For the first time, June celebrated her birthday two times. Yesterday, she turned seventeen, which she celebrated with her sisters, Juan, and her mother; today, she used Juan and Mateo's apartment. The latter wasn't around, although she was sure he would show up later. He had paid for the drinks and snacks, and he had ignored her objections.
All in all, she had more visitors than over the past years. Jordy and Shawna had been at earlier birthdays too, but Beth's place was taken by Erik, and Emilio, Riley and Armando where there too. She'd wondered if Erik would come at all, given his history with Emilio and Mateo, but he told her he had to face Emilio every day anyway, and that he would go home if Mateo made him feel too nervous. June hoped he would really do so, even though things were different since Mateo had helped to save Erik's life and had put his tormentor behind bars.
A hand gliding across her knee distracted her from her thoughts, and she looked to the side. Juan looked at her with a searching glance in his eyes. She smiled at him, showing him that she was alright and that her thoughts had wandered off. Putting her hand on his, she squeezed. A few days ago, she had finally managed to have peace with everything that had gone wrong between them in the past weeks. There hadn't been a specific conversation; one morning, she woke up in his arms, watched his sleeping face, and realized she loved him dearly. Despite their differences, despite the mistakes they both made. However, his insecurity and anxiety still made him search for affirmation the whole time, and she knew it was up to her to increase his confidence.
"Did you really like it?" he asked softly.
It was the third time he asked her that question, and for the third time, she leaned into him and kissed the corner of his lips. "I did, baby. It's a fantastic gift."
And it really was—although he had been so nervous that even a goldfish would have made her happy. He had given her a course in comic drawing. Something she had never considered, but it sounded super cool. She had been drawing for a long time, but she was never taught by a professional. It was a very personal gift, and warmth filled her heart at the thought that he knew her so well.
His warm brown eyes caught her glance, and she was drowning in them, forgetting all the others in the room. Absently, she toyed with his fingers. She loved him so much — she was so happy they'd found each other. She felt like a completely different person than she was a year ago.
June startled as something hit her head. It was a ball of wrapping paper that—judging from the smirk on his face—came from Armando. "If you two want some quality time, just send us away. Or you two could do a quickie; we'll turn up the music a little louder."
June felt her cheeks glow.
"If I were you, I'd wait a lil longer," Emilio said with a grin. "The presents Mat and I bought will come in handy."
Her stomach turned to knots, and she didn't dare to look at Juan. Instead, she headed to the kitchen to fill bowls of crisps. Hopefully, it would take a while before Mateo came home.
But unfortunately, she heard the key in the front door right after refilling all glasses. She scolded herself; she shouldn't let their words get to her. Emilio was only trying to get a rise out of her, as he had done ever since he discovered that his friend liked her.
"Hey Junie." Mateo came to her and kissed her cheek, even though it wasn't the first time today. "Happy birthday, girl."
The words barely left his lips as Emilio showed up next to him, still with a wide grin on his face. June swallowed nervously. Suddenly, it felt like two hungry vultures were watching her.
The two boys exchanged a look, then Emilio nodded to the chair, telling her to sit down. She did what he wanted; the sooner this was over, the better. It couldn't be that bad, right?
Juan turned towards her, his knee grazing hers. She showed him a grateful smile and took the first gift. Without looking at the boys, she pried the tape off the paper.
It was a black, chic packaging, and for a moment, her shoulders relaxed—until she read the white letters. Delicate condoms. Immediately, all heat assembled in her cheeks, and she folded the paper around the box.
"Just in case you expect another special gift from Juan tonight," Emilio said. "It's about time, don't ya think?"
June stared at her knees. It felt like something was stuck in her throat. No matter how often and hard she swallowed, it didn't go away. Did Juan complain to his brother and friends about the fact that they hadn't had sex yet? It made her feel sick. She hated this gift. Mateo and Emilio knew very well how she would respond, and they shoved it right into her face.
"Come on, don't be such a baby," Mateo said. "I'm sure everyone in this room has seen a rubber before."
June kept staring at her knees. Someone else laid another package on her lap, but she barely dared to open it. Even when she was among friends—for the most part. Yet, she didn't want to be a drama queen, so she opened the gift. There were different things in it, including pink handcuffs, candy panties, and dices showing various positions.
Tears stung in her eyes; she felt humiliated for having to unwrap these gifts in front of everyone. What was she supposed to do—laugh? Those two boys knew very well she would hate it. It felt like they wanted to ruin her birthday.
When the last gift was unwrapped, she felt so stressed that her fingers were shaking.
"You never learned to say thank you, Junie?" Emilio teased.
June jumped up. Before she knew it, she was outside on the balcony, her hands clenched around the railing.
"June..." sounded Juan's voice behind her. The door to the balcony closed.
June stared forward stubbornly, her eyes still burning with tears.
"Come on; they were just joking..."
"Were they?!" she lashed out. "They're always trying to humiliate me!"
"You know that's not true. They just have a stupid sense of humor."
She squeezed the railing until her fingers started to hurt. She just failed to get used to his friends. "In your eyes, they never do something wrong."
"And in yours, they never do something good! This is just what they do with birthdays. When I turned sixteen, my brother gave me a stripper. I didn't like it either, but they just think it's fun."
She heard the annoyance in his voice and closed her eyes. She didn't want to argue again. Lately, it seemed all they could do, and it was always because of his brother or his best friend. Even when celebrating her birthday, she no longer felt comfortable.
Again, the door opened, and someone came to stand next to her. At first, she thought it was Jordy, but she saw Mateo leaning against the railing when she turned her head to the side. He held out an envelope. "Come on kid; you thought that was all? You gotta grow up, girl. There's no reason the panic about a rubber. It's better to have too many of 'em than too little." He winked. "And they don't expire within five years, so there's no need to rush."
Her cheeks heated up. For the first time, he wasn't pushing her to have sex. Juan's hand glided in hers and he gave a squeeze. If June was frank with herself, she wasn't sure what she was waiting for. She just thought it was scary, even though she trusted Juan. It felt as if she would give a piece of herself away without knowing how it would affect her life.
"This, however, expires within a month," Mateo continued, reminding her of the envelope in his hand.
She opened it and took a few printed papers from it. Tickets. To Florida. Confused, she looked up to Mateo, who showed her a wide grin and gestured to look at the other papers. She glanced at the other paper and saw two tickets for the Walt Disney World Resort.
Her eyes shot to Juan, who looked as stunned as she felt.
"This—this is super expensive," she stammered.
"Ah well..." Juan's older brother pushed away from the railing until he was standing across from them and laid his hands on their shoulders. "You two need this. A few days with just the two of you."
June was speechless. Especially after the words she'd just spoken about Mateo, she felt her cheeks burn with shame.
After a squeeze in their shoulders, Mateo let go of them, turned around, and went back inside. A little confused, Juan and June stayed behind.
"I'm sorry," she muttered to her boyfriend. "For what I said about your brother."
"It's okay." He kissed her cheek. "He never ceases to surprise me either." He wrapped his arms tightly around her. "But I can't wait to go there together."
June looked over his shoulder, smiled and kissed his lips.
Neither could she.
