WRITER’S NOTE: Hey Guidesters! This is chapter one of another story I’ve been working on, but I won’t be writing anymore of it until my other story, “The Blame Game”, is over. That’s because I don’t have the time for both 😂 So consider this a teaser of things to come! It also shows off some of my lengthier writing skills. Also, the cover image is a picture of June. Hope you enjoy! 🙂 

BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP! June’s alarm clock blared one wet, dreary Monday morning. June reached to turn off her alarm and sat straight up with a big smile on her face. She grabbed her devotional book and started reading it. Most people would be kind of grumpy with that weather, let alone the fact that it was a Monday. But not June.

There was no kind of weather that could keep this girl down in the dumps. Fourteen-year-old June Joyner just had something special about her, like there was nothing in the world that could dampen her joy. After she finished reading her devotional, she sprung out of bed and ran to her closet to start getting ready for the day. “Ah, yes,” she said as she eyed an outfit. “My favorite dress!” She reached in and grabbed a yellow long sleeve dress covered with cream colored flowers. She quickly dashed to her bathroom and shut the door behind her.

“Alexa, play my “Dreary Monday Morning Jams” playlist on Spotify.” Yes, she was the kind of girl who could cheerfully get up on a day like that and even have her own playlist for it. As “Show Jesus” by Jamie Grace (her anthem!) played loudly, June got started with her morning routine. When she finished, she slipped on her dress and plugged in her curler. She just loved to curl those light brown locks of hers. “And last but not least, a flower.” She put a pink rose in her hair and gave herself one good look in the mirror. “Perfect.”

June then unplugged her curler and ran downstairs to meet her family for breakfast. “Well, if it isn’t the flower girl,” her older brother, Micah, teased. “Who’s getting married?”

“Stop it, Micah,” her dad warned. “No reason to cramp her style, now is there?” He leaned over and gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead. ”I think you look beautiful.”

“Thanks Dad,” June said with a smile that quickly turned into a frown for a split second. She didn’t like being teased about her style or cheerful demeanor at all. That was one thing that could bring her down at times. But she wouldn’t let it get to her today, for today was far too important. Today was her —

“First day of high school!” her mom shouted, coming into the kitchen. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m excited!” June squealed. “I feel so confident, like I’ve been ready for this day for forever!”

“Pff. You wouldn’t last a day in there.” Micah scoffed, biting into his breakfast, a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut.

“What, you think I’m not good enough?” was June’s response as she reached for a doughnut of her own.

“No, no, you’re just kind of like my doughnut; soft.” 

“That’s not very funny.”

“Oh look, you’re starting to tear up.” Micah started to laugh. Just then, June accidentally squirted jelly from her doughnut all over her dress, which only made Micah laugh even harder.

“That is enough!” Dad yelled.

“Oh, honey, please go upstairs and change. The bus will be here shortly and I want you to make a good first impression.” Mom sweetly requested. “Just reminding you though, you’re out of dresses, so you’ll have to wear-”

“I know, I know, jeans and a t-shirt. What else do I wear instead?” June laughed as she turned to go back upstairs and change, hoping the joke would mask from herself the pain of the previous events. Making a joke always seemed to help her get back into her usually cheerful mood until she could find something else to think about.

Five minutes passed and soon June was wearing a whole new outfit; a white button-up t-shirt covered in light pink roses and dark blue skinny jeans. She kept the flower she had put in her hair earlier though, because as a rule, she always had to have a flower somewhere on her person whenever she wasn’t wearing a floral dress. Why did she make it a rule? No one knows the answer to that question, not even June herself. It was just the way she preferred to keep things.