Everglow

Chapter Ten: "Private Business Stuff"

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Rowan's POV

"How did the meeting go?"

Dad and I had only just gotten home and Aaron was already asking how it went, not even giving us the chance to walk through the door and settle in first.

"It went as good as it possibly could've gone." Dad dumped the bag of McDonald's food on the kitchen island before slipping his jacket off.

"That's great!" Aaron seemed happy with dad's answer. "See Ro, I told you it would be fine."

"Melissa showed no remorse and still hates my guts." I sat down on one of the barstools and slumped my upper body over the island countertop.

"Dad just said it went well though?" I peeked up at Aaron to find him frowning back at me.

"That doesn't mean we're going to be leaving the meeting and holding hands like we're best friends, Aaron." I shot back with a snarky tone.

He looked over at dad with a questionable expression.

Dad sighed. "What I meant was, we all agreed to a reasonable solution, so Melissa will no longer be in any of Rowan's classes and hopefully will lay off."  Dad then looked down at me. "So, you shouldn't worry about her any more, Rowan." He gently squeezed my shoulder. "You've just got to stick with your friends at break and lunch. Okay?"

"But what if she starts saying stuff to me again or shoves me around in the corridors in between classes?"

"Then you tell a teacher or a friend." Aaron said.

"Or you call Aaron or Finn." Dad added.

"Or.." a third voice chimed in from behind me and I rolled my eyes at Hunter's sudden presence. I still wasn't 100% happy with him knowing he confronted Melissa yesterday. "You punch her in the face and fracture her eye socket."

He leaned his arms down on the surface next to me and I took this opportunity to punch him hard in the ribs.

"Damn Ro." He flinched back holding his side in pain. "Punch Melissa like that and she would for sure stop messing with you."

I ignored his unhelpful comments and instead traced the marble patterned countertop.

"Hunter." I couldn't avoid hearing the sigh in Dad's voice. "Why aren't you at work?"

Hunter jumped up to sit on top of the island. "When I got there, John told me all my appointments had been cancelled due to the snow."

"You left at nine o'clock this morning. What've you been doing since then?" Aaron questioned him.

"I made a pit stop on the way home."

I frowned up at my brother. Pit stop? What does he mean by pit stop- But that's when I noticed the scattered bruise like marks up his neck that definitely weren't there when I saw him before he left for work this morning. Oh god.

"You're disgusting." I shook my head at him.

"What? A guy can't have some fun?" Hunter defended himself.

"Yeah but come on, before noon?" Aaron questioned him. "You can't be that desperate to get some. Was she even any good?"

I slapped my hands over my ears. "I don't want to listen to this."

"I wasn't expecting much to be fair, I just had to let off some steam." Hunters voice was muffled through my covered ears, but I could still hear. "But I wouldn't mind going at it again with her because she was on fire the whole fucking time dude, honestly the best sex I've-"