Shy (Hunter Hayes)

Chapter 27

Jana's POV

I read the letter over and over, crying more and more each time. I was such a terrible person for leaving him over this. I wish he has told me sooner and maybe we could still be together.

The letter was long, but it was completely about Louisiana. He was semi-famous. He had a band and traveled all over the state, playing gigs. This apparently started at a really young age. Despite his fame, he was bullied terribly for being into music instead of sports and all the "normal" things high schoolers liked. He was called gay all the time. He was slammed against lockers and constantly beat up. They all used him as their punching bag just because he was different.

Jackson, the bully from Louisiana that caused the trouble with the picture of us, was the worst. He would corner Hunter every day and beat him up, telling him how worthless he was and how he would never amount to anything.

All of the pain and bullying got to Hunter. He tried to commit suicide. He had been cutting himself for a long time before then, taking everything they said about him out on himself. He blamed himself for everything. Luckily, his attempt at taking his life was a failed one. His parents found him and took him to a hospital which treated him properly, leaving him healthy.

Hunter's parents had no clue how bad his situation was. He wouldn't open up to them no matter how much they tried. They got him help through therapy and it helped for a while, but the bullying started again. Hunter fell back into the hole he thought he had made it out of.

This time, Hunter told his parents what was going on. He told them he couldn't stand staying in Louisiana any longer. Believing him and wanting the best for their son, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes packed up that summer after 11th grade and moved their family of three to Nashville, Tennessee. Hunter promised his mom he would stop hurting himself, which I knew he hadn't stayed true to. Things were better for him here, but he wanted to get away from school altogether.

That explained his secrets about Louisiana and why he never wanted to talk about it. I felt like such an awful person for questioning him about it. I love him so much. I need to see if he could forgive me. I had to have him back in my life.