Chapter 10
“Can I wear this?” She asked.
“Sure, but you need something under it.”
“No, Junie,” she gasped and rolled her eyes in response, “I was gonna just free nip it out there.”
“Aye, who knows, you might want to show off a little since you’re always complaining about how single you are!” Juniper teased. “Also, you’re being such a Taurus right now.”
“Taurus season, baby,” Wren laughed, and then proceeded to pull every bra out of Juniper’s top drawer.
“Just wait for Scorpio season.”
“Junie, no one waits for Scorpio season. Not even Scorpios.”
“Rude. Completely inaccurate. Whatever.”
“Oh, one thing I forgot to mention,” Wren said as she held up different bra choices.
She turned to Juniper and scrunched up her face, “I may have messaged Rowan to invite her…” Before Juniper could find the words to say anything, Wren quickly added, “Don’t be mad at me!
It’s my birthday, and she was my friend too.
And I’m trying to see what all the fuss is about. ”
“What fuss?” Juniper sharply responded.
“The fuss about how hot she got.”
The fuss? The fuck? Suddenly self-conscious and full of nervous energy, Juniper shot up and adjusted the French tuck of her oversized pale green sweater into her black mini skirt in front of the floor length mirror in her bedroom. She could not believe what she was hearing.
She had spent the last several days trying to process the conversation she had had with Rowan.
She hadn’t realized how much of that bitterness she had carried with her, sadness woven throughout her body that turned into resentment over time.
She also couldn’t have anticipated the somewhat uncontrollable release of other emotions she was feeling, or trying to suppress might be more accurate.
She felt a little volatile – she recognized that about herself.
So much for her declaration of remaining friends.
She tried to take a steadying breath, but her face went right back to how it was looking before.
“You’re looking like you want to know who the fuss is coming from. I know that face.”
“No, I actually do not,” Juniper shot back.
Wren cut her a side eye as she tucked the sheer shirt into her high-rise black jeans. “Are you still hung up on her?”
“What?” That came out a little more pointed and higher pitched than she intended. A little more like she was telling on herself.
“Oh my god you are,” Wren pointed out in one rambling breath. She faced her directly, former side eye turned into wide eyed blinking, frozen in the middle of tightening her belt.
“No, I am not.” Juniper tried to sound convincing.
“You sure, my little Junebug?” Wren lilted the question in a supremely annoying way.
“Let’s go. We’re already late. And for the record, we’re okay now,” Juniper said dismissively while bending down to re-tie her Doc Martens that were already perfectly tied.
“So you kissed and made up?”
Juniper’s eyes shot up to her cousin’s. The glint in Wren’s eye produced the same feeling in Juniper’s body as stubbing a pinky toe. Like it makes you angry because you should’ve seen it coming, but you didn’t. You literally walked right into it.
“Ugh, fuck off.” Juniper rolled her eyes.
“I’m offended,” Wren pouted.
“I doubt it.”
After getting into Juniper’s old Mazda and buckling their seat belts, Wren, who was apparently loving this upper hand she had on her older cousin, continued her teasing.
“Anyway, since I know you want to know, it’s Amber and Alyssa. They say she’s super snaggable. All sexy looking in a suit.”
“Ha!” Juniper’s sharp, incredulous laugh escaped her lips before she could control herself.
Snaggable.
Like Rowan would ever want to have sex with them. She and Rowan hated them in high school. Funny how easily they could forget they wanted nothing to do with Rowan. Now they’re interested once she has a successful career and some followers, maybe a little money.
Fucking typical.
“What’s funny? I like Amber and Alyssa. They’re cute anyway. You don’t think I should set one of them up?”
“They’re not her type,” Juniper responded tersely.
“Ohh, and you know her type? Who’s it? You?” Wren’s eyes sparkled again with mischief.
“You’re lucky it’s your birthday or my ass would be going back into that house.” Juniper tried to point a threatening finger towards the front door.
“Girlie, is your hand shaking?” Wren teased.
Juniper pretended to take a meditative breath and blinded herself by staring directly in the reflection of her car headlights bouncing off the dim-white of her trailer.
“Remember – it’s her birthday, and I love my baby cousin so much.”
“Meditate in silence.” Wren reached for the cord to plug in her phone. “I’m gonna turn up.”
After a thirty minute drive, they finally pulled up to Close Encounters, a bar in the neighboring town.
They were, of course, late to Wren’s own birthday celebration.
Juniper flipped down the mirror and watched herself press her lips together to smoosh around the peachy-nude lipstick she had to reapply after she finished housing a bag of hot fries.
Wren rummaged through her purse for chewing gum.
“Damnit, I know I put that new pack in here,” she cursed.
Not only had they left late, they were made even later after Wren insisted they stop at the gas station on the way to get some road snacks.
Wren, as the birthday girl she kept reminding everyone including the gas station cashier, wanted to pick up said hot fries, a hot dog, and a giant bottle of water.
Re-hydrate to de-hydrate they had said while cheers-ing their bottles.
“Here’s mine,” Juniper flipped the mirror back up and handed Wren the gum from the dashboard.
“My lifesaver forever and ever,” Wren quipped while grabbing a piece of gum and stuffing the rest of it in her purse. “No but seriously, I love you Junie.”
“Yeah, yeah, come on birthday girl. Let’s see which ineligible bachelor falls all over himself to buy you a drink first.”
“Do me a favor and beat them off me, okay? Six figures or no phone number.” Wren winked.
Juniper spread her palms out in the air to remind Wren where they were. “Think you’re setting yourself up to go home alone tonight.”
They laughed together as they got out of the car.
“Fuck, right.”
After they had their IDs checked at the door, Juniper’s eyes scanned the dark, crowded bar. She didn’t see anyone they knew at first, but she also knew they couldn’t possibly be the first people there considering they were almost 45 minutes late.
Wren made eye contact. “Really?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m just looking around.”
“Mmkay. Everyone’s in the back room in the bar games area. Let’s grab a drink first, lover girl.”
“You really are so irritating.” Either way, Juniper’s stomach tightened in anticipation the entire time they waited for their drinks.
“Crown and Coke all night for the birthday bitch,” Wren joked as she clinked glasses with Juniper before leading the way to the back room.
They crossed through the open casing and into a large open area with pool tables, darts, and some old pinball machines.
The room was lined with standing tables and large booths in the corners.
A few of Wren’s friends had hung a piece of poster board decorated with stickers and “Happy Birthday Wrenny Boo-Boo” handwritten across it above a large booth in the back corner.
The group yelled across the room and waved them over with various shouts of happy birthday, the birthday girl is here finally, and hey sexy.
“You guysss!” Wren squealed as she strutted across the open space.
Juniper followed at a regular, normal person pace behind her.
She quickly tried to take in all of the faces at the table before taking her seat at the end across from Wren.
A couple of Wren’s friends from her job at the Tribal education center were there, and a couple of their other friends, but no Rowan.
After saying their hellos, it was like Wren was reading Juniper’s mind.
“Where’s Ro?” She asked the group.
“She’s over there,” Wren’s best friend Kyle pointed with his lips over to the other side of the room. “She took her lady friend over there to show her how to play darts. Said she never played before.”
Lady friend?
Juniper’s eyes immediately shifted over to witness Rowan demonstrating how to throw a dart to another woman who looked on giggling.
Juniper’s stomach turned when she saw the woman flirtatiously reach out to touch Rowan’s upper arm and lean her body into her while laughing.
Rowan turned to the group’s table and caught Juniper’s gaze, which she held before finally averting when the other woman turned to see what she was looking at.
Juniper glued her eyes to her glass in front of her before draining the last half of it in one sip.
When Rowan and the woman came back over to the table, Wren, the ultimate social engineer, indicated with a waving hand to her friends on the other side of Juniper to scoot in.
Juniper looked up and saw Rowan standing next to her in a short sleeve button down shirt and black jeans that cuffed just above white high tops. Goddamn. All Juniper could do was turn forward and close her eyes for a second.
“Wren, happy birthday!” Rowan leaned over the edge of the table to give Wren a hug.
“It’s so good to see you, Ro. We missed you so much.”
Rowan’s eyes met Juniper’s before she looked back at Wren and smiled softly in response.
“You can sit there,” Wren insisted, pointing to Juniper.
Kyle, who was also one of the few other gay people they knew from their Tribe, piped up.
“Oh look all the gays together again, and at one table. Better be careful or they’ll throw us all out on our flat Indian asses.
Well except Junie, somehow you defied all the odds on that one.
” He widened his eyes at his next genius thought.
“Maybe all our asses got combined and given to you!”