The First Steps (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 1 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Four

❝Nashville (pronounced næʃvɪl or nash-vil)
City in central Tennessee.
Note: home of country music❞

Lilly was tired.

Really tired.

She looked at herself in the mirror again. Why was she doing this? Was it even worth it? What was the point of all this?

She was still fat. How was that even possible? She had lost a couple of pounds, maybe, but she still looked so darn fat! Ugh, why did it have to be her?

"Are you going to eat your breakfast, Lilly?" asked the kitchen boy, Richard.

"I feel a little ill to tell you the truth." Lilly liked Richard. He wasn't very out there, and tended to be cooped up in his shell a lot, but he was the only person in the house who didn't call her Lilliana. He was about eighteen, a couple of years older than her and Hunter, with green eyes and black hair, and a skinny frame.

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Lilly.

"So you've been ill for six months now?"

Lilly just narrowed her eyes. "I don't want the lecture, Richard, so drop it."

He looked a little pissed. "Fine," he muttered, walking away with her full plate of toast.

"I'm sorry, Richard," she whispered. "I'm going to do something about it, though. I'm gonna tell Hunter."

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Hunter hadn't told Lilly why he was so jittery, and why he wasn't talking that day. In fact, Hunter was a little terrified to tell her what he had to tell her.

Once school was over, Lilly, who made up the excuse of homework club, came over to Hunter's house. Hunter was physically shaking in nervousness, and she felt his forehead. "Are you sick?"

"Me? Pfft, no, why would I be sick? I mean, I've never felt quite this good, what about you, don't you feel good? Whoo, it's hot isn't it? Wow, I think it's hot, do you think it's hot, 'cause I think it's hot," said Hunter at about twice his normal speed, and maybe half an octave higher.

Lilly blinked. "It's normal, I guess."

"Oh, okay, cool. Well, I mean, not cool, because it's hot-"

"Hunt?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

"Hunter, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What do you mean, what's wrong? Nothing's wrong! Do you think something's wrong, 'cause I don't think there's anything wrong, but you know, there might be-"

"Hunter, enough bullshit. What's wrong?"

"I-I- oh God, Lilly, I'm insane," he said, muffling his face with his hands and sitting on the bed. Lilly sat next to him.

"What's wrong?"

"I- you know I've wanted to do music forever, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I got an offer I can't refuse, Ana. I'm going to Nashville."

He said it so quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid, that Lilly was taken aback, not fully absorbing what he'd just said to her. "What?"

"I'm graduating early. Then I'm leaving."

Her eyes filled with tears. "But you- you can't leave."