Even when I had pulled up in the school's parking lot, my mother had yet to stop laughing. I shifted the car in to park and turned to her. She turned to me, and her giggling began anew.
"It's not that funny," a soft, timid voice said from the back seat.
I looked back there, and I immediately had to tightly purse my lips together so that I didn't burst out laughing. Hunter looked at me with those big silver eyes, and I mentally kicked myself when I had the urge to laugh even harder.
Hunter was wearing clothes that I had when I was younger, because the clothes I wore now would fall off and hang loose on her narrow frame. She had on cargo pants that rode up too high because she was so tall, a pink shirt with a faded out cartoon face of a smiling bunny, and the hat that Cerberus had gotten for me, the one with the stuffed ears.
Hunter made a face when she saw mine, which I was sure was red from my contained laughter. She pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face there.
"Mom," I whined as I turned back to my mother, who was now clutching her sides.
"Okay," she gasped through her tears, "Okay."
Mom and I exited the vehicle so that she could take my place. She managed to compose herself enough to get in the car. She motioned for me to wait, and I watched as she lowered the window.
"I'm going to take Hunter to the mall to buy her a new set of clothes. She should be back around lunch time."
"Alright," I said.
Just as Mom had shifted the car in reverse, I heard Hunter tentatively say, "Can I stay in the car?"
Carefully backing up, Mom laughed. "Yes, dear, you can stay in the car."
And then they were off. When they were out of sight, I felt a vibration in my pocket, and I took out the device. I had a new message; it was from Sidney.
Cerberus just made Franklin piss his pants. Guess who is rolling around on the floor, crying.
Shaking my head, I smiled and put my phone away. A car honked, and I looked up in time to see a green jeep pulling up in the space Mom had just left. The car was barely off when Ashton jumped out of the door-less vehicle.
"Hey!" Ashton exclaimed as he approached. He took me into his arms and spun us around until I grew ill and smacked his shoulders. "Sorry I couldn't make it to your house last night," he said, putting me back on my feet. "Jet had a tournament held at his place, and my team needed to be there."
"Did you win?" I asked, because I knew those sort of things meant a lot to him.
Ashton squealed, picked me up and spun us again. "We blew them out of the water! You should have seen us; we were kicking so much ass."
Touching my head to ease the spinning, I laughed at his enthusiasm. "Let me know next time, and I will be there."
We climbed the steps and entered the school together, just like always. Ashton and I met on the first day of being freshmen at Millington High School. We just so happened to take a seat beside the other during the orientation, and we nearly got in trouble because we kept laughing at the other's wisecracks about nothing in particular.
"You know," I began as I leaned against the locker beside his, "Sidney is on break. Maybe you could hold one of your matches at my house."
Ashton choked and his face went red. He looked around frantically, and as if he saw her, he stuck his head in his locker. I laughed at his reaction.
Ever since I had introduced them, Ashton has had a crush on my sister. I don't know what he saw in her that made him so enraptured--really, I stayed up long night's pondering it--but he was my best friend, and I wanted him to be happy. So, if that meant that I had to try to set him up with my annoying sister, then so be it.
