“Oh, you know…” she said suggestively while trailing a hand up his arm. “The usual. There are a couple of empty classrooms around…”
“Awesome,” Hunter said, catching her wrist as she put it on his shoulder. His grip was tight enough to make her gasp quietly. “Go ahead. Enjoy yourself.”
She laughed, baffled. “What do you mean? Aren’t you coming, too?”
Hunter shook his head and said in a voice like he was lecturing a toddler, “No, Victoria. Didn’t I tell you I’m not interested in you?”
“It’s because of him, isn’t it?” she asked in disgust, twisting her wrist out of his grip. Then she half-turned to shoot me a dirty look. “It’s because of your new boy toy. What does he have that I don’t?”
“A sense of humor? More than three brain cells? The ability to have a normal conversation? A pretty—”
I bit my lip, suppressing a grin.
Victoria interrupted him before he could say any more. “Since when do such things even matter to you?”
“Victoria, do me a favor and stop thinking that you know me,” Hunter said. “Because you don’t. Not even a little bit.”
She snorted angrily. “In a few days, he’ll bore you to death. You wanna know why? Because he’s not more than a stupid little boy with a pretty face who has no idea how to handle you. He is nothing like you.” She paused for a moment, then she said, “And when you realize that, you’ll crawl back to me. And maybe I will take you back.”
“Dream on, Vicky.” Hunter laughed.
Victoria shot him another cold glance, then she turned around to me, jabbing a finger at my chest. “If I were you, I’d be very careful, Jules Hatcher. Getting outed in front of the entire school apparently still wasn’t enough to teach you a lesson. But don’t worry. I’ll come up with something.”
I glared down at her, forcefully stopping my hands from clenching into fists at my sides. “Is that supposed to be a threat?”
“I don’t know. Is it? Aren’t you oh so clever?”
“Get out of here, Victoria,” I said calmly and slapped her hand away. “Before you embarrass yourself even more.”
Victoria opened her mouth and looked like she wanted to say something, but then nothing came out except for an exasperated growl. Purposely jostling me, she finally left.
I looked after her, shaking my head in disbelief. Who did she think she was?
“Sorry about that,” Hunter muttered, suddenly right next to me and rested his hand on my back for a split second.
With a sigh, I turned around to him. “Didn’t you say you broke up with her?”
Hunter shrugged, emptying his coffee. “I did, but she seems a little slow on the uptake. Hopefully, this was clear enough for her now.”
I frowned. “What exactly was going on between you two?”
“Nothing serious,” he said briefly.
“Huh. That’s weird,” I said. “I can’t imagine why she’s so eager to get you back then. What’s so desirable about a sexual relationship with absolutely no perspective? Plus, if you treated her like Sean, I can’t imagine why—”
“Jules, I don’t treat everyone that way.” His voice was oddly serious for once.
I couldn’t help but quietly ask the obvious question.
“Would, uhm…” I cleared my throat, suddenly shy to meet his eye. “Would you treat me like that?”
I nearly flinched when I suddenly felt Hunter’s cold touch against my skin, two fingers under my chin, tilting it upwards, so I looked him in the eye. He was standing closer than seconds before. For a heartbeat, I didn’t even care if anyone was around to see us.
Hunter’s voice was almost gentle when he said, “Don’t ask stupid questions.”
The smile that involuntarily spread across my face was enough to wreck Hunter’s self-control.
After he quickly looked around if anyone was near, he leaned in to kiss me. The kiss was short and sweet, but it was enough to make my legs go weak, and I was glad I was leaning against the locker for at least a little support.
I could feel Hunter grinning against my lips, and I pulled back a little just to mumble, “Stop being so smug. It’s not like you accomplished anything amazing.”
Hunter was still smiling, bracing his hands against the locker on both sides of me. “What, getting you to kiss me isn’t an accomplishment?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” I chuckled.
Hunter only buried a hand in my hair, pulling me closer once again.
But before his lips could even meet mine, we heard a familiar voice, making both of us jump.
“I can’t believe it! Okay, when did this happen?”
I peeked around Hunter just to see Nate standing in the corridor with the biggest grin on his face.
“Hi, Nate,” I said, an embarrassed blush tinting my cheeks. “What’s up?”
Nate burst out laughing. “Aw, look at you guys.”
Hunter laughed quietly and finally released me. “Hi, Nate.”
“Is now the time when I tell you not to break his heart?” Nate asked and cleared his throat. “Okay, Adams, listen up. If you hurt my brother, you’re gonna regret it, for I will hunt you down and shred you to a million pieces.”
Hunter looked at him, trying hard to be serious. “I promise I won’t.”
Nate nodded, apparently satisfied. “Alright. Jules, how did I do?”
I only gave him a sarcastic thumbs up, still trying to calm my racing heart.
“He’s still a little dazed, you see,” Hunter mocked, reaching for my hand. “Give him a second.”
“Shut up,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him, even though my heartbeat had sped up again as soon as I felt his hand in mine. “You’re awful.”
Hunter laughed. “You’re cute.”
Nate made a gagging noise. “You’re both disgusting. Since when are you two acting like silly lovebirds?” When neither of us answered, he eyed us suspiciously. “What happened last night? Why do both of you look like you didn’t sleep for even a minute?”
I rolled my eyes. “Because we didn’t. Since we started doing stuff at night, I basically don’t sleep at all.” When both of them looked at each other, trying not to burst out laughing, I groaned. “That came out wrong.”
Nate grimaced. “Never mind. I don’t even wanna know.”
Hunter chuckled lightly, then he suddenly waved at someone coming around the corner. I immediately pulled my hand out of his grasp, but I didn’t have to worry. It was just Alexis coming towards us with Liam and Adam in tow.
She smiled broadly at us and came to a halt next to Nate, who immediately stood a little straighter. “Hey, guys!”
“What’s up?” Liam asked, looking from Hunter to me and back to Hunter.
Adam didn’t even bother greeting us. He just cocked a brow and stayed behind Liam, as he usually did.
After Hunter and Liam performed some kind of complicated middle school handshake, Alexis said, “Hunter, are you free tonight? We were thinking about going to the cinema. There’s this new horror movie that Adam wants to see…”
Adam suddenly perked up at that. “Not any horror movie, Alex. Zombie Slaughter 6: Brains for Breakfast.”
“That sounds Oscar-worthy.” Hunter snorted.
“Shhh, Hunter,” Liam said. “The last time Adam was this happy was when The Witch Is a Bitch premiered two years ago. Let him have this.”
“So, are you coming?” Adam asked, sounding almost giddy.
Nate and I exchanged a surprised glance. Adam was usually not one to show any kind of emotion, much less actual enthusiasm.
Hunter nodded. “Sure. But I can’t guarantee I’ll stay awake for the entire movie.”
Adam waved his argument away with a dismissive hand movement. “Doesn’t matter. You’re more pleasant to be around when you’re asleep anyway.”
A scowl formed on Hunter’s face as he leaned against the locker.
“Jules, Nate, you should come too!” Alexis said, nudging Nate
with her elbow.
He immediately nodded. I was a little more reluctant but eventually agreed as Hunter looked at me with a hopeful look in his eyes.
Just as things were settled, the school bell rang, drawing a collective sigh from all of us.
“What classes do you have now?” Hunter asked me.
“English,” I said.
Hunter nodded. “Okay. See you at lunch?”
I nodded, happy to have something to look forward to on this otherwise boring school day.
After a short goodbye, I hurried to my English class and skidded inside right before the teacher closed the door. I looked around only to see that the only free seat was next to Emily. I took a deep breath and hurried across the room to sit next to her. Emily smiled timidly at me before she turned her head to watch our teacher filling the blackboard with illegible scribbles, her dark hair a curtain that hid her face.
The rest of the period passed in a boring series of listening to the teacher and the contributions of other students, taking notes, and trying to keep my eyes open. Apparently, I hadn’t been all that successful with the latter. Ten minutes before the end of the period, I got jolted awake by Emily. I startled and looked around, still drowsy.
Emily still had a hand on my shoulder from when she had lightly shaken me to wake me up and quickly pulled her hand back. “You fell asleep…”
I groaned and rubbed my eyes. “Yeah…Thanks for waking me up.”
Emily giggled quietly and asked, “Hey, remember how we wanted to hang out again? Are you free tonight?”
I was about to say yes when I remembered that we were going to the cinema tonight. “I’m going to the movies with Hunter and his friends tonight…Hey, why don’t you join us? Nate will be there too.”
She seemed unsure, chewing on one of her pencils, a habit of hers that she had since elementary school. “Do you think that’s okay…for the others, I mean?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked with a frown.
“I mean, is it okay for Hunter if I’m there?”
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, sure. It’s not like you think, Em. Hunter actually really likes you.”
“He does?” she asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
“Yes. We’d all be happy to have you there with us.”
She hesitated for a moment, then she nodded. “Okay.”
The bell rang, and she got up from her chair, but before she left, she turned around to me once more. “Hey, Jules? Thank you.”
She was gone before I could do more than smile at her.
***
The sun was just starting to set, shedding the last bit of golden light over the neighborhood when Hunter’s car stopped in front of my house. Emily, Nate, and I had been sitting on the front steps of the porch, waiting for him to pick us up. There was a weird atmosphere around us. It felt somewhat nostalgic like it had used to back when Emily was just my best friend as much as Nate had been. I could almost taste her mom’s homemade lemonade and smell the scent of gasoline and car paint in the garage of Nate’s dad.
I got up from the stairs, Nate and Emily trailing behind me, chattering quietly about something.
Hunter had the window rolled all the way down and smirked at me when I walked up to the car.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he drawled, winking at me with an arm draped over the steering wheel.
“No need to flirt with me anymore, sweetheart,” I said in the same sarcastic voice.
Hunter laughed at that, turning his head, so all I could see was the hint of a smile and a dimpled cheek. “Maybe I want to. It’s fun to see you blush.”
“I’m not blushing!” I said, one hand flying up to my cheek.
Sure enough, my face was hot as soon as Hunter grinned at me.
“Get into the car, idiot.”
I rounded the car, not without rolling my eyes at him through the windscreen. When I was opening the door, I noticed that Emily was still standing in the exact same spot, looking nervous. I shut the door again and walked over to her, lightly touching her arm.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, not at all convincing. “Yeah, it’s just…I don’t know. I’m not sure if I should be here. Hunter and his friends probably don’t think very highly of me, and I—”
“Shh,” I said, holding a finger to her lips even though I would really rather hug her. “Stop worrying. They were all happy when I told them you’d come. And so am I. Emily, you’re the most amazing girl I know. They’ll love you.”
A surprised smile took over her face, then she quietly said, “Thank you, Jules.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I replied. “Remember that one time in seventh grade when I couldn’t give a presentation because I was so anxious? You came to the front with me and sat next to me while I talked. Mrs. Gordon told you to go back to your seat, and you told her—”
“I’d shout the house down until the principal comes if she doesn’t let me be there.” She laughed. “I remember. Mrs. Gordon still hates me. And it’s not something I’m proud of.”
“Well, you should be. If it wasn’t for you, I could’ve never given that presentation. Or enter my portrait for the arts award last year. Or have my first job interview. Hell, you even went with me to order my coffee when it was so bad that I couldn’t talk to a barista.” I paused for a moment. “My point is you always helped me when I was anxious or panicked for no reason. Let me do the same for you.”
For a second, Emily looked like she was about to cry, then she suddenly wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. Taken by surprise, I did the same, resting my chin on top of her head. A few seconds later, she broke away, smiled at me once more, and got in the car.
I suppressed a wide grin and quickly got into the passenger seat. Hunter smiled at me in a way that suggested that he was watching us while we were talking. Then, he started the engine.
“Hey, Emily,” he said, sounding remarkably friendly. “How are you?”
In the rearview mirror, I could see Emily looking up with a startled look on her face, surprised that Hunter talked to her. She hastily said, “I’m fine. Thank you…What about you?”
Hunter chuckled quietly as he turned the corner. “I’m good. Thanks. Do you know what movie we’ll see?”
“I heard it’s something about zombies?”
Hunter nodded, looking not at all excited. “Yeah. It looks horrible, but that’s the kind of stuff that makes Adam—you know him, right?— somewhat happy and tolerable, so…”
Nate looked up from his phone for the first time since we had started driving. “What’s up with Adam, anyway? Why is he always so miserable?”
“He’s not actually that grumpy. He just seems like it. He’s just more of a calm guy. But you should see him after a couple of shots… You won’t even recognize him.” Hunter laughed. “Or when he’s with his girlfriend.”
“He has a girlfriend?” I asked, surprised.
I hadn’t really spent much thought on that matter, but I had somehow expected Adam to be as much of a player as Hunter.
“Yes. Her name’s Amber, and they’ve been together forever,” Hunter said, rolling his eyes a bit at that. “For three years, I believe? Amber is nice though. A little uptight and always worried about Adam but sweet. She has her first year at college this year, and Adam will try and apply to the same college and move in together with her after graduation.”
“What about Liam?” Emily asked. “Does he have a girlfriend?”
A little smile played around Hunter’s lips as he glanced at her through the mirror. “Nope. He’s single.”
The car ride continued with animated conversation, though I mainly just listened to them talking and didn’t really partake. It was weird, sitting in Hunter’s car with someone else in the backseat. I was so used to our nightly road trips that it seemed odd to have company.
On the other hand, it was nice to have them all here together, getting along well.
The drive was a short one. Only fifteen mi
nutes later, we rolled up in front of the cinema. Anastasia’s Film Lounge was a pretentious name for the run-down, small building with flaking paint. Inside, there were only four small halls, and from experience, I knew that they were never fully occupied.
Still, I liked Anastasia’s. Entering it always felt like taking a trip into another decade, with the dusty red curtains and matching red seats, the old-fashioned popcorn machine and the scent of caramel and dust and the perfume of the old lady giving out the tickets hanging in the air.
Adam, Alex, and Liam were already waiting in the lobby, holding our tickets. Adam was wearing a t-shirt that was apparently fan merchandise from a horror movie and shockingly, smiled broadly.
“Do you see what I see?” Nate whispered into my ear and pointed at Adam.
I laughed and turned to Hunter. “Are you sure that Adam doesn’t have a twin?”
“I won’t rule that theory out until I see his mom’s ultrasound pictures,” Hunter muttered, jokingly narrowing his eyes at Adam.
As soon as Adam caught us staring at him, his expression turned annoyed again and he flipped Hunter off.
“Never mind,” Hunter said. “It’s him. I’m sure.”
I snickered and turned around to Emily to involve her in the conversation and make sure she was alright, but when I saw her, she was already talking to Liam, laughing at something he said.
I turned away, satisfied and asked the others if we should go into the hall where the movie would be playing in a few minutes. They agreed, and I soon found myself sitting between Hunter and Emily in the half-light of the cinema.
Liam and Emily were currently discussing what would be the cleverest way to leave the country in case of a zombie invasion while Adam made snarky comments from time to time.
Nate and Alex were on their third shared bucket of popcorn, already complaining about a tummy ache, but didn’t stop eating. We were the only ones in here, which probably said a lot about the quality of the movie.
As soon as the lights went out and the movie began, Hunter reached for my hand and inched a little closer, his thigh pressing up against mine.
“What, already scared?” I teased in a hushed voice as the first zombies tumbled across the screen.
Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes Page 22