Bella's Hunt

NINETEEN

After English, I walk back to my locker to put my textbook away. When I turn down the hall that holds my locker, I spot Chris and Lydia leaning against my locker.

I smile as I walk towards them. "Babe!" Lydia smiles widely when she sees me.

"Hey." I smile back.

"How was English?" Chris asks as I open my locker.

"It was fine." But before English was weird. That weird Dustin guy trying to talk to me.

"What Dustin guy?" Lydia nearly shouts.

Did I say that out loud?

"What?" I pretend not to know what she's talking about as I open my locker.

"WHO IS DUSTIN!?" She shouts in my ear, making me hiss and push her away. "Are you deaf?"

"Jesus Christ, someone give her a fucking cupcake." I scoff.

"Who's Dustin?" Chris asks and I glance over at him.

"Some guy who was trying to get my number earlier. No biggie." I shrug before placing my textbook in my locker.

"Was he cute?" Lydia grins at me while wiggling her brows.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Cuter than Chris?" Both Lydia and I look over at Chris, who is now straightening up and furrowing his brows.

"Maybe a little bit," I mumble and Chris' eyes widen.

"What?" His voice cracks and Lydia laughs.

"Cuter than Blake?"

"Everyone's cuter than Blake," I state, making the two laugh.

"What about Hunter?" Lydia asks, knowing that she's going to get a rise out of me. My eyes flicker to her's and they're narrowed, watching me stealthily.

"Hunter is cuter than everyone!" Chris says nonchalantly and we both snap our heads towards him. "What? He's my best friend. I gotta vouch for him even when he's not around."

"Oh good God." Lydia laughs. "Wait-" She looks at me. "Do you vouch for me when I'm not around?"

"Of course I do."

"Good."

"Not all the time but-" I mutter under my breath but she catches me.

"WHAAAAAT?" She barks like a demon.

"Jesus!" I flinch and jump away from her, my back hitting Chris' back. His hands go to my shoulders so that I don't lose balance.

"Come on. We gotta get to class." Chris states, mainly to Lydia.

"Then to lunch!" She points her finger in the air. "LET'S ROLL!"

As Lydia begins walking away, I follow her until someone pulls me to a stop. I turn around to see Chris holding onto my wrist.

"What?" I raise a brow.

"This Dustin guy... What does he look like?"

"Um... Blonde. Brown eyes." I answer with furrowed brows. "Why?"

"Just wondering." He puts his hands up. "I'm just protecting my baby sister."

I roll my eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Oh, you love it!" He slumps his arm over my shoulders and begins pulling me to my creative writing class. "Are you eating lunch with us today?"

"I'm still studying, Chris," I tell him and he frowns slightly.

"But this is the last day I'll see you for awhile. Come eat with us." He sticks his bottom lip out, making me laugh.

"Maybe." I nod slowly and he grins.

"Really?"

"Only to keep Lydia in check though." I point out and he rolls his eyes.

"Sure! I know you can't stay away from..." He unwraps his arm from around me and gestures to his entire being, "from this!"

"Most definitely, Chris. I could never stay away from your lumps." I poke his side and he swats my hand away.

"Don't do, that." He hisses. "It tickles."

I laugh quietly before looking to the other side of the hallway. My eyes meet Hunter's back. He's standing at his locker, shoving stuff inside, seems to be a sports bag.

Since when does Hunter Stone play a sport?

Chris follows my gaze and furrows his brows too. "Is that a sports bag?" He asks me.

"I don't know.."

We walk over to Hunter and he looks up before we get too close, his eyes sticking to mine as quickly as possible. "Hey," Chris greets.

"Hey," Hunter mumbles.

"You're playing a sport?" I cut through the bullshit and Hunter's head instantly snaps to the bag in his locker. He quickly slams his locker shut and leans against it.

"Maybe."

"What sport?" Chris asks seemingly interested.

Hunter looks at Chris for a moment before his eyes flicker back to me, "Basketball."

"Hunter Stone playing basketball?" I smile at the thought. His brows furrow at me and the emerald green of his eyes turn to a dark seaweed color.

"I said maybe."

"You already have the bag, man." Chris chuckles. "That means you're already on the team."

"Yeah." He looks away from me with this pained expression, making my smile drop and my brows furrow. What the hell was that?

"When were tryouts?" Chris asks.

As the boys talk about basketball, I examine Hunter. His hair is all ruffled like he didn't have time to fix it this morning. His eyes are red and puffy just like his nose. And he looks like he hasn't gotten much sleep.

"Hey-" I interrupt and they both look at me. "Are you sick?" I ask Hunter and his eyes widen slightly.

Since I brought it up, Chris examines Hunter thoroughly. "Yeah, dude, you look like shit."

"I'm fine." He shakes his head quickly. "But I gotta get to class," He begins backing away from us.

I glance over at Chris to see his smile drop too. "Okay," Chris nods. "You'll be at lunch, yeah?" I look back over at Hunter who's eyes flicker over to me before down at the ground.

"Yeah, we'll see." With that, he turns around and he's gone.

"What was that?" Chris looks over at me.

"I don't know..." I continue to furrow my brows.