Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

by Philline Harms

  “Are you sure?” he whispered in my ear, his voice dark and throaty.

  Where his breath fanned against my skin, flames seemed to linger. I felt my face heating up and was suddenly glad about the darkness as it hopefully concealed the blushing of my cheeks.

  “Yes,” I said, but it came out sounding weak, shaky.

  “You don’t seem so sure,” Hunter purred. His body pressed even harder against mine.

  My brain seemed to have a meltdown. The only thought I had was what was happening to me, repeating over and over again like a broken record.

  “In all my career as a cemetery gardener, I’ve never been molested like this,” I said, and I wished for the ground to open up and swallow me whole the second the words left my mouth.

  Hunter burst into laughter immediately. I awkwardly stepped back, giving him enough space to walk past me.

  “God, Jules. You really are kinda cute,” he said before making his way to the door, stepping outside into the chilly night.

  I expected him to just leave and head back to camp but was surprised when the door suddenly swung open again.

  “Jules,” he said in a strangely alarmed voice. “I think we might have a problem.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Hunter gestured for me to follow him, and I did until we were standing outside on the graveyard again. Everything was quiet, completely abandoned.

  “Everyone has left.” I realized. “I have no idea how to get back to the camping site…Do you?”

  Hunter’s only reply was a quiet groan and a shaking of his head before he stomped off into the general direction of the cemetery gates, not looking to see if I was following.

  Chapter 9

  “Hunter, wait!” I exclaimed, jogging to catch up with him. “Where are you going? We don’t even know the way…” I shivered as a blast of cold air crept under my coat, and since it was already dark, the temperature had dropped considerably, making my teeth chatter.

  “Well, I certainly won’t wait here until they come and look for us. Come on. We’ll find our way back on our own, too. It can’t be that hard.”

  “Fine.” I sighed, walking next to him.

  In the dark, I could see next to nothing. I was pretty much just stumbling through the shadows, not even sure if I was walking on the path or currently walking over graves since my flashlight had run out of batteries.

  Hunter let out a quiet groan as I stumbled into him for the third time in only the last two minutes and spun around to look at me. “Sugarpie, we should really make a tally with the number of times you’ve been running into me since we met. There really seems to be some kind of force between us, seeing as you can’t stop yourself from crashing into me, huh?”

  I could only imagine his smug smile in the darkness, but I was convinced it was there.

  “Very funny, Hunter. How about we keep walking? I’d prefer to spend my night in our tent, not in a cemetery.”

  “Oh, trust me, there are about two hundred places I’d rather spend the night, in ways that are much more fun,” he said. “But I can’t have you running into me every thirty seconds.”

  Before I could reply, he reached for my hand and intertwined our fingers. Even though I tried to pull my hand back, he didn’t let go and simply dragged me after him, so I had no other choice than to follow him.

  “Are you serious?” I hissed through gritted teeth and glared at his back.

  “Relax, Jules.” He sighed, never loosening his grip on my hand. “I know that you’re kinda scared of this kind of stuff. I won’t force you into anything.”

  By now, we had come to a stop, and I could feel that he was standing pretty close to me, probably trying to read my features in the dark.

  I bit my lip and turned my head the other way. “I know,” I eventually said.

  Hunter seemed satisfied with that answer, as he started walking again without any comment.

  My hand in his strangely didn’t feel awful, so I stopped trying to wrestle it out of his grasp and let him pull me along. It was kind of nice, having his skin warming mine, and at least now, I didn’t stumble into him anymore because I knew where he was.

  By the time Hunter let go of my hand, we were already at the gates. It suddenly felt cold without his touch, and I pulled my sleeve further down to cover it.

  Hunter walked up to the gates and pulled on the doorknob to open one of them…but nothing happened.

  “Dammit, open,” he muttered and tried harder this time again but to no success. After a few more tries, he turned around and leaned against the gate with a resigned expression. “It’s locked.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to keep myself from panicking. “Okay. You don’t have your phone with you, do you?”

  Hunter shook his head. “No, I ran out of battery on the bus.”

  I was seriously starting to worry. Neither of us had any way to communicate with our friends, and so far, no one had come to check on us. It seemed a lot like we would have to spend our night here between the tombs and wait for someone to come and get us when they notice our absence in the morning.

  I eyed the gate, trying to estimate if we’d be able to climb over it.

  “Forget it,” Hunter said as his eyes followed mine. “That won’t work. It’s too high. Besides, have you seen the spikes on the top?”

  I looked up and saw that he was right. There were metal spikes preventing anyone from climbing over the gates. My shoulders slumped in defeat.

  Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose, looking more than annoyed. “So what’s the plan now?”

  “Find a place to stay?” I suggested.

  “Right…Back to the chapel?”

  “Back to the chapel.”

  We made our way there in silence. When something cracked loudly in the bushes next to me, I nearly screamed, my left hand instinctively reaching out to grab Hunter’s arm. He just snorted, and we continued walking, this time with me clinging to his sleeve.

  “Jules, you’re gonna give me a bruise if you continue squeezing my arm like that. And I prefer bruises in other places.”

  I let go of him immediately. Fortunately, we reached the chapel, and I didn’t have to bother thinking of an answer. Shuddering a little, I opened the door and entered, Hunter right behind me.

  It was a few degrees warmer inside, and soon my teeth stopped chattering. Hunter walked over to the benches, sliding into one of them and simply lying down with his arms folded behind his head. I hesitantly followed and lay down on the bench on the opposite side, so I could still look at him.

  Hunter played around with the flashlight in his hand, the light aimlessly dancing across the ceiling.

  “You should turn that off,” I said lazily and closed my eyes. “These batteries don’t last that long.”

  Hunter sighed, and as I cracked open one eye, I could see that he had, in fact, turned it off, so now we were left in complete darkness.

  “Do you think there are spiders in here?” I heard him asking after a few minutes. His voice sounded genuinely worried.

  “I actually think I saw a few crawling around over there where you are,” I said.

  His reaction was immediate—a quiet whimper that made me laugh. Then the shuffling of his feet filled the room, and seconds later, he was standing at the end of my bench.

  “Move over,” he hissed.

  “Seriously, Hunter?” I asked. “I was joking.”

  “I’m not risking anything. Move.”

  I reluctantly did as he said, making a little room for him so he could fit next to me.

  He sat down with his knees pulled up, and he leaned against the bench. “I did not expect the night to progress like this.”

  “Me neither,” I said. After a moment, I added, “I’m kind of glad you’re here, though. I think it’d be much scarier if I were on my own.”

  Hunter nodded. “Same here. I could imagine someone worse than you to be stuck here with.”

  I opened my mouth to repl
y, but before I could get anything out, the sound of the door squeaking open interrupted me. Hunter and I both got to our feet immediately, looking over at the figures entering. I couldn’t see anything as a flashlight shone directly into my eyes, but then I heard their voices.

  “Jesus, here you are!” Alexis exclaimed.

  I could hear her shoes clattering towards us.

  “What are you doing in here?” Liam asked.

  He finally directed his flashlight elsewhere, and after blinking a couple times, I could see them standing before us.

  Hunter just snorted. “Took you long enough. How’d you notice we were gone?”

  Adam jerked his chin in my direction. “His girlfriend almost had a panic attack when she wanted to say goodnight to him, and he wasn’t in his tent. Mr. Smith came here with us to look for you.”

  “Where is he now?” I asked.

  “Waiting outside,” Liam said. “He’s not too happy you went missing.”

  Liam was definitely right about that. Mr. Smith gave us a tongue-lashing as soon as we stepped out onto the cemetery and the entire way back to camp. Arriving at the camp, we listened to the exact same reprimands from Mrs. Hennig as well.

  Hunter and I both heaved a relieved sigh when we were sent back to our tent.

  Dressed in sweatpants and a large dark blue sweater that reached my fingertips if I didn’t pull the sleeves up, I crawled into my sleeping sack.

  Hunter was still in the washroom getting changed but soon returned to the tent.

  “Good night, Jules,” he softly said as he sank onto his sleeping mat. “We should do this again sometime. Hanging out together, I mean. Without getting lost in a cemetery and all that, of course.”

  “Yeah.” I agreed, already half asleep. “I think I’d like that.”

  Chapter 10

  Sleeping outside sounded romantic, fun, and adventurous, but let me tell you one thing. Waking up to the sound of a fricking annoying bird next to your tent with everything being kind of damp from the dew and you freezing in the cold was none of those things.

  I quickly snuggled deeper into my sleeping bag after I woke up and enjoyed the warmth of the pillow my cheek was resting on.

  That was until I realized I hadn’t brought a pillow.

  My eyes snapped open, and I nearly screeched as I found my head resting on Hunter’s chest, whose arm was flung across my waist. My heart started racing immediately as I slowly became aware of the situation I was in.

  Boy touching me. Boy touching me. Boy touching me!

  I tried to inch away from him without waking him, but he just groaned, half asleep, and pulled me closer.

  Frozen in shock, I stared at the tent, trying to figure out what to do. I had to find a way to get away from him without him realizing the position we were in. Because if he did, I was sure I would never hear the end of it.

  After a few seconds, I got an idea. It was kind of cruel, but this was an emergency. Plus, if it worked out the way I expected, it would probably be hilarious. So I sneaked one arm out of the sleeping bag, careful not to move too much so I wouldn’t wake him up, and lightly began to tickle the arm that was wrapped around me.

  Then I quietly said into his ear, “Hunter? Uhm, I don’t wanna alarm you, but…There’s a huge spider on your arm.” I continued tickling his arm lightly.

  Hunter suddenly sat up while I quickly pulled my hand back and hid it behind my back. Before I could even blink, he was out of the tent, and I heard him screaming outside. I stuck my head out of the tent and watched as he jumped around, frantically slapping his arm.

  “Oh my God. Where is it, Jules?” he yelled as he saw me and he was still trying to shake the non-existent spider off his arm.

  The look of sheer panic on his face was too much for me, and I couldn’t contain my laughter any longer. Still sitting in the opening of our tent, I was panting, tears streaming down my face until my sides hurt.

  Slowly, realization dawned upon Hunter, and his eyes narrowed threateningly.

  “Hatcher, you’re dead,” he called out and stamped closer, anger flickering in his eyes. “There was no spider, was there?”

  “No,” I said and cracked up once again.

  Hunter didn’t say anything. Instead, he suddenly broke into a full sprint and practically threw himself onto me, knocking me off. I found myself lying beneath him, held down by his weight, as he suddenly pinned my hands over my head with one hand.

  Still, despite the situation I was in, I couldn’t stop laughing as I looked up at his face.

  “Oh, just wait. I’m gonna give you a reason to laugh.” He announced.

  If I hadn’t been so busy dying of laughter, I probably would’ve gotten scared, but in my condition, I didn’t even comprehend what he was planning to do until one of his hands crept towards my ribs and began tickling me.

  “No, Hunter. No!” I squealed and began thrashing around, but he kept on tickling me mercilessly, holding my wrists down with one hand.

  “What was that?” he asked and smiled mischievously down at me, while I gasped for air, still laughing.

  “I’m…I’m sorry…I’m sorry!” I wheezed.

  “Fine.” Hunter’s grin got even wider as he said that. “Just whistle if you want me to stop.”

  My eyes bulged as I frantically tried to whistle, which was impossible since I was laughing so hard and could barely even breathe.

  “Sugarpie, I can’t hear anything.” He teased.

  “Screw you,” I choked out.

  The sound of a throat being cleared made us both look up. Hunter and I both froze when we saw Mrs. Hennig looming over us with a bewildered look on her face.

  “Okay, guys. Could you please stop…whatever is going on right now?” she asked and gestured vaguely towards us. “Mr. Smith and I finally thought of an appropriate punishment for your little adventure last night. You’re going to town later, and you’ll be doing the grocery shopping for tonight’s barbecue. Not without supervision, of course.”

  Hunter nodded and swiftly got off me, not without sending me another half-hearted glare.

  “Okay,” I managed to say while I regained control of my breathing.

  She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but she just closed her mouth and walked off, shaking her head slightly.

  I fell back onto my back and exhaled loudly. I was still panting, and my stomach hurt from laughing so much.

  “Payback’s a bitch.” Hunter smirked and stalked over my limp body to go back inside the tent.

  I turned onto my stomach and watched as he dropped back to his mattress, where he closed his eyes.

  “And now, if you excuse me, I’m going to sleep for a few more minutes.”

  Without a reply, I got my bag from inside and shuffled towards the washing rooms at the other end of the camping site.

  After having a quick shower and freezing my backside off in the process because apparently there was no warm water, I brushed my teeth at one of the sinks. While I did so, Nate entered, looking ruffled and bleary-eyed.

  “Hey, man.” I greeted with my toothbrush still in my mouth. “You look awful.”

  Nate sent me a glare in the mirror and started to get ready next to me. “Thanks. You too.”

  “Sorry.” I laughed. “You just really look like you could be at the set of The Walking Dead.”

  “You’re not making this any better, Jules,” Nate said and rolled his eyes. “But you have to admit I’d make a pretty badass zombie.”

  Cue the demonstration of his ability to make a noise that, according to him, sounded like eating someone’s brain. Since I didn’t really have much experience with that, I agreed willingly.

  “What the hell,” someone in one of the shower stalls muttered, and a moment later, Liam emerged clad only in a towel that was wrapped around his waist. The confused look on his face vanished when he saw us. “Oh, it’s you. What was that noise?”

  “Brain-eating.” Nate provided without further explanation.


  I jumped as another voice suddenly sounded from somewhere behind me. “Weirdos.” Adam commented, exiting another stall.

  Before either of us could answer, Hunter entered the washing room, and the assembly was complete.

  “Have you searched the tent for more spiders?” I asked with a provocative grin and cocked an eyebrow.

  Hunter ran a hand through his tousled hair. “Hey, sugarpie?”

  “Hm?” I immediately cursed myself for reacting to that stupid nickname, especially as Adam and Liam exchanged a strange look and Nate frowned in confusion.

  Hunter walked towards me, and before I could slap his hand away, he was already cupping my chin and wiped away some toothpaste from the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

  “Don’t ever joke about bugs again,” he said.

  “Or what?” I asked cautiously, not taking my eyes off him.

  Hunter just smirked and licked the toothpaste off his thumb…and that was enough to distract me from my question. All I could do was stare after him in shock as he walked over to the showers and locked himself in one of the stalls.

  I only noticed the awkward silence when Nate cleared his throat. “Care to explain what the heck that was about?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked nervously.

  “Why’s he eating toothpaste off your face, for starters?”

  “Maybe he just…really likes the taste of toothpaste?” I said while scratching my neck uncomfortably. I was now sweating despite the temperature.

  “Yeah, obviously. He loves it so much that I once caught him eating an entire spoonful of toothpaste. It might be some kind of addiction, actually,” Adam said in a flat voice.

  “Oh, look at that!” Liam exclaimed with an exaggerated grin and turned to look at his friend. “Adam Caldwell made a joke! Grumpy Cat 2.0 actually can be funny!”

  “Yeah, you know, I’d find it pretty funny if I slam your face into that sink,” Adam retorted while finally pulling a shirt over his head.

  “You wouldn’t. You love me too much.” Liam was still grinning.

  Adam only snorted quietly before he made his way towards the door.