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“Hannah.”
“Yeah, Hannah.” June sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, leaving behind a sticky iridescent trail of snot. “Anyway, she came over and she was like…really interested to see us together, she kept talking about it. It made me really uncomfortable, so I left.”
“When was this?”
June shrugged. “A few weeks ago,” she said. “Before I went out with you for the first time. You hadn’t asked me out yet,” she added, as if that would somehow make everything right.
“I see.”
“And Andy wouldn’t leave me alone after that,” June wailed in frustration. “He asked me out again – he threatened me, even when I said I was busy or that I didn’t have time – so eventually I said yes, but I didn’t actually intend to meet him. Then you asked me to dinner on the same night, and obviously, I went with you instead.”
“I see.”
“And then last week, when I was coming home from school, he grabbed me and dragged me into an alley.” June sniffed. A single tear ran down her porcelain cheek and I brushed it away with the back of my hand.
“What?” My jaw dropped. “June, why the hell didn’t you tell me about this?”
June bit her lip and trembled. “Because I thought you’d be mad.”
“I am mad, but I’m not mad at you,” I said quickly. “And you called the cops, right?”
June nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “But they didn’t care. They said it was my fault, because I’d asked him out once before.”
Rage and anger flowed through my body and I balled my hands into fists, shoving them under my lap so June wouldn’t see.
“I’m so sorry, that’s awful,” I said. “First thing in the morning, I’m going to call Sandy – he’s my lawyer, he’s great. We’ll get you out of this.”
June collapsed into sobs and I held her close.
“That’s not all,” June whimpered.
“What happened?”
“They called me into the principal’s office this morning,” June sniffled. “They told me they fired Andy, but they’re putting me on leave without pay.” She glanced at me, looking completely helpless and childlike. I rocked her in my arms as she cried.
“That’s bullshit,” I said angrily. “We’re going to have Sandy talk to them, okay? I’ll get you out of this.”
I had the feeling that June would resist but instead she just nodded and sniffled.
“Thank you, Thomas,” June said softly. She extricated herself from my arms and stood up. “I’m going to get a glass of water,” she said. “Do you want one?”
I shook my head.
When June came back, I handed her three hundred dollars. “This isn’t much,” I said quickly. “I’ll get you more tomorrow. But for now, you should have this.”
June’s lower lip quivered and trembled. “Thomas, I can’t take money from you,” she said softly. “I can’t do that. That’s not fair.”
“It is fair,” I said. “You lost your job, okay? I’m going to help you until you get back on your feet.”
June still looked lost.
“Look,” I said quickly. “You don’t have to spend it, just keep it in case something comes up, okay?”
June nodded slowly. “I’ll pay you back,” she said. A tear rolled down her cheek and her chin wobbled.
“We can talk about that later,” I said, somehow knowing that she’d resist any other response.
June sighed. She sagged against me. “I don’t know what to do,” she said quietly.
