The Switching Arrangement

Chapter 25

I gasp at Hunter's mind-boggling story. I felt as I was there with him, seeing all the events vividly as they unravel.

"Wha-what did you do?" I find myself asking.

Hunter had stayed emotionless for the most part of his story, but after revealing his mom's attempted murder of an unborn baby, he's looking more and more uneasy.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before finally continuing.

"I ran out and went to our neighbor's house to ask for help. My father wasn't home at that time - not that he would've cared anyway,"

"My neighbors brought her the hospital, where doctors said that they needed to get her to go through childbirth immediately. The condition was too severe for the baby, even though her due date was supposed to be in a month's time."

Suddenly, Hunter stops. He clears his throat and without warning, a few drops of tears slowly roll down from his eyes.

"Hunter..." I whisper, finding it hard to hold myself to from tearing up as well.

He quickly wipes the tears from his face while pursing his lips at the same time. "It's fine. It's fine," he says, with a clearly cracking voice.

"And then, after several hours of labor," he continues with a tense look in his eyes. "Fionna was born."

"Unfortunately, there were a handful of complications awaiting her the moment she breathes the world's air. She was born a month too early. She had been living inside a very unwell and stressed out woman for the last eight months. She was tortured while inside of her own mother."

Hunter pauses once again and for some reason, a smile carved itself onto his lips.

"And worst of all, she looked nothing close to normal,"

At this, an image of the girl I've seen in Hunter's purse flashes through my mind. Long brown hair, slanted eyes, tube-laced nose and a nightmarish grin plastered on her face. I'm ashamed to admit that the image gave me goosebumps.

"How did she survive?" I ask before carefully placing my hand on Hunter's.

He shrugs. "I dunno. It was quite a miracle. Doctors said that she was a fighter and for two whole years after her birth, she continued to be one."

"That's amazing," I reply with a smile on my face.

Hunter nods lightly. "Too bad Mom never treated her with love, though. Neither did my father. It was really sad, to see her being such a strong good girl who, despite all the odds, stayed cheerful every day of her life."

"I mean, she cried a lot, but those were because of little things, not because life was hard for her." 

I can't help but let out an 'awwhhh'. I'm so glad that after everything he went through, Hunter was sent an angel that brought him joy. It's the first time I've seen him so vulnerable and I feel so much pity for him. I guess now I understand why he refuses to talk about his past.

He doesn't want people to pity him. He's willing to put on a brave face and act like nothing's wrong even when all the odds are against him.

It made me realize how much I don't appreciate my own life.

Hunter continues, bursting me from my thoughts.

"I thought that was it; our parents would continue to neglect us, my father with his carelessness and mom with her passivity and lack of energy. But I was totally wrong,"

"Because one day, when I got home from school - I was fifteen at the time and Fionna was four - I found that mom was..."

Hunter huffs in agony, as if he's been dreading this part the most.

"Gone. Just... Vanished. I thought she went somewhere for a bit, but after days of waiting, she didn't come back. Some of her clothes were gone, her drawing tools, her phone. I was so lost, like, what did I do to deserve this?"

"Then, obviously, my father went ballistic and it... was just-"

Hunter then suddenly clench his teeth tightly and starts to hyperventilate. An unfamiliar look of terror engulfs his eyes.

"Just fucking horrifying!" He finally spits out, "my father punched us, he threw Fionna against a wall this one time, he-he.."

"Oh my god..." I whisper out, while my eyes stare at him in disbelief. "Hunter, you don't have to continue if it's too much," I say as my hand reaches out to squeeze his.

Unfortunately, he clearly doesn't want the comfort because he quickly pulls his hand away and snickers sarcastically in reply. "Too late. It's coming to an end anyways, so I'll just cut the abuse part and tell you one last thing,"

Hunter lets out a huff before continuing. "I found out later that mom married Garrett's dad. He's a wealthy businessman who lost his wife and was mom's boss at the place she worked at. There. That's why Garrett's my "step brother". And that's why I didn't address it before. I mean, it's not exactly something pleasant to talk about, is it?" he finishes, shrugging.

"No, it's not," I whisper, not knowing what else to say.

I wanted to apologize for forcing him to tell me. I wanted to say that I'm sorry all those horrible things happened to him. I wanted to say something. Just something, after all he had spilled to me.

But my lips fail to find words. It feels as if realization smacked me on the face and the pieces of the puzzle are slowly forming a coherent image in my mind. One by one of them started to align with one another.

1. Garrett's stepmom - the artist he had mentioned to me once before, is Hunter's biological mom.

2. How Hunter punched Garrett at the party, it was mostly because Hunter hated him, not because of what he did to me.

3. Fionna lives in a care center because of her condition, and because she has no parents to care for her.

This all means that I now carry all these burden. I now have to live with the fact that Hunter's life sucks, indicating that so does mine since I am now him.

"Hunter, I'm-" I finally found the courage to speak up when suddenly, the sudden sound of a loud crash grabs my attention to the back of the empty classroom.

Out of instict, Hunter and I both snap our heads simultaneously to the sound.

We see that the trash can that was once sitting upright is now on the ground, while some of the broomsticks were knocked down from their stands.

But of course, what caught my attention the most is the person standing near all the mess.

He has an obviously flustered look on his face. His auburn hair is pushed backwards as realization that he had been caught eavesdropping hits his conscience. Those green eyes blink furiously as he mutters "I'm.. I'm sorry,"

I feel almost like fainting as I register the fact that Garrett Carson heard all the things we've been talking about.

🙈🙉🙊

I feel like my writing is garbage these days. That's why I don't want to write.

Everything sounds so unnatural and awkward.

But at the end of the day, I want the story I've had in my mind to continue, so I just force myself.

Sorry if everything sucks.

-Mika