She ended up dumping him. Mom told me she couldn’t be with someone who didn’t treat her favorite person right, and that was that—we never saw him again.
Before I can figure out a way to approach it with Venus, though, Hunter and his friends find us in the food court. His mom just finished condensing everything she bought down to two bags, so she passes them to me under the table before asking us if we’re getting hungry.
“I am,” I volunteer, since only the guys have spoken up so far.
“Of course she is,” Valerie murmurs under her breath to her friend, who chortles.
I look at her, frowning mildly. “I’m sorry, was that supposed to be an insult?”
“Of course not,” Valerie says innocently. “It must be nice, that’s all. I’m on a diet so I’ll just have a salad.”
“Okay. I’m going to have bourbon chicken with a heaping plate of fried rice,” I tell her. “It’s going to be delicious.”
Hunter smirks. “That does sound good. I think I’ll have that, too.”
Valerie gets even pissier when everyone decides what they’re eating and Hunter and I walk alone to the Asian place with the bourbon chicken.
“You and Valerie seem to be hitting it off,” he jokes, grabbing two trays and passing one to me.
“She’s mean,” I inform him, not bothering to mince words.
“She’s a little mean,” he acknowledges. “It grows on you, though.”
“Why would I want it to? I don’t like her, she doesn’t like me—I’d say that’s that.”
He moves down the line, placing his tray on the counter. “Our moms are friends, so she’s kind of hard to get away from. We’ve always been pushed together since kindergarten. There was a brief period one summer when Valerie’s mom thought her husband had flirted with my mom at some cook-out and we stopped hanging out, but come August, everything was fine again.”
“Your mom is… interesting,” I tell him, placing my tray down beside his.
He smiles faintly, glancing back at me. “She is. She talks a lot. Has she been telling you stories?”
I nod my head. “Apparently you’re a bully, but your dad was also a huge jerk so you can’t help it and that’s okay.”
His eyes widen slightly and his eyebrows rise in genuine surprise. “Wow, thanks for talking me up, Mom,” he says sarcastically.
“She’s very honest.”
“You think I’m a jerk?”
Usually there would be an undertone of humor when we’re going back and forth, but there’s no amusement when he asks that. His gaze slides to mine and even though he doesn’t say anything more, I get the distinct feeling that my answer matters to him.
My heart gives under the weight of his gaze. I have heard things today that reinforce my previous belief that he might be a jerk, but he hasn’t been a jerk to me. I also don’t want to believe he’s a jerk because I like him. I don’t know what to say, though.
Before I have to answer, the lady on the other side of the counter interrupts to ask what we want. We don’t speak to each other while we’re ordering, then we slide down the counter to pay. I start to dig my money out of my purse, but Hunter tells the cashier we’re together and pays for both our meals.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I murmur, feeling a little awkward.
“Wanted to,” he says simply, not looking at me.
I look up at him, wanting to say something but unsure of what. His silence weighs on me more heavily than anything else could, and even though my rational mind brings up the best friend he apparently turned on and chased out of school, my heart counters with the image of him carrying my broken backpack home for me and then buying me a new one, him reading my favorite book and then calling me Catnip.
There’s evidence he might have done some bad things I don’t know about, but there’s irrefutable evidence that he’s done good, too.
He picks up his tray and turns to head back to the table. I don’t think he’ll say anything else to me right now if I don’t initiate, but it’s bursting out of me anyway, so I blurt, “Hunter.”
His steps slow ever so slightly and he looks at me.
I meet his gaze, my heart in my throat, feeling strangely vulnerable. “I don’t think you’re a jerk.”
His gaze locked on mine, he doesn’t respond right away. He holds his silence long enough that I start to get anxious, then he finally says, “No?”
I shake my head vehemently.
A faint trace of humor returns to his tone and his lips curve up ever so slightly. “What am I, then?”
I don’t know how to answer. I don’t know who he is yet, but I’ve seen enough that I want to find out.
I know I’m drawn to him. I know I’m somehow comfortable with him, even though he’s the last person I would ever expect to be comfortable around. It doesn’t bother me to be completely myself when we’re together. We might have some problems, but it’s all superficial stuff, nothing that really matters. Not to me, anyway. Maybe it matters to him, but I don’t care that much what other people think. If Hunter and I could be alone in the world, just us, I don’t think we’d ever have any problems.
I picture us alone together, just the two of us on the footbridge in the woods with no external forces causing conflict—no parents or friends or social hierarchy at school. We’re free to be on the same level—and when we’re alone, we are.
The answer to his question hits me all of a sudden.
I smile, anticipating with pleasure him laughing and telling me what a dork I am. “You’re my Gale.”
He doesn’t call me a dork, but his green eyes fill up with pleasure and his lips tug up in a smile that makes my heart stutter. “Oh yeah?”
I nod my head, my cheeks flaming. “Yeah.”
The playfulness returns to his tone. “I guess I can live with that.”
Chapter Six
WHILE GETTING FOOD with Hunter was nice, as soon as we get back to the table—back to his world—the comfort I felt when it was just us disappears. Valerie Johnson has never zeroed in on me before—I only disliked her on Sara’s behalf—but now bad vibes are radiating from her and I am definitely the target. Even when she’s not saying anything to pick at me, I can feel her stewing in my presence. Anytime I speak, she looks aggravated.
Hunter definitely notices, I can tell by the subtle ways he keeps reinforcing that he’s backing my presence here when his friends undoubtedly don’t understand it. He doesn’t say anything to her, though. He must think I can handle it on my own. And he’s right—it’s just annoying.
It’s also annoying that she likes him. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Lots of girls in our grade have crushes on Hunter, but I guess I feel like they don’t know him the way I do. They like his image more than they actually like him, and that’s not real. It’s like being attracted to a single photograph of a person, then seeing them in real life and realizing it was just the angle.
I like him from all angles. I bet Valerie doesn’t.
At least Sara is having a genuinely good time, though.
By the time we finish eating, I’m already tired of the hostility from stupid Valerie. I don’t think of myself as a mean person, but she’s certainly filling my head with mean thoughts. Maybe it’s the casual way she lashes out at me with her constant digs and “jokes,” maybe it’s blatant jealousy because even though I hate her, she’s Hunter’s friend so he still talks to her. Whatever it is, I’ve had enough of it.
When I take my tray over to the garbage can to empty it, I also text my mom and let her know we’re ready to leave.
I don’t say anything to anyone about it when I get back to the table. I want to tell Sara so she’s not taken by surprise when my mom gets here, but she is so swept up in our day pass to the cool table, she doesn’t even look at me long enough to shoot her a look to check her text messages. It kind of annoys me because she even fawns over Valerie, who—besides being rude to me all day—has been passively mean to Sara since first grade.
“What time does the movie start?” Valerie asks Hunter, scrolling through her phone.
I didn’t pay attention to which one they were seeing since I knew we would be gone by then, but I am a little bummed to miss out on going to a movie with Hunter. I’d like to, I’d just like to go with him alone—not him and his friends.
My mom would never let me though. It would seem too much like a date.
I sigh, momentarily hit by how difficult it will be to build any kind of relationship with Hunter, friends or more. I don’t like his friends and my mom doesn’t like him—which is so stupid, because she doesn’t even know him.
Maybe I can find a way to make her like him. Give her a peek at the side of him I see. Instead of getting together for something like this with his friends, I could have him over to my house. Maybe he could come over for dinner and Mom would get to talk to him and see that he’s perfectly harmless.
It is kind of stupid that she won’t let me have a male friend. Just because he’s a guy doesn’t mean hanging out with him would automatically be a date. I want to keep spending time with him even if it’s only as friends; I just don’t want to have to also spend time with people I don’t like to spend time with him.
Everyone else is finally gathering up their trash and taking it to the nearest receptacle. I notice Hunter doesn’t clean up his own; he adorably—and annoyingly—messes with Valerie, stacking his plate on top of hers and then sliding his empty tray under hers, too.
He smiles at her. “Thanks, Val, you’re the best.”
She sighs, trying to look annoyed with him, but she’s as bad at it as I am. “You suck.” Hunter cocks an eyebrow at her and her eyes light up with scandalized horror. “Oh my god, shut up, perv.”
Their easy familiarity bums me out even more. Hunter and I have that; he’s not supposed to have it with her, too.
“I didn’t even say anything,” Hunter says, like he’s innocent. “Now be a good girl and go throw away my trash.”
“I hate you,” she lies as she hauls the tray to the trash can.
I sorta wish she hated him. I tell myself that’s stupid. It shouldn’t matter how she feels about him if he likes me… it’s just, I don’t know if he likes me that way, and since I never want to hang out with his friends again, it will be much easier for him to spend time with her than me.
I’m starting to see what he means about me making his life easier if I could win his friends over.
I’m starting to see why it doesn’t even matter if he likes me the way I want him to—this is never going to work.
That’s the thought in my head—and the look on my face—when Hunter’s gaze swings in my direction. He loses his easy smile and pushes back his chair, then he walks over to my side of the table. “Hey. You good?”
I force a smile, glancing down at the table instead of at him. I can’t look at him when I’m about to lie to him. “Yeah. I’m good. Um, I just… my mom’s on her way, so me and Sara won’t be able to go to the movies with you guys.”
He scowls. “Already? Didn’t you tell her we were all gonna catch a movie after—?”
“Yeah, but it’s—she got called in for an evening shift, so she won’t be able to pick me up later.”
“My mom can give you a ride home.”
I shake my head, offering up an apologetic smile. “We’re leaving. Sorry.”
Seeing right through my excuse, he looks me dead in the eye and asks, “You’re not having fun, are you?”
I shrug, not knowing what to say. “I like spending time with you…”
“But you don’t like my friends.”
Still avoiding his gaze, I try to explain it without placing all the blame on Valerie. “I just don’t really have much in common with them.”
“You haven’t spent enough time with them to know that.”
“I don’t like seeing you with Valerie,” I admit.
He rears back a bit, clearly stunned to hear that. “What? Why?”
“She likes you,” I say, so uncomfortable I want to crawl out of my skin. “And maybe you like her, too—”
“I don’t,” he says, not letting me finish. “Not like that.”
“Well, it’s hard to tell,” I say, flushing with a mix of pleasure and embarrassment. “You kinda… I don’t know, flirt with her a little.”
“I flirt with her?” he asks, breaking into an amused grin as realization dawns on him. “You’re jealous.”
Oh my God. A blast of burning heat rushes to my cheeks. I wish I could crawl out of my own skin like a snake and slither away into some clever hiding spot where Hunter Maxwell could never find me.
The closest thing I can do is explode up out of my chair, so I do that. My face is on fire as I gather my bags and slide my purse strap up over my shoulder. “I did not say that.”
“Didn’t have to.” He grins at me, his green eyes dancing with amusement. “You sure you want to bail? Leave me here alone in a dark theater with Valerie? Maybe you should tag along and make sure I behave myself.”
I know he’s only ragging on me, but I scoff at him anyway. “Please. I’d never babysit a guy. My mom taught me better than that. If you like Valerie, there’s no way you like me. If you don’t like me, then—”
He stands just as abruptly as I did, moving so close he’s practically on top of me.
My words halt and my amusement fades. His handsome face is so close to mine, my heart sinks. I can’t think straight when he stands so close to me.
“Then what?” he challenges, looking down at me and holding my gaze.
It feels like a stampede of wild animals are stomping through my chest as I look back at him. I can see from the glimmer in his eyes, he knows exactly how he’s affecting me.
“Don’t torture me, Hunter.”
“This isn’t what it feels like to be tortured by me, Catnip.”
My heart seizes again at his response and that nickname. He’s toying with me, but he means no harm. I’ve given him enough insight that he knows my weak spots. It might be silly, but when he calls me that, he turns my brain into celery juice.
If this isn’t what torture feels like, I don’t think I could bear it. My heart is already in the palm of his hand, his fingers positioned around it so perfectly, the faintest squeeze is unbearable. I can only imagine the damage he could do if he wanted to break it.
I like him way too much. Part of me thinks maybe my Mom was right about spending time with him, but mostly I don’t care. It might be a really bad idea to fall for him, but I’m probably gonna do it anyway.
As if he can sense how close he is to winning the war waging inside me, he reaches out and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. His touch is so casual, so seemingly harmless, but it lights up every nerve ending above my neck and sends a jolt of awareness down my spine.
Heat suffuses my face—not from embarrassment, but something else altogether. I look down, no longer able to hold his gaze. I know this casual little touch probably isn’t anything to him, but it’s a lot for me. I’ve never had a guy touch my face this way—or at all.
It makes me wonder what it would be like if he kissed me. Would he touch my face and draw me close? Would it be slow and sweet and so tender my heart would explode?
He drops his hand and takes a step back, leaving me here with my head in the clouds.
“All right,” he says, the lightness of his tone relaying that he’s gonna let me off the hook—for now, anyway. “I guess we’ll catch a movie some other time.”
I look up just long enough to catch his gaze, but then Mark calls out for him. Hunter needs to head back to his kingdom, so he spares me one last charming little smile, then he moves past me and goes back to his friends.
I’m feeling a little floaty, my heart so light in my chest, I’m surprised it doesn’t lift me off the ground. A tiny smile plays around my lips—at least, until I look up.
Valerie is standing just a few feet away, her feet cemented to the ground. I can see by the look o
n her face that she just witnessed Hunter touching me, and if blue eyes could kill, hers would be roasting me alive.
“Huh. Guess I won’t be able to squeeze all of Hunter’s trash into that tiny receptacle,” she says, her eyes moving up and down my body with the sharpness of a blade.
Since she wants to cut me so badly, I offer her a little smile to show her I’m unscathed. “Aw, don’t feel bad. Keep eating those salads and I’m sure eventually you’ll fit.”
It takes a moment for my barb to land, but when she gets it, her eyes narrow and she glares at me. “Watch it, Riles. You don’t want to make an enemy out of me.”
I don’t bother to mean mug her back. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be,” she states.
“Why?” I challenge, cocking my head. “What exactly are you gonna do to me?”
Her eyes narrow even more, but she doesn’t seem to have an answer for me.
I’d say she’s all bark and no bite, but she’s not—Sara’s social isolation is proof of that. But that’s the thing—Valerie reigns over a kingdom I don’t care about. She could cut me down socially… but I’m already in social Siberia with Sara. Hunter’s the only socially relevant person who pays me any attention, and she can’t take him away from me. As much as she’d obviously like to, she doesn’t have that power.
She can’t do anything to me, and I can see her simmering as she realizes it.
Finally, she says, “Stay away from Hunter.”
I don’t know why she thinks she’s my boss, but I derive great pleasure from telling her, “No.”
Her eyes widen slightly like she has never heard that word before in her life, but I don’t wait for a response. I take my bags and go over to find Sara so I can tell her my mom is on her way.
Chapter Seven
SINCE HANGING OUT with his friends didn’t go so well, I’m not sure what to expect when I go back to school on Monday. All morning as I get ready I think about Hunter. I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment, so I tell myself we probably won’t even get a chance to talk today. And that’s okay. My relationship with Hunter isn’t a status thing for me, I don’t care if I’m not seen talking to him.
Bully Me: Class of 2020 Page 37