The two sisters lounged in the back of the SUV while Jason drove them to their destination. His hand still throbbed a bit from Jillian’s bite–-she really didn’t hold back. He knew bumping into her like that was a dumb idea. He was already planning to give Marco an earful later.

It was just another fifteen minutes from the restaurant to the massive amusement center. The parking lot was surprisingly full for a weekday.

“Well, here we are, ladies,” Jason said as he pulled into a spot near the front.

Opening the doors, the distant roar of gas-powered go-karts filled the air.

“Man, it’s been, like, at least ten plus years since I’ve been to a place like this,” Jillian remarked, squeezing her sister’s hand. June made a few playful hand gestures, causing Jillian to roll her eyes.

“Pfft sure, very funny,” she said, unamused.

Jason glanced over at the sisters. “What’s happening?” he asked casually, his hands tucked in his pockets.

“Oh, nothing,” Jillian replied, striding up to Jason with her sister in tow. “Just Miss Smartass over here, basically calling us old.”

Jason chuckled, glancing at June with a soft smile. She blushed and looked away, waving her hand dismissively while nodding towards Jillian, trying to show that she was just teasing her sister.

“It’s alright, June, I get it. You don’t have to worry about upsetting me. I can take a joke.” He reassured her as Jillian looped her arm through his.

“Enough chit-chat, let’s head inside,” Jillian suggested cheerfully, glancing between them and receiving nods in response.

The three of them stepped inside and were immediately bombarded with the sounds of different arcade machines blaring off around them in a chaotic mix of noise and music. There were a few younger kids milling about, as well as some older teens who were probably either ditching or maybe on lunch from the local highschool a few miles down the road.

As they strolled through the arcade, June seemed to cling a bit closer to her sister as they passed by a group of teenage boys, covering her ears as they shouted at each other. Jason noticed, but pretended he didn’t.

“So, what do you two wanna do first?” he asked curiously before they approached the cashier stand.

“What? We have to decide? You brought us here, so...” Jillian said, feigning offense, but June cut in before her sister could finish her snarky remark, eagerly pointing at the list of activities.

Jillian sighed as her plan to tease Jason was interrupted.

“What’s up now?” She asked, glancing at where June was pointing. “Ugh really? But it’s so boring,” Jillian complained about her sister’s choice. “Okay, okay,” she quickly relented, with just one look from her. “June wants to play mini-golf.”

“Thank you, June,” Jason thought to himself, nodding and smiling.

“I don’t think it’s that bad. Do you want to start inside or outside first? We can do both if you want,” he said, turning to smile at June. Seeing her simply point down for inside first, Jason nodded again before heading up to the counter. Jillian already seemed bored at the thought of golfing. But he bought them all a round of black light mini-golf anyway and the three quickly picked their ball colors and clubs.

They all went to the entrance of the indoor mini-golf where everything white on their clothes lit up purple under the black light. It had a pirate theme and was surprisingly a little spooky, but goofy enough to not freak out little kids.

“Mmmk, this isn’t too bad. It’s interesting, at least,” Jillian said as they kicked off their game.

They weren’t exactly pros, far from it really, but there were some fun moments. Like when Jason smacked the ball so hard it rebounded off the wall and hit a pirate robot in the head, almost hitting his own as it flew back. All while the girls cackled wildly. Or when Jillian got increasingly frustrated after missing an easy putt many, many times. And June? Well, she was taking it way too seriously. When Jillian tried to sneakily nudge her ball out of a tight corner, June got upset, stomping and pouting at the cheating.

“Okay, okay, I’ll put it back, chill out, little girl,” Jillian said, trying not to crack up at the tantrum, as she moved the ball back to where it was before.

As the three made their way through the courses, Jason and Jillian found themselves waiting for June to finish one of the longer ones. She was stuck and struggling. Her ball landed in a pit that required some skill to get out of. Jillian couldn’t help but laugh at her sister failing over and over again.

Meanwhile, Jason’s attention shifted to the curly-haired redhead beside him. He still wasn’t convinced that this whole golf outing was doing him any favors, but it wasn’t exactly a terrible way to spend his time. Glancing back at June, who was still struggling and getting increasingly frustrated, he felt Jillian lean against him. She rested her back against his chest, the scent of her shampoo filling his nose.

“Honestly, I was a little iffy about coming here, but it’s not too bad so far.” Jillian remarked softly.

There was a brief pause between them before he chimed in, “Yeah, it’s decent.”

Just as he gathered the nerve and was about to put an arm around her, June finally managed to sink her ball into the hole and started jumping with excitement. Jason adjusted, running his hand through his hair instead, while Jillian pushed off him to celebrate with her sister.

“So, what was that, like thirty or forty strokes?” Jillian teased June, and Jason let out a small sigh.

They only had about twenty seconds together before being broken apart. He was even more doubtful that mini-golf was truly the genius solution that Marco said it was. Though he was pretty sure Marco intended for them to have some alone time. It was tough for any actual progress to be made while Jillian’s sister was around. But he knew that if June wasn’t there, things would probably be just as awkward as they were in the store yesterday. Not that he didn’t like June; the opposite really, she seemed like a sweet kid.

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder the reason June refused to talk. She seemed capable of laughing, so her vocal cords were fine. But he was too polite to ask openly. After all, she could have had trauma like him that kept her from speaking. That thought alone was enough for him to keep his questions to himself. The memory of the two years he barely spoke at all back in highschool coming back to him.

The group reached the final hole, a short but hard course where your ball would disappear once you took your shot, whether or not you made it in, ending the game for you. June decided to keep her light blue ball and stashed it in Jillian’s purse. Jason and Jillian didn’t really care. They took their shots, missing the target, and watched as the balls vanished into a hidden pit.

“Well, that was fun,” Jason remarked, slinging his club over his shoulder as they left the course.

“Yeah not too bad.” Jillian said nonchalantly

After returning their clubs, they hung out in the arcade for a while. They wandered around, trying out different games that caught their eye. Not surprisingly, Jason was pretty good at most of them. His days spent playing games as a teen finally paid off.

Jason was by himself playing a random fighting game while the two girls went to the restroom. June suddenly dashed over to him, looking way too excited. She grabbed his arm, quickly trying to pull him along.

“Haha, what is this?” he asked, walking with June and glancing over at Jillian, who was waiting a short distance away.

“We found a game we want you to play,” Jillian explained with a smile, making Jason raise an eyebrow.

“Okay sure, I guess. What’s the game?” he asked, tagging along as June eagerly continued pulling him past a few rows of arcade machines.

“You’ll see,” Jillian said, still smirking.

And see he did when they reached their destination, where a bunch of teenage boys were taking turns on a punch machine.

“Ahhhh, I see,” Jason said, nodding, a small smile on his lips.

June’s eyes widened, and her smile vanished quickly seeing the boys hogging the machine. Quickly retreating behind her sister. The three of them stood a little way away from the machine, waiting patiently for their turn. The group of teenage boys saw them but mostly ignored them, engrossed in the game. They continued to swipe their play cards over and over, refusing to let anyone else play.

Jason, hands in pockets, observed as the group took swings with wild abandon, relying on wide swings for all their power. It wasn’t surprising that they didn’t know any better, but he quickly grew bored watching. So he took a step forward, only to feel small hands wrap around his arm. Jason looked back at June, who was trembling in fear as she held onto him, shaking her head vigorously. Jillian quickly stepped in to comfort June, pulling her back.

“It’s okay. Nothing bad will happen. You don’t have to go closer; we can stay here. Jason can handle it, don’t worry,” she whispered reassurances to her sister. June moved to cling to her sister, still visibly shaking. Jillian looked up at Jason and nodded that they would be alright.

Jason wasn’t sure why June was overly fearful of the boys. But he felt a surge of desire to protect the smaller sister. After locking eyes with Jillian for another moment, he approached the group of teenagers, trying to be friendly.

“Want some help?” Jason asked with a confident smirk. His form fitting gray t-shirt wrapped around his broad chest while the sleeves hugged his muscular biceps. The teenagers looked at him in confusion.

“Help? Like how to throw a punch or improve the score?” One of them questioned.

Jason shrugged and walked over to the punching machine, swiping his play card. “Both, I guess.” He said pulling down the punch ball.

He’d seen these machines before; it was like a magnet for fighters to show off. But he knew it wasn’t even close to the most accurate way to measure punching power. Especially machines like these, cheap children’s toy versions that weren’t even bolted to the ground.

The teenagers glanced at each other, exchanging light chatter, but most were eager to see what the bigger man could do.

“Do you do MMA? Have you ever fought before?”

Jason let out a sigh.

MMA had become so popular it was always the go-to assumption. Boxing seemed to belong to an older generation now, at least in the USA. Past whatever publicity stunt celebrities and youtubers were doing.

“Nah, but I’m pretty good at throwing punches,” Jason replied casually.

He glanced back at Jillian, who was rubbing June’s back as the younger red-head leaned into her sister, peaking out at him. Both their eyes were locked on him. Jason waved at them with a smile before turning back to the machine.

“The way you guys are throwing your punches, it’s like you are playing slap fight,” he said with a chuckle. “Sure, you’ll get some momentum, but it’s too easy for anyone to just block your swing and throw a cross into your face.”

Jason went on explaining the technique, emphasizing the importance of hip rotation and foot positioning for a more powerful punch. However, it was clear that the majority of the audience wasn’t exactly interested.

“So, you line up your lead fist with the target, usually with a jab, and that’s your range. When the bag comes into my range, I load up on my back foot and...” he said, more than happy with the current lack of enthusiasm. It made the next moment all the sweeter for him.

Jason inched closer to the punching bag until it just brushed his extended fist. With a swift twist of his hips while pivoting his back leg and foot, Jason’s right overhand punch connected with the bag, letting out a thunderous crack, startling Jillian, June, and several others nearby. The onlookers watched as the machine wobbled back and forth like it was about to tip over before settling. Unable to fully register the force of the blow, the points on the screen rose slowly. Despite the impressive display, he only scored in the midrange, much to everyone’s confusion.

“And to break the high score on this POS, all you gotta do is this.” Jason casually yanked the punch ball down again and smacked the machine’s underside with his palm. The score shot up to max almost instantly. The teenagers laughed and began excitedly talking among themselves, drawing a small crowd. Jason found himself bombarded with questions.

While all the attention was focused on Jason, June felt comfortable enough to separate from her sister. When suddenly she was approached by a boy who had been standing nearby. After mustering up some courage, he finally caught her attention with a small wave. She was instantly wary and moments from retreating back to her sister when something interesting happened.

“Hello, my name is K.y.l.e,” said this new boy to June, but he wasn’t speaking. He used sign language to speak and spell out his name.

June glanced at him, feeling a mix of surprise and concern. He seemed about her age, with medium length blonde hair that just grazed his ears.

“Sorry, if I startled you. I saw you using sign language earlier and got curious if you’re deaf as well,” he signed, way more fluently than June, his hands moving rather quickly.

She eyed him cautiously, noticing the tubes in his ears. Eventually signing back, “No, but I prefer signing.”

“So you can understand me when I talk?” Kyle asked, his voice a bit broken as he did his best to articulate each word. It was incredibly hard to master speech when you couldn’t hear yourself speak.

June nodded slowly, feeling her nerves settle slightly.

Kyle’s words caught Jillian’s attention. When she turned and saw the blonde teenage boy talking to June, her eyes lit up with intensity. She swiftly moved in front of June, like a momma bear with her cub.

“Excuse me, can I help you with something?” she asked in a harsh tone, folding her arms and shooting a stern glare at the boy who was nearly her height. Startled, he quickly took a step back.

“Oh, sorry, I was just trying to say hi,” he said, his speech rushed and sloppy this time, accompanied by hand signs. Jillian blinked in surprise, not expecting Kyle’s speech or sign language.

She signed back to him, using only gestures to communicate this time. “Sorry, but my little sister isn’t comfortable around boys. Can you please leave?”

Kyle looked a little shocked and hurt, but nodded in understanding, not wanting to cause any trouble. “Yeah, of course, sorry.” He said before turning around and walking away.

June quickly pushed her sister aside and gave her a glare.

“What? I’m just trying to help,” Jillian replied defensively, while June rolled her eyes.

June hurried to catch up with Kyle and gently tapped on his shoulder as he was walking away. Then introducing herself, “My name is J.u.n.e. Sorry about my sister back there. She’s super protective.” She kept her back towards her sister to hide her hand signs. This caused Jillian to scowl.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

After Jason finished with the crowd, answering the teenage boys’ questions and offering some minor coaching, he walked back to the girls. Confusion spread across his features, seeing June with a teenage boy and Jillian looking rather sour.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

Jillian grumbled like she was ignoring him at first before she finally snapped back. “She’s talking... to a boy!” she exclaimed, never taking her eyes off her sister as her tone portrayed some grand tragedy going on.

Jason just gave her an odd look. “Okay... and?” he said, wondering why it was such a big deal.

Jillian looked up at Jason, seemingly angry with him for not being more upset. Realizing he didn’t know the whole story with June, she let out a heavy sigh, then gestured for him to come closer. He gave her a very clear look of suspicion, trying to gauge if it was safe to come close.

She rolled her eyes at his reluctance. “I’m not going to bite you, you big wuss. Just don’t start bumping into me again.”

Jason felt embarrassment flood through him at this, feeling rather stupid about his earlier behavior.

“Yeah, I know. I won’t do it again,” he said with a sigh, shaking his head in embarrassment.

“We’ll talk about it later. Just come here already,” she urged, reaching up and grabbing his shoulder. She pulled him closer.

“Look, June went through some really hard times with some bullies in middle school,” Jillian began, noticing Jason’s incredulous expression, as if he couldn’t believe she was going to talk about June being bullied. The irony wasn’t lost on him, but he wasn’t happy that it happened to the poor girl.

“This is all secondhand, but apparently June was constantly harassed by this group of boys who kept telling her to shut up and things like nothing she did or said would ever matter. She’s always been pretty quiet and really shy, so she was an easy target that never reported them. Doesn’t sound too crazy at first, but it got bad fast. They started trailing her around school, hurling insults at her one after another, calling her names and mocking how she spoke. I’m sure it was worse than just simple insults, though. One day, June came home with her backpack torn up and most of her books had the covers ripped off. From that point, she didn’t say a word to anyone. She stopped getting up for school. And she hasn’t spoken a single word to anyone since, not even mom,” Jillian said, recounting June’s trauma.

Jason looked on sadly at the young girl, feeling a pang of empathy, having gone through almost the same thing. Being bullied into simply refusing to speak, though, June didn’t have the strength of will or reason to come back from such trauma.

Jillian watched Jason’s expression darken, like he was debating on something unpleasant. A sudden and intense fear coursed through her in that moment.

“J-Jason,” she quietly tried to get his attention, her words getting caught in her throat for a moment. He looked back down at her, a small angry scowl on his face from his thoughts.

Jillian could feel her heart thudding loudly in her ears as she felt his hard gaze pierce right through her, her eyes glistening slightly with unshed tears of panic. The fear that he might take what was most precious to her.

“Um, a-are you going to tell my sister how I used to bully you? I-I know it’s your right, but if you can just give me some time I-“ she started to stammer, trying to plead with him.

The thought of her sister finding out and looking at her in disgust, the way she was imagining, made her feel sick.

“No,” Jason’s voice cut her off before she could finish.

“No?” Jillian echoed, needing confirmation.

“No, Jillian, I’m trying to make peace with the past. Not bring more pain to those that don’t deserve it,” he explained calmly, his face shifting to neither a smile nor a frown, just his usual stoic demeanor.

“Don’t…. I… deserve it, though?” She asked, fear wracking her small frame as she gazed up at him with glassy blue eyes.

Jason took a long, slow breath, her words swirling around in his head for a moment. “Perhaps… but June doesn’t. I’ve come to realize that I don’t enjoy causing pain, emotionally at least. And I don’t want to hurt June… And I don’t want to hurt you, Jill.” His words hung in the air, and she looked up at him, their eyes locking together once more.

“He called me Jill…”

He was all ready leaned down a little so when Jillian suddenly grabbed Jason’s collar she easily pulled him in closer. Before he knew it, their lips were pressed together in a deep kiss. Once the surprise wore off and the pleasure started coursing through him. He reciprocated the kiss as she taught him, closing his eyes and parting his lips slightly to move with hers. All the chatter from the people around them and noises of the machines seemed to fade away as they kissed. His arms quickly wrapped around her waist and he pulled her tight against him. Their lips smacked softly against one another over and over again.

Pure bliss engulfed the pair, lost in their deep kiss. Though it felt like an eternity, it actually only lasted a few seconds before Jillian pulled away slightly, taking deep breaths like hers had been stolen. Her warm breath panted against his now moistened lips. When their eyes opened, they were still only an inch apart.

“Thank you,” Jillian whispered softly to him.

Jason sucked in his lips slightly, feeling like they had fallen asleep from how much they tingled. He just barely nodded to her before she let go of him and he reluctantly removed his arms from around her.

As Jason straightened up, he looked around them, seeing several teens watching with strange fascination and a few parents who weren’t too thrilled about the PDA they just witnessed.

When they turned to look back at June and Kyle, both of them were staring. June had a mischievous grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. She had expected this to happen sooner or later, and she didn’t seem displeased by the sight. Kyle, on the other hand, looked like he was frozen in place, his face flushed a deep red.

“Uh, excuse us,” Jason said, clearing his throat, then took Jillian’s arm and led them over to the teenagers.

Jillian recovered quicker than he did and resumed glaring at the blonde teen as they walked up.

“Are you going to introduce us to your new friend, June?” Jason asked with a small smile for the both of them.

June glanced at her sister, who seemed less than eager to translate at the moment. So, she gestured for Kyle to introduce himself. The blonde boy stepped forward, extending his hand to Jason.

“Hello, my name is Kyle,” he said in his slightly broken speech. “I can read lips, so you can speak to me normally,” he added.

Jason took Kyle’s hand and shook it firmly, relieved that the teenage boy seemed to actually have some manners.

“Nice to meet you, Kyle. My name is Jason and the grumpy one next to me is Jillian,” he said, earning a growl from Jillian.

“I can introduce myself, jerk,” she snapped at Jason before turning back to the teenager. “That’s my little sister you are messing with, so if you so much as touch a hair on her head, I will chop your—mmph!” Her words were cut off as Jason covered her mouth with his hand.

June rolled her eyes at her sister and grabbed Kyle’s attention. She signed something to him that Jason couldn’t decipher, but Jillian’s eyes widened in understanding. She struggled against Jason even more, who had his arm around her now. Desperately, she tried to pry the hand from her mouth.

“Relax, and I’ll let go,” Jason reasoned with the annoyed redhead in his grip, trying to keep her from biting him again, mostly.

She groaned, rolled her eyes, then reluctantly nodded. Jason released his hand, and she snapped at it as it moved away.

“Hey, you promised you weren’t gonna bite me again!” he exclaimed in mock offense. Well, maybe some real offense as well.

“She invited him to go golfing with us!” Jillian announced, sounding like it was something terrible.

“That’s what you were all worked up about? What’s the big deal? He seems like a good kid, and it’s just a round of mini-golf,” Jason argued.

Kyle was a bit shocked by the offer, glancing at his friends still goofing off by the punching machine. He looked over at Jillian who was busy arguing with Jason.

“Won’t that upset your sister?” he signed to June, who waved it off casually.

“No, don’t worry about it. She’s all talk, no action. Plus, I think Jason will keep her occupied.” June paused, making sure her sister couldn’t see her signs. “Truth is, she has a huge crush on him, but won’t admit it. I’m also pretty sure he’s been trying to get closer to her all day, but failing. So, I’m betting they’ll be too distracted to care one way or another.”

June’s words once again surprised Kyle, carefully glancing over at Jason and Jillian. He honestly thought they were already a couple. They certainly made for an interesting pair, but seemed close, especially after seeing them kiss.

He quickly signed back, “Well, if it’s really alright, yeah, I would love to.” Kyle blushed and waved his hands a bit, embarrassed. He’d used the wrong gesture for the word love. There were several ways to say love in ASL and he used one that was more for romantic purposes.

June giggled softly as he continued, “I’d really enjoy going out with you. I mean, joining you,” he hastily corrected himself in a mild panic.

She simply smiled and nodded, feeling oddly at ease around this new boy who seemed just as shy as she was. It was a very intriguing sensation, one she’d never felt before and couldn’t help but want to explore further.

June and Kyle waved the two adults to come join them. Despite Jillian’s grumbling, Jason took her hand and dragged her along. The feeling of him holding her hand helped tremendously. The four of them went back to the counter and bought a round for the outdoor mini-golf course this time.

As they headed outside and started to play, the weather slowly continued to get worse and worse. It wasn’t too bad the first few holes, but as they progressed through the course, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped considerably. June started shivering, so Kyle took off his blue zip-up hoodie and offered it to her. June blushed deeply at the gesture but accepted the offer, zipping up the hoodie around her, desperate for the warmth. Jason smiled slightly at the old-fashioned gesture. The boy had barely known June for an hour and he was already showing what kind of man he was. Jillian, on the other hand, was fuming at the sight, partially from protectiveness and partially because she was jealous she didn’t have a jacket. So she stood there, shivering in anger.

Jillian turned to Jason, who didn’t seem too bothered by the cold.

“I n-n-need your s-s-shirt,” she said, teeth chattering.

Jason looked confused at first. “Uhhh, no? I’m not giving you my shirt,” he said, eyebrow raised at the strange request.

“J-j-jerk, you b-b-rought me here so k-k-keep me w-w-warm,” Jillian countered, pressing herself against him for warmth.

That’s when it all started to make sense to him. The true charm of mini-golf. Jillian had to let go for either of their turns, but when it wasn’t, she almost ran back to him and spent most of the time with her arms wrapped tightly around him for warmth. It didn’t take very long for him to wrap his arms around her each time she sought his warmth as well. She would sigh happily as he did.

It was crazy that this seemingly benign idea of Marco’s was actually working. He was so not looking forward to granting his friend the obscene title he wanted. Then again, he ended up getting bitten following Marco’s other advice. So he decided they would call it even.

Jason glanced over to see June and Kyle engaged in lively conversation with their hands and exchanging laughs. He couldn’t help but feel pleased that their outing was turning out to be quite the success. Despite Jillian’s grumpiness due to the cold and her sister actually communicating with a boy her age.

June’s instincts seemed to be spot on when it came to boys, almost innately learning she could actually trust Kyle. Despite her trauma, or perhaps because of it, her radar was finely tuned to sense people’s intentions. Jason just hoped that Kyle was as genuinely nice as he appeared.

“Uggghh, this fucking wind!” Jillian groaned, clearly annoyed by the weather.

Before Jason could stop it, she tugged at his shirt and slipped underneath it to escape the biting cold. Her frozen fingers snaked around his body, making his whole body tense and his skin crawl in displeasure.

“Ah! Your fingers are like ice! What the hell are you doing!?” he exclaimed, arms out in bewilderment.

“Shh, I’m getting cozy. It’s not too bad here, really. It smells nice too. Maybe I’ll hang up a ‘live, laugh, love’ poster and move in. I wonder if my dresser would fit in here?” she joked from beneath his shirt.

“You’re absolutely nuts, you know that,” he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her despite his complaints. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but this really wasn’t the worst spot to be in.

The only semi-issue that popped up was, even through her bra, he could feel her hard nipples poke against his midsection.

Feeling himself getting aroused quickly, he chimed in, “Hey, Jillian, knock knock. It’s your turn now,” hoping to get a moment to contain himself.

“I give up, I’m not playing anymore. It’s too cold, I’m staying right where I am,” she announced without a second thought. They were almost at the last hole, and the wind wasn’t helping.

He had to admit he was getting pretty uncomfortable. Kyle and June weren’t faring any better, visibly shivering.

“How about we call it here and head inside? The last hole isn’t worth freezing for,” Jason suggested. Everyone agreed with a nod. He even felt Jillian rub her face up and down against him as she nodded.

They all went inside, but Jason found walking to be a challenge, with Jillian tucked under his shirt. To say that he felt embarrassed as people stared while he waddled along with her was underselling it.

“Okay, we’re indoors. You can come out now,” he said, trying to coax her out as people stared at the pair. Jillian grumbled and shook her head.

“Nah, I’m good. I think it’s nap time, actually, pick me up.”

Jason sighed in annoyance. The novelty was officially gone, and he wanted her out.

Shortly after they entered, a voice called out, “There he is!”

It was the same group of teens from the punch machine.

“Dude, what the hell, Kyle? We were about to leave your ass! If we didn’t need you for gas money we would have,” one boy, wearing a snap-back hat with a sticker on it, exclaimed.

“Just because you’re deaf doesn’t mean you’re retarded!” the angry boy added. “Come on, we’ve got to get back to school before the final bell rings.”

Jason and June exchanged concerned looks. The whole situation had taken an unexpected turn. So, the boys were really skipping class. It appeared Jason had overestimated Kyle’s maturity if he was ditching school to play games like this.

“I’m sorry, I just—” Kyle began, but before he could finish, the boy in the hat interrupted, mimicking Kyle’s speech.

“Im sowwy i juss durr.”

Though Kyle couldn’t hear the tone, he caught on to the mockery.

“Just shut the fuck up and let’s go, moron,” he spat, with more than a hint of irritation. Kyle’s head dipped a bit in shame as he was told off right in front of June. Jason couldn’t help but let a growl build in his throat before speaking up.

“Watch your mouth, you little twat,” Jason shot back at the boy in defense of Kyle, his patience already gone.

This grabbed the rude teen’s attention, turning to face Jason. He was about to shout back when he noticed a strange Jillian shaped protrusion in Jason’s shirt.

“What the fuck is that?” the teenager said, confused.

Kyle took advantage of the commotion to turn to June, who was visibly frightened by all the sudden yelling and insults. The presence of the group of his friends made her body shiver only with fear this time. He signed rapidly, almost as if his life depended on it, but then he remembered she could hear.

“June, I promise I’m not actually friends with these jerks. They just drag me along because my family’s well-off, and I have free periods. I am basically getting extorted. Please, you’ve got to believe me.”

June still looked very unconvinced. Kyle’s heart ached seeing the look of fear she gave him. He quickly backed up a little to give her some space, which seemed to ease her nerves slightly.

“Are you telling the truth?” she signed slowly, still afraid and not entirely convinced.

He panicked a little, trying to think of what might convince her. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet. Among a few credit cards and more cash than a teenager should probably have, he retrieved his student ID. It showed that he was a junior at Grove High and had free periods punched out for sixth, seventh, and eighth.

June eyed the chaotic scene before her, then looked back to Kyle and his ID, who was still trying to prove that he wasn’t actually friends with the others. But June frowned and shook her head.

“I can’t… If there is even a chance they are around…. I’m sorry,” she signed in slow, sad movements. She unzipped Kyle’s hoodie and handed it back to him.

He looked severely dejected as he accepted the hoodie back, draping it over his shoulder, and tucked his wallet away. His fists clenched tight as he groaned in frustration before making one last-ditch effort.

“I promise I will do everything I can to get these jerks to leave me alone. But I have never been able to talk to someone so comfortably like this before. I don’t want it to end here, June, I am sorry if I am being too forward but… can I maybe have your number or something to contact you again?” he asked as clearly as possible, his phone already in hand, desperation burning in his eyes.

June hesitated, torn between the rowdy backdrop of Kyle’s friends still being pressured by Jason and her own desire to not lose contact with the only boy her age that didn’t make her want to run and hide. She looked on the verge of a panic attack, truly conflicted about what to do next. She hesitated for several more moments before she gave him a single, meek nod. His face lit up, and he started putting in her number as she held up fingers for each number.

Jason was fed up with arguing with the group of bullies. They were way too confident in thinking he wouldn’t kick the crap out of them just because they were teenagers. He reached down and pulled his shirt up, revealing the redhead wrapped around his midsection. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he carefully extracted Jillian from his person.

“Tell my mom to pay my bail. Cause I’m gonna teach these little pricks a lesson they won’t soon forget.” His expression was deadly serious, fists clenched tight, as a vein throbbed in his neck. He put on an impressive intimidation display.

That was the moment the teenagers realized they had pushed a little too hard and ended up poking a sleeping bear that now looked ready to maul them. Like most bullies, their one weakness was someone who wasn’t afraid to fight back, and they all started to back away from the new threat.

“Whoa there, hold on Jason. Its not worth it!” Jillian called out as she got in front of him to try and hold him back.

“Will you little bastards just get the hell out of here? I can’t exactly hold him back.” She turned to growl at the group of teens. Her feet starting to slide as Jason took another step forward.

One of the boys suddenly rushed over and grabbed Kyle’s arm.

“Wait, no!” Kyle protested, feeling himself being dragged away. June got badly startled, flinching away as the other boy showed up.

“Just two more numbers!” he shouted desperately as he was pulled out of the door. The group of teens finally getting the hint and fleeing from the building. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked around, heart beating insanely fast.

June’s mind started racing with many thoughts, watching in a daze as Kyle was pulled away with the group retreating outside from a seemingly barely restrained Jason. Jillian was still holding him back in their intimidation display. But she didn’t have time to think about that.

It took her several long moments to decide what she wanted to do, what she had to do. Suddenly she dashed outside just in time to see Kyle struggling against the much bigger teenager who was pulling him away towards the front gates. It was hard to make out details from afar. There was no way he would see whatever she tried to sign anymore. He wouldn't hear her either, but maybe someone would?

June cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, “Seven, Four!” with a voice that was somehow soft and meek even while shouting. She barely even recognized her own voice as it came out. Shouting those two simple numbers felt impossible. Until she actually did it.

It was blurry but Kyle could see June putting her hands to her mouth like she was shouting. His eyes widened, planting his feet as he grabbed the other teen that was pulling him along.

“What did she just say?!” Kyle screamed at him. The larger teen simply scowled at him. Kyle groaned and rolled his eyes. “I will give you a hundred dollars if you tell me!” He watched the stupid look on the other boy’s face change to surprise. Seeing his lips move with the numbers seven and four, Kyle grinned.

Turning to look back to June and shouting, “Thank you!” before he was pushed into a large SUV with the group he was unfortunately with.

Jillian came running outside shortly after, tears brimming in her eyes, shocked.

“June...w-was that you?” she rasped out, her shaky hands reaching over and gripping her little sister’s. June took a long moment, but eventually nodded slightly.

Jillian burst into a bout of powerful sobs. The overwhelming joy wracking her body. Hearing June speak, even just two numbers, were the first words she’d heard from her since being reunited.

She wrapped June up into a tight hug, crying happily. June had taken a brave step forward in taking her voice back from the bullies that stole it so long ago. Jason slowly walked out the front doors, watching the scene with the two sisters unfold. He was grateful to be able to witness such a moment. Even if his new shirt had gotten stretched out by Jillian, seeing the two so happy was well worth it.