughed, "Come on."

Junie held her brother against her hip as she walked over to the picnic bench and sitting down next to Dylan, she placed Isaiah on her lap.

"Good evening, Zee," Dylan said, bopping the little boy's nose and causing him to giggle. "Let's eat!"

Junie did not hesitate. The two friends laughed and joked as they ate the food that had been prepared. Dylan even managed to coax little Isaiah into eating too. Her brother was devouring the plate of spring rolls, he wasn't spitting or throwing any of his food.

 This. Junie thought, this right here, was perfect. She was with two most important people in her life on her birthday.

Dylan finished his bottle of coke and placing it on the table, he stood up. He walked to the other side and picking up his acoustic guitar from underneath, he walked back round to stand before her, "Here's a little something I wrote."

"Hey you, I heard it's your birthday,  and I just wanted to say, I'm so glad it's your birthday," he smiled at her then, "and I just wanted to say. I'm so glad it's your birthday."

The guitar strings danced along with his voice, crisp and syrupy. Her heart drummed to the beat.

"I'll make your loneliness fade away. Just hold my hand, and everything will be okay. As long as you have me, I swear you will never feel like yesterday". 

Each time his eyes – blue, blue, blue, always too blue – landed on her and it felt like the whole world was collapsing around her and it was just the two of them, floating in the blue darkness.

"Hey you, I heard it's your birthday, and I just wanted to say, I'm so glad it's your birthday, and I just wanted to say. I'm so glad it's your birthday."

He was grinning at her now and butterflies swarmed her stomach and erupted into every crevice of her body. His voice, so sweet, sweet like honey and all the ice cream they used to eat until their brains froze. 

"And I am here to say, to scream at the top of my lungs, so the whole world can hear me now.  Happy birthday to you."

The air in her lungs had frozen at the last note of the song and crickets rode on the silence that followed. It was only broken by the sound of Isaiah clapping and giggling. 

"Dylan," she gasped, "I...I...that was amazing."

Red bloomed over his cheeks and Junie held Isaiah closer to stop herself from jumping up to kiss him. He shuffled on his feet, fingers drumming on the wooden body of the guitar as he gave her that lopsided grin she liked too much. 

"Th-thanks, Junebug," he said. 

She couldn't look away, too hypnotised to anything else. He looked gorgeous like that, dark hair fell across his forehead in tousled waves, cheeks red and mouth parted in a bright smile. 

Dylan stared at her, his gaze boring into hers. He cocked his head and she was reminded of a puppy, "Junie, are you okay?."

She couldn't stop the words that came out next, they were rising and ascending inside of her, bubbling until they finally slipped out, "I like you."

"Aw," Dylan rubbed the back of his neck, "I like you too."

"N-no...No...I mean...I like you," she said, "like, I don't want to be your friend Dylan. I-I want..."

She wanted everything and nothing less. Junie knew her face was now a beetroot red and she felt so lightheaded, her heart drumming hard in her chest. Dylan blinked. His eyes slowly narrowing and she could see it. She could see the cogs turning, the wires connecting as the realisation dawned on him.

"You like me," he said in a strangely flat tone. 

She should take it back. She should just laugh and say it was a joke but she didn't do that. Junie just looked him straight in the eyes, determined to get this over and done with, "Yes."

She really didn't know or understand where this newfound courage had come from but she was not about to question it either. He stared at her, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, a red blush painting his cheeks and he hadn't said anything in so long. 

Junie pulled Isaiah against her chest. "Well, say something."

Dylan's grip on the guitar tightened. "Junie," he swallowed. "You know you're my best friend, the best I've ever had and I-I love you, I do but...but..."

When he looked back up at her, she knew he didn't have to say anything because the sad slant of his mouth told her a hundred stories. It sent a knife sinking slowly into her heart.

"But not in that way," she whispered. 

Even Isaiah sensed the tensed atmosphere; he sat in silence with his thumb in mouth looking back and forth between the two.

"Junie–"

A laugh tore its way out of her mouth. It sounded fake and tinny to her ears. "Dylan, calm down...I'm fine, you're acting like I was stabbed."

"Junie–"

"Dylan, I'm fine," She said forcing a smile, "Now, could we please just cut the cake? I'm starving."

He looked at her for the longest moment, his face unreadable before he nodded. "Okay,  I'll go get the knife then." 

He pulled the guitar strap up and over his head and placed the guitar on the floor. He cast her one last look and walked back into the house. 

Junie swallowed a lump in her throat she was sure was her heart. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes to stop the tears from spilling. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine."

She was fine. She was good. She was brilliant. Better than ever. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm - God," she bit her lip. Junie stood up, dropped Isaiah back into his pram, grabbed her things and escaped before she could mess anything else up. 

_______________________________________________________

Author's note: This is dedicated to stormcalm because she is was a massive help when it came to writing the lyrics to the Happy Birthday Song. so yeah, major thank you to her. Song at the side is Please Don't Say You Love Me by Gabrielle Aplin, as that was the influence for this scene.

          - Rose xoxo