Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I laughed as Emma screamed, then ducked his head under the water. It seemed like it was going to be the perfect last day, and it reminded me of easier times back home with my friends, when life hadn’t been quite as intense.
I pulled my shirt over my head and said to June, “The changerooms are over there.”
Her eyes were fixed on the pool, and when she looked to me, her cheeks reddened as her eyes found my chest. “I’m just gonna sit on a lounger for now.”
I frowned in confusion. June passed by me and sat on a lounger, smiling at everyone and pulling a paperback from her bag.
I was busy staring at her, wondering why she wasn’t getting in when Emma pushed up out of the pool. She toweled herself off and said, “I’ll go sit with her.”
“Do you think she’s upset with me?” I asked, worried I’d done something to offend her.
“No,” Emma said. “I don’t think she’s upset with you.” She went to June, and June’s genuine smile was back on her face as our friend approached.
“You gonna get in, Romeo, or are you just gonna stare at June like a lovesick fool all day?” Chris shouted from the pool, and I wasted no time diving in and swiping his legs out from under him as I swam underneath the surface.
“Prick,” Chris spluttered as we both came up for air.
I immediately sought out June. I couldn’t help but worry she wasn’t okay. She and Emma were sitting together on the lounger, talking up a storm. My chest pulled tight watching her. I didn’t like how nervous and uncomfortable she had just been. And I didn’t like having no idea why.
Emma got up and came toward us. She leaned down at the side of the pool. “We’re gonna do something else,” she said, gesturing back to June.
“Like what?” I asked. Chris swam up beside me, listening.
Emma shrugged. “Don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”
“June doesn’t want to swim?” Chris asked. Emma shook her head.
“Is she okay?” I asked, deep concern burrowing inside me.
June was reading a book, not even looking our way.
Emma glanced at her and looked back. “She’s great. Just doesn’t want to swim.”
Then there was no other decision to make: I pulled myself out of the pool and grabbed my towel. Chris followed suit.
Emma straightened with a knowing eyebrow raised in my direction. “Let me guess: you’re coming too?” she said, amusement lacing her tone.
“That okay?” I asked, pausing, wondering if June needed space and just wanted to be with Emma, alone.
“Of course it is,” Emma said. “I’m going to go get changed.”
I dried off, threw my shirt on, and grabbed my football. I walked to where June sat and checked out what she was reading. “Let me guess…buff fairies?” I asked.
June lowered the book and laughed. “Buff fairies?” Understanding dawned on her face. “Do you mean High Fae?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea, but some of my friends back home talked about them all the time.” June’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “Like, they were low-key in love with mythical creatures.”
She closed the book and, waving it, said, “No buff High Fae in this one. This one is about buff vampires actually,” she said, fighting back a smile, and I nodded, smirking. Sort of called it. June put her book in her bag, then got to her feet. “No more swimming?” she asked.
“I decided to hang with you guys instead,” I said just as Chris came over, now dry and with a T-shirt on.
“Me too,” he said. “We can’t break up the band on day two, June. We’re in our bonding stage and must stick together.”
“Ah,” June said, smiling. “Gotcha.” But I saw true happiness in the way she held herself a little bit taller.
Emma returned wearing jean shorts and a blue tank, a blue headscarf on her head. “So, what do y’all wanna do?”
“Game room?” Chris said, pointing to the large barn-like structure behind us.
I looked to June, eyebrow raised in question.
“Sure,” she said. We followed Chris, and he opened the door to the game room and June stopped dead. Her brown eyes were wide as she drank in the space. Arcade machines lined the walls. Air hockey and pool tables took up the center, and games consoles of all kinds were set up with the TV in the room, beanbags in front of it.
“We found this on our first day,” I said to June, just as Chris turned on country music that filled the room from the state-of-the-art speakers in the ceiling.
“Wow,” she said, and placed her bag on the table by the entrance way. “They really have turned this place into a patient’s paradise.” June turned to me and smiled. “Gone are the days of staring at four white walls and a window with no view.”