Fierce(21)
I don’t want to be his plaything. I don’t want to be made fun of, to be ridiculed, to be laughed at. If that’s all he wants from me, then I won’t give him anything at all.
“Oh c’mon. Is your life really all that exciting?” he says.
“I don’t need excitement,” I snap.
“Everyone does something they get excited about. You’ve got to have something you love doing.”
I sigh and close my eyes, trying to wish him away.
“Come on … you can tell me,” he says, poking my arm. The moment his finger comes in contact with my flesh I feel weak to the bones.
“Fine. I like reading. Happy now?”
“Reading?” he jests.
“Yes. Books. You know, the thing lying on your table that you refuse to look at.”
“You think I’m doing that out of disinterest.”
I nod.
“Wrong.”
The full stop to our conversation feels uneasy. He clears his throat. “Just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I know it’s important. Just like I know it’s important to have some fun once in a while.”
“Right, because you’ve seemed so happy these last couple of days.”
The uncomfortable mood becomes even more apparent.
Shit. I went a little too far with that last remark.
He knows I saw everything. He knows I’ve seen the hurt. He doesn’t want anyone to notice.
“Believe me, I would give anything to be in your shoes right now instead of my own.”
I chortle. “Of course you would.” As if my life is so easy.
“Except for the whole monthly women things … you know …” he clears his throat again. What a weird conversation.
“On second thought, never mind. Anyway, you should really start enjoying life more. Might make it a little easier.”
“You mean by fighting with people?” I say.
His smile disappears. His eyebrows draw together, and his face turns bitter. His jaw is clenched, and he looks pissed now.
I don’t care. I need to know. “Whose idea was it? Yours or his?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he murmurs, and he turns his head away from me.
The teacher puts down his chalk and says class is over. The students around us stand up and start packing their things.
Guess it’s time to go.
“Whatever,” I say. “If that’s your idea of having a nice, easy life, have fun with it.”
I fetch my stuff and stand up. Suddenly Hunter reaches forward and grabs my wrist. “I never said I liked that part.”
“Then why do you do it?” I say.
His fingers are warm and engulf my wrist completely. I feel so tiny and fragile right now.
“Because I have to,” Hunter says, and he lets me go.
Sighing, he stands up too, and waits. I don’t know what for, but he continues staring at me until I’m done packing my things. We walk out of the classroom together while he keeps his eyes on me like a hawk, as if he’s afraid I’m going to tell someone.
Suddenly Brody pops up out of nowhere.
“Hey, Autumn,” he says.
When he notices Hunter standing next to me, he looks up in surprise. His brows furrow and his lips part, as if he doesn’t understand what’s going on. “Um … Who’s your friend?”
So then I guess he doesn’t know Hunter; even though they both interacted with the flowerpot-hairdo guy, they don’t know each other. Or they’re just trying to fool me.
“Hunter Bane,” Hunter says, clearing his throat.
Brody squints at him with a suspicious look on his face, as if he doesn’t trust him.
“What do you want?” I say crudely.
“Look, I’m sorry about my friends. I don’t want to make things worse, so I was wondering if you’d like to hang out for a while. You’re done with classes for today, right? Let’s go grab some food.”
I stare at him and then at Hunter, who shrugs.
“You should come, too,” Brody adds, looking at Hunter.
“What? I uh … no, I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can. A friend of Autumn’s is a friend of mine,” Brody says.
I roll my eyes and check my wallet for the little amount of cash I still have left. Hunter rummages his pockets, but pulls them out and shows they’re empty.
“Sorry, I’m broke,” Hunter says.
“Yeah … me too,” I say. “Rain check then?”
“I can pay, no problem,” Brody says.
“Oh, no, I can’t take that,” I say.
“No way I’m letting a dude pay for my lunch,” Hunter jokes.
“Besides, I have work in about an hour or so. Don’t really have a lot of time,” I add.