Chapter Seven
For the next few days, Hunter and I spent our nights together by his pool. It was amazing and I fell harder for him after every spectacular moment we spent together. We talked about everything and not just our issues and family problems, but the good things too. Hunter was planning on going to trade school once he graduated and becoming a carpenter. He told me his entire plan on how after he got a few years’ experience; he was going to start his own business. The entire time he was talking, he had this spark in his eyes and I could just tell he was serious about it. He was going to make a great carpenter/businessman and I told him that. Next, I talked about my plans for the future; how I was going to be a nurse at a pediatrician’s office. I loved kids and helping them when they were sick just made me feel all warm inside.
“I’ll come to you when I have the flu,” Hunter said after I explained how much I wanted to be a nurse for kids.
I laughed and nudged him with my shoulder. “I think you’ll be a little old to come to a pediatrician.”
He shrugged. “So what? I’ll refuse anyone else.”
I smiled up at him. “Well, thank you very much.”
He nodded and smiled back. “You’re very welcome. Just do me a favor and use the Daffy Duck band aids and not the Bugs Bunny ones. I was never fond of that rabbit.”
I laughed. “What could possibly be wrong with Bugs Bunny?”
He looked away in the distance. “He’s just so cocky all the time, you know? -Like he’s the best animal in the whole entire forest. And what is up with the ‘What’s up, Doc?’ That has got to be the worst catch phrase ever,” he explained in all seriousness.
“Oh my God. You are such a child,” I said, gently hitting his shoulder with mine again.
He looked at me. “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you like Bugs Bunny better than Daffy Duck?”
I thought about it. “Well, personally, Coyote was always my favorite. I always felt bad when he was tricked by that mean Road Runner. The poor guy was always having bombs and bricks dropped on him.”
“But Coyote was trying to eat Road Runner, so I’m pretty sure that justifies all the pain inflicted onto Coyote,” Hunter countered.
I scoffed. “So?”
Hunter rolled his eyes and smiled at me. “Okay, whatever you say.”
I laughed and looked up at the sky. There was a surprising amount of stars out that night. Usually, only a few were visible.
After a few moments of silence, I spoke. “Do you still hate me for being such a bitch?” I sucked in a deep breath after my gutsy question and prayed that it wouldn’t ruin me and Hunter’s new found friendship. I snuck a glance at him and he was also looking up at the sky. He didn’t look angry.
“No. I never hated you, Jade,” he admitted. I let out the breath I’d been holding in and felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders.
“You should’ve though. I said and did some pretty awful things.”
He laughed humorously. “Yeah, like the time you told everyone about my crush on Rena and she came up to me and told me I was pathetic. Or when you told everyone that I’d wet the bed until fifth grade and that I still slept with a night light.”
I winced. “We were in sixth grade, Hunter. I was eleven and brainwashed by Rena and her followers. I was naïve and stupid.”
“Yeah, but you never stopped, Jade,” he said, finally turning to look at me, “Even if you stopped making fun of me with your little followers by the time we hit high school, you still didn’t talk to me at all. You didn’t even acknowledge me when we were the only people in a room. Do you have any idea how much that hurt? We were best friends, Jade. You were the only friend I had.”
“But you made other friends-“ I started.
“Yeah, but I lost the best friend I’d ever had,” he said, cutting me off entirely.
His eyes were burning holes in my face and I felt so horrible, I wanted to crawl up in a little ball and disappear. I was such an awful person. I looked away and buried my face in my hands. “I’m so sorry,” I cried, my voice muffled by my palms.
Hunter grabbed my wrist. “No, Jade. Please, don’t cry. I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago. Don’t cry.”
I cried no matter what he said. I was terrible. I’d done awful things to him, but the worst had been pretending that we’d never been best friends and he didn’t exist. I hated myself even more. Maybe if I hadn’t been so awful to everyone I knew and loved, maybe my life wouldn’t have been such a mess. Maybe my parents would still be together and happy, my brother would be clean and living a good life, and Hunter and I would have never ended our friendship and we’d possibly be together and in love. I’d ruined everything with my own shallowness.
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Not All Bad
Novela JuvenilJade Kaplan is crushed when she finds out that her mother is having an affair with none only but their neighbor, Bill Moriarty. Jade’s family is shattered. Her mother leaves. Her father works himself to death. Her brother gets higher and higher by t...
