“Nowwe’reharassing her,” Gia said.
I cringed. I didn’t want to upset June more. “I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s fine. Forget it. If you have no beef with Leanne, then all is good. Let’s talk about something else. How—”
“I don’t have a problem with Leanne calling me Junebug,” June said quietly, face still in her hands.
“What?” Gia asked.
Juniper finally lifted her face. Her eyes were wide and glassy. “I don’t have a problem with Leanne calling me Junebug. Like, at all. I have a problem with anyoneotherthan Leanne calling me Junebug.”
It took me a second to understand. When I got it, my hand went to my mouth.
It all made sense. June was inlovewith Leanne. The evidence was all there. She couldn’t seem to speak properly around her, and she put up with Leanne’s constant teasing. Even going back to the beginning of the summer, when June was determined not to be on the Bloom team with Leanne and her brother. Clearly June found it uncomfortable to be around her unrequited crush. It was totally self-preservation.
Gia must have realized, too, a few seconds after me, because she suddenly turned to me and shrugged. “Honestly? I ship it.”
I squeezed my lips together, trying not to laugh.
“She’s pan, right?” Gia asked June.
June nodded.
“Then go for it,” Gia said. “Crushing on your brother’s friend is a tale as old as time. It’s no big deal. Just tell her.”
June threw her hands in the air, frustrated. “You don’t get it. Ididtell her. She told me she’d never see me that way.”
I leaned forward. “Youtoldher? When?”
“At the Snowbloom Ball in December. I’ve had a crush on her for, like,forever, and then at the ball she asked me to dance, so I thought I’d shoot my shot. But when I said something, she was all, ‘Oh, that’s cute,June, but you’re like my sister.’She said she only asked me to dance to shock the church ladies, but no one cared. I made a fool of myself. At least she’s never told anyone. That’s why I try to avoid her.”
“But you’re still crushing?” I asked.
Juniper nodded. She looked like she was going to throw up. She had it bad.
“Honestly, I think Leanneisinto you, now,” Gia said. “She’s always, like, sitting next to you, and happy to see you and stuff. You should tell her you’re still feeling it.”
“She’s Row’s best friend.” June sighed. “We grew up together. She feels bad for rejecting me and is being extra nice to make up for it.”
I wasn’t sure. Leanne was mighty weird around June. Hell, what about the way Leanne looked in that photo? That wasn’t just guilt-motivated affection.
I pulled the photo up on my iPad and showed it to June. “That doesn’t look like someone not into it.”
Leanne had her usual massive grin in the picture, but there was something more than the usual twinkle in her eyes. Affection? Comfort? In fact, neither June nor Leanne was nearly as wooden as they had been in the other pictures.
Juniper shook her head. “No. Leanne is going away to university in, like, a month. All the way to Guelph for their veterinary program. She doesn’t see me that way. Please don’t tell anyone.”
I reached over and patted her shoulder. “It’s fine. If you don’t want her or anyone else to know, we can keep it a secret. We just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. She’s fine. Everything’s fine.”
Gia nodded. “Yeah, she’sfine. Girls aren’t my thing, but you have great taste, Juniper.”
Juniper put her face in her palms. “This is very embarrassing,” she said into her hands.
I laughed. “Don’t even. Let me tell you about the time that Sohil Sharma found the secret Instagram account Gia made that was all photoshops of him and her—”
“Can wenot?” Gia interrupted.
I laughed. “I’m texting you this picture, June. Put it away until you’re old or something. Or stare at it every night when you go to bed. Then we’ll never speak of this again.” I texted her the picture.
