Chapter 162: Towel-Snatching Scream
I shook my head instantly. "Hell no. You can’t be a bad person for kissing someone, Juney. That’s not how it works."
She pressed her palms to her face. "But I can’t stop replaying it. Every time I close my eyes I remember the way it felt. And I can’t believe I gave him my first kiss."
I tilted my head, squinting at her. "Okay but... did you kiss him because you were pissed about Ren and his girlfriend, or because of..." I raised a brow.
Her face twisted. "Ew. No. Don’t make it sound like that. I don’t like Ian."
I smirked. "Mhm. Sure."
"I don’t!" she snapped, then groaned into her hands. "Okay, maybe I’ve... noticed him. Whatever. He’s hot, fine, whatever. And...oh my God..." her eyes went huge. "I’ve literally seen him naked!"
She slapped her hands over her mouth, gasping like she wanted to rewind the last five seconds.
My whole soul left my body. "June, What?!"
She peeked through her fingers. "Don’t look at me like that! It was a mistake."
I dragged my hands down my face. "You can’t just drop that bomb casually, and not expect me to know the full story."
She groaned into her palms. "I hate myself."
And me? I was stuck between screaming, laughing, and crying. Because this was officially the most unhinged Monday of my life.
"Soooo...." I held my hands up, shaking my head like I could physically shake the words out of my ears. "You’ve seen Ian. Naked. As in naked naked?"
June dragged her hands down her face and groaned so loud it echoed down the hallway. "Ash, please. Don’t make me say it again."
"No, no, no." I pointed at her. "You cannot just throw that into the air and not explain. What do you mean you’ve seen Ian naked? HOW?"
She winced like I was stabbing her with words. "It wasn’t, ugh it wasn’t like that, okay?"
"Then what was it like?!" I whisper-yelled, leaning closer because kids walking past were already staring at us.
She bit her lip, eyes darting everywhere. "It was an accident."
"An accident," I repeated. "What, he just tripped and fell out of his clothes?"
"Ash!" she shoved my shoulder, her face was redder than a fire alarm. "Stop making it sound insane!"
"It is insane!" I whisper shouted back. "First you tell me you kissed him. Then that you liked it. Now this?? Girl, you’re living in a Wattpad novel and forgot to tell me!"
She covered her face, muffling a scream. "I hate myself so much."
"Don’t you dare," I said, tugging her hands down. "You are not getting out of this. Spill it, Juney. Right now. How did you see Ian naked?"
She glared at me, her lip trembling, like she was both about to cry at how ridiculous this was. "Promise you won’t judge me?"
I crossed my heart with way too much drama. "On Liam’s smile, I swear."
She hesitated, swallowed hard, then whispered so low I almost didn’t hear it:
"I was cleaning his restroom. I didn’t even know it was the Han’s house. And you know how I get when I’m hyped up with music."
"Yeah," I muttered. "You start twerking with a broom like it’s a pole."
Her mouth dropped. "Don’t expose me like that!" Then she groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "Anyway, I had my headphones in, Cardi B blasting, I was literally wiping mirrors and doing a little shoulder shimmy. And then..."
She froze and widened her eyes.
"Then what?" I pressed.
June lowered her voice, almost whispering.
"He walked in on me, Ash. I was literally mid-twerk, and he’s just standing there in a towel. I screamed. And then..." she paused, cringing so hard. "The towel dropped."
I blinked at her. Then blinked again.
"Wait! Hold on. Your scream was so loud it knocked gravity??" I dragged a hand down my face, and widened my eyes.
She squeezed her eyes shut, covering her face again. "Yes! Oh my God, stop yelling!"
"June. Juney." I grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "Do you even realize what you’ve just told me?!"
She mumbled into her hands, "That I’m cursed and should die."
I shook my head, still gaping. "No. That you’re living the fever dream of every girl in this school."
June let out the most pitiful groan, leaning her forehead against my chest like she was seconds away from collapsing. "Kill me now. Please."
"Girl, you’re dangerous. You should never go near the ice hockey boys’ locker room....one yell from you and the whole team would be butt-naked in seconds."
She gasped and smacked my arm. "ASH!"
I was wheezing now. "Imagine a domino effect of towels dropping. You’d start a federal emergency."
June covered her face. "I hate you."
"No," I cackled, "you’re literally a supervillain. Power: towel-snatching scream."
"Ash, it was... traumatizing."
I raised a brow. "Traumatizing? Orrrr..."
She groaned again. "Okay, maybe not traumatizing, because I....I accidentally looked before I covered my eyes."
I shook my head.
She covered her mouth, laughing. "Stop! I swear, Ash, my jaw actually dropped. And then I realized I was just standing there staring, and he was staring at me staring!"
My mouth fell open. "JUNE."
June buried her face in her hands again, groaning. "I’m literally the worst. I think my soul left my body."
I wiggled my brows. "Be honest, though... did the soul come back a little happy?"
"I wish, it came back wrecked." She pouted.
I blinked at her, still trying to process, then the devil in my brain just... took over.
"So..." I leaned in, whispering like we were trading state secrets. "Was it big tho?"
June’s entire body froze. Her face went wide.
"Ash!" she hissed, smacking my chest with both hands.
"What? I’m just asking for scientific research. Like, what do you expect me to say? ’Oh cool, how was the weather in there?’"
She covered her face again, shaking her head like she could erase the memory. "Ash, you slut!"
I tilted my head. "So...?"
She peeked between her fingers, groaned, and then nodded
My eyes went wide. "No way."
"Ash, shut up."
"No way." I slapped my forehead. "Don’t tell me it’s..."
Her voice cracked as she whispered, "Yeah. Way bigger than I thought was even normal. Like... unfair big. He uses extra large condoms. I saw it in his room."
My jaw dropped. My whole face burned.
I almost dropped dead right there in front of the flower-covered locker.
"Extra?" I choked on my words, clapping both hands over my mouth.
June smacked me again, her face was extremely red. "Stop looking at me like that, you freak."
"I..." I was literally blushing. Blushing. "Juney, why would you even know that?!"
"Because he left the damn box on his dresser, okay?" she whisper-yelled, burying her face into my shoulder like she could disappear into my shirt.
I staggered back. "You... you saw the box too? Oh my God. Oh my God."
She smacked me again so hard this time it echoed. "Shut up, Ash! You have Dominic already, you slut!"
I wheezed, doubling over.
June groaned, burying her face in her hands again. "I hate you so much."
I wiped my tears from laughing, trying to catch my breath. "No you don’t. You love me. Admit it."
She peeked out. But then her face crumpled, and her voice cracked.
"I feel disgusting, Ash. Like... Liam just died, and I’m here talking about Ian’s towel dropping. What’s wrong with me?"
I froze. My laugh finally died completely.
"Nothing’s wrong with you," I said, quieter this time, the kind of quiet that knows how wrong this hallway felt. "We’re grieving, Juney. Sometimes your brain just... latches onto the stupidest things so you don’t drown. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to stay happy."
Her lip trembled. She leaned into my shoulder, whispering, "Then why do I still hate myself for it?"
I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.
"Thanks for listening, Ash. But if you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, I will actually kill you."