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)
The room was silent. I ran my hand over June’s smooth head. “Are you okay?” It was a ridiculous question, but I didn’t know what else to say.
“No,” she said. “Are you?”
I thought of Emma on the bed and felt my chest cave in. “No.”
“I hate cancer,” June said.
I agreed: Cancer sucked. “I do too.”
June played with my fingers, and I dropped a kiss on her head. I had squeezed Emma’s hand as we left her room, and I was startled by how cool it had felt so quickly. As June’s body heat warmed me, I made sure to treasure it—it meant we were still alive.
“All I keep thinking is: What if we do survive? What if the antibodies work this time…only for one of us to relapse?” June’s breathing was choppy, fearful. “All the fighting just to have it happen again.”
The thought sent shivers down my spine. “If that does happen,” I said, “I want it to happen to me.”
“No, Jesse,” June said, shaking her head.
“Yes. God, Junebug, I couldn’t take it if it happened to you. I couldn’t.”
“I feel the same about you.”
I knew she did. But my decision was made. If God wanted one of us to do this all over again, it had to be me.
“I miss her already,” June said. The deep sorrow in her voice destroyed me.
I caught sight of June’s notebook on her dresser. “In our other life, the one you are bringing to reality,” I said, and tipped my chin at her notebook, “keep Emma alive.”
June stilled.
“We may have lost her in this one, but we’re living in the other one too.” I smiled sadly. “In our parallel universe.”
June tried to smile too, then nodded. “She’s alive in our happily ever after. Thriving.”
“Thriving,” I repeated, and held June close as she cried until her breathing eventually evened out, and I listened to her inhales and exhales as she slept.
She loved me and I loved her. I lifted her hand and kissed the heart that now sat on it. This girl truly did have my heart in her hands.
And I was fine with never getting it back.
CHAPTER 22
June
Jesse and June’s Happily Ever After
Isquealed when I saw Emma step out of the rideshare. After months apart, I finally got to see my best friend at my college. Emma grabbed her overnight bag and rushed toward me. Tossing her bag on the ground, she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight.
“June!” she cried. “I’m so happy to see you!”
“You too,” I said, and stepped back to look at her.
Emma’s hair had grown to her ears. Straight, golden-blond hair. Clearly thinking the same as me, Emma touched the ends of my dark hair—my hair that was now free of extensions. In a bid to work on myself, I’d had them removed. I couldn’t change what had happened to me, so I was embracing it. I’d survived cancer and I should be proud of it. It wasn’t all I was, but it was a part of me that I shouldn’t run from.
My hair was now a similar length to Emma’s, though it was styled very differently. It was now a short, chic French bob, with bangs.
“I’m obsessed with this haircut. I loved the long extensions, but this is so stunning!” Emma said.
“You look incredible too,” I said, and hugged her one more time. Every time I saw one of my friends from Harmony, I saw them as the living miracle they were—I didn’t think it would ever change.
“Did you come here with Chris?” I asked.
Emma nodded. “He’s with Jesse now, at his dorm.” She tilted her head at me. “Jesse seemed quiet, sad, when I saw him.”
My heart broke. I didn’t want him to be sad or quiet. I missed him so much, loved him so much, I just wanted to run to his dorm and kiss him until I could no longer feel anything but his lips. But I was doing better since our break. In the time we had been apart, I had been talking to Michelle, our therapist from the ranch, to work through my insecurities. It was helping so much. When Jesse and I spoke again, I wanted to be stronger for him—for both of us.
But I had kept up with the Longhorns and was so unbelievably proud of him. He was breaking every freshman record, and there was even talk from the sportscasters that he may become the first-string QB even when the senior player returned.
I linked arms with Emma, and she picked up her overnight bag. Sydney was visiting her parents, so Emma had Sydney’s bed, and I was ready for a full weekend with my best friend. It had been far too long.
As we walked into my dorm room, Emma placed her bag on the floor and sat on my bed. When I joined her, she bit her lip, and said, “You haven’t broken up with Jesse, have you? Jesse didn’t really say what was happening, but both Chris and I have felt some kind of distance between you.” Emma reached for me. “Please say you haven’t. I don’t think I’d ever believe in love again if you and Jesse couldn’t make it after all you’ve been through.” Emma’s voice grew quiet. “You’re soulmates, June. Anyone can see it.”