Love Fool (One Night Only Season 2: Hunter's Story)

Chapter Eleven

As much as I would rather be at the lake, hanging out with Deni, it's only fair that I spend a couple of hours sitting in my old elementary school's auditorium, watching teachers and the school principal honor Paisley and her grade eight classmates. She had to sit through my ceremony three years ago, and she'll sit through my high school graduation next spring. It's no surprise to me when she receives an award for creative writing and expression. Even beyond her off-the-wall theory about Deni being famous, and the stories she and Brooke concoct about their favorite celebrities, Paisley has always had the most vibrant imagination of anyone I know.

I'm proud of my sister. Once she walks the stage and returns to her seat, though, I stop paying attention to the ceremony and give in to boredom. People watching is out, because it's too risky. I've made it a point to only watch the stage so I can avoid a situation in which my gaze roams past Trinity and her family, in case she thinks I'm trying to make eye contact. Trinity started casting glances in my direction the moment I walked into the auditorium with my parents.

I shift in the hard plastic chair, trying to stretch my cramped limbs without disturbing anyone. After years of sitting in the same chairs when I attended this school, I should know it's impossible to find a comfortable position. I settle for sitting up straight again and let my mind wander to Deni and what she could be doing right now. It's the one thing that's guaranteed to transport me away from my current surroundings.

After waking up at sunrise the morning after our boat ride, I snuck out before any of my family members were awake and left my letter outside of Deni's door, where I secured it under a rock. The weather has since turned from sunshine and clear skies to on-and-off rain, so I hope she found it before the storms began. There's a possibility that Lia saw it first, and I pray she isn't the type of mother to read notes to her daughter before handing them over. She hasn't given me a reason to think she is, but not knowing if Deni has seen the letter or what she thought of it if she received it has me twisted up in all kinds of anxious and impatient knots and envisioning best and worst-case scenarios.

It's a toss-up if the worst outcome is Deni figuring out I have a crush on her, not feeling the same way, and this creating weird tension between us, or if it's being seen as nothing more than her friend and neighbor for the rest of the summer because I wasn't forthcoming and forward enough. The best outcome would be Deni liking the letter, giving me clues that she also has a crush on me, and finding enough confidence and nerve to ask her on an actual date. It's mental agony that my family isn't heading back to our camp as soon as this ceremony ends.

Applause from everyone in the auditorium jars me back to reality. The ceremony has concluded and the graduates are already filing off the stage. I thank all powers on high that this is over and stand up to follow my parents out to the aisle.

"Hunter," a familiar voice says, stopping me in my tracks. "Hi."

Crap. My heart sinks somewhere into the pit of my stomach, because there's no escaping this without being a jerk. I contort my face into what hopefully passes for a pleasant expression, square my shoulders, and turn around to face my ex-girlfriend for the first time since our breakup.

She looks the same as she did the last time we were face to face, with her shoulder-length burgundy hair, hazel eyes, and the dimple in her left cheek that is on full display when she smiles at me as if we're long-lost friends being reunited. I try not to grimace.

"Hi." While Trin's greeting sounded happy and cheerful, mine is controlled and neutral.

She starts to raise her arms, then seems to think better of it. I realize after a beat that she was about to hug me. My own arms stiffen at my sides. At least neither of us is with someone for this encounter, aside from being here with our families and being among a crowd of grade eight graduates and their families. Any other time we've been in the same place since February, Trin has either been with Landon or her friends. Even though her friends have been nothing but kind to me since our breakup, having a conversation with Trinity in their presence would have made me more self-conscious and uneasy than what's happening now. Steering clear of Landon has been an even higher priority for me.