Where the Skies are Blue

Chapter Ten:

Katherine narrows her eyes at me as I walk into the kitchen that following morning. Her hand is hooked in Henry's sweatpant pockets, while he peers down at his phone. "Have fun with your boyfriend last night?" She asks, and I give her an uncertain look before grabbing the box of cereal from the pantry.

I'm hoping I'll gain some healthy weight here now that I have access to food. Henry peers up from his phone, his eyes narrowing. "Can see you were busy." Katherine sneers at me.

"What are you talking about?" I snap back at her.

"Auden," Henry places his phone down on the counter. "You have a full-blown hickey on your neck." He snaps.

My eyes widen. "What?"

"Classy." Katherine chimes in, making Henry shoot her a look.

"I'm not your father, so I know this isn't my place, but Auden, be careful, please. Was this Hunter's doing?"

My cheeks inflame with embarrassment. "Can we not do this? Please." I say quickly.

"Sure." Henry replies. "I'm not judging, just you know, take appropriate precautions."

"Jesus." I place a hand over my face as I slide into the bar stool. "We really don't need to talk about this."

"Right, noted." Henry grabs his keys. "Well, your mom and I are going to do some shopping. Is there anything you want us to grab you?"

I shake my head.

"Okay, if you think of anything, just send one of us a text. What are your plans today?"

"Work." I pour the cereal into the bowl.

"Better cover that up then, baby." Katherine shoots me a smug grin before they head out of the house.

I hurry over to a nearby mirror and gasp at the huge hickey Hunter left on my neck. Shit. This looks awful. I feel somewhat bad this morning about letting things go as far as they did last night. It's still such early days and I don't want people to get the wrong impression of me. We got carried away. I should have told him to stop. But I can't deny my feelings for Hunter. It happened fast and unexpectedly. He said all the right things last night, and I certainly didn't play hard to get. What if he got what he wanted and doesn't speak to me again? What if he goes around telling everyone what went down last night, and I'll be labeled a slut before school even starts? Great. I'm so stupid.

I've blown it.

Just then, my phone goes off, and I dart back over to the counter to peer down at my screen to see a text from Hunter pop up.

Hey, gorgeous. I had fun with you last night. If you're not sick of me already, do you want to do something tonight?

An idiot smile grows on my face because I'm an idiot girl. I'm overthinking last night. Last night was good. We had a good time together. We kissed and fooled around a bit, so what? I'm seventeen. I can kiss a guy if I want. Doesn't matter how long we've known each other. Everyone else has had their first kiss at this point. No big deal.

Sure, I'm off at five if you want to do something after?

His text comes through right away, you work?

Yes, do people in this town not work? I send back before finishing my bowl of cereal and placing it in the dishwasher.

Your parents don't give you money? It's like Hunter is living in a completely different world than me. A different planet. Our lives are obviously very different. I almost want to laugh at the ignorance. But I also think he's just completely oblivious and has no idea what that's like to not have parents who give you whatever money you need. It's evident that he comes from a family that does well for themselves, resulting in him never needing a job. I'm not envious of it nor do I despise him for it. I'm glad that he has that luxury and that he hasn't had to experience the hardships that I have. I don't wish it on anybody.