Stay genuine, tables will turn.

 

"IBS?" Millie felt an all-time low. It was so generic, the idea that she was bringing all this on herself. Nerves. Was that it?

"I know you don't like the idea of having to quit the caffeine and having more plain meals." KC had all the paperwork to support her diet.

"I live for coffee." She looked straight at him as if she was not giving up the necessity of her life.bb Especially after all those blood tests she'd been through.

She knew what he wanted to say, "At least you aren't pregnant." But he didn't. Although it did make her wonder if birth control was giving her so much trouble. Especially, the headaches.

"I can't stop being stressed." She told him as he went to the kitchen to turn on the kettle while she flopped down on the couch, wondering where she'd gone so wrong. She hugged herself tightly. It had to be more than IBS, she thought. 

"Remember, they want you to keep a food diary to find out what triggers your stomach issues," KC said. Millie rolled her eyes at that.

She then sat up, her elbows wobbling on her knees, and pushed her fingers through her forehead and into her loose hair.

"God, I might as well be a grandma, already," she fussed. "All I'll get to eat is probably boiled chicken and carrots."

"You're supposed to think of smaller meals throughout the day," KC offered as if that would be an excellent option. "Maybe you're not drinking enough water." He reminded her of how she developed a urinary infection when she was on her Dr. Pepper craze.

"Don't remind me, I still want a Dr. Pepper," she whined. Millie got up then to confess, "See why I couldn't go to Nashville? I'd have poop in the middle of a show!" It was embarrassing to admit, but didn't he know already? She went back to the couch and hugged a pillow.

She felt so old, and it hadn't helped her in any of the adulting she was doing.

"Don't give up," KC brought her some tea. He thought she might need to see a new therapist. Even the doctor recommended it. Just then, he got a phone call from his dad.

"Maybe there's news about Junie," he said as he went back to the kitchen to answer the call.

I don't even like your company

 

Kat raked her brain from morning til night trying to figure out how she could get Chloe her own labubu. She'd hate to ask Darry if he could go on eBay for her. She knew Grand Betty would have a fit, and her dad might be furious, too. She doubted her mom would carry on since she was giving everyone the silent treatment.

It was best to hang out at the youth center and be up to her own devices about how to take care of the situation. Although it gave her nightmares. Chloe being furious that Kat got the labubu from Darry, and she didn't. Yeah, maybe that was why she couldn't help but be so bitter. 

"Why do you have to look so ugly?" Someone said to her while she was in her little corner looking through a stash of graphic anime that she'd looked through a dozen times already.

She looked up with the guy with hair in his face. She'd seen him around. He was Leo, and he just started high school. Still, she took him for a bully even if he was quite fashionable. She guessed he never got his hands dirty. Probably never had to wash his own clothes and had no idea what to do with a dishwasher or a kitchen sink.

"Why are you here?" She snarled back as she turned a page.

"Why can't I?" His banter wasn't nearly as growly as hers. 

Kat fumed back, but he plopped down next to her as if he owned the place. 

"Don't you shoot pool, or something?" She gave him the evil eye as she set up and put the book on the table, where kids brought old magazines and graphic novels to look at.

"What? You think you can beat me?" He thought he was cool, but it made Kat want to gag.

"I don't know, possibly." She watched a lot, but she'd never actually done it. High school boys always took over the pool table.

"Yeah, well, I'm thinking, maybe we could do something else." He shrugged.

"Like what?" She looked him over, wondering what he had in mind. His sweat radiated a certain sense she'd never been drawn to until now, and it worried her. He smelled of the gym and the cheap cologne her brother wore.

She found herself biting the corner of her bottom lip. He was making her feel a bit woozy. She didn't want to like it. She didn't. Besides, wasn't she hanging on to hope that maybe Darry wouldn't see her as a baby?

"I don't know. What do you like to do?" He gazed at her as if maybe he had a fever at the moment, but it would go away soon enough. Maybe it was the frigid weather.

"You don't even have a car," she snapped.

"Well, I will one day, and maybe if..if you go steady with me...you'll be the only one I drive around."

His words were so hilarious.

"Do you use that line on all the girls? Who goes steady?" She squinted, and her nose crinkled, and he touched it with his forefinger.

"I don't just.." he sighed as if he was losing steam. He then pulled out, none other than a real labubu.

Kat couldn't help but stare.

"How much do you want for it?" She wanted to know, wanting to grab it from his hands, but of course, he held it away from her.

"I know what you need," His lips curled up at the end.

"No, you don't."

"I've been watching you." His look told her he might be more than a stalker.

She sighed as if this might be her worst mistake.

"You go steady with me, and I'll give it to you."

Kat gritted as if she might as well drown herself in an icy lake.

"Sure." She furrowed a frown. She was definitely not gonna make it easy for this Freshman.

If I wane, this could die

 It felt like a live-action fairytale. The thrill of it in his old mustang was pure joy. At least in the beginning. 

But the longer she sat in the thing that smelled of gasoline, it wasn't quite as cool as it was. Still, Junie liked that silly grin of his. Mr. Electric Cool with a cigarette hanging on the edge of his lip. Honestly, she didn't see the smoke. It didn't seem to be there, nor was there that nicotine kiss that stung her lips. It was happening, and she was falling in the beat of it.

The first night was exciting. Going down the back alleys, waiting for him to deliver something mysterious. It was to a few places, even at a Taco Bell. She didn't complain when he said they'd go out, but that meant bringing her a Big Slurpy and a fat hot dog drenched in ketchup, which later she thought was blood.

Things were hot then. She didn't feel the cold even in a short skirt and knee-high socks that weren't high enough for this kind of adventure. Even when she shivered, she told herself she could deal with it. Although she was in the car alone a lot. Sometimes, he had to shut the engine. She thought he might even be hiding it, because Connor had to go alone. After all, his nature was that of a loner.

He always said the right things to her, and it made her smile, but as the night shifted to the wee hours of the morning, it felt like he must have learned it from someone else because sometimes, he didn't feel like the Connor she first met.

They slept in the car that night out in the woods. Despite the heat they created between them, he was put out like a light while she looked up to see the full moon tangled in the limbs of winter branches. She lay still while he crested her with a heavy head on her belly.

The wind rattled her before she could slumber. Yes, she stayed awake, wondering who was out there.

When the days seem long

 

"So did that ex of Connor's go home?" CW was curious and couldn't wait to talk to Darry when he came into the coffee shop. He brought him a cup of coffee and a leftover sweetroll from breakfast. 

"Maybe," Darry sighed. "I tried to tell her there was nothing she could do here. I mean, she's the smart one, not me." He looked torn, perhaps. CW wondered just who his friend was thinking about? Jude or Junie. 

"We talked a lot longer than I thought we would," Darry told him about Jude.

"You're not falling for her, are you?" CW gave him a beady look.

"No." Darry scowled back as if CW needed to shut up.

"Well, maybe you should, you know, stop this notion about the 5-year wait with you know who."

"You know who?" Darry squinted back at him as if CW wasn't making sense.

"You know?" CW wished he hadn't brought it up. "Have you seen Cat lately?"

"Cat?" Darry acted like he didn't know what CW was getting at.

"Bro, I'm beginning to wonder about your attention span." CW sighed, wondering if he needed to get back to the grill. But they were cleaning up to close for the day.

Darry yawned. "I just need sleep. This whole thing with Junie is keeping me sleepless. I do worry about her. I don't want to. Sometimes, I think she is just getting back at me, because she knew by the end of the school year we were going to break up."

"Is that so?" CW knew he should just let Darry talk; maybe that was the best thing for him to do. Get it all out about Junie. But Darry wrapped up the sweet roll to eat for later. He was on his way to the library to work.

"I'll let you know if I hear anything." CW nodded.

"Look, I'm not doing anything with Cat. I know she's too young for me. No way am I as great as she might think I am. I think she knows that, too. I'm just a big brother who'll listen to her problems." He said as he buttoned up his coat for the cold.