Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

by Philline Harms

  Hunter turned on the radio, and a loud beat sounded through the car, the bass making the floor under my feet vibrate.

  “So…You have a new girlfriend?” I asked carefully.

  “I wouldn’t go that far and say girlfriend, but…She’s pretty hot, don’t you think?”

  There was a double meaning in his words, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “Yeah, I guess,” I said, nervous to say something wrong. “She looks…nice?”

  Hunter burst into laughter, a satisfied look flickering in his eyes.

  I just huffed and pulled my mobile out once again. One new text from Mom.

  Sorry, Jules. I’m busy at work right now. Just walk home, okay? It can’t be that bad.

  I turned my phone off with a lump in my throat. Even though I tried, I couldn’t shake off the disappointed feeling.

  “You okay?” Hunter asked with a quick glance at me.

  I nodded. Luckily, we pulled into our street at that moment, so I didn’t have to think of an explanation.

  I remembered that I was still wearing his coat, so I quickly got out of it and thrust it at him. “Bye then. Thanks for the ride.”

  “No problem. Feel better.”

  I offered him a small smile, then I turned around and walked back home, wanting nothing more than to crawl into my bed and sleep.

  Chapter 13

  Most of the time, almost every single day, to be honest, I wouldn’t have minded staying at home instead of going to school at all. However, now that I actually had to stay in bed and was unable to go out, I hated every second of it.

  I had climbed into bed the moment I returned from the field trip and hadn’t really left it since, except for little trips to the bathroom and the kitchen. It turned out I did not only catch a cold but nearly had a lung inflammation, and it was probably thanks to Hunter, who got me out of the water and had given me his coat, that it wasn’t more severe.

  It had been four days now, and I was convinced that one more day spent watching reruns on TV and not really talking to anyone would drive me insane.

  Nate and I were texting loads, and Emily had called three times, but that was it. My parents were at work nearly all day, and when they were home, they only briefly checked up on me before going back to more pressing matters like grading exams and watching baseball games. Mom wouldn’t even let Maya go into my room, fearing she could pick up my illness.

  It was past 3:00 am now, but since I slept during the day, I was wide awake now. Bored out of my mind, I flipped through the pages of a random sports magazine I found on the kitchen counter when quiet clinks distracted me.

  I looked around my room, searching for whatever was making the noise but didn’t find anything. Eventually, I returned my attention to the magazine, passing the noises off as unimportant. But after two minutes, the clinking hadn’t stopped. On the contrary, it was actually increasing, almost sounding like it was hailing.

  With an irritated huff, I sat up to look out of the window, just in time to see a pebble fly against the glass. I shot out of bed immediately, wincing slightly as my bare feet hit the cold floor, and ran over to the window.

  “What are you doing here?” I whispered as soon as I opened it.

  Hunter was barely more than a shadow in the darkness around him, the light of the street lamps not reaching the spot beneath my window where he was standing. I only knew it was him because of the way he impatiently tilted his head while he was toying around with the next stone in his hand. Besides, no one else would show up at my house in the middle of the night.

  Instead of answering, Hunter just pointed at the front door, gesticulating for me to open it for him.

  I considered this for a moment. Of course, I was bored and would actually be happy for some company, but did I want Hunter’s, out of all people? He had somehow grown on me during the field trip, and I felt like I should at least be nicer to him after all he’d done for me.

  On the other hand, I was a mess. Wearing my usual clothes, which consisted of sweatpants and a hoodie, was no problem in front of him, but I was still looking…well, sick. Hopefully, better than I felt.

  Eventually, I nodded and tiptoed down the stairs and to the door, which I quietly unlocked.

  “Hey, sugarpie,” Hunter whispered while he looked me over.

  I immediately felt my skin tingling under his stare but suppressed my urge to fidget nervously. Instead, I decided to do the same to him and studied him, too.

  As always, his hair looked messy, but I knew exactly that he achieved that look with at least ten minutes in the bathroom and a lot of hair wax. One dark strand fell into his eyes, and my fingers itched with the urge to push it out of his face. His eyes were the same color as the blueish-green tee he was wearing along with his leather jacket.

  My eyes darted back to his face as he cleared his throat with a faint smirk. “Done checking me out yet?”

  “I wasn’t checking you out.”

  “Well, I did,” he said with a shrug.

  I stared at him for a few seconds before he stepped closer and lifted my chin with his index finger, closing my mouth. “So, are you not going to invite me in?”

  I stepped aside silently. Hunter smiled sweetly at me before he walked past me and quietly entered the house.

  “Where’s your room?” he mouthed.

  I pointed up the stairs. What followed were probably the longest fifteen seconds of my entire life. Hunter and I tried to go up the stairs as quietly as possible, but somehow every single step seemed to creak under our weight.

  When we finally arrived at the top of the stairs, I immediately pulled Hunter into my room, closing the door behind me. In that instant, I really wished I had a lock on my door, but my parents didn’t want me to lock myself inside, so they had taken it off years ago.

  For a moment, I was just leaning against the door and watched Hunter as he looked around my room.

  There wasn’t anything special, really. My bed occupied most of it. In one corner was my desk, which was buried beneath sketches and photos I had taken the other day. Then there was my closet, a bookshelf, and the bathroom door. Photos of me with Emily, Nate, or Maya were stuck to a wall. Pretty plain.

  “So…What are you doing here?” I asked after a while.

  Hunter set the book he was eyeing down on my nightstand and turned around. “Nate talked about how bored and lonely you are, so I thought you’d like a bit of company.”

  “Nate sent you here?” I asked in surprise.

  “Well, not exactly,” Hunter said. “He told Alex, and she told me. Oh, greetings from your girlfriend, by the way. She’s still pissed at me for some reason, but at least she’s not glaring at me with her Bambi’s eyes during class anymore, so that’s an improvement, I guess.”

  I leaned my head against the door. “She’s just worried, you know.”

  “About what? That I might steal her indeed quite an adorable boyfriend?”

  “Something along those lines.”

  “Well, there’s no reason for her to worry, is there?” Hunter said. He was casually leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room, but he was watching me carefully.

  I sent him a pointed look. “I’m not having this talk with you again.”

  He just huffed and pushed himself off the wall, stepping into the room and close to me. “Alright, whatever. How are you feeling, anyway? You look better than you did the other day.”

  “I’m getting better. I’m probably going back to school tomorrow.”

  Hunter nodded and wandered along the wall until he came to a stop in front of my bookshelf. He examined the titles with an interested look on his face.

  My bookshelf was probably the only thing that was tidy. The books were arranged in alphabetical order of their authors, starting with Jane Austen and ending with Oscar Wilde. Classics, mostly, but also some contemporary and dystopian books.

  When I saw Hunter smirk, I knew exactly which book he spotted. I was proven right when H
unter took The Picture of Dorian Gray out and held it up almost triumphantly.

  “Now, that’s interesting,” he said and raised an eyebrow. “Classic literature with dozens of bisexual and gay characters? Who do you prefer, as a couple, I mean? Dorian and Basil or Dorian and Lord Henry?”

  Thinking about what the hell I could answer to that, I crossed the room, snatched the book out of his hand, and placed it back in its spot.

  “How do you know so much about that book? I didn’t know you like to read.”

  I could tell that there were more questions Hunter wanted to ask, but when he noticed my discomfort, he let it go and replied, “Jules, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He laughed quietly. “I do like to read. Not that many classics but more thrillers and splatter. I remember reading The Picture of Dorian Gray when I was fifteen and about to come out. It was nice to read about that kind of topic in a classic book. Shows that people dealt with that stuff back then too. It’s natural.”

  “Well, addressing the topic didn’t really do Oscar Wilde any good,” I said. “Two years in penitentiary just because of his sexuality.”

  “Yeah, but at least he found a way to express his feelings. Better than bottling it all up and perishing of it, don’t you think?”

  “Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about Oscar Wilde anymore?” I asked warily.

  Suddenly, I became aware of how close Hunter was standing in front me. If I extended my arm a little, I could touch his chest. Not that I wanted to.

  “I don’t know. Are we?” Hunter retorted and pointed at me. “Hey, maybe you should re-read that book. Might be helpf—”

  The rest of his sentence was muffled by the pillow I grabbed from my bed and threw at his face.

  He immediately bent down and picked it up. Before I could duck, he slammed it into my face. I stumbled back, and my knees hit the bed. Trying to keep my balance, I instinctively looked for something to hold onto. Unfortunately, it was Hunter’s shirt. I pulled him down with me. Seconds later, I fell onto the mattress with him lying on top of me, propping himself up on his hands which were on both sides of my head.

  “Well, this is awkward.” I laughed nervously and pushed against his chest to get him off me.

  He didn’t budge an inch. “Don’t worry, sugarpie. You’re definitely not the first one to be in this position with me. Even though I didn’t expect you to practically drag me into your bed that early.”

  “Hunter,” I whined. “Seriously, you’re crushing me.”

  Hunter leaned down, just enough so that he could whisper into my ear. “Nah, I’m not crushing you. There’s a word missing.”

  I looked up in confusion, staring up into his eyes. They really were unbelievably green. Just for a heartbeat, I wished I could paint pictures with that color, brush it onto a canvas, and frame it on a wall.

  “Please get up.”

  Finally, he shrugged and did as I told him.

  I immediately exhaled a deep breath I didn’t realize I had been holding and took his hand that he extended to help me up.

  I was just about to say something when loud steps echoed through the corridor. Both our heads whipped towards the door, eyes wide in shock.

  “Get into the closet!” I whispered frantically and pushed him towards it.

  He groaned quietly before opening the door and squeezing himself inside. As soon as he was inside, I carefully closed the door.

  “Don’t move.”

  Hunter’s voice was muffled as it sounded through the door. “I don’t think there’s enough space for that in here anyway.”

  I quickly jumped back onto my bed, slipping under the sheets, and picked up the magazine, trying hard to look natural.

  Seconds later, the door opened, and my dad stomped inside. I had never seen another person who could look that intimidating wearing pajamas.

  “Jules, what is all this noise?” He demanded loudly.

  I winced but held his gaze. “Sorry, Dad. I was just going to the bathroom.”

  My father frowned grimly, but after another suspicious look around my room, he seemed to be too tired to investigate. “Be quiet now. Your mother and I are trying to sleep.”

  I nodded silently and watched as he left the room and shut the door behind him.

  Once he was gone, I counted to twenty before I walked over to the closet and opened the door.

  Hunter immediately swung his legs out and got to his feet with a quiet groan. “Christ, I didn’t think I’d have to go back in there.”

  “Why did I know you’d make some kind of coming-out-of-the-closet joke?” I asked and tried hard not to snicker.

  “You just know me too well.” Hunter grinned before turning to the window. “Anyways, I’m gonna go. Gotta hit the pillow for at least three hours.”

  Now that he talked about sleeping, I yawned as well. “Are you going out of the window?”

  It really wasn’t that high up, and you could land easily in our garden. I knew that from experience.

  Hunter nodded and opened the window. Then he swung his legs out. Just before he jumped, he turned around to me one last time. “Hey, next time, we’re going to do that in my bed. After you’ve come out of the closet.”

  “Hunter, better go now, or I’m pushing you out of that window,” I said but couldn’t hide a tiny grin.

  “Aw, you wouldn’t.”

  I raised an eyebrow, walked towards him, and lifted my hands. Before I could reach him, he already disappeared. I looked down into the garden, and I saw him straightening himself and playfully saluting me with two fingers.

  “See you tomorrow, Jules.”

  He was almost out of earshot when I said, “Hey, Hunter?”

  He turned around.

  “Thanks for coming by.”

  Hunter just smiled, and one minute later, he disappeared into the darkness.

  Chapter 14

  “And you’re sure you’re feeling well enough to go to school already?”

  I looked out of the window and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, Mom. I’m fine. Can you just let me get out of the car now?”

  For the last five minutes, we had been sitting in the car in front of the school building and argued whether I could go to class today or not. Mom insisted that I should come home with her and stay there for just one more day, but I really didn’t want to.

  She sighed deeply, as she often did around me. Somehow, I seemed to disappoint her quite frequently.

  “Alright. But if you don’t feel good, go home. I won’t be able to get you, so you’d have to walk, but maybe Emily could give you a ride home, right?”

  Funny that Mom’s first thought was to ask Em for help, not Nate or anyone else. My parents adored Emily. They probably already had our wedding planned out.

  Nate, on the other hand, wasn’t as well-liked. When we were little, he always broke things when he came over to play, and the fact that he was listening to heavy metal didn’t make things better.

  “Yeah, I guess. Will you or Dad be home this afternoon?”

  Mom shook her head and pushed her glasses further up her nose. “No. We’ll be back at eight. Maya will be at a friend’s house.”

  I nodded. That fit my plans perfectly. “Okay. Now can you please unlock the damn door?”

  She sent me a disapproving look but finally unlocked it. I got out of the car immediately, pretending I didn’t know her when she honked as a good-bye and made my way towards the doors.

  Emily and Nate were already there, their cars standing next to each other on the parking lot. A bit further away from the building was Hunter’s car. He was leaning against it, smoking a cigarette, while Alexis was sitting on the hood reading a book. Hunter flashed me a half-smile when he caught me watching him.

  I nodded towards him before quickly looking away and pushing through the school’s main entrance.

  “Oh thank God, you’re back,” someone suddenly called out from behind me.

  I whirled around to see Nate walking towards me.


  “Dude, you have no idea how exhausting it is to sit alone with Emily at lunch.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “How come?”

  Nate rolled his eyes as he quoted in a high-pitched voice, “Do you think Jules is angry at me? Do you think he still likes me? Do you think Hunter has a thing for him?” And then he added, “My answer was yes to all of them, by the way.”

  “You think Hunter likes me?” I asked and sent him a surprised look while we entered the classroom.

  Nate shrugged. “Well, he’s quite obvious about it. Don’t you think? He uses practically every opportunity to be near you. He even got detention just to spend more time with you after school, remember? He’s constantly trying to make you jealous with Sean and now Victoria by making out with them right in front of you. He was seen carrying you back to your tent after you ran into the sea at the party…” he said, counting on his fingers.

  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Nate, none of that was because he likes me. He’s just an idiot.”

  “Or he’s totally whipped.”

  “Dude, have you ever really looked at him? He could have anyone at this school, and they’d be glad to call themselves his Date of the Week. Hunter knows exactly that I’m not like that.”

  “Yeah, and I think that’s exactly the reason why he’s interested in you.”

  I frowned at him while he leaned back in his chair. I crossed my arms before my chest.

  “As if. Anyway, uhm…” I quickly glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot. Then I muttered, “Today I’m going to, uh, ask Emily if she wants to…you know…”

  Nate’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Nate said carefully, clearly worried.

  “What do you mean?”

  Nate shifted around on his chair uncomfortably. “Well…A few days ago, you stormed out on her because you hated the thought of it and then you suddenly agreed to do it? Why?”