Page 8 of Write Me For You

Emma cleared her throat. “Jesse’s cute.” I whipped my head to Emma, eyes wide. She leaned forward, laughing. “June, you should see your face.” She laughed harder. I couldn’t help but smile at her. When she recovered, she said, “It’s okay to think a boy is cute, you know.”

I was quiet as we closed the gap between the boys and us.

There was an instant comfort with Emma. Her personality was as warm as her smile, and I found myself revealing, “I’ve never had a boyfriend.

” I could see Emma look at me in my periphery, but I kept my face straight forward. “I’ve never even been kissed.”

Emma hugged me closer. “Well, June, I have only known you for the grand total of twenty-four hours, and I can tell you that the boy who steals your heart will be one lucky guy.”

My cheeks heated, and I tried hard to ignore the twist in my gut that told me a guy like Jesse would never look at a girl like me. I didn’t want to be crippled by insecurity on this walk right now. I just wanted to enjoy this glimpse of pretreatment freedom and make a new friend. “Thank you.”

“Now,” Emma said, “let’s talk about something that doesn’t involve boys. We’re strong, independent women, who have more to give to the world.”

“Okay,” I said, chuckling.

“Tell me about your friends,” she said, and this request hit me harder than the question about boyfriends. I was too quiet, and Emma noticed. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, and cleared my throat. I tried to think of what to say without sounding pathetic.

Shrugging, I said, “I don’t really have any friends.

” Emma’s arm linked through mine squeezed me tightly.

I felt too vulnerable to look at her. “I had lots of people I played with as a kid and spoke to in class, but no one I was really close to. Then after all the treatment…” I trailed off.

Emma was only quiet a beat before she said, “Those friends drifted off, stopped coming around so much, and moved on with their own lives while you were stuck in chemo-and-stem-cell hell?” I couldn’t have said it better myself. After I gave Emma a nod, she said, “Trust me, June, I get it.”

Some of my embarrassment ebbed. “You do?”

“I do,” she said and squeezed my arm again. “I did have best friends, but we grew apart when our lives took vastly different directions.” Emma sighed. “I don’t blame or resent them.” She gestured to her body. “It’s this damn disease I resent.”

“Who do we resent?” Chris asked, as he came toward us and moved between us to throw his arms around our shoulders.

“You,” Emma said dryly, and Chris backed away, pretending to look offended.

Warmth burst beside me, and when I glanced to my left, I saw that Jesse had fallen into step next to me. He was laughing at Chris, who moved ahead of us and walked backwards so he could look at us as he spoke.

“No, really. Who do you resent?” Chris asked again. I could see Jesse tossing the ball back and forth in hands in my periphery.

“Cancer,” Emma said. “You know, the disease that is trying to kill us all.”

“Ah, Mylo,” Chris said. When Chris was only met by a wall of confused silence, he said, “What? I gave him a name.” In a flash of seriousness, he added, “Depression hit me pretty hard in the beginning. Snuck up on me until I couldn’t get out of bed.

” Chris shrugged. “I started getting help for it which helped. Still do, though I have more better days than bad now.” Chris paused in thought, then said, “I like dark humor, it’s how I cope with things—so my therapist says—so I named my cancer: Mylo.

He’s not the best of guys, and I’m trying to get rid of him while he tries to kill me, but while he’s with me, existing in my body, he’s Mylo. ”

“I say this with the utmost affection, Chris,” Emma said, “but you’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met.”

Chris stopped walking and dramatically placed his and over his mouth, then dropped it to his chest, over his heart. “Emma…that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

I burst out laughing, as did Emma and Jesse. I wanted to bathe in the sound. It felt just as healing as the pain meds that lessened the aftereffects of treatment.

I liked Chris. And I more than admired the way he was so honest about his depression. It was admirable. I already adored Emma. And as for Jesse…I flicked my gaze up to him. He caught me and said, “You having a good time, Junebug?”

“I am,” I said. I truly was.

We rounded the corner and a playground lay before us.

Chris ran straight over to the swings and took a seat.

Five other swings made up the set, and we all sat down.

Emma was to my right and Jesse to my left.

I swung back and forth, looking out at the many acres of longhorn cattle.

The air smelled sweet, and the temperature wasn’t too hot.

“So, Chris?” Emma said. Chris was moving back and forward with a bit more vigor than the rest of us. “What were you like at school?”

Chris tipped his head to the side and said, “Hugely popular. The biggest ladies’ man that ever did exist. The best baseball player that the county had ever seen.” He shrugged. “But I try to keep humble about it.”

I giggled, and Emma threw her head back and laughed. Jesse shook his head but chuckled to himself.

“What?” Chris said to Jesse. “You don’t believe me, bro?”

Jesse held up his hands. “I’m not saying anything. I wouldn’t want to doubt the biggest ladies’ man that ever did exist.”

Chris rolled his eyes and smirked. “All right. I was pretty good at baseball, enough to get a scholarship to college. I had a few girlfriends, but every single one dumped me.”

“I knew it!” Emma called out.

Chris scowled at her. “But I liked school. I’m bummed that I won’t see out my senior year alongside my classmates. But I guess you guys will do.” Jesse kicked his foot into the shredded bark that made up the playground’s flooring, spraying Chris with it.

Chris dusted it off, then narrowed his eyes on Emma. “What about you?”

“Normal student. Band nerd. No enemies. It was all good,” Emma said.

“June?” Chris asked, and my stomach flipped.

I held my notebook tighter to my chest and stared at the ground. “Good student. Probably more reserved than you guys. But I liked school.” I felt my cheeks heating, but when I looked up, Chris was nodding.

He then locked eyes on Jesse. “Jesse?” Chris asked, smirking.

“No, I got this,” Emma said, butting in. “Hugely popular. And was actually the biggest ladies’ man that ever did exist. And really was the best football player in the county.”

I laughed at Chris’s expression as he took in Emma’s “betrayal.” But then his expression eased, and he said, “Yeah, that’s probably all true.”

When I glanced to Jesse, it was obvious by the look of embarrassment that it was all true.

But instead of agreeing, he said, “I’m a man of mystery.

I’ll just keep y’all guessing.” But I could see it.

I imagined Jesse was the most popular guy at his school.

And if my daddy had heard of him, he was clearly insanely talented at football.

And by just the effect he had on me, he no doubt had girls flocking to him.

We couldn’t have been further apart in social status if we’d tried.

“We’re quite the hodgepodge group,” Emma said, but her following smile was blinding. “And I love it!”

I looked to Chris, the humorous one; Emma, the loyal one; I was the book nerd and quieter one; and Jesse, well, he was the all-American boy with the magnetic smile.

“Let’s see what else this place has to offer,” Chris said, and jumped off the swing. Emma followed. I got off my swing, and Jesse fell into step beside me again.

“You like Emma?” he asked, tossing his ball.

“I love her,” I said. “I can’t wait to get to know her more.” I laughed at Chris and Emma walking ahead, Chris trying to trip Emma on the graveled path. “He was definitely the class clown,” I said and pointed to Chris running from Emma as she tried to get him back.

“One hundred percent, not the ladies’ man he wants us all to believe,” Jesse said.

A spark of jealousy rushed through me. “But you were?” I found myself asking.

Jesse turned to me.

“Mr. Popular?”

His head tipped to the side. “Popular, maybe, though it makes me sound like a douchebag to say that out loud.” Jesse turned before me, and I stopped dead. “But not the ladies’ man I think y’all believe me to be.”

I raised a brow in disbelief.

Jesse smiled wide. “A few girlfriends, max. I promise.”

My stomach tightened hearing that. I had no idea why—I had only just met him.

I shook my head as we started walking again. “I’m not sure we would have even spoken if we’d gone to the same school,” I said. “I was mostly in the library. I wouldn’t have even crossed your path.”

“I would’ve seen you,” Jesse said, and every word was said with conviction. I looked up at him and his face was serious. “I would have seen you, Junebug. Believe me.” But I didn’t—that was the problem.

A familiar sound came from behind me, and when I looked to where Emma and Chris were heading, I saw a field full of quarter horses. A smile spread on my face, and I rushed forward.

“June?” Jesse called out, then ran to catch up with me. When I rounded the corner, a stable yard came into view. It was both the most amazing sight and a punch to the gut. The stables were vast, all painted white, with an outdoor and an indoor arena for training.

I stopped next to Emma and Chris at the fence. I held out my hand as a skewbald quarter horse came toward me. I ran my hand down its face and kissed its nose.

“Horse girl?” Emma asked.

“Used to be,” I said.

Emma nudged me. “Maybe could be again.” She gestured at the stables, where we could see grooms brushing down and bathing horses through the large, open barn doors showcasing inside.

The thought of just being around horses again brought warmth to my heart. I forgot how healing they could be. “Maybe.”

Jesse patted the horse, and it walked away. I burst out laughing when he turned to me with a bewildered look. “What did I do?”

Chris laughed and carried on walking. Emma linked her arm with mine again, and Jesse walked beside us. As we left the stables and went to explore more, Jesse leaned down and said, “There you go, Junebug. As popular as you believe me to be, I’m not among horses.”

“Jesse!” Chris shouted, pointing at a barn filled with tractors and other farm equipment.

As Jesse headed off to Chris, Emma squeezed my arm again. “We may be the most random friendship group to ever exist, but we’re sure gonna be a fun one,” she said.

“That we are,” I said, and felt a moment of true happiness. We may have had a mountain to climb here at Harmony Ranch, but if I could climb it with these people, I thought that maybe it didn’t seem so hard.