"Do you have an aversion to the word hi?"
"Nope, I want to see you jump. So why didn't you continue your all so amusing bitch fest."
Luxor rolled her eyes. "Why, she's not worth it?"
Together they headed inside the gates, matching stride for stride, until they reached the quad. Luxor was on the lookout for Ayla or Evie. She wished Hunter would go away, he might have thought he was helping with Scarlett, but he unwittingly made it worse.
Luxor stood down, and let Scarlett win because there was no way she wanted anything to be revealed about her. Scarlett had the connections and would use them. Hunter's enthusiasm at the argument wasn't helping her mood, it was as if he craved it. At least with Meredith being in the car she doubted she would have witnessed anything. It would have just been one more problem to deal with.
Hunter blocked her path and she attempted to manoeuvre around him but it was no use. "Hunter, I need to get through. It was great catching up, we should do it again." She mocked, lightly patting his shoulder. She retracted her hand when the sizzling sensations pin pricked her palm.
He whipped his head up and placed his hand over the area where she touched him. Did he feel it too? Where are these sensations coming from?
Hunter ruffled his hair, the veil of confidence diminished slightly as he shifted from one foot to another. A sense of urgency entered into those honeyed eyes, and steadied his gaze on her as if nobody else existed. "I need to talk to you." His voice was soft, unlike in any of the times she'd ever heard previously.
"You're talking, and now it's time to say goodbye," Luxor told him with a firm tone.
Hunter wrapped his hand around her upper arm, and she winced against the sensations. They felt so good it hurt. There was a shift in his persona, as if a switch had been flipped, and the arrogant Hunter re-emerged.
His hot minty breath fanned against her ear. "Too bad, Scarlett's not the only one who can find things out.”
Anger did not come close to the emotions that coursed through Luxor's body. Her blood boiled with rage, an explosion ready to erupt, but she had to remain passive with an emotionless façade. She flung Hunter's grip off, his touch a mere reminder of the actions what just transpired. He surveyed his hand, turning it from side to side, clenching and unclenching, before finally shaking it out. Luxor wanted to explode, and containing her emotions was a struggle, but she needed to avoid another public display of conflict. It appeared that's all that had been happening lately.
It must be me, Luxor conceded. Was her personality so repulsive it warranted a hate on sight policy? Right now, there was the matter of how to deal with Hunter, she couldn't think about the why. Choices kept being taken away from her, and Hunter's threat had struck deeper than it should.
Hunter must have sensed what was going on in her mind. He furrowed his eyebrows and motioned with his hand to follow him in the direction of Green Block. The noise in the quad was increasing, meaning it was filling up, and fast, and the bell would sound shortly. If they were going to do this, it was better away from the prying eyes of others.
Luxor followed him around the corner, out of sight and hidden under a wattle bush tree. The question to why she wouldn't bolt, or report him was simple. Adding bullying on top of his crime last night surely would be expulsion. Or the very least suspension. Just as Scarlett had vowed to expose her, she could tell in the end it was empty, but it disturbed her nevertheless. Luxor had a clean slate, the principal made sure of that, and only high connections would be able to find anything about her past. Even though Scarlett's father was mayor, involving in high school dilemmas wouldn't rate high on the agendas. Or that was her assumption.
Hunter's eyes darkened, his threat seemingly contained a greater substance. His assumptions about her past held no ambiguity, it was as clear as glass. When he stated it as fact, he tried to brush it off as if he was joking which only led to her confusion on the matter.
Before Luxor could ask what he wanted, Hunter broke the silence.
"Why did you retaliate? Scarlett isn't worth it," he asked. It was an innocent question but she simply didn't know, truthfully Scarlett wasn't worth all this trouble. "That's not very smart."
Luxor furrowed her eyebrows. "That's what was so important?"
"No. Just answer," Hunter commanded. He was rigid, with his arms tightly crossed his chest, as he paced back and forth.
Luxor dropped her backpack at her feet and leaned against the wall. "Why are you getting involved, it has nothing to do with you?”
It was a dangerous tactic to deter the conversation, but Hunter's involvement in the argument didn't make sense, and his refusal to answer, aggravated her further. She didn't know what to make of him. Was he angry or nervous? She wished he would just stay still.
He tilted his head to the side, his lips turning up at the corners, and gave a noncommittal shrug. "For fun. And yesterday?"
As feared, word had already gone around what happened at The Hive, with the size of the town it shouldn't have come as a shock. But it had. No doubt word would eventually make its way to Meredith, and the fear of the repercussions crept within. If Scarlett and her family were royalty in Brighton Falls, then Luxor was goner. If history was anything to go by.
"The bell is about to ring. Don't you have someone else to annoy?" she retrieved her bag of the ground and slipping her arms through the loops.
Luxor ventured from the shadows and prayed nobody caught them. The conversation had been an utter and complete waste of time. Now that would be something to talk about...The Bad Boy and the Freak. Or the Psycho and the Freak. All depends on who saw them. She didn't have to go far to get to her next class, but first she wanted to go empty her bag.
Did he want to get a rise out of me?
"Why search when I have you babe?"
Luxor halted and glared. Every time he opened his mouth, she was an inch from pummelling him. Would he hit her back? Was she willing to test that theory? "Don't call me babe."
"Why?"
She huffed and threw her hands in the air unable to suppress her annoyance any longer. "It's sexist and derogatory and—"
"Save the feminist talk. God, girls are touchy these days. Okay, babe out, I'll have to choose another one." Hunter mockingly tapped his chin, and tilted his eyes upwards. "Hmm Blondie? Nah, too cliché.” He hummed, dismissing the suggestion before clicking his fingers. “Angel." There was a finality in the name.
She clenched her jaw so tight it ached, a scathing response lingering on the tip of her tongue.
Evie weaved through the crowds and barrelled straight over. "Ohmigod I just heard your latest tiff with Scarlett. This is so cool," she panted, the words tumbling over each other. Out of her pocket she produced a blue Ventolin inhaler and puffed twice.
Hunter raised his hand up near the side of Luxor's face, and all she could do was freeze. With his thumb and forefinger, he picked off a bright red flower spike that had fallen from the wattle tree above. An involuntary shiver tingled up her spine, his pinkie grazing the side of her forehead, leaving a burn trail.
He leaned in close to her ear, their faces mere inches away. "Class should be interesting today. I'll save you a seat." He made himself scarce, removing the sensations with him.
God help me!
"How did...? It happened five minutes ago." Luxor said. She couldn’t process what happened with him.
Word really does get around quickly around here.
"That's hot, like hot damn." Evie low whistled, her attention fixated on Hunter’s retreating figure. She fanned her flushed cheeks, and it had nothing to do with the weather or running. No, it was something more sinister.
“Yeah, if you like unhinged assholes.”
Evie might as well have been on another planet, with her void attention. She returned her attention to Luxor. "Speaking of, word spreads like wildfire. Someone is setting up a Facebook page as we speak to keep everybody updated on the clashes between you and Scarlett. There's been some glitches, but anyway, wh
at you've had so far is the warm up, so get your A game on."
"That's ridiculous," Luxor gasped.
And suicide for me
"That's high school." Evie shrugged, pulling out her iPhone.
Together they walked to the centre of the quad, with Evie bouncing about like some kind of Energiser bunny. It was a sight to see, a girl clad in a black Metallica t-shirt, ripped black shorts, and Doc Martens, doing a solo virtual head banging session. Any bet she secretly was enjoying the entertainment.
She seriously needs to get off the caffeine.
The reason why everybody was fascinated with conflicts and fights baffled Luxor. It was as if their life lacked entertainment, and they got joy seeing everybody hurting each other. Didn't they realise these little things cause destruction? It changed lives and all it takes is a few catty remarks. She witnessed it and knew it all too well; she was ashamed to have been one of those types, and was all too aware of the aftermath.
"See you in class?" Luxor asked Evie, grasping her arm to calm her down.
Evie nodded.
“Meet me in the student lounge, I want to run something through you.” She needed to purge about seeing Hunter breaking into the Blazin’ Bakery. If anything, Evie would think twice about her crush on Hunter.
“Sure thing.”
The bell sounded, and the quad was quickly clearing out, students scattering like mice on their way to Locker Block. Even if Luxor bolted and popped in and out it would be futile, her brain wasn't in the right headspace. She wouldn't have time to make it to class unless she wanted to get locked out.
Now there's a thought.
"I’ll be a bit late, save me a seat.” Evie tapped a black Nikon camera which slung across her shoulder. “Need to develop photos for photography, my fave subject."
Luxor waved her off. "See you soon, don’t be too late. I'm off to meet Satan."
The History class filled up just as the bell rang and everyone took a seat. As promised Hunter saved a seat beside him. Luxor didn't want to sit next to him; she would rather take a seat next to the boy with dreads that smell like manure, but even that was too close to Scarlett.
Luxor searched the room for Evie, even though she said she would be late. As she eyed each aisle, she noticed each and every table either was occupied or only had one seat. With every passing second, opportunities for escape alluded her until there was none left. Ms. Suarez clapped her hands.
"Okay everybody. Sit down, we have a full day's work ahead of us. I observed yesterday it takes five whole minutes for everybody to find a seat and get settled, that's five minutes lost work. Take note of where you're seated right now and get comfortable because that'll be your seat for the rest of the year."
"What? No!" The guy with dreads widened his darkly lined eyes, and screamed in protest at the top of his lungs, followed by a list of profanities. He had just arrived, dressed in all black with an aura of doom and gloom, which screamed goth. Unfortunately, he took the first available seat, which was to the right of Luxor. Now he was stuck with a girl, with frizzy black hair who carving into the wood table with a switch blade.
Wanna swap seats?
Luxor eyed him, and on some level hoped he was a mind reader. The blade wielding girl would be a better option than Hunter. Another session being in close proximity to him would be overkill, and with each passing moment he was becoming insufferable. Some higher power above hated her, she was sure of it.
Without no other choice she hesitantly shuffled her feet towards the desk. He was staring out of the window, his chin propped under his hand, and his beautiful features calm as if he didn't have a worry in the world. Yeah, he wouldn't, the jerk passes all that on me, Luxor sighed.
Hunter turned at the sound of her sneakers and chuckled, "Look how happy you are to see me again, it's been too long." He patted the chair beside him.
Next time she would make sure to get to class earlier and not rely on anybody else. She glanced over her shoulder and slunk into her seat, internally forcing herself to deal with this psychopath. His change of moods gave her whiplash, ranging from intense heat that made her feel alive, to his antagonization which made her want to punch his gorgeous face.
He is undoubtedly bipolar and missed his meds this morning
"I can assure you I'm far from bipolar; I'm probably the sanest person you'll meet."
Luxor whipped her head around. "W-what did y-you say?" she stuttered.
"You called me bipolar which is an offence really," he replied flatly.
Did I really say that out loud?
"Yeah, you did," Hunter said humorously gauging her reaction. “Or did you?”
Luxor's eyes widened, and covered her mouth with her hand. Out of embarrassment, she turned her face away from him, and placed two fingers at her temple.
I must have said it out loud. It’s the only logical reason. Doctor said I could be damaged.
She was going crazy, what else would explain not realising what was in her mind, and what came out of her mouth?
"It's okay; I'll forgive this one transgression. But only because I like you," he teased.
Luxor lacked the courage to antagonise Hunter especially after he divulged, he could discover information about her. She remained silent to pacify the situation. She didn't want Hunter to like her, in any shape or form. If there were a rift, that's when the trouble would start. Or continue.
She reached down to the floor to retrieve her worksheet and stationery, when a paper plane flew past, dropping in front of her. She turned her head in the direction it had come from.
The boy with the dreads pointed at it, and mouthed, "please." His eyes were downcast, and hands together in prayer.
Luxor leaned over and wriggled her fingers to grab the paper plane promptly swiping it off the floor. A muscular frame pressed against her body, an arm enclosed around her waist, and warm fingers pressed against her flesh, his frame almost covering hers.
Against her will, her stupid traitorous heart beat faster, her body flashed with hot pin prick sensations all over. She held her breath; the air was refusing to escape as his mere presence suffocated her.
"Hunter get off," she growled, pushing at his body.
It was a hard task to manage, she'd had to be careful not to lay her hands on his lower body, which would result in another problem. One that may rise. Luxor shuddered the thought away, no matter how much she struggled and wriggled away from him, he was heavy and wouldn't budge. He managed to turn her around, with her leg ending up on half on his.
Hunter plucked the paper plane from her hand and returned to his original position, eradicating the sensations along with him.
"Hunter, Luxor, do we have a problem?" Ms. Suarez’s voice halted the class, and all eyes turned to face the unfolding situation. Again, she was the centre of it all. Maybe if she cut herself off from people in general, she wouldn't be subjected to ridicule.
"No, Luxor just has some adjustment issues I'm helping her with," Hunter informed the teacher, and winked at Luxor.
Adjustment issues? What the hell was that? Only adjustment issues I had was with him.
"Just keep the noise to a minimum, and Luxor behave, we have low tolerance for class disruptions."
Hunter mock saluted and faced Luxor. "Sorry, had to retrieve what was mine." He whispered, and smiled smugly.
The goth saw the paper within Hunter's possession, his mouth gaping open as Hunter scrunched the ball in a dramatic fashion.
Luxor sighed and conceded defeat, but rewarded Hunter with a swift elbow to the ribs. It was going to be another fifty minutes of drawing stars, and avoiding Ms. Suarez wrath. There were only so many ways to fake learning.
Luxor stared straight ahead and gave the impression of being attentive, although her mind was completely elsewhere, and she hoped Ms. Suarez didn't call on her for anything.
With her family tree worksheet spread out, and apart from stars around the corners, only her mother and Meredith’s name were inked on.
&nb
sp; Once Luxor properly settled in Hunter turned to her. "One day here and you're already a legend. Might I say, bravo," he said and clapped twice.
Luxor rolled her eyes. "Then you have low expectations of legend. Why is everyone rambling on about it? I mean I just stuck up for myself? Is everybody so gutless they let Scarlett get away with treating people like that?"
"Basically yes. You see Scarlett's status is—"
"Yeah I know 'royalty.'" she snorted, accentuating the last word with her fingers in the air in a talking mark gesture. "Well I've got a few choice places where she can stick her tiara."
Hunter chuckled loudly and held his side. "Such a potty mouth Angel. You don't get it, you just stood up for everybody that's caught the wrath of Scarlett. You are now their representative or in laymen terms, idol."
"I don't want to be an idol. I just want to come to school, do the work and be invisible," she mused.
And then get the hell as far away from Brighton Falls and Meredith.
Hunter leaned in a fraction softly murmuring, "No matter what you'll never be invisible." Against her better judgment her cheeks warmed up, and hoped like hell that it wasn't noticeable. What am I supposed to say to that? Her body constantly betrayed her and was in constant conflict with her brain. It didn't last long, the memory of last night at the library, and what just happened reminded her Hunter was dangerous.
Across the room, the devil's mistress had not taken her eyes off Luxor. Maybe I'm her girl crush. No matter the façade Luxor showed in front of everyone, especially Hunter, Scarlett scared her. Her whole demeanour screamed power, and the way others cowered in her presence proved she wasn't one to be messed with.
There was one thing however Luxor had that was hidden. She refused to be victimised. Yes, sometimes Luxor, the person who she was now, the person she had been forced to be, was shown.
Weak. Defenceless. Scared.
But Ellie, the girl who she had been for sixteen years, was exposed.
Happy. Confident. Loved by others.
Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Page 14