What's a bad boy?

Chapter 24// Textbooks and rebels

Gif of Hunter above

Chapter 24: Textbooks and rebels

"What the-"

"Fuck!" Caitlin interrupts me.

Her face is almost identical to my own. Shock and pity laced into each of our gazes.

Hunter catches onto this as he makes his way into the room, along with our hushed swearing. However, he seems to almost not care what we think of his 'black and blue appearance', walking to the back of the classroom with a slight limp in his strides.

I'm about to go over and ask him what happened when he shocks me by slotting himself into the seat beside Heather, my usual seat. She doesn't seem shocked. If anything, she seems empathetic, almost like she was expecting him to walk in like that. The initial shock has me helplessly gaping at them as they quietly interact.

Yet, Caitlin seems to read my thoughts, doing my job for me.

"What on earth happened to you?!" she yells across the room.

Heather pokes her head out from behind Hunter to glare at Caitlin.

"Mind your own bloody business!" she hisses, making me unknowingly choke on the gulp of water I had just taken from my drink bottle.

I have to hold myself upright as I couch viciously against the shaking table, the sound of my shaking body finally raising Hunter's attention. Though I can't actually see him, I can feel his eyes on my arms as I grip onto the edge of the table and then turn to face Caitlin with a confused expression.

I also feel him watching me in curious glances as I whisper to Caitlin.

"Who stuck a rod up her ass?" I hiss to the smirking girl beside me.

She chuckles lowly so they don't hear, yet of course, Hunter does.

"It's my fault. I may or may not have been flirting with Brendan earlier" she explains with a dusting of crimson settling on her cheeks.

My mouth falls open for what must be the thousandth time today.

"It was an accident though! I didn't know he was taken. They weren't holding hands or anything so how was I supposed to know that they're dating?" she defends, throwing her hands up in the air.

"They're not."

"What? Then why-"

"They've been crushing on each other for weeks. The last I heard they were meeting after his soccer training every week. I'm pretty sure he hasn't officially asked her out yet, so if she views you as a threat?.... you're as good as gone" I shrug my shoulders.

She sighs in annoyance, folding her arms across the desk and placing her head on top of them.

"Violet" I hear someone whisper from behind me.

Turning around I have to jump back a bit at Hunter's piercing glare.

However, the glare is not directed at me, it's directed at Caitlin.

"Stop it" I scowl at him.

"What? It wasn't me" he says bluntly, gesturing to Heather.

"I didn't mean stop talking, I meant stop glaring at Caitlin!" I frown, throwing a lazy finger in her direction.

"She's a West-sider, what did you expect?" he shrugs.

I have to restrain myself from physically spitting on him, though my instinct to throw a textbook at his head is way too hilarious to ignore. The thick chunk of bound pages has left my hands before he knows what's about to hit him - which it does. Caitlin lifts her head just in time to see the heavyweight land on him with a sharp 'thump' to the forehead, making him jerk back, eyes squinted in pain.