Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

Chapter 12

I woke up from a coughing fit. Completely disoriented, I sat up, but the coughing wouldn't stop. My entire body was shaking by now and I felt like I would throw up if I coughed only one more time.

"Drink that," a voice next to me suddenly ordered and a bottle of water was held into my field of view.

I took it without questioning and hastily took off the lid. I somehow managed to gulp down some of the ice-cold water, and eventually the coughing came to an end, leaving me breathless.

"Jules, are you okay?" Hunter asked and I could feel his eyes on me as I exhaled deeply and put the bottle down.

"Yeah," I croaked and nearly jumped as I heard my voice. It was barely audible, hoarse and deep and sounded not at all like mine.

I turned my head towards Hunter to look at him for the first time this morning; my cheeks flushed as he loudly sucked the air in through his teeth.

"What?" I asked, feeling even more insecure all of a sudden.

Instead of an answer, Hunter reached out and lightly put his hand on my forehead. I flinched from the coldness of his skin on mine. The look on his face darkened. "Oh wow, you're hot."

I looked at him without understanding and nervously said: "Yeah, I hear that quite often."

Hunter snorted. "No, I mean, you're literally hot. You definitely have a temperature."

"What, no," I objected, "I never get sick."

Hunter shot me an exasperated glance. "Well, you just nearly coughed your lungs out, so you obviously are. Which doesn't surprise me at all, considering you jumped into the ice cold sea in the middle of the night and slept in the cold afterwards. Plus, you probably have a hangover, since this was your first time drinking."

"I did what?" I asked, horror-stricken, and grimaced in pain when I felt a throbbing headache building up. "I can't even remember that!"

"None of it?"

"I remember how I arrived at the beach with Emily, and Alexis brought me beer or something. The rest is a blur."

"Huh," Hunter said. "Well, I'm gonna go and get a teacher. Are you alright on your own for a few minutes?"

I just nodded and sunk back onto the mattress, pressing the palm of my hand against my forehead. The headache was getting worse with every minutes and I felt slightly nauseous.

To top it all off, it began raining in that exact moment. Usually I loved rain, when I was inside, drawing or reading, snuggled in a blanket with a cup of coffee in my hand. But not when I was out camping in a tent which didn't exactly look like it could withstand a thunderstorm.

A few moments later, Hunter crawled back into the tent, his hair wet and dark patches forming on his shirt from the rain.

Behind him was Mr. Smith. His hair and even his beard were tousled and he was wearing pajamas that were only halfway buttoned up. "Julian? Hunter told me you were sick..."

"I think I might be," I said, nervously fiddling around with my fingers which were resting in my lap.

"Well, son, you certainly sound like it." Mr. Smith scratched his chin and seemed to think about something. "You know what? While I am going into the forest with your classmates later, you can stay here and rest. Someone can stay here with you, if you want."

I felt Hunter's gaze on me, but didn't dare look at him and said as sternly as possible: "Emily. I'd like Emily to be here."

Mr. Smith nodded. "I'm going to inform her. If you need anything, just shout."