Hunter

Chapter One - The Necklace

"So... you're Jasper's girlfriend?" She nodded. I bit my lip, my eyebrows inching towards each other. I had never heard of this girl, yet here she was dating my best friend. 

"Like I said two minutes ago. Nothing's changed."

"And, what's your name?"

"Andrea. Andrea Wilkinson." I could tell she was exasperated.

"And, where are you from?" Deirdre, my other best friend, asked. Andrea huffed, standing up from where she was seated across from me.

"Like I told you, I moved here from Milwaukee and I met Jasper at registration."

"Registration was last month," I quipped.

"I guess we must've hit it off really well then." Dee gagged beside me, and I jabbed an elbow into her ribs.

"Look, I just wanted to meet you, but obviously, that's not what you want."

"Listen. It's been Jasper, Deirdre, and me since second grade. A new addition is going to take some getting used to." I stood from my seat and walked over to her, holding out my hand. "It really is nice to meet you. Dee and I are giving you a hard time just for kicks." She smiled at me and took my hand in hers. It was warm and soft: gentle.

Okay, Andrea, the hardest part is over. All you have to do now is--

"You two seem to be getting along well," said a familiar voice. 

How on earth was I able to hear Andrea's thoughts? 

Jasper sauntered over, and I released Andrea's hand. I watched as Jasper wrapped his arm around Andrea's waist, pulling her closer to his side. I looked back at Dee, and she seemed bothered, but she didn't act out on it. That was totally unlike her, rousing suspicion in my mind. I didn't respond to Jasper's statement, and neither did Dee, lapsing us into an awkward silence.

"Hayley, I, uh, your necklace." Andrea choked out. "I like it a lot. Where did you get it?"  My hand reached up to rub the three charms that hung around my neck.

"It was my parents' necklace." 

"Was?" 

I saw Jasper visibly tense up, and I could feel Deirdre's uncomfortable shift behind me.

"They died when I was just a child."

* Ω *

When the last bell buzzed, signaling the end of the day, Deirdre and I headed to the locker room to change for tryouts. We caught Andrea in there, and she looked different. There was something about the way that she carried herself that seemed to have changed.

"Hey, Andrea," I greeted, attempting to at least be friendly to her for Jasper's sake.

"Hayley, Deirdre," she murmured. "What are you doing here?" Those words stopped me in my tracks.

"We're looking for the grocery store," Dee retorted sarcastically, smiling at the end of her sentence to lessen the blow she knew Andrea must've felt.

She scanned us with her pale green eyes, turned to a mirror, and dabbed lipstick onto her tiny mouth. Why, oh why, was she wearing lipstick for tryouts? She packed up her stuff and headed for the door, but not before pumping her hard, metallic shoulder into mine. I stumbled back, and Dee's hand on my arm was the only thing stopping me from eating dirt.

"See you on the track," she whispered to me. She continued to walk away, but before she exited, she turned to address us. "Oh! I'm throwing a party this weekend, and Jasper insists on you being there." She winked, and then left with an annoying sashay.