Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

Two Opposites

"Okay but be careful," Hunter warned, "Don't climb up on the ladders again to trim the hedges." It was strange to see Hunter taking on the motherly role for once, but she loved Nana more than anyone. In my eyes, Nana and Alexia were the center of Hunter's world and everything else just worked around them; when she smiled at either of them, it was unlike anything else. Their connections were so strong and true that even a simple gesture meant a lot.

"I learnt my lesson last time," Nana responded, wide eyed. 

Not long afterwards, we'd finished breakfast and pulled on our trainers, or Hunter pulled on her singular trainer because of the boot, and walked to my car.

"Going to tell me where we're going?" Hunter asked once we were on the road. 

I smiled, "No."

"Why?" Hunter pestered me. 

"I'm not saying anything," I shook my head, keeping my eyes firmly on the road, "You'll know soon enough, it's really not far."

Within a couple of minutes Hunter quietly gasped, "I know where we're going."

"And where's that?"

Hunter smiled, it was small but it was true, "We're going to the picture from Spain," She told me, calling the lake what we'd come to know it as. 

I nodded. 

Within a few minutes, we were walking through the woods that the lake hid behind, like a secret spot from some sort of fairytale which we'd stumbled upon by luck and claimed as our own.
It was a special place. I'd thought the worst night of my life would happen here, when Hunter had run and I thought it might be over, but it turned out to be the best. I'd always love this place for that, it had an ethereal sense of peace. 
Anyone else would probably call the pair of us mad, but both Hunter and I truthfully felt like a piece of home lived by this lake. 

We sat next to one another, not far from the water, I decided to speak first, knowing we needed to talk through last night.

"What happened last night?" I asked softly.

Hunter sighed, "Leah told me something and I'm not sure how I feel about it."

I turned my head towards Hunter, though her eyes still lay on the water, "What did she tell you?"

Hunter gulped, "Leah is moving in with Jordan. I'm happy for them, I want her to go, I really do but I'll miss her. I don't remember a time when Leah and I didn't live together."

I nodded, "You'll still see her all the time," I tried to point out the positives. 

"Yeah, it will just be strange at first," Hunter shrugged.

"Do you know when she's moving?"

"She text me last night and said in the next week," Hunter replied, slightly numb. 

"Wow," I breathed, feeling it was a massive life adjustment for Hunter, "That's soon."

"Yeah but there's no point in staying when she wants to go," Hunter stated it so simply, like she didn't actually care or even know Leah. I sensed that whenever things hurt, Hunter detached emotionally from the situation to soften the blow. 

"You know she doesn't want to go because she wants to leave you," I told her, aware that Hunter was probably feeling abandoned. 

"I know," Hunter sighed, "But it doesn't mean that I don't feel that way. I know the facts but somehow I don't feel them."

I took a moment to process her profundity, it felt like the first time we'd hade a genuinely deep connection when neither tears or alcohol were involved; it was progress. Shifting closer to Hunter, I laid my arm around her shoulders, as she leaned into me. 

"Leah loves you," I assured her, "I've never seen someone protect and love you like she does, you're family. Her moving out won't ever change that."

"You think?" Hunter wasn't sure.

I nodded, "I know."

A few hours passed by, we just spent the time talking about anything and everything. It was so interesting to get an inkling into how Hunter's brain worked and all of its' marvelous revelations and ideas. We probably could have stayed there for weeks on end, never getting bored of one another. 

Suddenly I saw my phone light up from a name which seemed strange, so I picked it up. It was a message from Alexia, she was asking if I was with Hunter. 

"Hunts has Alexia messaged you?" I asked. 

"I don't know," She quickly turned her phone on, "My phones been completely switched off all morning."

"Alright," I replied, feeling that sinking feeling in my gut. 

I was a complete optimist with pessimistic gut feelings, which were then usually proved true; it was a pairing which made no sense and caused stupid amounts of stress but those instincts protected me. I think they also protected Hunter. 

"Shit," Hunter muttered, "She's text me loads."

"What's she said?" I asked.

Hunter scrolled through her phone, I suddenly felt her body freeze, "Oh my fucking god?"

"Good or bad?" I quickly asked. 

"Good," Hunter exclaimed, shoving the phone in my face to show me a picture of Alexia in London, "Really fucking good!"

I smiled, so happy to see Hunter ridiculously overjoyed about her sister's surprise visit.

"When did she send it?" I asked. 

"A few hours ago so she must be at the house now!" Hunter screamed.

I looked at all the missed calls, still not being able to shake that feeling of dread. 

"You should probably call her back," I suggested, trying to not let my anxieties interfere with Hunter's pure and honest joy. 

Hunter pulled the phone to her ear, ringing Alexia, "Lex! Are you at the house?" She asked, this massive grin on her face like a child opening their dream toy on a Christmas morning. It was the sort of smile you couldn't fabricate, it was infectious and so obviously true that I think the sun shone that little bit brighter.

Until seconds later when the clouds brought shade. Hunter's face fell, her eyes darting back and forth trying to understand what she was hearing. 
I felt my body tense, now knowing that the gut feeling had been yet again true but cursing life because why did it always throw such a curveball when the sun shone the brightest?

"What?" Hunter asked, her voice shaking, quiet. I saw her hands trembling, struggling to hold the phone until she eventually passed it into my hands, I looked to her for answers but received none so instead sook them from Alexia. 

"Alexia?" I questioned. 

"Jill? Jill is that you?" Alexia asked, her voice strained like she'd been crying.

"It's me, what's happened?" I asked, feeling my breaths become shallower as I tried to comfort a terrified Hunter by pulling her into a side hug, though her body still tensed, for once she didn't relax into me. 

There was a pause, a quiet sob from Alexia before she gathered herself once again, "It's Nana."