SIX

"Well, shall we?" He smiled sweetly at me, his dimples showing from the light that touched his face. 

"Yeah sure. Let's go." He led me to the car and opened the passenger door for me and helped me in. He went round the car and sat in the drivers seat. He buckled his seatbelt, I mirrored his action

"You see? I'm such a gentleman." He was clearly teasing me.

"You do not even qualify for the G" I scoffed an he chuckled. We sat in silence for a few minutes

"You look beautiful. I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier. I couldn't find my words." He took my hand from my lap and gave it an unsure squeeze. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want him to find out I've never been this close with a guy before. Plus, no boy had ever said I was beautiful before. This was becoming awkward as he awaited my reply

"Uh thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." I managed to blurt the words out. I looked at the hand he was holding. I wanted to squeeze it too but I removed it instead, with more urgency than I intended. I saw the hurt in his expression and quickly wished I could hold him again, but he turned in the ignition and we began our Journey

We continued driving in silence. I got so bored and it didn't look like we were close to wherever we were going to. I felt bad for turning him down like that but after what happened with the last time, trusting him was becoming expensive

It felt rude to be on the phone, so to entertain myself I began to look at the time. Every second and Every minute that passed made it harder to breathe until I couldn't take it anymore

"Look Shawn. I'm sorry, but you can't expect me to just trust you like that.

"No it's fine, I got ahead of myself. I'm the one who should apologize for everything. I'm sorry."

"Okay well, since we've gotten that off our chest. Where are we going?" I looked out the window and saw that we were heading to the outskirts of town.

"Relax, we are almost there. It's not far anymore." He laughed a little

"Well it's good one of us finds this amusing me. I like surprises but I also like to feel safe.

"Don't worry. You're safe with me."he smiled at me

"I'll be the judge of that." I turned away and looked out the window at nothing in particular. We drove some more. I had never been to that part of twin before. I never went out. Just school and hang out with Lisa.

Alright we're here. He slowed down and stopped besides a building. I looked at the sign it and it said. "Martha's" I unbuckled my seat belt and picked up my purse. Shawn got out of the car quickly and came over to open my door for me

I held my hand out and he helped me out. The wind hit me the minute I stepped out

"Woah, it's sure is windy.

"Yeah. It is." He stepped closer and suddenly I had my back against the car

"Tell me. Why do you like holding your hair up?" He was so close I could smell his aftershave and mint scent

"Oh, uh. I didn't want it to get in the way." I didn't even know what I meant. Get in the way of what

"Well I'm that case..." he pulled my scrunchie from my hair and it fell in waves down my face. This's one of the cliché moments you see on tv, where the boy drops the girl's hair, the wind blows it all over her face and he's remove them slowly with his hands all the while locking eyes with the girl. Then they'd kiss and the girl would decide that's who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Pfft, Lord knows I'm not some fantasy girl. It doesn't work that way. Still, when he moved closer and cleared the hair from my face, I looked into his eyes and I couldn't look away. I didn't know how to explain what I was feeling.

"June.....so fucking beautiful..." He cupped my cheeks and leaned in, pausing few inches from my mouth. This is it. I gulped, we were about to kiss out in the open, in front of a restaurant. The realization hit me like a bucket of cold water. I turned my face rejecting the kiss. It hurt but I couldn't bring myself to Kiss him until I was sure I could trust him. He straightened and I looked at him again.

He looked so hurt I almost asked him to kiss me but I restrained myself.

"Well let's go in then." He cleared his throat and held out his hand. I took it and I went in with him.

The restaurant was a small building, made with red bricks walls. The interior had a vintage setting. The soft lights that illuminated the place added to it. There weren't many customers as it was already too late for dinner. Actually it was almost deserted.

We walked over to the bar and Shawn spoke to the bartender.

"Yo Philip. Long time no see." They did whatever hand shakes boys think are so cool while I looked around. The place wasn't so bad. I still didn't get why he chose here though

"You did it bruh. It's like you almost forgot me." He looked at me and back at Shawn

"Whose your pretty lady friend."he gave me those smiles that makes you know he's having thoughts that included you in his bed. I had enough of the place already. Shawn really picked a wrong place for the date, unless this was part of the plan

"Eyes off Romeo. She's not interested. Besides I was hoping I could take her to the place. If your mom is not around." He held my hand tighter, until then, I had forgotten we were still holding hands.

Philip looked at our enclasped hands and nod his head.

"Well it's your lucky day. Mom just left and she won't be back until tomorrow." He reached out behind him and brought out a key.

"It's all yours." He dropped the key on Shawn's waiting hands, gave me a small smile and walked away. That was weird.

Hand in hand, Shawn led me through a hallway until we stood face to face with a small gate. We wouldn't fit in if we walked in together, and judging by the length we'd have to bend our way through. What exactly is this boy thinking?

"You ready? We could go back if you want. We'd just catch a movie with popcorn and all." Popcorn sounded so nice at the moment but I was curious to know what was behind the gate. I almost said we should head back when I remembered this might all be a trap.

I wouldn't know if I was being tricked. Although, if he ends up humiliating me, I only had s few days left in school and I'd leave the fuckers. So fuck it, I'm going in

"I can handle myself just fine. I'm not a damsel in distress.

"Well you got the damsel part right. God I can't take my eyes of you." He stepped closer and touched my face. Wow this became awkward real quick, and here I thought I was done with awkwardness tonight

"Uhm, I think we should go in now, it's getting really late." I turned my face slowly to the gate pretending to look at something

"Right, yeah. Sorry." He moves pass me and open the gate

"Well, ladies first."I eyed him and walked inside.

Suddenly, I found myself in a forest. How the hell did we get there. It was dark, save for the light that was coming from the door we just passed through

"Uhm, Shawn? Where are we? What's this forest?" I asked nervously.

He held my hand and pressed it firmly. "It's fine J. I got you. I'm not leaving you alone. Just stay close to me.

"Don't worry, if we come across the Jaguar on the way. I'll protect you"

"The hell?!! A Jaguar? You're taking me to a Jaguar's territory? Okay date night is over. I think I wanna go home now.

He had the nerve to laugh.

"Relax. There are no Jaguars here. I'm sorry." I sighed in relief, thank God it's a joke

"Well it's nice you still have jokes when your time is running."

"Right. Just follow me, please." He held out his hand and I took it. We began walking deep into the forest.

As we walked, I made a mental note of the direction we came from, Incase things go south.

We continued going straight and I was so busy taking note of the trees and plants that followed that I didn't realize he was talking to me

"Earth to J, earth to J. Can you hear me in there?" He laughed a little

"Yeah, sorry. I got sidetracked.

"Yes I know. I noticed you're drawing a mental map. You won't need it, I promise. Well except when the Jaguar comes.

"Ha ha ha, very funny. You can't scare me with that Jaguar shit again. Let's move. Ugh my dress is already ruined.

"It's not ruined, your body didn't even touch the leaves. The path is quite large and it can contain two people walking side my side and still they'd probably not get close to the trees." He rolled his eyes

"That's not my business. I'm going to  complain if I want to. Why aren't we moving? It's still far isn't it?

"No actually, we are here." I looked around and saw nothing but the same trees I've been seeing since we began the dreadful walk.

"What do you mean we're here?"

He moved closer to one of the trees and whispered something to it. The tree moved. He held out his hand again and I followed. The other trees and little plants began to make way for us until it cleared a narrow part.

We followed the path and I looked around. There were light bulbs decorating most of the trees giving so much light you'd think the sun was up. We walked further and I saw a garden of roses, next to it was a patch of lilies, Jasmines, so many flowers, I didn't even know some exists.

It looked absolutely breathtaking. He held my hand and gave it a little squeeze. I looked up and smiled at him

"Do you like it? The walk was totally worth it right?"

"Yeah, I do like it. But are we gonna keep on walking a path of flowers forever?

"Nope. Just be as patient as you've been and you'd see.

"Alright mister. By all means lead the way." He gave me a nod and flashed his perfect white teeth.

We began walking again, until we reached a field of flowers. A white chair was stationed at the middle, it's back to us.

We walked hastily over and we sat. I looked before me and I got lost in the view.

Mountains unfolded before me, I could see the water beneath, and the stars helped me see its beauty.

"Shawn, this is beautiful. I had no idea such a place existed.

"I've never brought anyone here before. Welcome to my safe haven.

He led me to the chair and we sat together. We sat in comfortable silence gazing at the sky. There were a lot of stars present

"I'm sorry this is not your ideal date, I'm sure you've gone on more romantic and fun than this.

"You would be surprised to find I have very Little experience on that matter." I gave a small smile

"June. I know we've never been on good terms and a huge part of it is my fault. I have hurt you a lot and I know it's gonna take more than apology to gain your forgiveness and trust but I'm gonna try.

"No matter how much you push me away, I'm going to keep coming back and beg until you finally do consider to trust me again." He looked so sincere I almost believed him, but let's not forget he tricked me into telling him I had a crush on him before the entire class in 5th grade and I was ridiculed for two weeks

"You're right, it's gonna take more than an apology." Call me petty but a grudge was the only thing I had against him. When he played his pranks, I was always too weak to prank him back. I'd just sit and imagined the many ways I'd prefer to kill him and it was a bit satisfying

"I understand." He looked up at the sky and let out a breath.

"So this place. How did you find it ? There's so many questions, I don't even know which one is appropriate.

"Ha, it's fine. Well this property and the restaurant belonged to my mom." He took a pause and looked as if it pained him to talk about her. I realized I didn't really know anything about Shawn. Aside from the fact that he's the star quarterback player, a womanizer and a jerk, his personal life was unknown

"Where is she now?" He gave me a sad smile and looked up

"I like to think she's in heaven. Watching over me."

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea." I felt horrible for having to remind him

"Oh it's fine. It happened a long time ago.

"Okay if you say so.

"What was she like?" He looked st me again and smiled, this time it was genuine and beautiful

"She was kind, and very pretty. I only knew her for 6 years." It was so sad loosing his mum at 6 was a real bummer. I held his hand and place it on my lap and squeezed it a little. A small gesture to let him know I cared

"My parents didn't have the best relationship. Dad's business was heading towards bankruptcy and mom blamed his inability to realize when he was being duped. They'd fight for ours and I'd be in my room trying to block out the sound.

"Usually I followed my mum when she leaves the house to go squat at her friends house. It became a usual occurrence. Dad got so fed up and filed for a divorce. Neither paying attention to their child."

"Wait, if your mom died when you were 6 how come you have a younger sister?"

"Chill, I was getting to that part." He chuckled lightly

"Oh, sorry. Go on"

"Well, on their way to their third hearing at court, mom's hair fell out.

"Oh shit." His mom had cancer, and she was getting divorced? Things were getting worse

"Yea, oh shit indeed. I saw it first. I was in the car, but I wasn't going to the court with them. They were going to drop me off with Phil's mom. I saw the blonde hair on my hand and screamed. Dad stopped the car to find out what was amiss but mom was trying to hide the hair.

"Why would she hide something so serious from your Father and still ask for a divorce?" Try as I might, it didn't make any sense to me

"According to her, she knew she didn't have much time left, and if Father and I found out, we would be heartbroken for sure. She didn't want me to be known as the kid with the mom who died of cancer. And my dad a widower who's wife died of cancer.

"Aww, that's so thoughtful. But it wasn't fair though. No one deserves to die alone.

"Exactly. She caused all the commotion so dad would divorce her and she'd leave so he'd think she left with another man. Then she'd die in peace knowing we didn't go through the horror of watching her die.

"Jeez. What did you Father do?

"He just stood there motionless. For a while everywhere was quiet. I was so young so I didn't really understand most of the things they were saying.

"Father began to cry. Like a grown ass man was shedding tears. He entered the car and turned around. He refused to say a word to mom. He just cried all the way, mom too. So well, I didn't know why they were crying so I joined in. Our car was just filled with tears and all while we drove home.

"I'd laugh at you if this wasn't a serious conversation.

"Thanks for being here honestly. I've never said this to anyone before.

"I'm glad I'm the first then." It was clear I was blushing. Damn Shawn and his sentiments

"So your dad just remarried?"

"Not really. After that day we found out she had just two months left. So dad made the most of it. Those were the best two months of my life.

"Gone were the screams and bickering. I took leave from school for the two months. That's why I had to repeat a class. We traveled the world every week.

   "As for my sister, Dad considered dating again after a while, he needed someone to take car of me. That's when he met Fiona, here, at the restaurant. They dated for a while and she got pregnant, but she didn't want to get married. Said she's so young and just graduated from college, blah blah blah, she left Kylie and went to live her life. She sends gift cards on her birthday

"Wow. That's just wow. I think I miss your mom too." I wasn't sure how he'd react so I was surprised when he laughed. A real genuine laugh. It showed is perfect pearl white teeth and dimples. He looked younger, happy even. I joined in and soon we were laughing like there was no wrong in the world

Suddenly we found each other's face so close to each other, if we just reached a bit our lips would touch. The feeling came back again. That feeling of euphoria. It was like everything disappeared in mere seconds. He looked at me as if asking for permission. At that point, I didn't even know what was wrong or right. I didn't care if all this was a trick. I needed to feel this. So I went in and kissed him.

  Our lips moved in sync. Each fighting for dominance, until I surrendered and let him show me what I've been missing. This was my first kiss and I wouldn't lie, I've always envisioned it but never like this. I imagined it to be a stolen kiss, a dare or something that would explain a very short kiss but not this one

       No, this was beyond my imaginations. It was passionate. We poured our feelings into it and it was magical. Soon I had to breathe and I pulled away, immediately I wanted to be pulled back into the kiss.

"Wow. where did you learn to kiss like that?" I couldn't discern his expression. What if he didn't like it? or was it so bad? I hid my face out of timidity. This was becoming really awkward

"No don't get me wrong. I absolutely loved it. You're the only girl I've kissed that I actually liked. You are a great kisser. Honestly speaking." I had to laugh. He was trying really hard to explain himself

   "Well thanks. That's actually my first time. Tell anyone and I'll maim you.

  "That can't be right. You're June Mikealson. Don't tell me you've never been in a relationship before." He looked so shocked. Was it really that bad to be a Virgin at 17

"Fine, then I won't tell you. And what do you mean I'm June Mikealson. Don't exaggerate the name. It's not a big deal.

  "Why? Is your family not as perfect as it seems?"

"Well you shared yours, I guess it shouldn't hurt to share mine.

    "My dad is an only child. His parents didn't leave him much of an inheritance so he worked his way on his own. Now he works at a tile production company. Well you know that already. Mom is more or less the breadwinner. But of course she didn't start the hotel business herself."

"Yeah I know the whole inheritance story." I was beginning to get used to his laugh.

"Yea shit is getting old. I don't want to continue living like this.

"What do you mean by 'live like this' how else do you want to live? With two heads?

"Gosh no. I mean, most people know me as June Mikealson. Some don't even know the name exists while others just know the name and not the human bearing it.

"Anyone who eventually finds out about my name immediately begins to act like they like me all because of my name."

"It's like I'm living in the shadows of my family name.

"No one knows the real me. Not even my parents.

"I get it. What I don't get is why you don't get along with your sister. She's not that older than you, right?

"Yeah. Just two years.

" You should be besties then, y'know the whole joined at the hip thing.

"We used to be, believe it or not. Jane was really sweet. We'd play together every day. We spent most of the time in the library. She got me interested in books. She read even when we were sitting on the table for food.

"No way, Jane? I can't even paint the picture." He laughed like he couldn't believe it, I wouldn't either. Sometimes I thought the memories were just dreams. Dreams I willed myself into thinking they were real. Sadly they weren't dream

"Yeah sometimes I don't believe the memories are real.

"Anyways, we were really close until we had neighbors. They are rich and their two daughters are Jane's age . They clicked on their first meeting and took my sister away from me.

"From barely seeing and playing with her to not getting either. As if that wasn't enough, she began to be really mean and started doing things to hurt me when I refused to do her will. For a long time I let her get away with it and hope she's change, but I'm 17 now. Change is a dream for her now."

"Woah that's tough. And I thought I had a difficult life. I can't imagine having to live with someone who is bent on ruining me and still have to love them." I laughed and rolled my eyes, he can be so dramatic.

"It's not that dramatic!"

"Is that a laugh? Are you enjoying this date Miss Mikealson" he was teasing, but it made me laugh so hard.

"Don't push your luck Prescott."

He laughed and looked at me with curiosity.

"So what are your plans after highschool?" No one ever asked me that before, even my own parents.

"Nothing much. Basically I only planned my moving out.

"What's your dream college. I'm sure with your intelligence, your thinking of oxford.

"You're funny. Believe it or not, I'm trying to run away from any sort of publicity. If word came out that a Mikealson was at oxford, I'd get paparazzi everywhere. 

" Celebrity life." He was having too much fun, I noticed.

"What about you? Where are you heading?"

"I don't really plan on moving too far away, I could stay here in Cali, the college is probably a thirty minutes drive from home.

"How are you not sick and tired of seeing the same faces?"

"Oh I am sick of the faces, I just don't want to be too far away from my dad, he's not as strong as he used to be." And he just keeps getting sweeter.

"I won't get into college immediately though. I'd like to move to New York, get a job, an apartment and be stable for a year before I begin. I don't want to have to worry about all those stuff when I should be learning.

"Wow you really have it all figured out don't you? But New York? That's really far. Nine hours from here right?"

"Yup, as far away as possible."

"About the working and apartment, your parents have all the money in the world to buy you a condo if you ask for it...."

"I know, I just really don't want to have anything to do with the money. I want to make a name for myself, without having their name overshadowing mine."

"Forgive me if I'm overstepping boundaries, but the money you're talking about is the money your parents worked hard for, not stolen money. You're not being mistreated aside from your evil sister."

    "Why do you think they wake up every morning to work? With the amount of wealth they have now, they can decide not to work until they die and they'd still have enough to donate. They still work to make your life easier than the one they had."

     "You need to let go of your pride and accept the help. As for wanting your name to be heard, I think you're contradicting yourself. You said you won't go to oxford because you'll get popular if your name gets out."

"Now you want to be known?

   I stared at him for what felt like a long time. I was hurt, he was right, but at the same time didn't understand me. I never aired my feelings so much to one person, except for my best friend

   Somehow I hoped he'd understand, I hoped he wouldn't criticize me. The date was going perfectly well, he just had to ruin it.

   "Take me home." I stood up and made to leave but he held my hand before I could move. We stayed in that position, I didn't want to leave, hell, this place made me feel things I never thought I'd ever feel.  The peace it brought, I could sit here and dream, imagine all my fairy tales come to life. I could scream and cry and laugh and love without care of judgy eyes and upturned noses

   "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You have your reasons for not wanting any part of this, I should have understood you".  I didn't say anything, I just looked at him, I saw the hurt Ina his eyes and part of me wanted to reassure him

     He didn't have to ask me to prom again, at this rate I'd follow him without question. We didn't say much but I knew enough to tell me he wasn't all I pictured. I miss Judged him, I should be the one apologizing, but I couldn't give him the satisfaction. So I just stood there in silence.