This is a story I am going to worked on with a new friend of mine. This is an alternative version of his story "Love, Life & Regret". In his story, he introduces Juniper Lee's adopted brother Chris, who was adopted by the Lee family after his original parents were killed. Well, this story begs the question: what if his parents weren't killed? And more importantly, what if June has found a love instead of Marcus? Read on and find out!
Chapter 1: Two Paths Begin
Funny how fate can changed sometimes. When a person's path is determined, he or she has go down that path until death. But if another path is made for them, different results will resulted. Take Juniper Lee and her adopted brother Chris.
Juniper Lee is the Te Xuan Ze, the protector of the balance between our world and the magical world. Chris, like I said, is her adopted brother who was adopted by her family after his parents were killed by an evil devil named Rage though he didn't know she was Rage until years later. Despite some tough times, June and Chris have a close bond together, yet not of the romantic kind due to Chris's adoption. In the love department, June has a crush on a guy named Marcus while Chris is in love with one of June's friends named Jodi.
Well, in another universe, in another time, June and Chris exists but different things has occurred. We shall see how things turned out differently and how their bond turned out differently. The story begins at a younger age...
Years ago...
The car door closed behind her as her parents drove off. Her first day of school and she had to face it all alone. Four year old Juniper Lee made her way past the other kids saying their goodbyes to their parents to see a blonde haired girl with pigtails talking to a girl wearing all grey and black. The other girl’s hair was a mix of purples and pinks and she seemed more annoyed than anything. Juniper approached and timidly said hi. The girls turned to look at her and smirked. Juniper was two feet tall with shoulder length raven black hair and a single pink strand. She wore a blue skirt with a pink top and had a brown bracelet on her left arm.
“Hi, my name’s Juniper, what’s yours?” she asked in a squeaky voice.
The blonde girl grabbed her and pulled her into a hug while laughing hysterically, “I’m Jody! I’m so happy to meet you, wanna be friends?”
The other girl huffed and slammed herself down on the steps leading up to the door. She said her name was Ophelia and then huffed again informing Juniper and Jody they could hang out with her as long as they didn’t cramp her style. She and Juniper shook hands, but she drew the line at hugs and pushed Jody away.
Behind them there was a loud crash as a bespectacled boy reached out from underneath a pile of trash cans. His beanie had pulled back to reveal his short brown hair and he stood up, trying to dust himself off.
“Ladies!” he yelled raising his hands into the air as if he hadn’t already drawn enough attention to himself.
He pulled his bike out from under the cans and walked it over to the bike rack while leaving a trail of trash. After he locked it he walked over to Juniper and the others and bowed informing them that his name was Roger. Unfortunately they only laughed at him and walked into the school.
Inside they walked up to a desk and were given their room assignments. By some strange stroke of luck, the three of them all had the same teacher and so did that bumbling kid, Roger. The three girls followed by the boy made their way down B-Hall to room 126 to a big red door with the name Ms. Mullins taped to the outside. Ophelia cringed when she saw the smiley face over the I.
“Oh great, a cutesy tutesy teacher. Just what I need,” she said opening the door.
Just behind the door stood another boy, but there was something different about him. His brown hair was cut extremely short, like a military cut, and he stood with an air of anger around him. He wore a red button down collar shirt and khaki shorts. As soon as June saw him, she suddenly felt something in heart and went googily eyed at him. She have never felt this way before. As Ophelia stepped in he walked to the back of the room and sat down at the farthest desk. The girls could only stare as he crossed his arms and laid his head down on his desk.
“Who is that?” Jody asked.
The other kids in the room shook their heads in puzzlement. Apparently he had just walked in and stood there waiting for a reason to sit down. June looked at him and sighs sadly. She felt sorry for the new kid. Who was he and why did he look so unhappy?
“Maybe I should go talked to him." June said thoughtfully.
"Not sure, June. I think he wants to be alone." Ophelia said looking at the boy.
"Yeah. He looks kinda...afraid." Jody noted.
Fifteen minutes went by and the first bell rang informing the students to take their seats. In total there were seventeen boys and girls with a variety of different styles. Some had blonde hair, others had brown, but only Ophelia had purple hair. Some of the girls would snicker when they looked at her, but would quickly look away when she gave them the evil eye.
“Hello class!” a short blonde haired woman said walking into class.
She was beautiful, for a teacher, and her blue eyes caught the attention of all the boys in the class. The fact that she was a woman and had an air of coolness around her gained the respect of the girls. She smiled when she saw she had everyone’s attention.
“My name is Ms. Carrie Mullins and I will be your teacher this year. I like sunny days, picnics, puppies, and spending time with my students. It’s my goal to have fun with all of you while teaching you something,” she paused and smiled, “and now, I’d like you all to share a little something about yourselves. Each of you will stand up and tell all of us your name, what you like to do, what you don’t like to do, and what you want to be when you grow up.”
A long haired boy in the front of the class started and everyone laughed when he got to his dislikes. The same was true for most until it was Ophelia’s turn.
“My name is Ophelia and I hate everything that’s bright and cheery. My likes are nobodies business and when I grow up I wanna rock!” she yelled air guitaring one of her favorite rifts.
Ms. Mullins thanked her and then asked Jody to introduce herself.
“Well, my name’s Jody and I like everything and everyone, there’s really nothing I don’t like, and I when I grow up I want to be someone people like,” she explained smiling.
Next up was Juniper, “My name’s Juniper Lee, but you can call me June. I like hanging with my friends, listening to music, and playing my guitar. My dislikes…well I don’t like it when my big brother picks on me or when I have to change my little brother’s diapers,” everyone laughed at that, “when I grow up, well I don’t know what I want to be.”
Ms. Mullins was surprised. Juniper was the first one to say that.
“Well, June, that’s okay, you have a long time to decide what you want to do,” she said before motioning to the boy in the farthest desk.
The boy stood up and bowed his head, hiding his eyes, “My name is Chris, I don’t like much and there’s too much I don’t like. What I want to be if I grow up isn’t anyone’s concern,” and with that he sat down leaving the other students stunned and Ms. Mullins more than a little concerned.
June looked surprised. She wondered what's wrong with him. How could he have such a dark disposition? For one thing, Ophelia would probably get along with him. For this reason, though, June felt the need to stare at him trying her best to pay attention but she turns once and a while and sighs at Chris.
The day continued without much event, except for everyone laughing at the jokes and tricks of Ms. Mullins. She would do magic tricks between each of their subjects just to lighten the mood and show everyone that she was going to hold to her oath of having fun while teaching.
As the class finished its final math problem another bell rang informing them it was time for lunch. They all cheered as Ms. Mullins led them outside and had them form a circle under the big oak tree in the recess field. They each had different lunchboxes depicting different TV shows, cars, and, fantastic scenes. Juniper had a Batman lunchbox which brought some inquiry, but she didn’t mind. Jody’s was a Barbie and Ophelia’s was a black metal box. At the far end of the circle leaning up against the tree sat Chris. He had no lunch, but he didn’t seem to mind. That is until Ms. Mullins asked him to follow her. The class ooed as she led Chris behind the tree and kneeled down in front of him.
Placing a soft hand on his shoulder she asked, “Chris, is everything okay? Is there something you want to tell me?”
The young boy looked away and lowered his eyes, “There’s nothing wrong, I just don’t care. I want to be left alone.”
Chris’ head shot up and his eyes went wide. Turning to look her in the eye, she pulled him into a hug. Chris was surprised, but he returned it and then buried his face in her shoulder and cried. The teacher smiled and whispered into his ear that everything would be ok. He didn’t have to be alone and he didn’t have to be afraid of what anybody thought.
Several minutes passed and then finally the teacher and young boy stepped out from behind the tree hand in hand.
“Everyone, I think Chris would like to reintroduce himself, right?” Ms. Mullins asked looking down at the nodding child.
“Hi everyone, my name is Chris and I’m… sorry for what I said earlier,” he managed a smile, “I like to read and play with my toys and big dog, but I don’t like it when my mom makes me eat green beans and when I grow up I’m gonna protect the world!” he finished, laughing.
The other students were once again stunned. Some of them laughed, others went back to eating their lunch, and Chris bowed his head again. He could feel those dark feelings welling up inside of him again, but that was when it happened.
“Do you wanna sit with us?” June said as she got up and walked over to him, hoping that he'd accepted.
Chris’ eye lit up as he walked with June over to Jody and Ophelia. They all smiled as they introduced themselves and started talking. The young boy smiled the rest of the way through lunch. He had made some real friends and they liked him, even if Ophelia was a little weird.
They were walking back to the classroom when Jody turned to Juniper and nudged her. The little Chinese girl then spoke up and asked Chris the most important question to any four year old…
“D’you wanna be friends with us?”
The little boy beamed and nodded his head happily. The four laughed as they sat back down. Everything had worked out. It was only Juniper’s first day and she already had three friends. She couldn’t wait to tell her parents. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, she knew it.
And, hopefully for some reason, something more as she smiles at Chris giving him the googily eyed look and love in her eyes.