"June?" I felt something on my shoulder, shaking me softly, "June, wake up. We're here."

I didn't want to get up - it was too soon. The sleep I received was definitely not enough; it was as if I just closed my eyes forty-seven seconds earlier. I let out a groan, but I meant to say no.

Faintly, I heard a sigh. "June?" I couldn't bother responding. "Come on - as much as I enjoy hearing you snore, we can't stay in the car."

With that being said, I cracked my eyes open. "I snore?" I murmured, slightly groggy. I would have been embarrassed about the unfortunate sleeping habit, but I was too weary to really care.

Forrest raised a brow, like he expected me to know already. "Yeah, and really loudly as a matter of fact. At first, I couldn't believe the sound was coming from you."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha. Thanks."

"You're welcome," he bothered to reply and cleared his throat. "Anyway, now that you're awake, we should get going." He opened his door; I did the same. "Ivy is probably in her room, on her laptop or something. My parents aren't home right now so it'll just be the three of us."

"Fine." I got out of the car, stealing time to stretch. Exhaustion still weighed my body down, but instead of complaining, I decided to keep quiet and examine where we were.

In front of me, I was surprised to see that there was a one-story house, which greatly differed from my two-story one. Slapped with auburn paint and topped by a roof missing a few shingles, it had definitely seen better days. Although it was modest and tired, it wasn't too bad - not at all. There was a porch with a black, steel railing and three windows bordered with a white tint. The door was wooden, a pane of leaded glass built in. Overall, it was interesting that this place was what Forrest called home. I never would have known. I wondered how old it was, how many years it spent standing.

"Nice place," I remarked and Forrest thanked me. He started walking towards his front-door, but I lingered behind.

Around us, there were other residences similar to his own along with several large trees. However, nobody was outside, which struck me as strange. Where I lived, there was always someone out and about - from kids playing to people walking their dogs. Here, nobody was doing anything. It was peaceful - maybe too peaceful.

"June?" I heard Forrest call out and I could tell that he was silently wishing I would hurry up.

"Go ahead," I waved him off, "I'll be there in a second."

Even from afar, I could see the hesitation running through his features, but ultimately, he nodded and left.

I exhaled heavily. If truth be told, I just wanted a little moment to myself. Forrest and I hadn't been separated once since we encountered each other earlier - and it wasn't necessarily a problem - but I just needed a few minutes alone. As much as I appreciated his presence, I needed some space.

Eventually, once I finally felt ready to join him, I allowed my feet to take me to the front-door. Twisting the knob, I entered and paused. I didn't realize that I was holding my breath until I released it, seeing that there was no one around.

The moment I stepped inside, it occurred to me that I was in the living room. There were two stone-colored couches on opposite sides of the room, a coffee table between them. A few books and a couple of newspapers rested on the glass surface. Off to one side, there was a small, black entertainment center supporting a flat-screen TV. Photographs hung on the daylight-lilac walls and in one corner of the room, there was a down-bridge lamp. Straight ahead, there was an opening that led to the kitchen; adjacent to that was another opening that introduced me to a hallway.

I inched closer to the framed pictures, blinking in the sight of a younger Forrest. In two of them, he was with - a couple who appeared to be - his parents, plainly overjoyed. It was the first time I ever saw his smile so uncontrolled and carefree. His parents were lovely - I could make out the resemblance between him and his father; they both had the same glowing, green eyes. On the other hand, his mother was the one responsible for his dark hair color and facial structure. Compared to her husband and son, Forrest's mother was relatively short; the two males towered over her easily.

In one other picture, I examined a girl who had to be Ivy. I raised both brows, surprised. When Forrest called her pretty, it was a bad understatement. It seemed like the shot was taken recently because it had better quality - not faded or grainy like the others.

She was wearing a toothy grin, her lips glossed. Her eyes - despite being dark brown like her mother's - were gleaming, rimmed with black eye-liner. Her long hair seemed like it had been straightened, every strand in place. Forrest told me she was only sixteen; I wondered how she'd look in the future.

The sound of a door shutting followed by quick footsteps was what made me step away from the photographs. My gaze instantly met Forrest just as he entered the room. "Hey," he breathed out, "I was wondering where you were."

"Sorry," I muttered, giving a tight smile, "I was just looking around."

"Oh, it's fine," he cleared his throat, "Anyway, just follow me. Ivy's waiting." He turned around, heading back into the hallway, and I walked tentatively. "I told her that you're a friend who ran into some trouble," he explained, "Really vague - she probably has a hundred questions, but you don't have to answer anything. Oh, I also told her to find some clothes for you to borrow."

We stopped in front of a door. Forrest looked at me before lifting a hand to knock. I heard a muffled come in and with that, he opened the door.

Walking inside, I glanced around, taking in the sight of the bedroom. The walls were powder-blue; on the right side, photographs and posters were taped up and beneath them, there stood a dresser and a study table. Multiple items were scattered across both - from books to make-up products to CDs. Ivy's bed, which was rather small, was in the center of the room; over it was a window, allowing a bright light to spill over everything. I nearly smiled at how there was a brown stuffed dog resting on one of her pillows, the only childish article existing. Finally, on the left side of her room was where her closet was; it was fairly large with two sliding doors.

Ivy was on her knees, digging through her clothes. "There you are," she muttered before grabbing a hold of a yellow v-neck shirt. When she noticed us, she stopped what she was doing and rose to her feet.

"Oh, wow, hey!" she enthusiastically greeted, walking closer to me and Forrest. I was surprised to see that she was much taller than I thought - a few inches below me. There was no trace of make-up on her face now, but she still looked rather attractive. She wore green shorts that showcased her fairly long legs along with a white top. "You're June, right?" Before I could answer, she - in a friendly manner - added, "Not any of the other months?"

It didn't take me long to understand what she meant. I usually disliked it when people made a joke out of my name and this was no exception. However, I didn't want to come off as a person with no sense of humor so I forced a weak laugh.

"Uh, yeah, I'm June," I eventually replied, my lips twisting into a small smile, "It's nice to meet you, Ivy."

She examined me before she said, "Well, Forrest, go take that shower now. Let me spend some time with your friend alone. She must be exhausted from being with you." Was this how having a sibling was like? It was oddly amusing. "Well, why are you still standing there? Go," she waved him off, impatience running through her features.

Forrest huffed, tossing a glare her way. But then he turned to me and his expression grumbled: See what I have to deal with?

"I'll try not to take too long," he told me and then looked at his sister. "Ivy, you better behave or else," he warned, "Make sure June's fine."

"Yeah, yeah," she frowned, "You don't have to threaten me. I'm not going to do anything wrong." Just as Forrest walked out of the door, she asked me, "Isn't he annoying?"

Before I could reply, Forrest called out, "I heard that!"

Rolling her eyes, Ivy went around me to shut the door, but before she did, she retorted, "I'm glad your ears work." I couldn't help but grin at that.

Now that it was just us, I wondered how the next twenty minutes would go.