Finding June (29 page)

“Personal space bubble,” was all she said,
making me hug her tighter for a moment before releasing her.

Candice was really my only girlfriend. Xani
didn’t count as a girlfriend because she only hung around to get to
Joseph. Candice, on the other hand, was an actual friend. We rarely
hung out without Joseph, Ryan, and Benjamin, but it was nice to
feel like even though I was going away to school and leaving the
show, I’d still be their friend. It made leaving less difficult
when I knew I had something worthwhile to come back to. And of
course, Joseph felt blessed to be able to hang out with Ryan and
Benjamin, who played his favorite characters on
Forensic
Faculty
.

“If you get bored with the whole school
thing, make sure you come back. We’ll get Bates to bring you back
on the show,” Ryan said, his deep blue eyes crinkling at the edges
as he smiled. He was sporting a bit of a five o’clock shadow these
days, making him look much more "leading man" than the "witty
sidekick" his clean-shaven baby face had made him. Even though he
was still on the show, he had been picking up more and more roles
lately, finally getting the recognition he deserved.

“You’ll be the first to know,” I promised,
pulling him into a hug. He held me tightly for a moment longer than
I thought he would, and kissed me on the cheek as we pulled
apart.

“He’d better not be the first to know,” I
heard Gran say behind me. I turned to face my eccentric,
flame-haired grandmother, who smiled, obviously resisting the urge
to cry. “If anyone is hearing about your return to the great city
of Hollywood, it’ll be me,” she said, shooting Ryan a mock
threatening look. He held up his hands in defeat.

“You win, Annette,” he said. “I can live with
second in line.”

“Everything’s all packed up and ready to go,
Button,” my dad said next to me. I hadn’t even realized he and
Joseph had managed to stuff everything into the cobalt blue and
white (and rust) VW Bus.

I turned and faced my dad, trying to memorize
everything about him. I already barely saw him on a regular basis
because he lived in different states (and sometimes countries) most
days out of the year. But now that I was going away to college, I’d
see even less of him. His dark hair had gotten grayer over the
years and he wore glasses now, but his brown eyes were the same as
mine and our smiles were identical. I didn’t think any amount of
time apart would ever erase our similarities.

Joseph, who had just finished saying his
goodbyes to his parents and herd of siblings, walked over to join
the group.

“I love you, Dad,” I said as my dad gathered
me into a warm hug.

“I love you too, Button,” he replied, kissing
the top of my head and making me feel like I was far too young to
be setting out on my own.

“Keep in touch,” Candice said as I hopped
into the passenger seat and rolled my window down. She realized,
then, that she had said something vaguely friendly and instantly
corrected herself. “Ryan will probably jump off a cliff or
something if you don’t.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at Candice.

“He didn’t deny it,” Benjamin pointed
out.

“I’ll miss you guys. But I’ll be back for
Christmas, so keep Ryan away from any high places until then,” I
said seriously.

“Will do, chief,” Benjamin said with a
salute.

Joseph and I waved our final goodbyes as his
new (to him) car pulled out of the neighborhood and on to
everything that lay before us.

Chasing June Coming Soon!

Copyright © 2012 Shannen Crane Camp

All rights reserved.

Published by Sugar Coated Press

Discover other titles by Shannen Crane
Camp

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Nathan Lee and Aaron White: Thank you for
being my on-call film consultants.

Lizzi Relins: Thank you for being the one who
made sure I knew English and British are not always synonymous.

Jackie: Thank you for . . . everything.
Editing, making me a clay sculpture of my characters to keep me
motivated, helping me with the titles, coming up with possible
titles for a baseball book we’ve never read, and looking at
10,000,000 pictures of people in sunglasses to find a cover I
ultimately didn’t use.

Jolene Perry: Thank you for answering my
endless stream of questions on everything in the world and knowing
how to do . . . well . . . everything.

Cindy Bennett: Thank you for your endless
help with navigating the world of publishing. You’ve been so
awesome and our book signings are always full of candy and
happiness, just like a book signing should be.

Janet Swenson and Haleh Risdana: Thank you
for teaching me the beauty of well-executed injury makeup.

Every film teacher and film student I’ve ever
worked with: Thank you for giving me random terms like C47 to throw
out there so I look like I know what I’m talking about.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shannen Crane Camp was born and raised in
Southern California, where she developed a love of reading,
writing, and anything having to do with film. After high school,
she moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, where she
received a degree in Media Arts and found herself a husband in
fellow California native Josh Camp. The two now call Utah home
permanently (although they can’t be kept away from the California
beaches for long).

Shannen loves to hear from readers, so feel
free to contact her at
[email protected]
or visit her
website for more information:
http://shannencbooks.blogspot.com