Chapter 64

JUNE.

Seven and Nancy come back to the car after a while, and I sit up, watching as Seven takes the wheel and Nancy slides herself into the backseat.

He looks serious, like something heavy just happened. She looks calm and serene, like none of that happened. There's a certain tension in the air that leaves me questioning what they talked about, but I'm scared of saying anything. The energy in the car is brittle. It feels like something higher than a whisper can break it, and all chaos would ensue.

He starts to drive, looking back at me and asking, "Do you feel better, June? I can take you to the hospital if it's still so bad."

His tone is soft, so I know that he's not mad at me. But he's also stiff. His shoulders are very high on his body and it looks like he's shrugging. Or making himself look small.

"I feel a lot better," I tell him, and it's the truth. I do feel a lot better.

I don't know what happened to me, to be honest. Things were not going well but I went into this feeling well. But out of nowhere, my head just started to hurt and I feel like I couldn’t breathe. The doctor’s accusations were just flying everywhere like bullets and I felt like I needed to avoid them all even though they weren’t really directed at me.

He turns back to me for a while, meeting my eyes before quickly looking away. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” I say, then I reach out to touch his face. “Are you sure you’re okay too?”

Seven glances at Nancy before muttering, “Yes.”

Then he just turns around and drives silently. The whole journey away from the courthouse is completely quiet. Nancy is humming. Seven’s knuckles get whiter and whiter on the steering wheel. I start to wilt in the backseat, wondering what the hell happened.

The only time things get a little bit lighter is when Nancy finally gets dropped off. She says a quick goodbye to both of us, then she’s off into Amelie’s house.

The air around Seven gets visibly lighter, and he even starts to smile a little whenever our eyes would meet through the rear-view mirror.

But when we pull up to the front of Tiffany’s house, I knew that I can’t let it all go without at least asking.

“Hey.” I put a hand on his shoulder. He turns around and I press a gentle kiss on his lips. “Are you alright? Things feel very tense, and I know this won’t happen if you’re not feeling something bad.”

His eyes finally meet mine. I feel relieved about that, but I never expected to find guilt in his eyes. I lean closer to check on him but he just turns away. “I’m okay. It’s just that what happened at the courthouse was strange. I didn’t expect to be put on blast like that and now I feel conflicted. But I’ll be okay.”

I hold his hand. “You will be. But you also know I’m here for you, right?”

“I know.” The guilt in his eyes intensify, but then he just recovers with a smile and kisses me. “Thank you for being here. But now you have to go up before your aunt and uncle sees us.”

“They don’t care,” I try to say. “They won’t say anything about us being together. They wouldn’t mind.”

But Seven just smiles. It feels like it’s too late. He’s already disengaged, and he’s basically just waiting for me to get out of the car, so I do.

I kiss him through the window, feeling strangely bereft when he drives away. I don’t know what he’s guilty about. I don’t know what Nancy said to him. I don’t know if it’s just because he’s more affected by what the doctor said that I originally thought.

But whatever it is, I know that I would have to wait for him to tell me in his own time.

I get inside the house, expecting to find Tiffany sprawled on the couch and ready to jump on whatever I have to say about my relationship with Seven.

But she’s not here. The living room is clean and quiet and pretty much free of any traces of Tiffany. I just notice the tub of ice cream melting on the kitchen counter. But other than that, she seems to be away.

“Tiff?” I call out, knowing that she won’t leave things open like that. “Are you there?”

Silence. Long and uncomfortable silence. I start to feel scared. My mind is whirring with the worst possibilities. My heart is in my throat as I get up the stairs, but then I hear a very faint hint of music coming from the second floor. Particularly from Tiffany’s room. If I’m not mistaken, it’s an Adele ballad, and it sounds like she’s getting her heart ripped off of her.

This can’t be a good sign.

“Tiff?” I ask cautiously, knocking on her door. “It’s me, June. Do you want to talk?”

I expect her to yell at me to go away, but the door just opens and she greets me. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are blotchy, shiny with tears that she seems to have been wiping off furiously. Her nose is runny and the corners of her lips are smeared with ice cream.

I admit that I had to stand back in horror, but Tiffany pulls me to her room and slams the door. What she’s playing is indeed Adele. And it’s a breakup song.

And as though on cue, Tiffany breaks into the loudest cry I have ever heard in my life as soon as the door closes behind me.

She hugs me, and I hug her back, so concerned that I can’t even find the words. I look around and I can see small empty bottles that look like the ones Miss Hera keeps in her storage to house her foul tea.

Some of the bottles are still full too, I just notice. She seems to be drinking a lot of the stuff.

“What’s going on?” I ask her gently, prying her away from me so I can look at her face. “What’s happening?”

“Vlad and I broke up,” she says in a garbled voice. “He… he said that he has a lot of things to take care of, and he can’t continue dating me because he would be really busy. I know that’s just an excuse. I think he just said that to spare my feelings, and the trip is so close….”

She trails off and cries again, her whole body shaking as she lets out all the despair she’s holding onto. I didn’t expect that to be the reason, so I’m stunned, but I just hold her as she collapses on her bed.

I don’t know what hit me, though. Seeing those bottles brings a weird feeling in my chest. “I… I didn’t know you’re still seeing Miss Hera. I thought that was just a ploy to you know… get things going with Vlad.”

Tiffany wipes her face with my shirt. “Yeah, I don’t know. I guess it became quite fun to keep talking to her. She makes me feel better about a lot of things. I also told her about how bad I feel about my parents not even sleeping in the same bed anymore. And how bad I felt when they took you in. It felt like I was being replaced.”

“But that’s not the case and you know it, right?” I ask her.

She nods and lies on my lap again, crying profusely. “Just promise me you won’t make a move on Vlad.”

I almost laugh. “You know I’m with Seven now.”

“I know.” She sighs. “But I thought that Vlad might still like you.”

“That’s not true,” I say fiercely. “He likes you. I can see it in his eyes. When we get on that trip, talk to him. Figure things out.”

I don’t know how long we sat there, but even with the situation, I have to admit that it’s quite nice. It feels good to know that she trusts me enough to show me this side of her. She falls asleep after a while, and I leave to shower and change.

But before I can enter my room, my phone starts to ring.

I don’t know why, but the sound of it echoing in the empty hallway is giving me the creeps. I’m probably just jumpy from everything, but it’s still making me feel weird.

I thought it’s going to be Seven or maybe even Nancy, but to my surprise, it’s just an unknown number. I still press answer, though.

“Hello?”

“June.”

It’s a male voice. I should find it familiar because it’s tugging at something in my mind, but every time I try to make a connection, it breaks and I lose it all over again. I wait for the man to say something more so I can identify his voice.

“Who is this?” I prompt, my hand growing moist with sweat as I hold the phone against my ear. “How did you know my name and my number?”

“June,” he just says again. “It’s been a while.”

That’s when it hits me, as fast as a bolt of lightning and just as electrifying.

It’s my dad.