june. 1.

Junebug Holmes was born with two left feet, much to the dismay of everyone around her.

Not literally. Her mother wants to emphasise that. May Holmes would like to make it very clear that her only daughter was indeed born with one left foot and one right foot - it's just that she can't seem to operate them the same way as every other kid in the District. Not that she has any physical disabilities or anything, nor a lack of balance from deafness, no. Her daughter is just the clumsiest child that ever might have lived.

There was no hope at all for a tiny little girl with big eyes and brown curly hair running into her mother's dance studio and immediately face planting onto the floor. Any dreams of tribute glory were soon dashed, though the Holmes family sent her along to Career training like they did all their children before her. And oh, the shame of it all - four boys, finally a daughter, and former-pro-performer-turned-instructor May-June was cursed with one that could not dance. The irony! The scorn! How cruel Ripred's humour was.

Not even she could whip that child into pointe-shape. Junebug didn't seem all that bothered, preferring to bundle after her brothers and giggle stupidly every time she tripped or fell - bar the few instances where wounds caused fright or tears. But mostly she was happy to show off her bruises and scars - stories underneath her skin - and squeal at the choice of blue or green band-aids. At fifteen her mother has now all but given up, wishing on every superstitious miracle that her daughter won't trip her way into an early death or bumble her way into a near-fatal accident in Career training. 

But still, she crosses her fingers and toes. 

Junebug crosses her eyes and pokes out her tongue, laughing all the same.