Warning: This work has been rated 16+.
Juno
I walk into school at noon, expecting a full barrage of insults and snickers.
What I find are kind, sympathetic voices everywhere I turn. Sure, there are the occasional slut-shaming voices, but they are drowned by a sea of people who want to help me “cope.”
“It must have been so hard,” says one girl, Lisa. “To go from 20-20 to no sight at all?”
“You’re really brave, Juno,” says another girl, Phoebe.
“Yeah, to show up to school like nothing’s wrong?” chimes Kaitlyn, a girl from my math class. “That takes real guts, hun.”
All day, kind thoughts reach out to me from students and teachers alike. I begin to feel bad about yelling at Asteria. When she comes home, I’ll probably hug her. I’ve never been this popular in my life.
At the same time, I feel like puking from the overflow of pity coming my way. I think about this as Emma steers me to my locker at the end of a long, pity-filled day.
Ever since I decided not to give a shit about anything, I’ve really hated being pitied by people. Pity is another form of condescendence. And I hate condescending people.
And speaking of condescending people, I can hear Asteria’s friends approach from my right.
“Oh, Juno!” calls a high-pitched voice, like fingernails across pavement as an innocent is dragged to captivity.
Huh. That’s kind of like how I feel now.
I stop to let them come to me. Emma groans ever so slightly beside me.
“Hi, Lindsay,” I say.
“It’s Henrietta,” says the voice, losing the subtle sweet tone it had acquired just moments ago.
“Sorry,” I lie.
“I just wanted to say I’m so sorry about what happened with Asteria,” continues the wannabe-Asteria. “We really didn’t think this would happen.”
“Think what would happen?” A scuttering of laughter arises from a group of girls, apparently with Henrietta. Emma shoves some books into my backpack with more force than is really necessary.
“Oh, honey,” she says, lilting her vowels in a slight Southern drawl. “Don’t you know? Twitter is positively abuzz with the news of your r– what happened. People are saying all kinds of mean things about you.”
“Good,” I say, and I mean it. Anything is better than pity. Henrietta doesn’t get it, of course, because her brain is the size of Ben’s chances of walking again. Emma snorts because she knows what I’m thinking.
“Don’t you care that people–”
“You know what Henrietta?” Emma cuts in, standing up. “Juno actually doesn’t care. And you shouldn’t either. Maybe then you’d stop following her sister around like she’s Beyonce and actually grow a spine worth a damn.” Emma slams the locker and drags me out of the school to the car.
“Can we go to the hospital?” I ask.
“Sure thing, hun,” says Emma, imitating Henrietta’s obnoxious voice. I laugh for the first time since Friday. It feels so good. I roll down a window and hang my hand out the side as Emma plays some Sam Smith to drive to.
For a moment, feeling the wind across the skin of my palm, I can forget everything.
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125,009 Literary Works • 672,837 Reviews
When does the next chapter come out? I've been dying to read more!
Hi Your Highness!
Yay! I am all caught up again :3 I really need to stay up to date so I don't have to continue this catching up all the time...
I have to say, this is another brilliant chapter which is why this review might be a bit short-lived. I'm so glad to see that there are some normal people in the school who have a brain and know to give her some sympathy. I can understand how this over-pitying is driving her crazy, but I like to think Juno likes it more than receiving hate. I can believe that as well. As for Henrietta, she really is a nasty peace of work. She really did get a yelling at that she deserved. I think Emma is such an awesome friend for sticking up for her like that...
... but. I feel like Emma is always speaking up for her when the going gets rough. Emma was the one yelled at Ben and fended off the comments and sheltered her when they all first found out. She is the one dealing with Henrietta as well. I just feel like it would be nice to see a bit of Juno sticking up for herself, with her whispering angry voice and all. I know that it's nice to have loyal friends, but you can't ever prove yourself if you never speak yourself. And seeing as Juno seems like a pretty independent person even if she lets people help her out, I doubt she would let someone else fight her battles for her all the time. Just some food for thought. Let her speak up herself a bit more as well.
I was wondering how the teachers were going to deal with the news. In fact, I would've expected most of them to be professional and not mention it at all seeing as teachers are supposed to be proper and not listening to all that gossip. You did say some teachers mentioned things to her too, so maybe you could let us know what a few of those would be?
That's all I have to say. Keep up the awesome writing, and as always, let me know when you post the next chapter!
Deanie x
Hey! IamTraunt here to review this for you all the way from India!
Hee hee. You're the first person to get a review since I'm out here.
Okay, so Noelle has covered a lot of this, but still I think I'll give some other pointers. I agree with her when it comes to school. You say that she comes into school at noon, but surely she will have been in - what?- two or three lessons? So, that would have had some impact on her. I've read books where the main character has been distracted by something that keeps re-playing in their mind, which I think you should go into a little more depth about. Does she imagine the car crash? Does she imagine the rape? Does she imagine waking up in hospital not being able to see? All these could be on the mind of Juno but you don't open that up to us.
I like how you mention the whispers and the gossip about her and then how you contrast that with the kind words. Its a good reflection as you get to see both sides to it and both feelings from Juno about the whispers and the kindness. You give us the scene and then level it out with the thoughts, its a good balance. I was questioning a little - only because he's my favourite - where Frey was. I was wondering to myself, where is he? Is he taking the day off to give Juno space? I was just curious. Its not like its a big deal.
Spoiler
I was a little confused with this sentence. Did Juno stich her hand out of the wind? It didn't quite seem like something someone would say. Maybe if you put about the wind blowing through her hair or onto her face or even across the nape of her neck, maybe then it would make sense. But it is just a thought.
I like your character developments so, so much. You have improved so much that so unbelievable. I like Emma, she's a nice character. I think that because she's so loyal to Juno, it just makes you love her, she's just so lovely. Not to mention witty. You can believe in her and know that she's a reliable person who will stick up for you. This chapter is an example, for instance, when Henrietta is going on and on about The Incident and Emma just BOOM! Just shuts her up. That's a true friend. Which leads me onto Henrietta - even though she is a minor character and you hear so little from her, I could tell, I just knew that it was her when you mention high pitched voice. Snap! I just knew. And that's good because in such a short amount of time you've have accustomed me to her and I know her even if its oy vaguely.
Your character development is incredible! You should be proud, Royal!
Keep it up!
That is a wonderful chapter. Not very eventful, but wonderful. And Happy Birthday, by the way!
So, this chapter is sort of like something that helps to get off of the depressing side of the story. And as the the title says, I sigh. Finally, something happy.
Have I ever told you that I absolutely love Emma? She is always the person who understands Juno. I guess that's the way its meant to be but still. If Frey weren't the way he is I would ship FrEmma.
"Henrietta doesn’t get it, of course, because her brain is the size of Ben’s chances of walking again."
I just love this line. It conveys so much, from the level of Henrietta's intelligence to the sense of doom. I love it. And indirectly, it also tells us how much Juno cares about him. Not apparent but its there.
"Huh. That’s kind of like how I feel now."
I get it. I totally get it. Gosh why do such people even exist?!
All in all, perfect chapter. Wouldn't have vouched for anything more. Or less.
PS: Did you notice that in between chapter nine and 10, you jumped from spelling out the numbers to just the numbers?
Hi there!
I got here early this time ^_^
Just a small note here. You didn't mention that Emma was there before. I know that Emma is always there to help Juno around school, but it's always nice to make it completely apparent. With it the way it is, it seems that Emma just appears out of nowhere.
You just had to make that comparison, didn't you? *cries* Poor Ben.
Didn't they just get to school? Now they're leaving again? I find that a bit strange. Maybe tell us how Juno's day was. Did she pay close attention in class, hoping to forget everything? Did she not pay attention at all because she was too busy thinking about everything that had happened? I'd like to see a bit more about how her day went
I like this turn of events here! I was so sure that the second Juno walked back into school everyone would be mean to her like they were on Twitter. But now that I think about it, maybe all the tweets came from Asteria's friends instead of everyone around the school. It seems like they're the only ones who are being mean about it. Everyone is being so sweet and kind.
I give Juno a lot of props. I mean, here she went through all of this and she's brave enough to come right back to school. Personally, I would've hidden out in my room for the rest of the school year. I'm lame, I know. Anyways, I'm very proud of her. And it really shows how strong of a person she is. She hates Asteria (maybe not completely, but still), Ben is seriously injured, and twitter is all abuzz about her rape. That's a lot she's got on her plate there. Yet she can still go to school with her head held high.
This is a great time for a change of pace. Ever since the lock-in, things have been happening so fast. Everything was heading south in this huge downward spiral. But now we've reached a nice calm part of the story where things have had a chance to work out. Or at least, work out as best they can. And I think this is very needed. You've placed it well.
Meh, I had something else I was going to say, but I can't remember what it was! >< If I remember I shall let you know.
Keep writing!
**Noelle**