June First

by Jennifer Hartmann

“What happened? I heard a crash.” Dark circles and a hollow blue stare fix on me, then on June. “Did something break?” Her question hangs heavy between the three of us. June visibly flinches. Pressing forward on the edge of the counter, I close my eyes. Something broke. Something broke twelve days ago when I bolted from that god-awful dance with blood pouring from my nose, the memory of June’s tongue still wet and hungry in my mouth and her delicious moans vibrating my skin. I booked it with tears biting at my eyes as Theo’s murderous threats still lingered in the air, his enraged fists causing my busted face to throb and tingle. I told everyone that I’d slipped… …and I suppose it wasn’t a lie. I slipped. Slipped up. Slipped into a dark, deadly void I may never be able to climb my way out of. I lost my footing in the worst way, and it’s the kind of fall you don’t ever recover from. Then I ran like a coward, drunk on grief, sick with disbelief, and drove right through the scene of a grisly accident. A man in uniform, pinned between two vehicles. Blood spattered along the hood of a wrecked car, red on red. Another man, trapped inside, shouting with anguish. Chaos. Catastrophe. A nightmare that would haunt anyone who had the misfortune of witnessing it. But the worst part? It wasn’t just any nightmare. It was my nightmare. Theo was that man in uniform. It was his blood decorating the red sedan, his body crushed between two pieces of unmerciful metal. It was Kip trapped inside...