Page 140 of Call the Shots
“Uh,no,” Jillian interjected. “Okapis start with an O. We could’ve named her Ophelia or Odette or?—”
A slow smile crossed June’s face. “You have an animal named after me?”
“Not justanyanimal,” Jillian added. “Bear has this whole enclosure for her even though we could’ve put her in the rainforest one for the Asian elephants, butnoooo?—”
“I have it up!” AJ said with glee before I yanked away the phone, ready to end the call.
June grabbed it from me. “I have my ownwaterfall?”
“They’re not telling you everything,” I said, my voice strained. “You can only get okapis from other zoos. The better you treat her, the more likely you can keep her, and—yeah, I used your name—we live in the same dorm—I say your name constantly. It’s not that weird. It’s not weird at all!”
“A beautiful, rare animal is named after me.” June’s smile widened. “I don’t care if you picked it out of a hat.”
AJ pointed at the screen. “Look, Teddy made this cool sun rock for her.”
“She’s the only one in there?” June asked.
“Uh-huh,” Jillian confirmed. “She’s so rare, we can’t even buy her from the main menu.”
“Must be kind of lonely for her,” June said softly.
“Nope, her social engagement’s green,” AJ boasted. “That’s because Teddy visits her every day?—”
I slid June’s plate closer. If I couldn’t end the humiliation ritual, June wouldn’t go hungry during it. While my cousins talked about our zoo, I motioned to the food.
June nibbled a quesadilla. “I have my own okapi statue outside of my exhibit.”
“Shut up,” I said gruffly.
“I have my own islandinmy own lake.”
“Eat your damn food.”
CHAPTER 52
JUNE
THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN
When I sawMarrs in the distance, I breathed out a sigh of relief. I couldn’t wait to curl up in a blanket after the last twenty-four hours, but when we came to our dorm, Bear placed his hand on the small of my back and dipped down, his voice quiet.
“I’ve been thinking…” His hand drew away, leaving warmth where it’d been. “I want you to go to Fridge and Nick’s. I’ll put everything to get rid of in a box, and you figure out what you want to keep, okay?”
I was prepared to try when I felt better but I wondered how long I’d been doing that. How long had I been waiting to feel strong enough, just to keep putting it off?
Today I couldn’t do it. I’d get tangled up with memories and tell myself I could throw certain things away tomorrow, but that magical time tomorrow wouldn’t come.
Slowly, I nodded. “Okay.”
“You don’t have to get rid of anything you don’t want to,” Bear assured me, knocking on their door.
Before Nick could open it, Montoya burst into the hallway and enveloped me in an anaconda-like hug. “June!”
Wasn’t Montoya all skinny limbs and elbows? It’d only been a couple of days since I’d seen him! Maybe I didn’t notice thegradual changes. I hugged him back. “Where’d this muscle come from?”
He blushed. “Bear and I have a new workout schedule.”
“Don’t go dark on us again,” Nick warned me, welcoming us in. He chugged the rest of a protein shake and wiped his mouth. “I thought Bear was going to have a heart attack and die. Do you know how much stress that put me under?” He pointed to a faint line in his forehead. “This is because of you. A wrinkle.”
