June was awoken early the next morning by Allie coming into the room. She had tried to tiptoe around, so as not to disturb the girl, but June was a light sleeper. As the girl quietly rummaged through her closet, June sat up and rubbed at her eyes, wondering what time it was.

"Oh, you're up," Allie spoke when she turned around, granting the girl a smile. "Thanks for walking me back last night."

"Yeah, no problem, thanks for letting me sleep in your bed," June responded with a slight nod of the head.

She was unsure if she should just get up and leave now, seeing as there was no other reason for her to be here. She swung her legs around the side of the bed, her motions slow and tentative. All that she knew was she felt like an intruder in their home, seeing as she hardly knew them. But, she also knew she didn't want to go home, and have to sit alone.

"We're going to meet some people at the church, to talk about what's going on, if you want to come," Allie offered as she stepped out of the closet. 

Allie then turned her back to the girl and began to undress then redress for the day. June awkwardly averted her eyes, deciding to stare at her feet was her best option at that point. She then thought over the offer, and how in any other situation she would not have been invited to 'discuss what's going on,' seeing as no one would really care for her input. She considered going, just so she wouldn't have to be alone and because a situation like this would probably never arise again.

"I'm in my clothes from last night, and I don't have anything to change into," June voiced her only concern, looking down at her red tank top and jeans, then her jean jacket on the floor.

"Oh, you can borrow something of mine," Allie turned to face her, then nodded her head towards her closet with a shrug. "If you want to come, be downstairs in five, because we have to go."

With that, Allie turned and was out the door, leaving June to decide. She knew it would be a bunch of the seniors, plus her and Allie, and she wouldn't offer anything useful to the conversation. In fact, she knew she'd probably be too intimidated to talk at all. But, the alternative was going home, alone. So without giving it any more thought, she stood and went to Allie's closet, peering around. She figured she could keep on her mom jeans, and just pulled down a plain sweater to tug over her tank top. She then went over to Allie's vanity and raked her fingers through her hair, fixing her bangs, before heading out. 

"Ready?" Cassandra asked when June made it to the bottom of the stairs.

She nodded, and the three girls were out the door. Allie gave June a once over, a small smile on her face.

"I love that sweater," She noted. "You have good taste."

"Thanks," June responded shyly, looking down over her outfit. 

Allie then averted her attention to her older sister, who was quickly walking a few paces ahead of them. She quickened her pace to catch up with her, before tapping her on the shoulder.

"Did Will say anything to you last night? He was supposed to sleep over."

June bit down on her lip at the memory of Allie's revelation the night before. She wondered how much the girl remembered, and whether or not she should tell her everything she had said. Cassandra simply glanced back at her younger sister, clearly having more important things on her mind than Will, than turned her gaze forward again.

"I texted him and told him to meet at the church, but we didn't talk last night," Cassandra shrugged.

Allie sighed and slowed her pace, falling back in step with June. June offered her a sympathetic smile before setting her attention on the church coming up in front of them. When they arrived, Harry and Luke were already there, only looking half awake. As they waited, Will and Sam eventually showed up, too. June felt the group was a bit odd, but kept her thoughts to herself. What June hadn't been filled in on, that everyone else seemed to know, was that all wifi, cable, and calling outside of the town was completely down.

"I'll get a car and go to Greenwich to get help," Cassandra suggested from in front of the others, back rested on a pillar. 

"Why you?" Harry questioned. June looked over at the boy and noticed the red solo cup in his hand, and found herself wondering if he even stopped drinking from the night before.

"Someone has to find out where everyone went," Cassandra argued, turning to look back at the group. "We can't all go."

"I'll do it," Harry replied, sounding more like a decision than an offer.

"You're sober?" Cassandra questioned, though it seemed more like a taunt.

"Fuck you, Cassandra."

Cassandra and Harry held a moment of eye contact, before Cassandra eventually rolled her eyes and looked away. June found herself sneering at the boy, unsure why he constantly felt the need to act like such an ass. She watched as Harry nudged Luke with his knee, alerting the boy and waking him from his sleep.

"Luke, you want to see if we can get some of the guys to come with?" He asked.

"Yeah," Luke answered, sounding only half awake.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, let's go," Luke forced himself to stand up slowly, then he was helping Harry up too.

June averted her eyes from the boys as they walked away, and looked back towards Allie and Sam standing next to her. Sam signed to Allie, mouthing words but not speaking them, as June looked on hopelessly. She didn't know any ASL, leaving her out of the conversation. 

"Notice what?" Allie spoke as she signed.

"The smell, it's gone," Sam now spoke as he signed.

June furrowed her eyebrows at the sentence, only just realizing he was right. In fact, she was sure she hadn't smelled it the entire time they had been home. She took in a breath of fresh air and looked around the center of West Ham. Just the day before, she had almost vomited just breathing in the scent, and now, it smelled like any other spring day. The 5 remaining members of the group, June, Allie, Sam, Cassandra, and Will, all exchanged nervous looks, wondering what it could possibly mean.

"Well, I guess we should just go home until we hear from the boys," Cassandra sighed, clearly not having much faith in the boys that they sent.

"Are you gonna go home or are you gonna head back to our place?" Allie offered to June, causing the girl to smile slightly. It was nice that the Pressman's were unknowingly saving her from the thing she feared most; being alone.

"Well, I left my jacket in your room, so I guess I'll just come back and get it," 

With that, the three girls started off in the same direction. Allie looked back at Will with a solemn face, who was avoiding her gaze completely. June nudged her arm lightly, knowing that longing for the boy would only make things worse for her in the long run. Allie sighed in response and trained her eyes forward, never looking back.

✰

The girls had convinced June to just stay for lunch, while she was there. She wondered why they were being so kind to her, but settled on them probably just being kind in general. It was nice, seeing as all of her friends were off somewhere else, unable to go on the trip, that she now had two new girls that she could maybe call friends. About halfway through eating their sandwiches, Cassandra's phone began to ring. As she answered it and her face fell, June was reminded of her dad answering the fateful call that informed them of her mother.

"We have to go," Cassandra ordered.

They left their food behind, deciding they could worry about cleaning up later. Cassandra didn't tell Allie or June what was going on, just kept stating they needed to make it to the old bridge on the outskirts of town. Allie and June obliged, this time keeping pace with Cassandra as they nearly sprinted there. 

When the trio did arrive, June suddenly wished she would have just sucked it up and went home alone. If she had, she wouldn't have to see what she was seeing right then. She could still pretend everything was fine, and their parents were just off somewhere in a shelter. But now, seeing the way the road was overgrown with trees and brush as if it had been abandoned hundreds of years before, she felt like she was going to get sick. Even the train tracks that ran under the bridge and were used daily, had become completely overrun with greenery.

This time, more people arrived as they awaited. Clearly, the four boys who were supposed to drive out of town didn't know who to call, so they called everyone they could think of. June looked around at Kelly, Gordie, Cassandra, Allie, Helena, Harry, Grizz, Clark, Luke, Becca, Sam, Will, and Campbell, and sighed. It was far too large of a group to keep anything this insane a secret for long. 

"I mean, there's only so many options," Gordie spoke, trying to think through what was happening.

"Maybe we're dreaming," Allie offered from beside June, tugging on the star necklace around her neck. "It's the best option."

"Maybe this is just some elaborate fucking game," Harry started, eyeing everyone in the group. "Like, someone built an exact replica of our town and just put it in the middle of nowhere, and if we just walk... like this way, or that way, or any way, eventually we'll get back to the... the real world."

The group all shared looks of skepticism, which Harry took notice of. He sighed in an exasperated manner before speaking again.

"I'm not saying it makes any sense."

"There was a smell, and then it went away, and it came back and the buses came for us," Cassandra talked her way through the events.

"You're gonna just work this out, Cassandra? Like some logic problem? I mean, not a flicker of doubt?" Harry taunted her, referencing back to one of the scenes from a play they were in together.

June found herself rolling her eyes at the boy, unable to handle his constant criticism and need to one-up Cassandra. She had never given the older girl much thought in the past, knowing nothing more about her than she was student body president and she was insanely smart. After everything that was going on, the way she was handling everything was enough for June to trust her over Harry, any day.

"The world doesn't just turn upside down without a reason. We're not in some play-within-a-play. Okay? Clever is not the same thing as true! There is a point to everything, there are answers," Cassandra argued back.

"That's right," Helena spoke up, agreeing with the girl. "God doesn't just play games with people for fun."

"Alright, look, Grizz and I will get a group together and we'll go hike out here through the woods, okay? Like a search party," Luke suggested, to which Grizz nodded in agreement.

"I think that's a good idea," Helena supported.

"Do you think it's safe?" Cassandra grilled.

"Yeah, sure," Grizz nodded.

"Grizz knows what he's doing, and if there's people out there, we gotta find 'em. Right? You know, to get help."

"I'm leaving. I'm hungry," Harry announced, sounding like a baby throwing a tantrum because no one agreed with his 'game' theory.

"You're leaving?" Allie stood angrily, challenging the boy.

"Yeah, I got a house with a refrigerator with food inside of it, and I'm gonna go eat it. Luke—"

"You can't just leave," Cassandra seethed.

"Well, what are we supposed to do instead?"

"We have to figure out what is happening to us," Cassandra argued, voice sounding shakier than it had all day.

"You're not student council president anymore," Harry taunted.

"God, you really, really need to get over that!"

"You coming with, Kel?" Harry ignored the blond girl, instead focusing his eyes on where Kelly sat.

"No," She answered meekly, never raising her eyes to meet his.

"Jesus Christ, just get in the car," Harry started towards her, to which June finally felt the need to step in.

"She said no," She spoke, standing next to Allie with a hand on Kelly's shoulder.

"Who the fuck even are you?" Harry yelled back, to which June almost flinched. He stared at Kelly, who never looked up at him, until he eventually rolled his eyes and got in his care. "Fine, who gives a shit?"

Campbell then made his way towards the woods, past the others. June rolled her eyes at the boy, unsure of why she had such a distaste for him. She knew it might have something to do with them having their eyes on the same girl, and him actually having a chance, but she didn't want to admit that to herself.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Cassandra questioned as Campbell raised his phone.

"I'm just gonna send a text, let everybody know how fucked we are," Campbell answered nonchalantly as he snapped a photo.

"Campbell! Don't. Come on, let's think about this." Cassandra pleaded. The action seemed to embolden him more, and with a smirk and direct eye contact, he pressed send.

When June arrived with Allie and Cassandra, she knew it was only a matter of time before all of the others found it. She also knew, when they found out, it would be complete chaos. She hadn't expected for the news to break that quickly, though. Now, she just had one more reason to despise Campbell.

A/N: Okay so June is young and awkward and isn't gonna talk much in big group settings. So this chapter was kinda boring for her :/ But she will talk to stand up for her girls!! Anyways, I promise promise promise as this goes on she'll get more confident, plus there will be less big group settings. I hope you are enjoying so far! Let me know what you think!