Page 106 of Shine For Me

“We’re not stopping,” I snap. “Can everyone just shut up? River, are you trying to drive slow on purpose?”

“He’s driving the speed limit,” Rose says calmly. “Let’s take some deep breaths, okay?”

I glare at my older sister. “I don’t need your yoga instructor hippie bullshit right now, Rosie.”

She scoffs. “Yes, Fox. Telling you to breathe is definitely hippie bullshit.”

“Why the fuck did I agree to let you all come?”

“You agreed to let us all come because you love us and you needed our emotional support,” River says.

“Or because we wouldn’t stop bugging you,” Ash says. “One of the two.”

“I still think you should have done something special for her,” Violet says. “It’s not too late to stop, you know.”

“We’re not stopping.”

“But she got us such thoughtful, personal gifts for graduation!” Violet argues. “Which means she probably likes that kind of thing.”

“Vi kind of has a point,” Ash says. “You could get her a book, like she did for us. Something special.”

Maybe they’re right. Maybe I should have done something special and over the top for her. That’s what one of the characters in our movies would have done.

No,I tell myself. June doesn’t even like movies. She likes shitty reality TV shows because she thinks they reveal a glimpse of a life she’s not brave enough to try for. June has been searching for something real for years. I just need to show her that our relationship can be that—something real. Something that lasts.

“June doesn’t need a present,” I tell the twins. “She just needs River to hurry the fuck up.”

“I’m a responsible adult now, Fox,” my idiot older brother says. “I’m a business owner and a father. I drive the speed limit.”

“Well I miss the old irresponsible you who got speeding tickets every other month.”

His phone rings over the car’s sound system and Everly’s face appears on the touch screen in his center console. “Do not answer that,” I order, then turn to Violet. “She was still gone when we left. Does she know where we’re going? Did you tell the group chat?”

“Maybe,” she says, and I groan. Great. So Everly is definitely calling for updates, or to beg us to come back and get her, so she can be here to witness my pathetic attempts at a romantic gesture.

“Don’t answer, River.”

“Have you ever met our cousin?” he asks. “If I don’t answer she’s just going to call back. Over and over and over again.”

Sure enough, the ringing stops and then almost immediately starts up again. Everly is relentless.

“Fine,” I groan. “But don’t let her talk you into going back for her. This is taking long enough as it is.”

“Hey,” River says once the call has connected. “What’s up?”

“Are you with Fox?” she asks, her voice high-pitched and a little breathless. “Am I on speakerphone?”

“Hi, Lele,” we all chorus.

“Oh my God, I’m so glad I caught you,” she says. “You need to pull over right now.”

“We’re not pulling over. Fox is very eager to get to—”

“River,” she barks, her voice far sharper and more authoritative than we’re used to hearing from her. “Pull over. June is on television right now, and Fox is going to want to see this.”

“June is on television?” I ask, fumbling for my phone. “What’s she doing on television?”

“Giving an interview,” Everly says, breathless now. “I just talked to her personal assistant—”