“And that is?”
“I…I’m not sure.”
“Jules, I think I know what you’re thinking about,” he said, sounding serious all of a sudden.
I rolled onto my stomach to look at him. “What?” I laughed, trying not to sound nervous.
He couldn’t possibly know, not if I had only just started questioning it.
It couldn’t be this obvious, could it? A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of it.
“Hey, it’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about it,” Nate said as he saw the look on my face. “But I’m here in case you do.”
I shook my head. “It’s not like that. It’s not like I know anything. It’s just a thought I had.”
“Yeah, but it’s obviously one that bothers you.” He waited for a response, but as he didn’t get one, he added, “Maybe you should talk to Hunter about it?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Why?”
Nate shrugged. “Well, he’s the one with experience. Plus, you can’t deny this is because of him. He got you thinking.”
“Yeah, thinking about how satisfying it’d be to slap him sometimes.”
Nate cocked an eyebrow at me. “You sure that’s all?”
No. “Yes.”
He studied my face for a few more seconds before shrugging again and getting to his feet. “Alright. Anyway, I think we should go to sleep. School starts in…” He glanced at his watch. “Five hours.”
We groaned in unison, and I got off his bed. There were a spare mattress and a blanket stored beneath his bed that I always slept on when I came over. I quickly pulled them out and set everything up, while Nate went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
I was asleep before he came back.
***
“Jules, I swear to God. If you pull up at Starbucks, I’m going to—Oh, really now? You’re just gonna—”
The rest of Nate’s protest was cut off by the sound of the door falling shut as I got out of the car and headed for the coffee shop. It was only a small detour, so I didn’t know why Nate was in such a fuss.
I immediately felt more awake as I entered and the smell of caffeine hit me.
A girl with red hair and a sleeve tattoo grinned at me as I approached the counter. She always worked shifts at this time, so she was usually the one making my coffee before school. Let’s just say that I adored her, not least because she always added exactly the right amount of caramel syrup to make a damn good Caramel Macchiato.
“Hey, Red!” I said and flashed her a smile.
“The usual?” she asked instead of a greeting while adjusting her ponytail.
“Yep.”
She nodded, immediately got to work, and prepared it. While she was picking out the change, I looked at the name she had written on the cup.
It was kind of a running gag between the two of us that she always wrote nicknames on it. From insults to misspellings of my name and quite nice things, she had called me a bunch of things already.
Today she had written Edward Cullen on it.
I looked over at her and rolled my eyes.
“Oh, very creative, Red. Just because I look like a fricking vampire today?” I gestured towards my face and at the dark circles underneath my eyes. “At least, I’m not dead inside. Your soul is blacker than your coffee.”
Jade pressed a carefully manicured hand against her chest and said, grinning, “Ouch, I’m hurt. Now get the hell out of here. You’re going to be late for school.”
I took a sip from my coffee and saluted her with two fingers before turning around.
Jade, or Red as I sometimes called her because of her hair, was like an older sister to me. I had known her for two years now, since she had been a student at our high school, too. At first, I was a bit intimidated by her, but she actually was a sweetheart. Not that I would ever tell her that to her face. She would probably break my hand for that.
When I arrived at the car, I found a grumpy-looking Nate sitting in the passenger seat, nodding his head to the deafeningly loud music blasting out of the speaker. I got in and turned it down.
“I can’t believe it! You’re risking coming late to school just to get coffee and chat with Jade?” Nate asked resentfully and glared at me.
I shrugged, handing him my coffee to hold for me while I was backing out of the parking space.
“Yes. So okay, maybe we’ll be late for sports class. But that’s okay because nobody needs a sports class. But you know what one needs? Caffeine. There, take a sip if it makes you feel better.”
For a moment, Nate looked like he wanted to throw the cup out of the window and himself after it, but then he angrily lifted it to his lips and slurped it noisily.
“Better?”
“Screw you,” he said, but it was half-hearted.
By the time we finished the coffee and arrived at school, we were both somewhat more awake. But my good mood faded as soon as I entered the sports hall and headed towards the locker room. Sports was just not for me, especially not that early.
A few half-naked guys turned their heads when I entered the locker room. I looked around for a place to change and found that the only free spot was next to a nearly fully dressed Hunter.
He smirked at me and beckoned me over.
I sighed quietly and walked over to him. When I needed to take off my shirt, I hesitated. I could feel his gaze on me and tensed at the thought of him watching me change. Swallowing my discomfort down, I met his eyes and pulled the shirt over my head until I was left in just my jeans.
Something that seemed like approval flickered in Hunter’s eyes for a second. Then, without saying anything, he turned around and left.
I could breathe normally again as soon as the door fell shut behind him and quickly changed into the football gear the coach had given us. It was too big to properly fit my slender frame, but it’d do. Its smell was horrible though, and when I pulled it over my head, I actually had to hold my breath to fight down my gag reflex.
Minutes later, I was outside on the playing field. I was on the offense team while Hunter was on the defense team.
It all went quite well for a while. I tried not to get trampled down by anyone and mainly just jogged around on the court. That was until I got the ball. It felt like a ticking time bomb in my hands, and all I wanted was to get rid of it.
I tried to push through into the other half of the field, but every time, I got pushed back by someone until I eventually reached my own end zone. Before I could even react, a body slammed into mine, and I got tackled to the ground. Around me, I heard the other team laughing and cheering, but it all got drowned out by the sound of my pounding heart as I looked up.
Looming over me was, of course, Hunter, smirking down at me through his helmet.
“Sorry, sugarpie,” he said. “Maybe next time.”
I glowered at him until he got up.
He offered me a hand, but I slapped it aside and got up on my own.
“Sometimes I almost forget why I don’t like you, but you never fail to remind me.”
Hunter laughed, undisturbed, and patted my helmet as he passed.
When the two periods were over, and we changed into our normal clothes in the locker room, I was convinced I would have bruises all over my body by tomorrow.
“Hey, Jules?” Hunter asked next to me.
I was just putting my shirt back on but stopped for a moment to look at him. “Yeah?”
“I wanted to ask you if you’re going to come to the lake this afternoon?”
I looked at him with a quizzical look.
“Alex thought it’d be fun to go there.” Hunter explained. “You, me, Alex, Liam, Adam…I think Nate actually already said he’d come when Alex asked him.”
“Isn’t it still too cold to go swimming?” I asked.
“Oh, come on. It’s spring. It’ll be fine.” He thought about it for a moment. “On the other hand, you seem to have the immune system of a gummy bear, so maybe you shouldn’t—”
“I�
��m coming,” I said before he could finish.
“Awesome,” Hunter said and flashed me a smile. “We’re meeting there after school. Just come as soon as you can manage.”
With that, he slammed his locker door shut and left, not turning around as I looked after him.
Chapter 16
The ringing of the school bell at the end of my last period was like angel’s singing to me, and I was out of the door before anyone else had even gotten up. After the sports class ended, I was so eager to leave school that the five more hours of lesson had been pure torture. Funny how minutes could feel like hours when you were at school.
The two periods of Biology had felt especially long, not least because Hunter wasn’t there. Apparently, he decided to skip the rest of school after our conversation in the locker room. Somehow, I had the feeling that his sarcastic comments and distracting talk would’ve made the class more tolerable.
I couldn’t deny that I was looking forward to today’s afternoon by the lake, even though I wouldn’t say it out loud in front of Hunter.
When I stepped out onto the parking lot, I saw Emily and Nate already standing by my car. Emily was laughing about something Nate said while he grinned widely.
“Hey,” I said as I stopped next to them and pulled Emily into a hug.
She seemed startled that I hadn’t kissed her at first, but the frown quickly vanished from her face when I looked at her.
“I have to stop by at home to get my stuff,” I told Nate while I unlocked the door and propped my arm on it. “Emily, are you coming, too?”
Nate sent me a disapproving look but didn’t say anything.
Emily didn’t notice his expression and shrugged. “I heard that you guys are planning on going to the lake, but I didn’t realize I was invited.” She laughed. “Is it really okay if I’m coming with you?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Sure, I’d like that. I have swimming practice first, though, so I’ll be there a bit later.”
I nodded and motioned for Nate to get into the car. “Awesome. See you there, then.”
As soon as I got into the car and started the engine, Nate started to rant, “Dude, you gotta stop leading her on like that! It’s unfair and stupid and…She’ll think you’re…”
“What?” I said.
“Jules, you have to decide for how long you’re going to keep…whatever this is up. It’s not fair to lie to her like that.”
“So, what do you want me to do?” I asked helplessly.
Nate looked at me with surprising vehemence. “I want you to come clean about this. First, with yourself, then with her.” He was silent for a moment before he added, “Then with Hunter.”
“What does Hunter have to do with this?” I exclaimed.
Nate just leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. “How should I know? You’re never telling me anything,” he said sulkily. “But I’m eighty percent convinced you two are having some weird thing going on. Even if you don’t wanna see it.”
That, I couldn’t deny. There was something between Hunter and me, though I couldn’t name what it was. It felt forbidden but at the same time, righter than anything else I was doing at the moment. Which made it even more terrifying.
“Fine, think whatever you want,” I said before I continued more softly, “but you’re right about Emily. Our relationship doesn’t feel right anymore, and I think she knows it, too.”
Nate nodded, satisfied with that answer for now and swiftly changed the topic. “Speaking of girls, do you think Alexis likes me?”
Shooting him a wide-eyed gaze, I motioned for him to explain.
Nate ran a hand through his hair while he thought about the right words to say. “You know how we sometimes hang out during breaks lately?”
I nodded.
“See, she’s always so nice. But on the other hand, she’s nice to literally everyone, and I’m not sure if this is the normal type of nice or the, you know, I like you and I wouldn’t mind if you pinned me against a wall and got a taste of my lip gloss-type of nice.”
“I still think you should just ask her out.”
“Not helpful.” Nate commented. “I can’t just do that out of the blue. She doesn’t even know I like her.”
“And she’ll never if you don’t make the first move.”
Before he could object, I brought the car to a stop in front of my house and got out, not without turning around once more, shouting, “Think about it!”
I could faintly hear him muttering something under his breath as I crossed the street and walked up to the front door.
As soon as I unlocked it, I heard my mother coming down the stairs. I froze in my tracks and looked up to see her approaching, gulping as I saw the furious look on her face.
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be at church. I counted on my parents leaving the house early in the morning and coming back late, as they usually did so that my nightly trip to Nate’s would stay unnoticed.
“Julian Hatcher!” She scolded. “Where have you been?”
“At Nate’s,” I said quietly and looked at her, expecting her to yell at me.
Instead, her voice got cold, scarily calm, which was even worse. “Did you plan on telling us?”
I thought about lying for a moment before I silently shook my head.
I could see how hard she was trying to keep her self-control with the way one of her hands clenched and unclenched.
“What did you do there? Why did you go there in the middle of the night?”
“I needed someone to talk to,” I said carefully.
The frown that appeared on her face made it clear that she didn’t believe me. “About what do you have to talk so badly that you have to go to Nate’s and tell him personally instead of messaging him or talking to us?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and said, “It’s kind of personal, Mom.”
Her eyebrows shot up so high they nearly reached her hairline, and a worried look finally won over the angry one. “Jules, if you have problems, you have to tell us about them. We can help you. We can ask Mrs. Meyer for a few appointments with you…”
“Mom, I don’t need counseling,” I said, slowly getting irritated.
Mrs. Meyer was a psychiatrist I hadn’t been to since I was fourteen, and I wasn’t planning on going there again anytime soon. Just the thought of sitting in her small, tidy office again while she pushed the plates with the cookies closer to me and asked me how I was doing made me feel sick.
***
How has your week been, Jules? How are things at home going? Do you have nightmares? Anxiety? Do I need to subscribe you any—No, no pills, I’m sorry. Go on then, tell me a bit about what you’ve been writing in your diary.
***
I shook my head to chase away the memories and focused on Mom again. She stepped closer. One hand was hovering in the air between us, reaching out but not yet touching me.
“Mom, I’m fine. I just couldn’t sleep and didn’t feel like being alone and thinking about everything. So I went to Nate’s.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, Jules. But if I find your room empty one more time without hearing from you, there will be consequences. You’re lucky your dad wasn’t here long enough to notice. I won’t tell him if you promise to never do that again.”
“Thanks, Mom. I promise,” I said before quickly walking around her and jogging up the stairs to my room.
About two minutes later, I was back in the car with Nate with a bag packed with my swimming stuff. After I explained to him why it had taken so long and how my mom had reacted, we spent the drive in comfortable silence. Nate was switching the radio stations until he found one that played ’80s rock hits and turned the volume up so high that when we stopped near the lake, my ears were ringing.
The lake was just ten minutes away from town, in a pretty deserted area. It was in the empty field between two cities, so there were only a few houses around. Not many people even k
new of it. It was well-hidden in a small forest, with a few high rocks circling it. The only people who usually came here were students from our high school, where the location had somehow grown popular.
When Nate and I reached the clearing, Hunter, Alexis, Liam, and Adam were already there. Much to my dismay, Victoria was there too, currently straddling Hunter, who was kissing her almost violently.
I quickly averted my gaze and looked at Alexis and Liam, who were already in the water. As Alexis saw us approaching, she got out of the lake and came towards us. When I looked over at Nate, I saw that his mouth was hanging wide open as he looked at her. I stifled a laugh and glanced back at Alexis.
She was dripping wet, wearing a colorful bikini, visibly shaking from the cold but still smiling happily at us. “Hey! I’m so glad you made it!”
“Gosh, Alex. You’ll catch your death!” Nate exclaimed and quickly ran to get her a towel.
I grinned widely. “Hi. What’s Victoria doing here?” I muttered silently so that only she could hear it.
She followed my look and grimaced when she saw them making out and said, “I don’t know why Hunter invited her. She’s been eating his face since we arrived here. I asked him if he’d come swimming with us, but he didn’t want to…You should try and get him to do it.”
“What makes you think he’ll listen to me?” I asked, frowning.
“Five bucks says he will?” She grinned widely.
“Deal.” I laughed, just as Nate came back with a towel and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Alexis offered him a grateful smile and asked, “Nate, are you joining Liam and me? Adam says swimming is boring, even though we all know he’s just a pansy when it comes to swimming in cold water, and it’s no fun with only two people.”
Unsurprisingly, Nate agreed immediately and disappeared into the woods to change. I followed him, and a few minutes later, we came back. While Nate and Alexis stood back, I approached Hunter. He had finally broken away from the kiss, but Victoria was still sitting on his lap and glared at me when I cleared my throat.
Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes Page 12