Wild at Heart

June opened the gates and they followed her, driving the four wheelers to the back of the yard. The sun was now starting set, but the temperature was still high and everybody was drenched in sweat, mud and water.
They had ridden through trails, strolling down Cypress Creek, with its huge cypress trees. They drove by the crystal creek, which babbled over rocks and slipped down tiny waterfalls as it made its way to the Blanco River.
The terrain dipped and rolled, showing the vast countryside and vineyards and as soon as the vehicles made a sharp left-handed curve and passed by a classic turn-of-the-century home, the road revealed the beautiful Blanco River where the ancient cypress trees towered over the water, their roots reaching directly into the liquid and their sweet scent filling the air.
They reached a low-water crossing and June took the chance to pass them all, speeding up and soaking Johnny with the splatters from her four wheeler. He groaned and cursed, but everyone laughed and suddenly they were all circling him up, the water and mud hitting him from every direction.

“Come on guys, that’s not funny anymore!” He tried to dodge from the splashes. He took a glimpse at Zacky, who was the person closer to him, and jumped at him, making him fall on the muddy floor and soon everybody was mud fighting.

June knew it was almost dinner time just by staring at the sunset, she had learnt to tell time just by the sun’s position.

“Dinner will be ready soon,” She informed as the hungry faces stared back at her. It had been a quite extenuating afternoon. “We just need to do something first.” They watched her going to the garage and dragging a hose outside a few moments later.
They all shouted in surprise once she directed the cold water towards them. Holding it, June laughed with amusement.

“Come on boys, you didn’t think you were going to walk inside my house with your clothes like that.” Their angry faces only made her laugh even more. “It was either that or getting naked.”

“With that I can only assume that you’re going to get naked,” Matt replied making everyone laugh, even June.
Brian took the chance to run towards her and, even before she could realize, he grabbed the hose and drenched her, the sudden cold sensation making June inhale deeply and loudly. Everybody mocked at her while she removed her hair from the front of her face, her eyes piercing Brian’s.

A few hours later, everybody was at the table having dinner. The night had settled in and outside the tree frogs and crickets had a vocal competition. The curtains blew softly as the warm breeze went by the big kitchen’s windows.
They talked as they had dinner, about everything and anything at all, laughing at the each other’s jokes, and anyone who walked outside June’s house, something that didn’t happen that often, could hear their laughter and cheerful talking.

June was outside, sitting alone on the back porch while everybody was inside watching some movie that was on tv.
She liked being alone, she had gotten used to it over the last couple of years and now that the house was once again full of people, she treasured the few moments she had to herself.
As if he had read her mind, Zacky appeared at the porch, taking a seat on the stairs next to June, but as furthest away from her as possible.
She kept on staring at the horizon and doing her best to ignore his presence.

“Is everything okay?” June snorted once he opened his mouth.

“Of course everything is okay, why shouldn’t it be? The past is long gone and we’re all friends again right?” She showed sarcasm in every word.

“Look June, I know that what I did was wrong, but that was ten years ago, you just can’t…”

“Stop it.” She interrupted him. “I don’t give a rip why you left and I couldn’t care less about the reason you never talked to me again, when we had…what we had.”

“But that’s exactly why I need to talk to you.” His voice was getting louder.

“No!” She shouted. “I don’t want to hear your explanations. They mean nothing to me!” She got up and so did he, taking a grip on her arm and yanking her closer to him.

“We’re going to have to talk about this eventually!” His tone was demanding.
Johnny appeared at the door, looking surprised at the scene that was taking place right in front of his eyes, like those two were about to get into a fight at any second.
June looked at Johnny and swallowed hard, tugging her arm from Zacky’s grip and going inside.

“Good night Johnny.”

***

Summer vacations…could there be anything better for a teenager than that?
June was wearing her black bikini underneath a white summer dress, her fingers fidgeting on the front porch handrail as a sign of her anxiety.

“Mom! I’m going for a swim with Zacky!” She yelled once she saw a car pulling over by the gates.

She heard her mom yelling back something about not coming home too late before jumping down the porch stairs and walking towards Zacky’s car.
The ride was short but the sun was starting to set and it was safer to ride than to walk at this time of the day.
They got out of the car and June ran towards the swimming hole not caring if she was still wearing her dress. Zacky laughed hard and watched her jump to the water, breaking the silence that involved that place.
Over the last few months they had grown closer together and right now it seemed like they had been best friends forever.
The blue hole had become one of their favorite spots, perfect for night swims, when the tourists were gone.

“Come one Zacky, the water is warm!” She yelled while he walked closer. He started taking off his shoes, but June pulled him by his shirt hem, making him fall into the water.
June giggled and then yelled once he didn’t come to the surface and she felt something pulling her legs. She knew that it was Zacky and she desperately tried to get rid of his grip, squealing and laughing loudly. However Zacky was stronger than her and that was a game she never won. He pulled her underwater and when they came to the surface she slapped his arm playfully.
He stared at her, a wide smile across his face, and everything was silent again. Then, like both knew what was going to happen next, he placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her.
***

June awoke in a sweat from the dream. She lay with the bedcovers in a tangled mess around her, and her heart beating wildly. She looked around the room, her unsteady breath making her sit up. She pushed open her bedroom window and drank in deep breaths of air.
She didn’t like dreaming about the past, especially when it involved Zacky.
She exited her bedroom and walked downstairs, making her way to the fridge where she stood before the open door in an effort to cool down.
She wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but opening the fridge had become something that she was used to do when she went to the kitchen in the middle of the night. She closed it and scratched her back, her bare feet thudding against the hardwood floor as she made her way to the living room. She turned the tv on and stood motionless for a few seconds, her face going blank while she stared at it without blinking her eyes. She usually zoned out when watching tv; something that bothered her mother a lot, she could scream at June but she still wouldn’t budge.
She heard something thudding upstairs and the stairs creaked slightly. She turned the tv off and peeked outside the living room door, seeing nothing but pitch black. Used to the noises of her house, June headed to the kitchen again.

“Hi…” Brian appeared at the kitchen door and June’s heart skipped a beat. How did he get to the kitchen without her noticing him?
“Did you want to watch porn without having us around?” He asked bluntly.
Her lips parted and her jaw dropped. Surprise had taken over her not only because of his question, but also because he had scared her by appearing out of nowhere.

“Are you always that shameless?”
He seemed to think about it for a while. June opened the fridge once again and scanned its interior.

“Only when I’m awake.” He flashed a wicked smirk and walked right between June and the fridge.

“What are you doing downstairs at this time of the night?” She asked as she tried to ignore the fact that his right arm almost touched her breasts as he leaned to pick up a beer from inside her fridge.
Brian glanced at the oven’s watch after opening the beer. It was almost 4 in the morning.

“Couldn’t sleep.” He took a sip from the bottle. “And I’m guessing you’re having the same problem, or did you really wanted to watch porn?”
June rolled her big blue eyes and closed the fridge. Her black hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, with a few strands in front of her face, but she didn’t care. She yawned and stretched herself while she walked towards the living room. She sat on the sofa and Brian followed her, turning the tv on. There was absolutely nothing interesting on tv. She groaned and turned her body upside down on the sofa, placing her legs where her back should be and vice-versa, her hair touching the floor.
Brian couldn’t suppress the laughter and June stared at him like she was doing an ordinary thing.

“What?” She shrugged. “I like watching tv this way.”

He took another sip of his beer and sighed. “You remind me of someone…”

“Who?” She quickly sat up straight on the sofa.

He stared at his empty beer bottle for a few seconds and silence quickly settled in. June didn’t want to ask again, she sensed that it was a delicate subject.
“Jimmy…” He mumbled once she turned her attention to the tv. She darted her attention back at him, a confused look on her face.
“He was our drummer…” He showed her a small smile and placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. “He passed away and…” Brian stopped for a second.

“Oh I’m so sorry Brian…” She thought about holding his hand, but she decided not to. “I didn’t know that.”
She was being honest. During the whole time apart from Zacky she never knew much about him or his friends or how he was doing in life and, even after they arrived at her house, she still didn’t know much about them.

“Anyway, he had black hair and blue eyes just like you, and he loved to do stupid things like watching tv upside down or chasing ducks.”

June laughed. “He sounded like an amusing person.”

Brian’s smile grew bigger. “Yeah, he was something else.”