Juniper stared absently at the scene in front of her. The people came and went like they were part of a somber dance. Their words became nagging noise, making her emotions ripple. It was as if everything was out of focus. Juniper was present, but her mind wandered and her eyes glazed over.
Suddenly, with the acknowledgment that Diane Clay was speaking, Juniper's mind sharpened. She forced her eyes to focus and read Diane's tired face. Mrs. Clay had never been someone that Juniper cared for. Diane was strict and unforgiving, and Juniper needed a lot of forgiving. Juniper shuffled in her place, realizing what Diane was doing. There was no doubt that Mrs. Clay would take her knock at Juniper.
“This generation is too interested in running away every time they have an issue instead of handling it.”
And there it was. Those deadly eyes struck Juniper like a baseball bat, with a swift hit to the gut. Diane, of course, was right. Juniper was a runner. She ran away from the dust storm that killed her parents, and then she never stopped. Juniper ran away from foster homes, she ran way from the rules, and ran away from anyone who thought twice about her decisions. And the one time that someone else ran, she found a way to run away from that too.
Shamed and too tired to put up a fight, Juniper lowered her head. Diane quickly moved on. The rest of her speech blurred together and before Juniper could put her head on straight again Noah was approaching her.
Baffled at Noah's proposal Juniper made a face. There was no way that he could just give her break on her Harvest Tax. Why would Noah want to do that anyway? She struggled just as much as any other. Taking another look around, Juniper decided she had no reason to stay here. Lingering on the Thompkins and Robin she slowly turned toward Noah's office.
A moment later Juniper was opening Noah's office door. Juniper didn't care to knock, nor did she care to be subtle.
"What the hell is this?" she asked. Juniper took a step toward him and stopped with her hand on her hip.