The Only Exception

three

Suddenly, Hunter rushed into my kitchen where I was standing, hands covering my ears, surrounded by my mess. I couldn't move from my spot because I was barefoot and I didn't want to cut up my feet.

"What happened? Are you ok, D?" Hunter wasted no time stepping over the mess and coming over to where I stood.

Quinn rushed in just to keep screaming, "She's fine! Get out of here, Hunter!"

I closed my eyes as my head continued to pound.

"Please Quinn, stop yelling," I begged.

Before I could process anything else, Hunter picked me up and carried me out of the kitchen. He set me down at a safe distance away on the carpet of the hall. Immediately, Hunter grabbed the broom from the small closet in our kitchen and began sweeping up the glass. He had been to our house so many times before, that he knew where everything was. Quinn was still yelling profanities at him. I crossed my arms over my stomach, unsure of what to do about the chaotic scene in front of me.

Hunter didn't respond as he dumped the glass into the trash and then put down some towels to soak up the water.

"I can't believe you had the audacity to show up here after what you did to Drew today!"

"I already told you, he helped me. Leave him alone!" I yelled out angrily, trying to get Quinn to shut up.

Hunter walked over to me and Quinn let out a breath. I thanked him quietly for cleaning up my mess.

"You need to stay away from my sister, Hunter, or I will make your life a living hell," Quinn threatened.

"You already do, Quinn," Hunter scoffed.

He then gently took my hand and led me to the front door. I put my shoes on, unsure of where we were going.

"You're not allowed to leave with him, Drew! I am in charge."

"We aren't leaving, I just have to give her the homework she missed," Hunter rolled his eyes.

Hunter opened the front door and I stepped out. He stepped out as well and then closed the door, hopefully stopping Quinn from yelling at us some more.

He bent down to pick up his backpack which he must have set down when he heard my glass shatter. He then turned to face me and gently placed his hands on either side of my face. My breath caught at our close proximity, and I stared up at him quietly, unsure of what he was doing.

He slightly turned my face to the side to inspect my stitches and bruising.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I nodded before swallowing hard. He made me nervous, but not in a bad way.

He let go of my face and swung his backpack around to open it. He pulled out a couple sheets of paper and two of his notebooks.

"This is the homework that's due tomorrow for math and english. Then I took notes in both Physics and History so you can copy those down and then just bring me my notebooks tomorrow."

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked down at everything he handed me. I never expected Hunter Evans to be the academic type.

"Oh wow, thank you so much."

Hunter smiled down at me, our height difference being almost laughable. I was a mere 5 foot 3 while he was towering over 6 feet.

"Of course. Well, as long as you promise you're okay with that witch in there, I'll see you tomorrow."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh which made him smile even harder.

"Yeah. I'll be okay. Thanks again."

I watched as Hunter climbed into his truck before making my way back inside. I stormed past a fuming Quinn who seemed to have been eavesdropping on our conversation. I went into my room and closed the door so that she wouldn't keep trying to talk to me.

I sat down at my desk and set down everything Hunter gave me before grabbing my own backpack. Just as I was pulling out my own notebooks, I heard my window slide open.

I looked over to see Hannah crawling through. She stood up after she got in and dusted herself off.

"Hey," I smiled.

She smiled back until her eyes landed on my messed up face. Instantly, her face showed concern.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to you?"

"The usual. Nate shoved me into the lockers to impress Gemma."

"Seriously, I am going to show up to that hell hole just to beat Gemma's ass," Hannah seethed as she looked closer at the wounds on my face.

I laughed at her words, but she didn't join me. Hannah had always been overprotective of me.

"Don't worry. Hunter actually came right after and shoved Nate into the lockers. Then he helped me to the nurse's office," I told her.

Hannah raised her eyebrows as she went to sit on my bed.

"I actually came over here because I just saw him leave your house. I was gonna ask what that was all about."

I couldn't fight the blush that was rushing to my cheeks, so I turned back towards my notebooks as I continued to talk.

"He came over to check on me and to give me the homework that I missed," I explained.

Hannah gasped loudly before nearly yelling, "Oh. My. God. He totally likes you!"

I quickly shushed her and she put her hand over her mouth.

"Quinn is furious about all of this! I don't want her to freak out even more. Plus, he probably just thinks of me as a little sister because we grew up together."

"No way, he wouldn't go out of his way to deal with Q if he just liked you as a friend. Whatever happened between them anyway?" Hannah asked.

"I don't know. Quinn won't tell me," I shrugged.

"Hmm maybe you'll be able to get it out of Hunter. You like him back, don't you?" Hannah smirked.

I covered my face to hide my embarrassed smile. Hannah knew me way too well.

"I've always had a crush on him, but he doesn't like me so it doesn't matter!" I insisted.

Hannah raised up her hands in surrender. "Fine, but I can't wait until you start dating and I can say I told you so!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed at her before turning back to my work. The two worksheets that Hunter brought over were just easy reviews from last year so I finished those in no time. I then moved on to copying Hunter's notes into my own notebooks. I then put everything away in my backpack so I wouldn't forget it the next day.