The Only Exception

two

The whole town had heard the rumors about Hunter. It was the biggest story that had happened in years, and everyone in Roslyn, Washington loved some good drama.

"Oooh lucky, I heard he got hot," Hannah smirked at me, causing me to let out a laugh.

"Yeah, I mean he's always been handsome," I shrugged. My mind immediately went back to my conversation with Quinn in the car and how dead set she was on me staying away from him.

"I kind of feel bad for him, you know? The whole town is basically talking about him behind his back. He just seems so different from what everyone says," I confessed.

"Yeah, eventually something bigger will happen and everyone will finally stop talking about it."

I nodded in agreement. Eventually it wouldn't be the main topic of conversation, but you could never escape your past in a small town. It followed you.

Hannah and I continued to gossip and talk about our hopes for this school year until my parents came home and it was time for me to go eat dinner and for Hannah to go back out the window. My parents were very big on traditional family dinners where we all sat together every night and talked about our days.

Hunter was yet again a big topic of conversation at the dinner table. Quinn was ranting about everything that had happened today and once again started with the insults against him. My mom just nodded along and kept humming or saying "wow" every few minutes. She was never one to put an end to Quinn's mean girl ways, which was probably why she had only gotten worse over the years.

"I always thought he was such a nice kid," My dad stated after Quinn had finally decided to take a breath.

I met his eyes and gave him a slight smile, which he returned. My dad was the reasonable one. He was extra kind, not that my mom wasn't, but my dad just had a heart for others that really stood out.

Quinn was quick to try and prove our dad wrong, but he didn't say anything more. When the attention turned to me and they asked about my day, I just told them the basics. The details were a waste of time and I didn't want my parents to know that I was basically bullied on a daily basis. Plus, Quinn would then get in trouble for not looking out for me enough, and then she would get mad at me for it, and it all just seemed like something I didn't want to deal with. So I told them my day was good, what classes I had, and then changed the subject to ask my dad about work.

I made it through the first week of school without too much trouble, but the next week started off way worse. I had almost reached my locker to put away some of my new books before class when I was slammed into the lockers. My face hit the metal hard before I fell down onto my knees. All of my books and papers that were in my hands scattered onto the hallway floor. I put my hand up to my lip, only to find blood dripping onto my fingers when I pulled away again.

The laughter of Gemma filled the hallway as she thanked Nate for his service with a kiss. However, their happy moment was cut short when Nate was slammed into the lockers like he had just done to me.

The hallway went quiet and everyone stared in shock as Hunter stared down at Nate with a death glare. Gemma quickly bent down to tend to her whining boyfriend.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She cried out.

Hunter ignored her as he stared down at Nate, "Don't you ever touch her again."

I nearly shivered at how cold his voice sounded. He then stepped over Nate and came straight over to me. I was still sitting there in shock about what had just happened, but seeing Hunter turn his attention to me made me sit up quickly and start trying to gather all of my things.

Hunter knelt down in front of me and easily scooped up all of the things I was scrambling to gather.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at me sincerely.

I felt like crying because I was so embarrassed. Everyone in the hall had continued to walk by, but not without staring at me.

I just nodded quickly, not being able to get the words out.

"Can I walk you to the nurse? Your lip looks like it might need stitches."

I nodded again as I used my jacket sleeve press on my bleeding lip. Hunter shoved all of my things into my backpack, and then threw it over his shoulder before holding out his free hand to help me stand up.

He didn't let go of my hand as he walked me down to the nurse's office. Everyone stared at our connected hands with wide eyes as we made our way through.

"Hi Brenda!" Hunter greeted the nurse cheerfully as we walked into her office.

"Oh, Hunter! How are you sweetie?" Nurse Brenda greeted him back with the biggest smile on her face.

"I am good, but Drew needs your help," He said, turning to look at me with a sympathetic smile.

Nurse Brenda instantly turned to me with concern and ushered me to sit in one of her chairs. I removed my sleeve from my face when she directed me to do so, and she quickly began cleaning the excess blood off of my face.

"Do you think she will need stitches?" Hunter asked as he watched what the nurse was doing with intent.

Brenda hummed as she took a better look at my wound. "Maybe a few. We better call your parents, Drew."

She handed me an ice pack to hold over my lip before going out to use the phone.

"You're going to have a nasty bruise. I can see it starting to form already," Hunter said.

"Great. Just another reason for people to stare," I responded sarcastically which made him look at me with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be complaining about that, I know you have it a lot worse."

Hunter smiled and shrugged before saying, "I'm used to it."

I proceeded to ask him how he knew Nurse Brenda so well. He said during his freshman year he got into a lot of fights and would always have to come to her office for ice and other treatment. She really was a nice nurse and never judged any of the students.

"Your dad will be coming to pick you up shortly," Nurse Brenda popped her head in to inform me. I thanked her and turned back to Hunter.

"You don't have to sit with me until he gets here," I told him.

"It gives me an excuse to show up to class late," he shrugged.

I laughed a little at that. "Thanks for helping me and sticking up for me by the way. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to."

We didn't talk much more about Gemma and the other bullies, which I was thankful for. Instead we talked about our schedules and Hunter brought up the fact that we have every class together. I don't know how I didn't notice that before, but I didn't look around much in my classes if I didn't have to. It wasn't that rare considering the school was so small, but usually there was some variation. Hunter was cracking jokes and making me laugh by the time my dad came to pick me up.

Hunter greeted my dad to which he warmly responded before scooping up my stuff and walking me out of the office.

"See you tomorrow, D!" Hunter called as I was walking out of the school and I waved back at him.

"How'd you get hurt this time?" My dad asked me once we were in the car and on the way to the local doctor.

"Tripped over someone's backpack that was on the floor of the hallway," I groaned.

"Typical Drew," he tsked and shook his head.

Luckily, my dad didn't pry for more details. It made it easy to lie.