Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

by Philline Harms

  I just looked at him with wide eyes, feeling the wind tear at my wet clothes.

  “Can you walk?”

  I tried but immediately lost my balance. Hunter didn’t miss a beat and crouched down before me.

  “Get on my back.” He ordered.

  “Piggyback!” I laughed in delight and jumped onto his back, clinging to his coat as he straightened himself with a quiet grunt.

  He walked out of the water and towards the path that led back to the camping site. I was freezing cold, but Hunter’s body was at least giving me some warmth, so I gratefully rested my cheek against his back.

  “Why are we leaving already?” I asked, slightly disappointed that the party was already over.

  “Because you need to get to bed or you’ll feel even more horrible tomorrow.”

  “Huh,” I said thoughtfully.

  Hunter grunted and walked over to Alexis, Adam, and Liam. Nate and Emily were a few feet away, but they didn’t see us.

  “I’m bringing him back to the camping site.” Hunter announced. “I don’t think I’ll come back afterward…Someone has to look after him.”

  Liam and Alexis exchanged a meaningful glance.

  “Guys.” Hunter groaned. “There’s nothing special about that. I’m just nice!”

  “Really nice,” I muttered, earning a few chuckles.

  “Alright. I’m gonna go. Have fun,” Hunter said before stomping into the opposite direction.

  “Goodbye, friends!” I yelled, clinging tightly to Hunter as we made our way back.

  A little later, after I had successfully changed into dry clothes with a little help from Hunter, I finally slipped into my sleeping bag. I was trembling from the cold, and every inch of me was shaking.

  Hunter lay down beside me and closed his eyes, but the sound of my chattering teeth made him sit up and turn the flashlight on again. I blinked into the bright light while he got up and got his coat from the other side of the tent.

  “Sit up,” he whispered into my ear.

  As I finally got up into a sitting position, he tightly wrapped his coat around me and helped me stick my arms into the sleeves. The coat fit almost perfectly, and I smiled gratefully at him while I snuggled deeper into the collar.

  “Good night,” he said softly and gently pushed me onto my back.

  My only response was a sleepy yawn.

  Chapter 12

  I woke up from a coughing fit. Completely disoriented, I sat up, but the coughing wouldn’t stop. My entire body was shaking, and I felt like I would throw up if I coughed one more time.

  “Drink that.” A voice next to me suddenly ordered, and a bottle of water was held into my field of view.

  I took it without question and hastily took off the lid. I somehow managed to gulp down some of the ice-cold water, and eventually, the coughing came to an end, leaving me breathless.

  “Jules, are you okay?” Hunter asked, and I could feel his eyes on me as I exhaled deeply and put the bottle down.

  “Yeah,” I croaked and nearly jumped as I heard my voice. It was barely audible. It was hoarse and deep and sounded like it wasn’t mine.

  I turned my head towards Hunter to look at him, and my cheeks flushed as he loudly sucked the air in through his teeth.

  “What?” I asked, feeling even more insecure all of a sudden.

  Instead of an answer, Hunter reached out and lightly put his hand on my forehead. I flinched from the coldness of his skin on mine.

  The look on his face darkened. “Oh, wow. You’re hot.”

  I looked at him without understanding and nervously said, “Yeah, I hear that quite often.”

  Hunter snorted. “No, I mean, you’re literally hot. You definitely have a fever.”

  “What? No. I never get sick.”

  Hunter shot me an exasperated glance. “Well, you just nearly coughed your lungs out, so you obviously are. Which doesn’t surprise me at all, considering you jumped into the ice-cold sea in the middle of the night and slept in the cold afterward. Plus, you probably have a hangover, since this was your first time drinking.”

  “I did what?” I asked, horror-stricken, and grimaced in pain when I felt a throbbing headache building up. “I can’t even remember that!”

  “None of it?”

  “I remember how I arrived at the beach with Emily, and Alexis brought me a beer or something. The rest is a blur.”

  “Huh,” Hunter said. “Well, I’m gonna go and get a teacher. Are you alright on your own for a few minutes?”

  I just nodded and sunk back onto the mattress, pressing the palm of my hand against my forehead. My headache was getting worse with each passing minute, and I felt slightly nauseous. To top it all, it began raining. Usually, I loved rain when I was inside, drawing or reading, snuggled in a blanket with a cup of coffee in my hand. But not when I was out camping in a tent, which didn’t exactly look like it could withstand a thunderstorm.

  A few moments later, Hunter crawled back into the tent, his hair wet and dark patches forming on his shirt from the rain. Behind him was Mr. Smith. His hair and even his beard were tousled, and he was wearing pajamas that were only halfway buttoned up.

  “Julian? Hunter told me you were sick…”

  “I think I am,” I said, nervously fiddling around with my fingers, which were resting in my lap.

  “Well, son. You certainly sound like it.” Mr. Smith scratched his chin and seemed to think about something. “You know what? While I am going into the forest with your classmates later, you can stay here and rest. Someone can stay here with you if you want.”

  I felt Hunter’s gaze on me but didn’t dare look at him and said as sternly as possible, “Emily. I’d like Emily to be here.”

  Mr. Smith nodded. “I’m going to inform her. If you need anything, just shout.”

  As soon as he had left the tent, Hunter gathered some clothes and a towel and crawled towards the exit. “I’m going to shower…Try not to die while I’m gone.”

  “I’ll try. Your empathy means a lot.” I croaked.

  Hunter just shot me a grin before finally leaving and pulling the zipper of the tent’s opening shut behind him.

  I must’ve dozed off for a while because when I opened my eyes again, Emily was sitting next to me, gently stroking a hand through my hair.

  “Hey,” I whispered with a tired smile.

  “Hey, yourself.” She laughed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not exactly great.”

  Emily was silent for a moment. Then she held up a steaming cup. “I brought you some tea, for your throat. I know you probably don’t feel like eating, but you should at least drink something.”

  I eyed the cup warily. “What tea is that?”

  “The teachers only had black tea.” As she saw the look on my face, she added, “But I know how you feel about that, so I added tons of sugar. Just try it, okay?”

  I sighed and sat up a bit to accept the tea she handed me. Taking a sip, I smiled contently as the hot tea ran down my throat and soothed the pain there just a little bit.

  “Thanks, Em.” I reached out to take her hand, but she quickly pulled it back.

  “Uhm, better no touching. I don’t want to get sick, too,” she said with an apologetic smile.

  I pulled my hand back slowly. “Right, sorry.”

  She didn’t say anything but lay down on Hunter’s mattress, propping her head up on one hand so that she could look at me.

  “Whose coat is that that you’re wearing?” she asked curiously.

  I looked down at myself in surprise. Over my sweatpants and hoodie, I was wearing a long black coat with sleeves that were just a bit too big for me.

  “This is Hunter’s.” I realized, and my eyes widened. “Oh, God. Did he change me into my clothes?”

  Emily’s expression turned into a displeased frown. “Don’t you want to take that coat off then?”

  “Not right now. It’s so nice and warm…and mine is still wet, I believe,” I answered.
r />   It was true; the coat was really comfortable, and it smelled nice. Like aftershave and something sweet. Like Hunter, I realized with slight discomfort but quickly dismissed that thought.

  “Since when are you two even friends?” Emily asked. “You’ve never hung out with him before, and now you always seem to be around each other.”

  “That’s not even true! It’s just because we’re tent mates and because of that incident with the hoodie…”

  Emily still looked rather doubtful, but before she could even open her mouth to reply, the zipper opened, and Hunter crawled inside.

  There was a faint smile on his lips when he entered, but it faded as soon as he saw Emily. “Sorry. Am I interrupting something?”

  I somehow felt embarrassed about the way she was lying full length on his mattress. She quickly sat up and shuffled towards its very edge.

  Hunter shook his head slightly and looked back at me. Showing me a thermos bottle, he said, “I made you some tea since you have a sore throat…” He trailed off as he saw the cup in my hand. His gaze briefly wandered over to Emily, who was shrugging with a smile. “Oh.”

  He didn’t seem to know what to do. Hunter, who always seemed calm and collected and always the master of the situation, didn’t know what to do. Then he just angrily lifted the bottle to his own lips and took a sip from it.

  I jumped as he suddenly cried out in pain and watched as he rubbed his lips, which he burnt with the hot tea. For a moment, the only sounds filling the tent were Hunter’s swearing and Emily’s suppressed snickering.

  “Aren’t you hotter than that anyway?” I quoted, referencing our first encounter.

  Hunter’s eyes narrowed immediately. “Very funny, Jules. Hilarious.”

  “Thank you. I’m glad you appreciate my humor. Oh, by the way, do you want your coat back?”

  “You can keep it for now,” Hunter said. “You’re sick. And it’s not even that cold.”

  I raised an eyebrow. I could clearly see Hunter shaking when a particularly mean gust of wind caught him, but I chose not to say anything. Neither did Emily, so we were all just sitting in awkward, tense silence, while Hunter and I quietly drank our tea.

  We all flinched as lightning suddenly flashed outside, followed by roaring thunder. The pattering of the rain on the roof increased considerably.

  “Zeus must be extremely pissed at us.” Hunter mused.

  “Well, so am I,” Emily suddenly muttered.

  Hunter and I both turned to look at her, one of us confused and the other annoyed.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because Hunter let you get drunk and didn’t hold you back when you ran into the sea, to start off.” Her brown eyes sparkled with anger as she looked at him.

  “Really, Emily?” he asked with a humorless laugh. “You’re going to blame it on me? You are his girlfriend. It’s your job to be there for him. I even asked you to look after him! You knew damn well that he was drinking for the first time, yet you disappeared somewhere with your friends. Where were you when he nearly drowned, huh?”

  I started coughing again, choking on a sip of tea I just drank and was unable to tell them to stop arguing because of me.

  Hunter immediately shuffled over to me and placed a few lights slaps on my back, causing me to cough out the liquid that had gotten into my windpipe until the coughing came to an end.

  I sunk onto my back, exhausted and breathing heavily, and didn’t even care that I was basically lying on Hunter’s lap.

  “Jules? Are you alright?” he asked and bent over me to look me in the eye.

  I nodded, eyes closing as I slowly calmed down. Next to me, I heard shuffling. When I opened my eyes, Emily had already left the tent. An ice-cold blast of air rushed through the tent, and I could feel Hunter shivering beneath me.

  I quickly got off him and sat next to him instead.

  “Pack the tents, everyone. We’re leaving!” Mr. Smith suddenly yelled outside before either of us could comment on what just happened. “This field trip is over. Thanks to this darn weather! Move it, everyone!”

  Hunter immediately left without another word. I quickly got to my knees as well and crawled out of the tent, onto the camping site where everyone else was already busy gathering their bags and putting the tents together.

  I had to hold onto a tent pole for a moment as I got to my feet because my head was spinning and I had to fight down my urge to throw up.

  “Careful!” Nate said and quickly jogged over to me. “Whoa, you look awful. Where’s Hunter?”

  “He just ran off. I don’t know what he’s doing now,” I said and scanned the camping site for him but couldn’t find him anywhere. “Maybe making out with Sean or something.”

  “Ah, I don’t think so. He dumped Sean yesterday.”

  My eyes widened. “Really? Why?”

  Nate shrugged. “You know him. He doesn’t bother with the same person for too long. I think I saw him smooching that girl, Victoria, this morning. You know, the one with the black hair? She’s kind of a bitch, but I guess that’s Hunter’s type.”

  I nodded silently.

  “So, why are you still standing around here?” Nate suddenly asked. “Get onto the bus. I’ll take care of your tent. Just take your bag with you.”

  “Is that really okay? I can help you—”

  “Just go!” Nate said, shouting it over the sudden gust of wind that swept across the camping site.

  I shrugged and hesitantly took my stuff before walking over to the bus that was already waiting for us. I was the first one to get on, so I was able to choose my seat freely. Not expecting anyone to want to sit next to me in my sickly state, I put my bag on the seat next to me and leaned my head against the window, looking at the raindrops that were trailing down the glass.

  Bit by bit, the bus filled with students. Most of them looked a little pale and grumpy themselves. You could clearly see who was at the party last night and who wasn’t.

  Sean, on the other hand, didn’t need a hangover to look grumpy. The look on his face was so sulky that no one even dared to talk to him. I quickly looked away as he glared at me in passing, his eyes so full of hatred that it actually startled me.

  Turning my head, I leaned my cheek against the cold glass. Outside, in the pouring rain, Hunter was currently making out with a girl, Victoria, probably, and only reluctantly took a step back when the teachers called him.

  Pulling her with him, he walked towards the bus. For a second, our eyes locked through the window, knocking all the air out of my lungs. Eventually, Hunter looked away and turned back to the girl instead, kissing her for a few more seconds before he got onto the bus.

  I didn’t look at him when he appeared in the aisle and sat down a few rows in front of me with Victoria. Instead, my eyes searched for Emily. She was sitting with her friends, still looking glum and annoyed. Behind me, I heard Nate chatting with Alexis, while Liam and Adam were sharing one pair of earphones to listen to music.

  After a few minutes, their chatter faded away until it was nothing but background noise, and with the sound of the rattling engine, it made me even sleepier. I slowly drifted off for the rest of the ride.

  I only woke up when the bus came to a halt in front of the school building, and people started to get off. After following them out onto the parking lot, I sighed quietly, realizing that I would probably have to walk home.

  Others still had their cars parked around here and could drive home by themselves, but my parents had dropped me off here before the field trip, and Froggy was at home. Other people got picked up by their parents, but as usual, my parents were at work and didn’t reply when I asked them to come and pick me up.

  Nate briefly said goodbye to me. He had to go home by bike, which he wasn’t exactly happy about either. I stood there, feeling like an idiot as the parking lot started to get emptier with every person that left.

  Hunter was still standing next to his car, making out with Victoria. He really seemed to enjoy playing wi
th his new toy. So did she.

  I looked away and adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder, then I started to walk towards the street.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  I turned around as I heard someone call me.

  It was Hunter, of course. He had finally let go of Victoria’s hips. The poor girl would probably have bruises there tomorrow, judging by the way he had gripped her.

  “What?” I shouted back and immediately regretted it as my throat felt like it caught on fire again.

  Hunter said something to Victoria, then he came running towards me. “What are you doing?”

  “Going home,” I said with a shrug and turned around to continue walking.

  “By foot?” Hunter asked incredulously and pulled me back by my wrist.

  I stared down at the spot where his fingers were pressing into my skin and didn’t dare to meet his eyes. “Yeah.”

  “I’ll drive you,” he said.

  It didn’t sound like an offer. It sounded like an order.

  “I don’t want you to,” I answered, finally looking up at him.

  He rolled his eyes and looked at a point somewhere above my head for a second. “Jules, can you not be a stubborn, self-destructive idiot for just one second? You are sick. You have a hangover. It is raining, and you’re carrying a giant backpack and a sleeping bag. Just get into my car. My house is in your neighborhood anyway.”

  “What if I refuse?” I asked, challenging him.

  His lips twisted into a thin smile. “Then I will literally throw you over my shoulder and carry you to my car. And that will hurt your pride even more than just accepting a nice offer.”

  I thought about it for a moment before I finally agreed. “Fine.”

  Hunter grinned triumphantly. “Come on then.”

  He walked back to his car, motioning for me to follow him.

  I rolled my eyes and obeyed silently. Seconds later, I slid into the passenger seat. As soon as we were both sitting, Hunter started the engine, and we quickly left the school behind. I was amazed by how the car drove so effortlessly, without a stuttering engine or squeaking brakes like Froggy’s.