11 | June

Sam was smiling. After what felt like a long time to him, he was genuinely smiling - the kind of smile that you'd not want people to see, but even after fighting it, it doesn't go away and you're left with your lips turned up quite visibly. Sam didn't see a reason to stop himself from smiling, though. Even if he wasn't in his best mood, even if he did make things awkward from time to time with Charles during their small talk at lunch, for once, he'd talked to someone outside of his friend group and this time round, it went well. He really was looking forward to opening up little by little and be friends with Charles - he was tired of being the way he was. Just like June had told him a hundred times, Sam needed to socialize more.

Why did he want to be friends with me, though? he thought, genuinely confused. I don't have anything in me that would interest others. Nor do I have anything in me that people could look up to. So what about me drew him to sit with me of all people?

With similar thoughts racing his mind, he went over to his next class, which was chemistry. He liked the subject, a lot more than he liked physics, so he figured it would be pretty bearable. Fighting the urge to smile again, Sam got ready for chemistry period.

About halfway through the class, though, he started to get bored. Usually, him being shorter than most people, it was easy for him to sneak his phone out during class and not get caught since he would be able to hide himself well behind the tall people. He always texted June whenever he was bored and if June wasn't able to reply at the moment, he simply spammed a bunch of random texts that they would laugh at after school. The thought of June drew a small pout from Sam. Even if it had been only two days since they'd last talked, it felt like years to him, as they never went a day without at least a "gm" or "gn" text.

I miss you, Mr. 'you need to socialize more.'

Even if June said that for his own good, he couldn't help but laugh at his own joke.

* * *

After going back home and freshening up, Sam decided that he wanted to visit June. His house wasn't that far away - probably a ten minute walk from Sam's. Since they both were basically brothers, their parents didn't mind when either went to the other's house at odd hours of the day. He thought about leaving his house at 6 o'clock or so. He was pretty sure June was sick (hence the lack of texts) so he didn't want to wake him up in case he was asleep.

After changing into comfortable pants, Sam walked out of his room to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. He wasn't typically a 'foodie,' per say, but hey, non-foodies get random urges to eat, too.

He spent about fifteen minutes searching for something but declined all the food that was available.

I just want something sweet. Is chocolate syrup the only sweet thing available in our house? Disappointing.

"What are you even searching for, huh?" Kat questioned, annoyance clear in her tone.

"Why are you so bothered?" he asked back.

"You're making so much noise! I'm not able to study, you dumbass."

Sam, in turn, being the angel brother that he was, started making more noise by dropping vessels on the floor and closing the cupboards harshly. He looked over at Kat, who had a menacing look on her face, and smiled innocently. He continued his business by banging the fridge, saying "oops, sorry," in the most sarcastic way possible, 'accidentally' throwing down the vessels again, loudly singing - shrieking, actually - the Harry Potter theme song, when-

"Mom!!"

Sam ran out of the kitchen, back to his room, laughing quietly to himself. He then pressed his ear to the back of his door, trying to overhear his mother.

"Stop yelling, Kat! What is it?"

"He-" she stopped, after noticing that Sam wasn't there anymore.

"He what?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all, mom," she said, and Sam could hear her death glares. He could hear her mutter something under her breath, but couldn't figure out the words exactly.

"Don't yell like that for no reason, then. I didn't know what to think," his mother said.

"That brat," Kat exclaimed, "let him come out."

If Sam was honest, he was pretty scared of his sister. Despite being younger than him by four years and smaller than him by at least half a head, her hits and slaps simply hurt. Her bone-like figure didn't help his case either.

About half an hour later, his crave for sweet food died down. He decided to finish his homework as soon as possible so that he could go to June's house without worrying about his school work. Quickly taking out his books and to-do list, he saw that he actually had a lot of work to get done. After the previous days, the thought of procrastination didn't even make it to his mind. With his thoughts being only about homework and June, he raced through it. The next thing he knew, it was a quarter to six.

After stretching in his seat, he took his phone and got out of his room. Just as he opened his main door, someone grabbed him by his hair and yanked him back inside. And pinched his arm.

"That's for you getting me into trouble when you were the trouble yourself."

Kat released him from her hold and he turned back to face her. She smiled sweetly at him, as though nothing had happened.

"Going over to June's? Have a safe trip, Sammy!" she continued.

"You-"

"Aww, look at her, she loves you so much, Sam," his mother said, coming out of nowhere.

"Yeah, sure," he grumbled, "so much."

He proceeded to say, "Listen, June didn't come to school for two days, so I'm gonna see what's wrong. I'll probably stay over, so bye," he informed, waving to his mom while making his way out the door.

"Oh, okay. I hope he's not sick. If he is, wish him a 'get well soon' from me!"

He didn't know why people said that, as if it would magically strip people from their diseases. Nevertheless, he muttered a sure under his breath and made his way out of the house, quietly walking through the busy streets.

As he walked, he looked at the sky. Because of staying inside his room with the windows and curtains closed most of the time, he didn't get to see the sunset that often. But now that he could, he truly wished he saw it more often, because, put in simple words, it was beautiful.  He could see hues of orange and pink, and a hint of yellow that teased the corners of the clouds. He was no artist, but he could see the way the pink slowly blended in with the orange, creating a beautiful gradient and absolutely loved how it looked like it had been painted on clean canvas by someone who loved the sky. The sunset blossomed upon the horizon as if a million scarlet blooms ignited. It was mesmerizing and simply calming to look at. He felt himself walk with more ease and for once, the mere thought of anything negative was off his mind. Hands buried in the pocket of his sweatpants, he continued to walk, humming the tune of his favorite song, eventually finding himself in front of June's house.

He went in, closing the gates slowly so as to make little to no noise. June's family removed their shoes and socks outside the house, so he did the same and knocked the front door. No matter how close they were, barging into someone's house (even if that someone was your best friend) without knocking struck Sam as nothing short of rude. The door was opened not too long after by June himself, who dragged his grey blanket with him.

"I've told you not to knock, Sam," he said, voice sounding really thick, bags under his eyes clearly visible because of the pale complexion of his face.

Did he catch the flu?

"And I've told you how I think its rude," he countered.

June just smiled a weak smile and beckoned Sam to come in. And so he did. They went into June's house without another word and sat down on his bed, sitting in silence for a while.

"You weren't sleeping, right? I didn't disturb you or anything?"

"No, I wasn't, I just took my medicines. Since my mom went out, I lost track of time and had lunch just an hour back," he said, laughing to himself.

"...what happened, though? You just randomly didn't come and didn't even tell me," Sam said with a sad face.

"The usual. Fever. Cold. Sour throat. Though my throat is way better now. Even my fever, actually. Cold, though...such a pain."

"Yeah..."

They sat in silence once again. One thing Sam loved about being with June was that if they both stopped talking, the silence that enveloped them never felt uncomfortable. Something was bothering him, though, so he decided to speak up after a while.

"Why did your mom leave you when you're like this?"

"Oh, no, she was totally against it but I insisted I would be fine. I mean, I am fine. Way better than yesterday. So I told her to leave because she already took her day off yesterday. You know we're not that stable, financially, so..."

Right.

They weren't the most financially stable ever since June's parents divorced. And since his mother couldn't find a well-paying job all of a sudden, June worked part time, too. Sometimes Sam tagged along, if he didn't have anything to do.

"Oh, okay... but you could've called me. I was so worried yesterday, idiot."

At that, June laughed and said, "Hey, I know how to take care of myself. And besides, my mom was there yesterday, so why would I have called you? Sorry for not telling you, by the way, my phone switched off."

"That's fine... At least you're better now," Sam said, but narrowed his eyes when he looked at June properly and continued, "...or are you?" To check for himself, he placed a hand on June's forehead, which was warm, but Sam figured it was because of staying in for too long.

"I am, Sam, chill," June said.

"Okay, so... Can you listen to me while I talk? Is your head okay enough?"

"More than okay. So, what have you been up to?"

Sam then started talking about the last two days - his marks, his parents' reactions, his breakdown after the whole day. He hesitated and stuttered when he told June about Charles - how he was so ready to comfort Sam and even sat with him and listened to him rant. Then he proceeded to talk about how his day at school went on that day - "just the usual, meh" - and then, lunch break. He started stuttering again, words barely recognizable, but quickly told June about everything, even the phone number exchange. June hummed in response for most of it and waited for Sam to finish.

"Sam," June called, after a while, "why is your face so red? Were you both just as awkward as the other day and didn't know what to do?"

"No, no, it was actually nice... He even asked if we could study together or something, but I, just, blabbered something and lunch ended..." he said, and stopped for a while before proceeding to say, "I guess... we both can be friends..." He was talking to himself more than to June. Other thoughts surfaced his mind, but he immediately shook them off.

Not the time. Now's not the time. Shut up, brain.

"Is there anything else you aren't telling me, Sammy?"

"Huh? N-no." He was caught off-guard by the nickname that June hardly used anymore.

"Okay," June said right away, not wanting to ruin the mood by pushing Sam. He knew Sam would tell him everything on his mind when he wanted to, and how it wasn't good to force things out of him.

Another stretch of silence followed, before June's yawn broke it.

"C'mon, let's sleep," Sam said, "it was a long day."

"Hm, yeah," June agreed.

"Wait, what about dinner? I can cook. I'll make something for the both of us, be right back." Sam didn't even give a chance for June to open his mouth as he scurried away into the kitchen. June could do nothing but follow him out.

"Hey!! Go back in, you still have a bad cold and I'm not letting it get worse." Sam practically yelled at June.

"Okay, your majesty," he said, laughing to himself before going in. He could hear Sam singing, and was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to hear it, but hey, who would say no to some good singing? Certainly not him. Even if Sam insisted he was a really bad singer, and that it just became a hobby of his over the years, June thought otherwise. Sam really did have a good voice, it was just that he never legitimately sang. It was only at times like this June would actually get to hear him sing, even if it was just random tunes that came out of his mouth.

Not too long after, Sam came in with some food - bread toast with some coffee for June and tea for Sam. June needed something that his body would be able to digest properly, and at the moment, Sam couldn't find anything else in his kitchen.

"...Sam, it's not morning yet, why'd you make me breakfast?" June asked, clearly amused, because who ate bread toast and drank coffee as dinner?

"That was the quickest thing I could make. Eat it without complaining, Mr. Fever."

"I don't have a fever now, but okay."

They ate in silence. After they were done, June asked, "Okay so, are you gonna go home now or..."

"Hell no. I'm staying over."

"You'll catch a cold too, Sam, I don't think-"

"Shh. I don't care," Sam interrupted, placing his hand over June's mouth.

June, though reluctant, decided not to argue and made space for two people on his bed. Whenever they stayed over at each other's houses, they slept together on the same bed, no matter how small. They saw it as something sensible - why would you stay over at someone's house if you're going to sleep on a mattress on the floor, completely away from your friend? That was not a sleepover at all, and they both agreed with it.

Once they both switched into their night clothes, they got comfortable and decided to sleep.

"Good night," June whispered before turning his face away from Sam. He really didn't want Sam to catch a cold as he knew how easily he did.

"Good night," Sam echoed.

That was the happiest he had ever been for the past few days. Smiling, he scooted closer to June, wrapped his arms around him and softly whispered, "Sleep well, June."

* * *

I love writing about their friendship :(