Hunter

Chapter 2

"Hunter, lunch is ready," Jessica says after knocking on the closed bedroom door, and opening it enough to walk into the room.

Jerking awake at her voice, and the door opening, I stare at her with wide eyes while harshly breathing from being jolted out of my sleep.

"I'll be right there, ma'am," I whisper, trying to control my breathing as I sit up, rubbing my eyes free of sleep.

Climbing off the bed, I straighten the covers, and fix the pillows before following behind Jessica to the kitchen slowly. There is a lot of chattering coming from the room, and it continues when we enter the room. The teenagers are sitting around the table with filled plates in front of them as Mr. Carr stands in front of the stove, filling three more plates that are on the counter next to him.

"Grab a plate, and have a seat, Hunter," Mr. Carr says, smiling over his right shoulder toward me.

"Yes, sir," I whisper, walking over to the counter to grab a plate filled with biscuits and sausage gravy.

"Hunter, please call me Miles," Mr. Carr gently replies as I slowly walk over to the table to sit next to Blake at the empty chair at the end of the table.

"Yes, sir," I loudly whisper, so he can hear me as I settle myself and the plate at the table.

"You'll like it here, Hunter," Blake softly says with a smile toward me. "They're very welcoming, kind, caring, awesome people."

I wonder if he's one of the adopted kids by the way he's talking.

"Okay," I whisper, keeping my eyes on my lap where I have my hands folded. "Are you one of the adopted kids?"

"Yup, along with my biological sister," he chirps, and I see him bouncing in his seat from the corner of my eye.

"How long have you been here?" I whisper, briefly glancing over at him, and notice that Mr. and Mrs. Carr have joined us at the table.

"Um, let's see, we came here when I was six, and Celeste was five, so ten years now," Blake replies with a fond smile. "We were adopted eight years ago."

They managed to stay at one foster home for two whole years without being bounced to several different homes in that time.

"That's amazing," I whisper, giving him a tiny smile.

When I pick my head up at the sudden silence, I find everyone looking at Blake and me. Feeling super self-conscious, I drop my head back down, feeling as if I said or did something wrong. Thickly swallowing around the lump in my throat at already fucking up in such a short amount of time of being here.

"How many foster homes have you lived in?" Gabriel gently asks from his seat directly across from me.

"Um, I've been in six, well seven counting this home, in the last two years," I whisper, biting the corner of my lower lip. The first year, I was in three homes, and stayed about four months at each home. This year, this is my fourth home already."

"Damn," Gabriel mutters before quickly apologizing to everyone for swearing.

"So, Hunter, will you tell us some about yourself?" Mrs. Carr requests with a warm smile as everyone but me starts eating.

"Hunter, you can eat, too," Mr. Carr states. "You don't have to wait for permission, or anything like that, okay?"

Slowly nodding, I carefully pick up the fork and knife to carefully cut the food into bite sized pieces before slowly eating.

"There really isn't much to tell about myself, ma'am," I reply after swallowing my first bite. "I don't have any hobbies, well not anymore, and I'm decent in school."

"Well, are there any hobbies you'd like to try, or start up again?" Mrs. Carr curiously asks.

"Um, I'm not really sure, ma'am," I murmur after swallowing another bite. "Can I think this over, please?"

She nods while chew her mouthful, and I give her a tiny, thankful smile. I'm not planning on answering this question because I don't believe I'll be here long enough to worry about this question.

"Monday morning, I'll be taking you kids to school, so I can register Hunter at the school," Mrs. Carr says with a warm smile to all of us kids.

"Hunter, how many schools have you attended?" Mr. Carr ask as we finish our lunch.

"Um, I've attended, or will be attending my ninth different school since starting school," I answer softly. "Growing up with my parents, we moved a couple of times, and each foster home has been a different school district."
He nods as the seven of us stand to clear the table, and everyone places their dirty dishes in the dishwasher along with the other dirty dishes that were used to make lunch.

"Um, may I walk to the nearest library, please?" I softly request of the parents. "I'd like to check out some books on Ancient Rome."

"I can drive you if you'd like?" Gabriel offers when his parents grant me permission of my request.

"Um, thank you, but I'm used to walking where I need to be," I whisper, trying not to hurt his feelings on his kind offer.

"Really, I don't mind driving you there," Gabriel replies with a smile. "I'm heading that direction this afternoon for my guitar lessons."

"Okay, I appreciate the offer, Gabriel," I whisper with a shy smile. "How long have you been playing the guitar?"

"I've been playing for five years, and I love every minute of it, too," he grins, and I find myself grinning back at him, too. "Do you play an instrument?"

Blushing darkly at him; "I can play the piano, the bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and the electric guitar. Which type of guitar do you play?"

Gabriel's jaw drops as he manages to answer me; "I play the electric and acoustic guitars."

"Would you like to take guitar lessons, Hunter?" Mr. Carr kindly offers.

"Oh, no, thank you, sir," I whisper. "I can't afford lessons with my monthly allowance."

He and Jessica frown at me with Mr. Carr saying; "We'd pay for the lessons if you'd like to take those. We don't expect you to pay for the lessons, or any other activities."

"I appreciate the offer, but no thank you, sir," I whisper with a tiny nod.

They silently nod, and thankfully don't push the topic.

"Come on, Hunter, let's get ready to leave," Gabriel says with a smile. "We're leaving in ten minutes."