Junebug
On a warm sunny day in June, two loving parents welcomed their daughter into the world. They named her Malia Rose. Malia grew up with her older sister Sage and her dog, Daisy. Everything about summer brought her joy; the sun, the flowers, the beach, the bonfires, and so much more. Her favorite month though was June, not only because of her birthday, but because it was the starting month of summer. Although she hated school, the last weeks of school in June were the best, no homework, and last day of school parties. She loved opening her pool on the first of June every year. For this, her older sister nicknamed her “Junebug”.
Malia was so excited for this coming June. It was her senior year of high school, she was going to be turning eighteen, and she was planning on having the best summer ever. Malia had been planning the summer of her eighteenth birthday since she was ten years old. She planned to spend it with her lifelong friends, Aries and Leah, at the beach house. She planned on leaving for the beach house right after graduation was over and staying the entire summer. She dreamed of this and talked about it endlessly with her friends.
After their graduation ceremony, Aries, Leah, and Malia left for the beach house. It was a two hour car ride, but the night was warm and the stars were shining, so they made fun out of it. They screamed their favorite songs and danced so hard, the car was shaking. The girls arrived at the house and picked which rooms they would stay in for the summer. Malia picked the room with a big window, so she could look at the ocean when she woke up every morning. Everything was so blissful, school was over, and June had started.
The girls spent the first week on the beach, sunrise to sunset. They had permanently smelled like the salty waves, they had sand everywhere, their skin was burnt to a crisp by the sun. But the girls didn’t care, they were having the time of their lives. Malia had learned how to surf and she discovered she was a natural at it. She loved being in that space with no responsibility. Then, she saw a beautiful human surfing the waves. He had blonde hair, the prettiest smile, and eyes that matched the water.
Malia pointed him out to her friends, and they jokingly waved him over. As he approached, Malia got butterflies in her stomach. What was she going to say? What was he going to think of her? “Hi my name is Aries, and this is Leah and Malia, we’re staying out here at Malia’s beach house for the summer”. He looked directly at Malia and said “my name is Lance, it’s very nice to meet you all”. Aries looked at Malia and tried to get her to invite him and his friends over for a party at the house, Malia hesitated before saying, “We’re having a little start of summer party tonight at my place if you and a couple of friends want to come”. Lance looked at her excitedly and said “sounds fun, we’ll be there”. Malia automatically felt a connection with him, she wanted to see where the party would take their relationship. Everything was perfect.
The party led to a loving friend group. They spent every waking moment together, surfing, laughing, swimming, and having fun. Malia had started to develop feelings for Lance and Aries and Leah were trying to convince her to tell him. Everything about Lance was perfect; he was sweet, caring, cute, a surfer, and loved summer just as much as her. Malia was scared to tell him because she was afraid he didn’t feel the same way about her. She loved being around him and she wanted to push the friendship further so she decided to do it the next day.
Malia was terrified but she thought to herself “everything else has been exactly how it’s supposed to be so far, so how bad could this be?”. The time had finally come, Lance had arrived at the house. “Hey Lance”, started Malia, “this may be weird but I need to talk to you about something really important”. Lance looked at Malia concerned, “anything, what’s going on?”. Malia’s voice started to shake “I have a crush on you, well, I’ve had a crush on you for a while now and I just-”, Lance cut Malia off, “I like you too, but this wouldn’t work because you’re only here for the summer”. Malia hadn’t thought about that part. She wasn’t really sure how to feel.
Malia decided to call her sister, Sage, for some advice. Sage answered on the first ring and after an hour of conversation Sage said, “do what makes you happy Junebug, we support you no matter what”. Malia was thinking about what made her happy; June, the beach, Lance, her friends, and summer. She had so much to consider though, her family was two hours away, she had no job, her friends were going back home in a couple of weeks, and her dog was home. She decided to sleep on it and come to a decision in the morning.
When she woke up the next morning, Malia ran to the beach to find Lance so she could tell him the news. She ran up to Aries and Leah, “have you guys seen Lance anywhere I have to talk to him right now”. “He’s out surfing” said Aries. Malia ran and grabbed her board. She spotted him out in the waves and paddled out to tell him. “Lance! Lance! Meet me in the middle!” yelled Malia. Lance and Malia stopped next to each other and Malia told him right there, “I’m staying here permanently, I don’t care what my future looks like anymore as long as you’re in it”. They were so happy they nearly fell off of their boards. Malia thought to herself “everything went as planned”.