Tragic

Chapter Sixteen: Surrender

Elliot

The dance started twenty minutes ago, and we're still standing in the parking lot. Judah is passing around a flask while reminiscing the old times with our usual crew. Typically, I don't mind being late and making an entrance, but for some reason I'm annoyed by it. My mind keeps drifting to Hunter and the fact that he's inside right now looking amazing in a suit and tie. My mind takes that image to a dirty place, and I find myself distracted.

Judah grabs me by the waist and pulls me over to him. "Babe, I'm so glad you decided to let me come with you. This is going to be a great night."

I force a smile, and he leans in to kiss me. I keep it brief because I've been trying to be cautious about getting his hopes up. Even though Judah is a dick, there's been something different about him lately. A part of me wishes he would have been like this when we were dating. Who knows where we would have ended up if he had put in this much effort before.

After some convincing on my part, we finally make our way inside. Fall Festival is basically the kick-off to our month-long celebration during October. The queen's job is to show up at events, smile of course, and help sell apple cider and pumpkin themed crafts. It was one of the highlights of my year last fall, and now I could care less what happens. Priorities change I guess and being the center of attention doesn't exactly hit the top of my list anymore.

We make our way toward the middle of the room, and I spot Cameron and Dylan in amongst a small section of our group. Apparently, some people felt the need to take sides. I wave to her, and she gives me a skeptical smile back. It almost makes me laugh what a big deal this is to her. Dylan eyes me and then shifts his gaze to Judah, glaring at him. Judah gives him a cocky smirk and moves his hand lower and rests it on my ass. Well, at least some things never change.

I discretely remove his hand from me and give him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be right back."

He nearly growls back at me as he presses me firmly against his side. "Don't be too long, babe."

As I'm making my way to ladies' room, I spot Hunter out of the corner of my eye. The first thing I notice is the fact that his dark green tie matches my dangerously short dress perfectly. When his eyes connect with mine it's obvious he likes it. His stare burns into me while he pretends to be engrossed in a conversation with Mr. Daniels, the art teacher. I brush a strand of hair behind my ear before disappearing around the corner.

Surprisingly, there's no line and I make it in and out fairly quickly. When I step back into the hallway, Hunter grabs me by the arm and pulls me down a dark corridor. I'm so taken off guard I don't open my mouth to protest when he scans the hall before opening the door behind us. Satisfied no one saw, he pushes me inside.

I take a step further into the room and notice it's a large storage closet for extra band instruments. He still doesn't say anything while he locks the door and flips the light switch off. The small window in the corner of the room only provides a dim glow across his face.

Hunter closes the distance between us with a few determined steps and grips my waist, pushing me back until my ass hits the edge of a table. "I can't watch you with him," he says finally, his voice a low growl. "I don't like it."

His words make me angry. Last night he said he couldn't be with me and now he's saying that he doesn't want to see me with anyone else.

I shove my hand against his chest, putting distance between us. "You don't know what you want."

His eyes are hooded as he stares down at my hand. "I know that what I want is wrong." When he looks up at me, I brace myself for his rejection again—but instead, he threads his hands through my hair and pulls my face to his. "But I don't fucking care anymore."