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)
“It’s working,” she repeated, and I kissed her.
I kissed her and kissed her until Mr. Scott jokingly pulled us apart. But June’s parents’ smiles were huge. Relieved.
The treatment was working. We were going to get through this. And I had my Junebug by my side. Life was only getting better. And it was going to be cancer free.
When the chapter ended, goose bumps had broken out all over my body. June’s arm was still linked with mine, but by her sudden stillness, it was clear she knew I’d finished.
“You’re so talented,” I said, and gently closed the notebook.
June exhaled, then said, “I want that to happen for us all. I want Dr. Duncan to give us all that news.”
“You’ve written it,” I said, “so it must happen. Right?” My voice held humor, but I wished for it too.
June smirked. “I’m not sure it quite works like that, Jesse.”
“You never know. Your pen might have special powers, a direct line to God or the universe.”
June rolled her eyes.
“Keep going,” I said, dropping my teasing. “I want to know what happens next.”
“You do?” June asked. She clearly didn’t understand her talent if she had to ask that.
I was hooked. I covered her hand with mine. “Show me our future, Junebug. ’Cause it looks kinda amazing from where I’m sitting.”
“Okay,” she said, relief in every breath. She cuddled in beside me.
The countdown was on for those results she’d written about. I stared up at the stars and replayed her words over and over in my head, trying to feel that joy that I’d felt as I read that we’d all responded to the treatment and our cancer had stopped spreading.
June laid her head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat. If it all worked out like we wished, she would be listening to my heartbeat, just like this, for many, many years to come.
It sounded like heaven.
CHAPTER 10
June
A few weeks later…
“You’ve already finished?” Chris asked, mouth agape. “Impossible!”
“Guess that’s the perk of being a nerd, huh, Chris?” Emma said sassily, and I laughed as Chris batted her hand to shoo her away. It looked like he and Jesse still had several pages of the assignment to go.
As I passed Jesse, he held out his hand and took hold of mine. “Come here, bookworm.” Jesse pulled me in and tilted his head up for a kiss. Our lips pressed together and only Emma pulling me away by my other hand broke me from Jesse’s mouth.
“I’m stealing your girlfriend for a couple of hours. I’m sick of you monopolizing her,” she said. “It’s my turn with her now. Best friend privileges.”
“You get BFF hour every night,” Jesse argued.
Emma flapped her hand in dismissal. “And I thought I’d get more than an hour! But you came along and swept her off her feet.” Emma gestured with her head to Chris. “Meanwhile, I get this one to entertain me when you sequester June.”
“Hey!” Chris said, in complaint.
Jesse playfully gestured to his body. He wore his usual T-shirt and jeans. “Junebug can’t help it, Em. She can never resist me when I look this good.” Jesse was messing around, but his words had never been truer. I fell for him harder and harder every day.
Emma pretended to gag, and Jesse winked at me as we left the education room.
As promised, classes had started, but they were flexible. We couldn’t exactly write papers when we could barely move off our beds. But just like Chemo Club, our foursome had decided to do it together and that had helped us immensely.
“Should we just go to your room? It’s closer,” Emma said, heading down the hallway, linking her arm in mine. We mostly hung out in Emma’s room, as it was closer to the kitchen and the rec room.
“Sure,” I said. As we walked, I replayed what she had said about not spending as much time with her as she wanted. It made me feel guilty. I adored Emma and loved spending time with her. But she wasn’t wrong; I did spend a crazy amount of time with Jesse. Especially of late. But now, it was my plan to make even more time for her.
As we entered my room, she stopped dead as she saw the picture Jesse had drawn of me and Ginger on my wall. My mama had bought me a rustic wooden frame to protect it, and it hung opposite my bed, so I saw it every time I laid down.
“Erm…who drew this?” she asked. In the beginning, I’d kept Jesse’s drawings to myself. But the more he drew, the more I believed they needed to be seen.
“Jesse,” I replied, and Emma’s mouth dropped open in shock.
“Well…damn. Guess he’s not just football brawn and terrible jokes.”
I laughed and waved her over to my bed. I switched on the TV, ready to continue the series we’d been streaming.