A few weeks go by after Hunter tears apart my heart.
I still haven't gotten over him, but he's clearly gotten over me.
He's back to hanging out with Michelle and Emily. After all they did to me, he really hates me. I even saw him kiss Michelle at the mall, when I was passing though. I guess our kiss means nothing now.
I guess I'm nothing now.
Without Hunter I feel lost. Thalia is fine, but Hunter and I just clicked. I miss him, I really miss him.
I needed him, and I thought he needed me. Boy was I wrong. It was time to move on. Forget about the boy with the messy brown hair.
I decided to ask Thalia to choose a guy to go on a date with me. She set me up with a guy named west. He was friends with Eldon, the guy Thalia danced with at the party. I've heard about West around school. He's a jokester, can't take anything seriously and has never has a proper girlfriend in his life.
He wasn't my type, but I had to move on and West was how I was to do so. Hunter had all of the qualities that West had, but he had a balance of them. He was a jokester, but very intelligent and mature. He is very silly at times, but can be serious in important situations. He was perfect, or so I thought.
But I have to move on.
The day of our date, I spend less than an hour getting ready. I put on minimal makeup, An outfit that I got for easter last year, and just wear my white converse.
West picks me up a half an hour late, and takes me to a diner a couple minutes away from my house. Their menu wasn't very good. I ended up ordering just some chicken fingers and fries. West ordered half the menu.
We spend the date engaging in small talk. Small talk is probably my least favourite thing in the world. We end the date by him dropping me off home. West walks me up to my door.
"Amanda, will you go out with me another time?" He asks.
I didn't enjoy the date, or West's presence, but I need to move on.
"Sure west, next week is alright."
With that, he smiles, nodds and then walks back to his car.
****
Hunter stops me as I walk through the halls the next morning at school. I sigh.
"Hey Amanda." He greets me.
I don't reply.
"I, uh, heard you went on a date last night..." He says.
"Yeah I did, why do you care?" I snap.
"Because... I, I just do."
"You're the one who rejected me!"
"I had reasons to reject you!"
The halls were empty by now, and it was official that I was late.
"Like what? I suddenly wasn't good enough for you?"
"No that's not it!" He replies.
"Then what? You just thought it would be fun to lead me on, just to reject me?"
All the pain I had felt that day was coming back. It felt like waves of sadness washing over me. Knives stabbing me for each word we said back and forth.
"Amanda! Emily and Michelle threatened to hurt you!" He shouts.
I can see the regret in his face immediately after he says it.
"Hunter... I.. I didn't know. I'm sorry." My voice softens.
"It's not your fault. I want to be with you... but I can't."
a tear falls down his cheek. This is the first time I've seen him cry.
"Hunter, don't worry about them. I can take them. No ammount of punches they throw at me can come close to the pain of being away from you."
"I just can't let you get hurt." He embraces me in a tight hug.
I feel protected. I feel safe and just like the first time he comforted me, I feel like the only place I ever want to be is in his arms.
