Bucket Lists

June Iparis could not believe she actually got caught.

It must have been Garrett Forde. Out of every one of her clients, he is the easiest to break. She knew that, when she had managed to convince him to pay her 40$ for the essay he hadn't even started. That was her business. Kids left and right paid her to do their homework, and she made easy money. She is stealthy, having learned how to write in different writing styles and make convincing mistakes so it looks like it was written by the actual students. She's jumped failing students to honor roll, and managed to keep herself in the honor roll the entire time. At Drake High School, she's a prodigy, being able to be a manipulative, dishonest star student, and everybody knew it. But of course, all good things come to an end. And that's how she finds herself in detention after school, in room 2A, with only one other student in the room.

At the moment, the tension in the room is as high as could be. June uses the end of her pen to scratch at the surface, drawing a triangle, anything to distract herself. Though she knew it was only Garrett's paper that landed her detention, she also knew that if they ever found out about all the other's, she'd be expelled. Not even her hotshot lawyer brother, Metias, could be able to pull her out of it. She glances at the other student, a tanned boy with floppy blonde hair. He seemed indifferent to any of this, his feet on the desk and chewing a pencil, screwing around with a tiny wire. He catches her eye, and she glares as his lips curl into a smirk. Just as she is sure he's about to open his mouth, Ms. Jameson walks into the classroom.

"June Iparis," she announces, her gaze flickering to the star student, "And Daniel Wing. You're both here for breaking school rules, and this is how you'll pay your time. Ms. Iparis, since this is your first offense, this won't go on your permanent record-"

"Bullshit." the other student coughs. He grins when Ms. Jameson stops sharply and turns to him, her eyes gleaming like daggers, "But hey, you're not wrong, Ms. Jameson. Go ahead with the usual spiel."

"Mr. Wing, one more comment and I'll be talking to your parents personally. " Ms. Jameson snaps, and when Daniel merely shrugs, she sighs and continues. "Both of you will be staying here until 5:30, completing the task I am to give you."

She turns her back to the students, and picks up the white board marker. With quick, scrawled writing, she writes "BUCKET LISTS." Underlining it, she uses bullet points to write the guidelines to the assignment.

"You two will be writing things you would like to do with your life. As much as this sounds ridiculous, you two will find how your goals in your life will be affected by the actions of today. As much as you think it won't matter, colleges and universities will look at your records, and this may be the deal breaker for them. Even if you have perfect scores, Ms. Iparis," she pauses, glaring at June who looks rather bored with Ms. Jameson's speech, "Universities want perfect students who won't cause trouble. And Mr. Wing, some universities won't even consider you, with your records. So, you two will be here 'till 5:30, writing and you'll be handing in your lists to me by the end of the hour-"

A loud crash outside is heard, and the students and teacher both turn their heads simultaneously to the hallway. Ms. Jameson pauses in shock, before her mouth turns into a small snarl. She only gives them a scalding glare, warning them to stay in their seats, before pushing her sleeves up to her elbows and stomping out of the classroom.

June shifts awkwardly in her seat, before slowly reaching down and unzipping her black backpack. Pulling out her worn chemistry notebook, she rips a sheet of paper out of it, a blank one, and pulls out a mechanical pencil. Even if the teacher was gone, June is the girl who continues her work when the classroom goes to hell. She pauses, beginning to think of things she would like to do before she dies, but she turns her head, to see Daniel smiling happily. His smirk got on her damn nerves, and though she usually watches what she says, he has pissed her off to the end. His smirks, comments and everything else. There is just an air about him that made her lose her perfect temper and become very, very pissed off.

"What the HELL are you smiling about?" She growls, side glancing at him, not moving from her crouched position, "We're in detention! This'll go on our PERMANENT records and you're just going to sit there and smile?"

"Calm down, sweetheart," Daniel grins, "It's not that bad. Ms. Jameson knows if she calls the universities we're applying to, it'll make her and us look bad. They don't want the universities to know what kinda trouble they're taking, so she'll shut up. It's all hollow. Besides, a skip pop and a drop, and we're outta here. Care to join me?"

"Won't we get in trouble?" June asks, looking back at Daniel, his hand extended to her. She hesitates, staring at the pencil in her hand, and the empty one that is offered to her. "I mean, once she comes back..."

"Tess will make sure she's occupied," Daniel replies, urging her to take it, "Come on, Iparis. Live a little. Walk in the light, for once."

A moment of hesitation, before June stuffs the page with one sentence written on it into her backpack, shoves the pencil in her bag and takes his hand. A wide grin extends on his face, before he leans forward and undo the latch on the window. It slides open without a sound, and he climbs over the edge, and sticks his foot out, before hunching down and sliding underneath the frame and out of the classroom. June follows his example, and with a quick jimmy and a snap, the window shuts once more. When his feet begin to run rapidly, hers are quick to follow.

"So, Daniel-"

"Call me Day," he interrupts, as the two walk down Brigadier Bridge, the sun beginning to set across the wide river. They have walked away from the school, touring their reasonably large city. Spending their hours getting to know the other, stopping by small shops, Day watching as June would peruse through simple novels or strange, obscure objects from some television show he didn't know. Or June hanging about while Day talked to seemingly dangerous urchins, police officers and the occasional child who ran through the street, even buying a homeless man a pair of gloves. It seemed there was more to each other then they knew about, and though they had spent a good two hours together, they weren't exactly close. Not yet.

They pause, sitting on the wooden bench that allows viewers to look out into the river. The sun sets, the sky a beautiful canvas of different shades of warm and cool tones. Navy is the first shade, that slowly sets into purple, then a warm red, a beautiful orange and a bright yellow that is the sun. On either side of the river was a sloping valley of green trees and logs and small groups of squirrels were seen chipper and happy in trees, baby ducks following their mamas, and birds in v-formation, flying high across the sky. A picture perfect image from a story book. The two pause to stare in admiration of nature's beauty, "I like to think that every day is a new chance to live a little more. As you can see, I'm failing miserably."

"Not so badly as you would think," June chuckles softly, "Day...it's nice. Do you have a brother named 'Night'?"

She smiles at her own joke, but the mood on Daniel's face instantly changes from jovial to grim, a shadow cast across his face. Her smile fades and she shifts awkwardly in her seat, unsure if she should apologize or-

"His name is Eden."

"That's...a nice name."

"He's my youngest brother. 10." Across Daniel's grim expression, a cracked, if somewhat forced, smile is spread. "I've...look, I've got to go." He stands up, his actions no longer smooth and stoic, but gangly, disconnected. Strangely out of place.

June stands as well, stopping him by placing her hand firmly on his left shoulder. Though he is taller then her, he turns to her in shame, as though she is the one looking down on him. Through unsaid questions and uneasy stares, Day shamefully sits back down, June keeping a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him from running out on her.

"Eden...Eden is my youngest brother," he begins softly, "We...he's in the hospital. In...in a coma."

"Wh-What?"

"About two months ago," Day's tone rapidly speeds up, as though the words will fall out faster then the tears that are brimming his eyes, "We...my family, Mum...Dad...John..." His voice cracks, and he has to force himself to stop to regain his composure, "Eden and I...we were driving along the road. It was a decent day, lightly windy...I remember because Eden kept pointing out my hair that was messy...we were on our way back from the mall, when...when I looked up to see a car on the other side of the road beginning to drift to our lane..." He shakes his head, holding it in his hands, but June continues to wait patiently, until he is ready to continue. "I...I was about to yell, tell Dad...but John noticed before I did...H-He...he forced the car door open, and pushed me and Eden out of the car...his seat belt got stuck...and...I crashed into a post on the other side of the road...my parents and John were killed...and Eden's in a coma."

"I...I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault some stupid drunkard decided to fuck up." His eyes are brimming with tears, and they slowly fall down his olive face, one by one, while he sits there and lets them. "It's not your fault they're dead and if I don't get enough money to help Eden, he's going to die and I'll be alone with nowhere to go and-"

He's stopped when June's arms wrap around his frame and pull him close into a hug, burying her head in his shoulder. His arms are suspended for a moment, unsure what to do, before he melts into her, letting himself cry into her shoulder, letting himself let go, no longer having to be brave. His shoulders quiver as he cries into her, and June lets him, both of them needing this affection more then ever before. After a few more minutes, June slowly releases him, and they awkwardly look around, unsure what to say. But it was clear something had shifted between the two. They were no longer strangers on the streets. They were friends. Friends who helped each other when one was feeling distressed or angry. Something they both needed. Someone to be their friend when they needed help.

"...Thanks."

"No problem."

"So...you...you want to go out sometime?"

And perhaps, something a bit more.

"...Sure."