Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

by Philline Harms

  Before anyone could say anything, Victoria suddenly marched up to our table, heels clicking loudly against the floor. She barely looked at any of us, not even Alexis who greeted her politely, and only had eyes for Hunter. When she saw that there was no chair left for her, she simply sat down on the edge of the table, leaning towards Hunter.

  “Hey, babe,” she purred, leaning further in for a kiss.

  Hunter looked at me for a split second before he hesitantly buried a hand in her hair and pulled her in. I tried to keep my face neutral, but I couldn’t hide the tiny scowl. Victoria pushed Hunter’s tray aside and shifted so that she was fully sitting on the table. Judging by the way Alexis and Liam rolled their eyes, they didn’t approve of this but had witnessed it so often that they stopped caring.

  I leaned away from the passionately kissing couple as far as possible until I was nearly sitting in Emily’s lap and quietly asked Alexis, “Does he do that often?”

  She nodded with a haunted expression. “Yeah. You know, he usually ends up with the…clingy type of people. Those who seem to follow him anywhere, always available to make out in a school corridor or something…” She trailed as she saw my face. “Anyways, it’s disgusting. You have no idea how many fights I had with him about objectifying and using people, but in the end, he’s right when he says that it’s their choice. He’s never the one to ask anyone first or to actively do something for the relationship. It’s always them who basically offer themselves.”

  “How can someone be so stupid and want to date him, then?” Emily asked, sounding disgusted.

  I scratched the back of my arm, feeling quite uneasy all of a sudden and not only because of the sounds Hunter and Victoria were making next to me.

  Liam shrugged. “I mean, just look at him. That boy is blessed with looks that could make nearly anyone weak. And I guess that bad boy thing really works for him. Acting all mysterious and cocky apparently sells better than actually caring and being nice to people.”

  I looked over at Hunter once more, taking in the image of how Victoria’s hands slid under his shirt and the little gasps that sounded every time they stopped to inhale. Somehow, I had to fight down the urge to reach out and push her off the table, but I was sure Hunter wouldn’t appreciate it if I broke his toy before he was done with it.

  Luckily, before my self-control came to an end, Hunter broke away from her and leaned back in his chair. His cheeks were slightly flushed and his hair even more tousled than before, but other than that, he seemed calm and collected.

  “That’s enough,” he said and waved a hand as if dismissing Victoria. “You should leave.”

  Victoria looked as if she was going to refuse or at least snarl a bitchy reply. Instead, she gracefully slid off the table. Before she left, she gave me another dirty look.

  I had no idea why, so I settled for raising a brow at her before I turned back to Hunter. “Was that really necessary?” I couldn’t hide the least bit of anger from my voice.

  Hunter seemed entirely unimpressed. “Jealous, sugarpie?”

  On the other side of the table, Nate nearly choked on the water he had just taken.

  “Not jealous. Annoyed,” I retorted, “because whenever I’m near you, you make out with someone next to me and I’ve got better things to do than watch that. Plus, I always end up getting glared at by Victoria or Sean. I’m not even doing anything!”

  “Don’t take it too seriously, sugarpie. I’ll pick you up at your house at eight.”

  For a moment, I didn’t realize that he was talking to me. When I did, all I could do was stammer out, “You…you’ll what?”

  “I’ll pick you up,” he said slowly. “We’ll drive to the party together.”

  It was only then that I remembered that I had agreed to go to that stupid party with them.

  “No, we won’t! I have a car.” I objected.

  “See you at eight.” Hunter grinned, ignoring my reply, and walked off after stealing a fry from Alexis’s plate.

  “Unbelievable.” I huffed.

  “Yeah, unbelievable,” Emily echoed quietly.

  ***

  Despite my objections to the offer Hunter had forced onto me, I was ready to leave as soon as eight o’ clock came around.

  I was also ready to throw up because hell, I was a nervous wreck. Social events weren’t really my thing, but social events where everyone was drunk were downright terrifying.

  If it hadn’t been for Nate, I would probably have canceled already. But I already told him I’d be there, and I couldn’t just let him go there all by himself. Aside from that, Hunter was going to pick me up at my house, and I knew that if I didn’t go with him voluntarily, he probably wouldn’t stop annoying me about it until I did.

  So I waited anxiously for him to arrive, while I looked in the mirror once again. I replaced the usual hoodie with a black T-shirt and an unbuttoned plaid flannel shirt. I even put on jeans that were a bit tighter than the ones I was used to wearing even though they were a million times less comfy.

  Needless to say, I was feeling like an idiot in these clothes, but before I could go back and change into something else, the doorbell rang. I nearly jumped at the sound and rushed down the stairs.

  A little out of breath, I opened the door, only to have even more trouble breathing when I saw Hunter. He was wearing a black V-neck that made his skin appear lighter than it actually was. His green eyes stood out even more and so did the dark shadows under his eyes, but in combination with his tousled hair, they strangely made him look even more…Dangerous? Intriguing?

  It was hard to describe Hunter, but right now, standing in the fading light on my front porch, he was a sight worth taking a photo of. Not that I was going to. I had already embarrassed myself enough by staring at him for what felt like hours.

  “Hi,” I said, trying to sound calm and collected.

  “Hey,” he said, with a strange smile that was kind of looking like he was thinking about a joke that only he understood.

  When I didn’t respond, he stepped closer and pointed at my outfit. “Now, that’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing anything else than hoodies and wide sweaters.”

  “I know. I look ridiculous in this,” I said and grimaced, clenching and unclenching my hands nervously.

  “You don’t,” was all he said.

  I shrugged uncomfortably, feeling uneasy as always when someone complimented me, and grabbed my coat from its hook before shutting the door behind me and stepping out onto the porch. The air was surprisingly warm. You could tell that it was nearly June. Spring had been cold this year, but it was slowly getting warmer.

  “Can we go?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Can we?” he retorted. “You’re pale. Are you feeling alright?”

  “Just anxious,” I admitted.

  Hunter hesitated for a moment, looking around before he came closer and carefully reached for my hand. He stopped inches away from making skin contact, giving me enough time to slap his hand away in case I didn’t want to be touched. I met his eye, nodding subtly. He smiled and took my hand, intertwining our fingers. He was holding it carefully as if he was afraid he’d break it if he squeezed too tight.

  We stayed like that for a moment; him holding my hand, his thumb on my wrist. It took a while for me to realize that he was checking my pulse, waiting for it to slow down. My heart always beat fast when I got anxious, and somehow he knew that and waited patiently for me to calm down.

  Right now, it wasn’t just the anxiety that was making my heart race, though.

  “That’s not gonna slow down while you’re holding my hand,” I eventually said and laughed nervously.

  He frowned in confusion before he understood. Instead of the smug grin I had expected, his eyes widened.

  “Oh.”

  I just nodded and tugged lightly at his hand. “So…Are we going?”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said, but he still seemed thoughtful.

  That didn’t change through
out the ride to the party, and even though he was talking to me like he usually did, he seemed strangely quiet.

  The party was thrown by Dave, a guy that I knew briefly since he was in my sports class. He was on the football team, too, and apparently lived in a huge house in one of the wealthier, quiet neighborhoods. At least, I suspected it was usually quiet. Right now, however, there was loud music blasting out of the house, and noisy teenagers were hanging around in the front lawn of his house. Red plastic cups were scattered over the grass as Hunter and I crossed the lawn to get to the front door.

  “Hey, can you promise me something?” Hunter asked before he opened the door.

  “What?”

  “Please don’t drink as much as you did on the field trip, yeah?”

  I rolled my eyes at him and opened the door.

  As soon as I entered the house, the volume got five times louder, and I could feel every note vibrating straight through my body. People were standing everywhere, dancing, drinking, and making out. There really wasn’t much space, and I immediately felt like I couldn’t breathe.

  Big crowds in tight spaces were horrible, and I felt like I was about to hyperventilate when Hunter’s hand on my arm interrupted my thoughts. As soon as his fingers closed around my wrist and his thumb gently pressed against it, I felt like I could breathe a little easier. I gratefully squeezed his fingers while we pushed through the crowd until we reached another, less packed room. In here, the music was quieter so that people could talk.

  Hunter quickly let go of my hand when he spotted our friends on a couch in the room.

  Nate was sitting next to Alexis. Both seemed pretty drunk already and were grinning sheepishly at each other while they talked. Next to them, Liam and Adam were currently sharing a bottle that looked like it contained hard liquor and was alarmingly empty already.

  Before I could cross the room to get to them, a tall blond guy suddenly appeared in front of me. He grinned down at me, dimples showing.

  “Hey! Jules, eh?” The way he slurred his words was enough to tell me that he was drunk.

  I nodded hesitantly.

  “Yo, do you want a drink, dude? Coke?” He held out a red cup for me to take.

  “Yeah, sure. Thanks, man,” I said and took the cup, then Hunter suddenly ripped it out of my hand and growled at the guy.

  “Are you serious?” He demanded. The look on his face was murderous. “Talk to him once more, and I’ll punch your teeth out.”

  I stared at him in astonishment and quickly pressed a hand to his chest as he stepped towards the guy. “Hunter, what—”

  “Why don’t you drink this yourself, asshole?” Hunter asked with narrowed eyes and pushed the cup back into the hand of the blond dude.

  For a moment, the guy stared down at it in mild terror before he glared at Hunter and dropped the drink in a trash can next to him.

  “Yeah, thought so.” Hunter snarled. “Now turn around and go. Yeah, that way.” He pushed him towards the door and only turned his back to him when he was out of the room.

  Then he came back to me, still glaring. “You don’t ever touch a drink a stranger offers you, alright?”

  I nodded silently, scared to say anything while he was still looking ready to break someone’s neck.

  He must’ve seen a hint of that concern in my eyes because his voice was softer when he continued. “That drink he was going to give you was spiked. That guy has a reputation for experimenting with some weird drugs, okay? Never drink something you didn’t pour yourself or that you watched getting poured.”

  “Sorry,” I muttered.

  Hunter intently looked at me for a few more seconds before turning around abruptly, leaving me alone in the crowd.

  ***

  About four hours later, Hunter had still not re-appeared, and I had no idea where he went. I was still hanging around the living room, waiting for Nate’s mom to arrive and talking to a few people I briefly knew from some of my classes.

  “Jules, you little bastard. Where are you?”

  I rolled my eyes as Nate yelled so loudly that everyone in earshot turned around to stare at him.

  “Over here, dumbass!” I called, although in a lower voice.

  It took Nate a while to stumble towards me through the crowd, and when he finally accomplished it, he leaned onto me for a second for support.

  When he had refused to believe that Alexis could drink more than him, they had a competition. After the fifth cup of whatever it was that they were drinking, I decided that I wasn’t in the mood to call the ambulance if one of them got alcohol intoxication, so I kept them both from drinking any more.

  In his drunk state, Nate had called his mom to pick him up while Liam brought Alexis home. It turned out he didn’t drink that much, and it had been Adam who downed almost the entire bottle they had been passing back and forth.

  “Mom is outside,” Nate said.

  As soon as I steered Nate outside, we spotted his mom’s car. She was already coming towards the house, and she helped me take Nate back into the car, thanking me for taking care of him.

  After Nate was safely in the car, I went back inside to check on Hunter. Since he had given me a ride here, I had to drive home with him now. Of course, I could’ve asked Nate’s mom to drive me home, too. I knew she would’ve done that, but I didn’t want to leave without telling Hunter.

  I didn’t have to look for him for too long. Because as soon as I entered, I saw him stumbling down the stairs. It was weird seeing him moving like this, seeing as he usually was so graceful.

  I rolled my eyes as I saw who was trailing behind him. Obviously, Victoria was here too, clinging onto him as she always did. Her red lipstick, smeared all over his face and neck, was evidence enough that they had done what they apparently could do best.

  “Hunter!” I shouted and waved him over.

  He immediately spotted me and crossed the room surprisingly quick, seeing as he was repeatedly tripping. “What’s up, babe?” he asked, voice darker than usual.

  “Oh my God, you’re wasted,” I said.

  “Yep, that was the plan,” he said, laughing with no concern.

  “Come on. I’ll take you home.” I sighed and reached for his arm, but Victoria suddenly slapped my hand away.

  “Don’t you dare touch him!” As soon as she opened her mouth, I could tell that she hadn’t been drinking much if anything at all.

  “I just want to get him home so he can sleep it off.” I explained.

  She narrowed her eyes at me and put a possessive hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “He’s fine. I want to stay here with him for a bit longer.”

  Something about the way she made decisions for Hunter without asking him bothered me, so I turned directly to him. “Hunter, do you want to stay here or do you want to go home with me?”

  A lazy smile spread across his face. “Babe, I’d go pretty much anywhere with you.”

  I flashed Victoria a victorious grin. “See. You can’t keep him here if he doesn’t want to. You’ll find someone else to hook up with. I’m sure.”

  With that, I took hold of Hunter’s hand and guided him away from her. I’d only come to a few steps far when long nails suddenly dug into my shoulder and forced me to turn around.

  Victoria offered me a gloating smirk as she saw me wince. “Hatcher, you’re really starting to get on my nerves.”

  “The feeling’s mutual,” I retorted, but she went on as if I hadn’t said anything.

  “What’s your plan behind all this, huh? Always acting all sweet and innocent and like you have no idea what you’re doing, just to win him over?” She jabbed a finger at me. “You wouldn’t even know what to do with him once you get him.”

  I shrugged, trying to keep my face neutral. “You’re right. I wouldn’t. Which is why I’m not trying to do anything with him. I’m not trying to get him to like me. I’m not trying to ruin whatever you two have going on, either. So I don’t know why you dislike me so much, or why you can’t stop blaming me when
you fail to get through to him. Maybe he just really prefers being with, you know…nice people.”

  I didn’t even wait for her reaction. Instead, I wrapped an arm around Hunter’s shoulders and walked him outside. When I reached his car, I swiftly reached into his pocket and took out his car keys.

  “Do you mind if I drive?” I asked out of courtesy even though I wouldn’t let him drive in the state he was in.

  He shook his head and walked around the car to get into the passenger seat. Once we were both seated, I backed out of the parking space and onto the road.

  By now, it was 2:00 am, and I was tired. So was Hunter, apparently. It didn’t even take him a minute to doze off next to me. I smiled just a tiny bit as I realized that he was snoring quietly, and reached over him to fasten his seat belt, something that he had forgotten to do.

  A few minutes later, we arrived at his house. For a moment, I just sat there, watching him sleep so peacefully before I gently tapped his shoulder to wake him up. When I didn’t get any reaction, I lightly laid a hand to his cheek, stroking it just a little bit. He sighed contentedly and snuggled deeper into my touch.

  “Hunter. Hunter, wake up.”

  He reluctantly opened his eyes. “Wanna sleep.”

  “I know.” I laughed. “Which is why I want to get you inside and into your bed, okay?”

  “Mhm.”

  It took another two minutes and lots of persuasion until he finally got out of the car and I led him up to the front door. I unlocked it as quietly as possible and ushered him inside.

  “Where’s your room?”

  He didn’t answer. He just shuffled up the stairs, holding tightly onto the handrail since his walk was still swaying. Eventually, we reached a closed door, which he pushed open. Inside, he didn’t bother to turn on the light and just dropped onto his bed, where he was lying on his stomach for a moment.

  I chuckled quietly and shut the door behind me before walking towards his bed. The room was big, way bigger than mine, and as far as I could see in the darkness, its walls were white. The biggest piece of furniture was undoubtedly his bed. It was a king-sized bed with a lot of pillows and blankets on it.