Fugly: Book One of the Fenley East Series

by Talie D. Hawkins

  I tossed my suitcase on the ground and grabbed a pair of leggings and a tank top from inside. I took a quick shower and pulled my hair into a messy bun.

  When I went downstairs I found Hunter on the couch watching cartoon network. He looked up at me from where he sat and did a double take that had me feeling self conscious.

  “What?” I asked defensively. I looked down at what I was wearing, realizing he had probably never seen me in anything form fitting. I thought about the fact that my closet was full of over sized hoodies and baggy jeans.

  “Nothing. You just look so different. I feel like you grew up and I’m still this total high school dweeb.”

  “Right. If the definition of dweeb is most popular athlete in school. In that case, you are the dweebiest,” I said as I plopped on the couch next to him. “Now stop being so melodramatic and turn up the t.v..” Our favorite cartoon was on was on.

  “The dad character has taken a turn for the weird,” he said as we watched.

  “He sure has,” I agreed. I was pretty sure it wasn’t just characters on our cartoon taking that turn.

  I woke up alone on the couch. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but it was comforting to see my family room when I opened my eyes. When I sat up I saw Hunter in the kitchen making a sandwich.

  “Hey, you were dead to the world,” he said. “Oh, your phone has been going nuts. You might want to give Tru a call.” I grabbed my phone off of the coffee table to see what he was talking about. I had about a dozen missed calls and texts on my screen. “So, who is he?” Hunter asked as he grabbed a dish from the cabinet. Something about the way he asked didn’t sound right.

  “He’s someone I met in New York.” I was sticking to the facts.

  “Cool. What’s he like?” Hunter sat next to me and handed me half of a turkey and swiss.

  “Um,” I took a bite to buy myself some time. “He likes fries almost as much as me.”

  “Huh. I didn’t think that was possible.” He paused for a few bites then asked me a question out of the blue. “Is he your boyfriend?”

  I almost choked on my sandwich.

  “Well, no is the easy answer I guess? He lives on the other side of the country. We had a really good summer. I think we’re leaving it at that.”

  He nodded but I could tell there was more on his mind.

  “Your Nana Ash said you were in a magazine. I didn’t pay attention, but then Jessica said there was a girl who looked just like you in a magazine.” It was a statement with a lingering question. I sighed in resignation.

  “Tru is the son of some famous producer. He has press following him around.” I tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. Hunter wasn’t buying my b.s.. He was grinning at me in a condescending way.

  “So you finally got your teen novel romance.”

  “Ugh,” I groaned. I grabbed a pillow and covered my bright red face.

  He only shook his head at that.

  “Go call him.”

  “Really? Should I?”

  “Yep.”

  “K. I’ll just be a few minutes. Don’t go away.”

  I hadn’t even looked at the clock when I called, but it was too late. The line was already ringing and he picked up instantly.

  “Finally!”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “Like I could really sleep until I heard from you,” he said with a yawn.

  “I’m sorry. I had unexpected company.”

  “It’s okay. May I please tell you how much it sucks that you’re gone?” There was an ache in his tone that I could relate to.

  “I miss you too. Countdown to Winter Break?”

  “Absolutely. It’ll be agonizingly slow.” He sounded exhausted.

  “Get some sleep. Video chat tomorrow?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it. Sweet dreams.”

  I walked back into the kitchen and found Hunter drumming to Jimmy Eat World on the kitchen counter with his fork. I stopped and watched. Even if he had been a dick, I had missed him.

  He glanced up at me during his drum solo and dropped the fork looking a little red in the face.

  “Don’t stop on my account.” He was about to defend himself but the house phone rang before he could. I saw that it was my mom on caller ID. “Hi mom!” I shot Hunter a sarcastic smile to let him know he was off the hook.

  I was finally able to convince my mom that everything was okay on the home front, but only after dozens of apologies from her and my dad for not being home to see me. They would be stuck at the cabin dealing with plumbing issues for the next few days, but promised to be home for back to school shopping before the first day of school.

  When Hunter saw that I was done with my call he stood up from his kitchen chair and sighed. I thought this would be his cue to say goodnight.

  “I’m hungry, “ he declared.

  “You’re always hungry,” I countered.

  “So are you,” he said sarcastically.

  “Hmmm... Mucho Macho Tacos?” He was just taunting me now.

  “You have no idea of how much I have been craving those.”

  13.

  “So you realize everything is going to change once we get back in school, right?” he asked with a mouthful of tortilla chips. I took a sip of my iced tea and sat back against the vinyl booth.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You saw Brady... the way he looked at you. I’m just saying you should get used to it is all.”

  “You’re wrong Hunter. I enjoy saying that way too much,” I teased.

  He stuffed a bite of his fish taco into his mouth, shaking his head at me as he did. “Whatever.”

  “Don’t whatever me! Jessica labeled me and we know how her labels stick. Look at poor Amelia Jones. She had a boob job and she’s still A-cup Jones. Or how about Richard Price? He will forever be known as Pricey Dick.”

  “Jessica is an insecure person,” he said as he tossed his napkin on the table in surrender. “Your typical bully.”

  “Then why are you with slash not with her?” I asked, making the slash marks with my fingers.

  “We’re mostly broken up these days, and I don’t know. I seriously don’t know,” he admitted. “What about you? Tell me more about this Tru guy.”

  I didn’t really know what to say. “Well, as we speak there is this pit in my stomach that I can’t put into words. All I can tell you is that it’s there because I miss him. I miss him a lot.”

  He shifted in his seat a little bit uncomfortably before he said anything else.

  “I’m sorry. That must suck.”

  “It does,” I agreed.

  “Let’s go to a party. That should take your mind off of it.”

  I had to stare at him for a good second to make sure I heard correctly. “A. Nothing can really get my mind off of Tru. B. A party? I don’t think we have ever hung out socially like...ever.”

  He stood up and tossed some money on the table then held his hand out for me. Another first.

  “This is the start of all sorts of changes.”

  I reluctantly took his hand.

  We drove to one of the bigger houses in our neighborhood. I recognized it right away. It belonged to a kid named Chandler Lawson. He was a popular basketball player from school who had an ego that didn’t fit through most doorways.

  I suddenly felt very self conscious and aware of what I had on. When Hunter said we were going for tacos I put on a stretchy pair of black leggings with a black and white baseball tee shirt. He must have picked up on my unease.

  “You look fine. Look around at them.”

  He was right. There were yoga pants and basketball shorts as far as the eye could see. He and I would blend right in. He nodded in the direction of the house. “Ready?”

  “I guess so.”

  I thought the party would stop and all eyes would be on us when we walked in the front door, but it didn’t happen quite like that. A few people stared at us curiously but quickly went back to what they were doing, which was dr
inking. Chandler greeted Hunter with a half hug half hand shake. It took him a minute to notice me and I wanted to leave as soon as he did.

  “I thought Brady was full of shit, but I take it back. Looking good Fenley,” Chandler said as he looked at every part of my body that wasn’t my face. I was craving an over-sized sweater to hide in. I looked down at my feet because I didn’t know what else to do. Hunter tried to engage him in small talk because he could see the attention was making me uncomfortable.

  “Fen, let’s go get something to drink. Catch you later,” he said to Chandler. That was my cue to follow along. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” he admitted under his breath once we were in the kitchen.

  “It’s fine. I may as well get used to seeing their faces again. Only a few more days until I’m forced to see them at school,” I joked. He gave me a sympathetic smile.

  We hadn’t noticed Jessica and her best friend, Claire, standing on the other side of her kitchen. I froze in place. She still terrified me. Claire crossed the room and stood in front of me. I could see Jessica was clearly not pleased.

  “Holy crap. It’s true. It really was you in that magazine. Everyone swore you went away to fat camp.”

  Claire’s words were slurred and it was clear she had more than enough to drink.

  “Looks like you could have stayed a few more weeks,” Jessica added from across the room.

  “Why are you such a miserable bitch?” I didn’t know why I said it, but it got her attention. Hunter dashed across the room and pulled her in the other direction, assuring me that he’d be right back. Claire gave me a confused look then followed along.

  I stood in the kitchen by myself, staring out of a window and into a yard I had never seen. I was about to track Hunter down and beg him to take me home when I felt arms wrap around my waist. I could see Chandler’s reflection in the kitchen window.

  “Shhh,” was all I heard before his mouth was on my neck.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I scrunched my shoulder up but he didn’t budge- not even when I was trying to pull his arms off of me.

  “If you stop moving this’ll be a lot easier,” he whispered in my ear.

  “There is no this! Get off me!”

  “Lawson!” I heard Hunter yell from behind us. “Get off of her.” Hunter’s voice was icy.

  Chandler backed off with his hands up and a smug look on his face.

  “Alright. Calm down Hunter. Nothing to see here.” A small crowd had gathered around the kitchen. Chandler started walking away, leaving me shaking. “Hey, Hunter, next time don’t bring girls you’re gonna be greedy with. There’s plenty of Fenley to go around brother.”

  Hunter’s hands slowly came out of his pockets as he laughed a bitter laugh. He rubbed a hand on his chin before using that same hand to punch Chandler in the face. Chandler was quick though, returning the favor and busting Hunter’s lip. He shook it off fast and didn’t hold back with the next blow he dealt to Chandler, making sure he went down.

  “Dick,” was all he said before he stormed out of the house. I opened the freezer and found a bag of something frozen then tried to catch up to Hunter. By the time I found him he was at the playground across the street sitting on a swing. I sat on the one next to him but he didn’t look at me. We sat in silence for a few moments as we both stared off into the distance.

  “Why are you holding frozen peaches?” he finally asked.

  “Oh! These are for your lip,” I said, handing them over. He pressed them against his lip and I could see the space between his eyebrows pinch together in pain.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled.

  “What was that back there?” I asked in a whisper. He put the peaches in his lap and stretched his long legs out in front of him.

  “I didn’t like what he was doing.” He put the peaches back on his lip.

  “Since when do you beat guys up for me?” He let out another bitter laugh and tossed the bag on the ground.

  “Do you seriously think this is the first fat lip I’ve gotten because of you?” I could tell that he was mentally kicking his own ass for saying what he did.

  “Why the hell would you be getting in fights because of me?”

  “Because everyone I know is an asshole, and now they’re going from making fun of you to wanting to tear into you!”

  I don’t know what took over my mind but tears started spilling from my eyes. Hunter’s face wrinkled again, but not in pain this time. It was clear from the look on his face that he was sorry for what he said. I stood up and started walking away because I didn’t know what else to do, but Hunter didn’t let me get very far. I felt him pull on my elbow to stop me and he turned me around to face him. He flinched then traced a thumb over the cut that was bleeding again.

  “You caught me on the worst day possible last school year. The one time I didn’t go to bat for you, and you had to overhear it. I have always been on your side Fen. Always. And now we have this new problem. You look amazing and I’m going to want to kill everyone who looks at you the wrong way.”

  “I don’t know what to say to that,” I admitted.

  “You don’t need to say anything. I just think you should know that. Come here,” he said as he pulled me into a hug. Hugging wasn’t something Hunter and I did, but it felt nice. The hug washed away any left over bitterness I was holding on to. “I’m really glad you’re back,” he said into my hair.

  “Me too,” I lied. It wasn’t a total lie. I was happy to see him and happy to sleep in my own bed, but I missed the city and Tru. At that very moment my phone rang. I let go of Hunter and looked at the screen to see who it was. My smile spread from ear to ear when I saw it was him.

  Hunter nodded that he understood and I walked back to one of the swings as I answered. “I miss you,” was how I greeted him.

  “I miss you too. Terribly,” he said in a sleepy voice.

  “Why are you up?” I asked, realizing it was the middle of the night for him.

  “I can’t sleep. Each time I close my eyes I see your face, and it makes me want to hear your voice.”

  I blushed when he said it and glanced at Hunter like he could somehow overhear the conversation, but he was busy texting someone and paying no attention to me.

  “I bet I’ll have the same problem tonight.”

  “What are you doing?” he asked, curiously.

  “Well, you’ll never believe this, but I went to a party tonight. I didn’t spend any amount of time at it, and I’m actually about to go home.”

  “Ah, well have fun and be safe. Know that I’m thinking about you, okay?”

  “Same.”

  “Bye Fenley.”

  I ached after he hung up. I looked over at Hunter and didn’t need to say a word.

  “Let’s get you home,” he offered.

  14.

  “There are still cartoons on.” I said from the passenger seat.

  “Funny. I didn’t really want to go home anyway.” He said as he parked.

  I had only been home for a day but it felt like weeks. In a few short days I would be headed back to school, and if this evening was any indication of how my school year would be, I would need to find some hiding places around campus.

  Hunter and I both fell asleep on the couch during our cartoon marathon. I woke up in the awkward position of laying against his shoulder. His arm was wrapped around me and I could hear his heart beating. A few months ago I would have pined for a moment like this with Hunter. I wasn’t sure how long I had been nursing a crush on him, but admitting it was new and a big part of why I left for the summer. I tried to hold still as he stirred a little. When he was done shifting I moved off of him as quietly as I could.

  I found a clean, plaid sundress in my suitcase and slipped it on with some flip flops. My laundry needed attention. When I went back into the living room, Hunter was gone. I looked for him in the kitchen but he wasn’t there either. I heard my phone’s text tone and it was a message from him.

  I had to go.
Things are confusing right now.

  I didn’t know what the text meant so I responded, hoping for some answers.

  What things are confusing?

  I’ll explain later. Talk soon.

  That was that. He shut me down and I didn’t press. I tossed my things in the wash and tried to stay busy around the house so I wouldn’t obsess over his weird text. I mostly hoped he was okay, but there was clearly something different about him now and I couldn’t place what it was. I was thankful that Tru had decided to keep me company with text messages while I worked around the house because it kept my mind off of Hunter.

  Halfway through my day I heard noise from the living room. My parents had returned. I ran out of my room and right into my mom’s arms. My dad soon joined in the group hug.

  “Honey, step back and let me look at you,” my mom said. She gasped when she saw me. “You look lovely. You always have, but now you’re glowing,” she said as she took my hands. “Tomorrow we shop!”

  “Sounds like fun,” I said before she hugged me again.

  I went out to the car with my dad to help him bring their bags inside. “You know you’re beautiful no matter what, right?” He asked as he handed me a suitcase.

  “Thanks dad,” I said with a shy smile. Darren East was a quiet man. He didn’t give compliments easily, but I knew it was sincere coming from him.

  “Just don’t ever think that you have some standard to live up to. You’re gorgeous no matter what. And more importantly, you’re a good person.”

  By standard he was talking about my mom, Hannah. She was a stunner. She would tell us stories about how she was drawn to my dad because he was the only guy in school who didn’t chase her around. His calm and quiet personality balanced her out.

  ‘You’re kinda biased.”

  “Maybe, but remember that it’s who you are that counts.”