Spark (Under Editing and Updating)

Chapter 67 (December 18th, 6:29 pm (pwt), Ella)

I take a breath of the almost-winter air in. "When I was little I was interested in space."

"What made you stop?"

"I don't know, I just lost interest in it."

I look back up at the stars, their twinkling lights filling the sky like little dots, the moon starting to rise over the tree horizon. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hunter smile a little, his eyes full of excitement. I look down to the grass and take a handful, pulling it out of the ground.

"I'm sorry," I say, Hunter looking at me.

Hunter gives me a puzzled expression. "For what?"

"For my melt down. You can have your dog tag back."

"It's ok, I understand that you need to vent sometimes, we all do. And with the dog tag, Josie made me a temporary one, that's how I'm human," Hunter says as I hand him his dog tag.

Hunter looks back up at the stars. "But I still don't know what caused it."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yea," I say quietly.

Hunter looks back at me and hugs me, his face feel of worry and guilt though he didn't do anything wrong. I smile a bit at Hunter's actions but then it reverts back to a frown, my head dropping down. Hunter places a hand on my back and with his other hand, grabs part of my hair, starting to braid it as he takes his hand off my back.

"Was it something that I said?" Hunter asks as I shake my head in a "no."

"It was something Josie said, something about the bunnies," I reply, tears starting to form. "It was them being called pets."

"What's the problem with that?"

"Just when you think of bunnies being pets you think of them being in... cages."

Hunter starts to open his mouth but closes it, no words escaping. "Are you afraid of cages?"

I nod and place my head on his shoulder. "Me now being part bunny now means I might be caged if Josie or your brother want to run experiments on me. I also have a problem with me being an 'unstable' Hybrid or a Hybrid in general, it just takes away freedom."

Hunter places my braid over my shoulder. "Your still free as a Hybrid. Free to speak your own opinions, free to do anything, free to date anyone and by that I mean that you don't have to date Hybrid's if you don't want to. And with the cages, if you don't to be in one then you don't have to if your here."

I see Hunter look down with water collecting in his eyes, his smile now covered by a frown. I take my head off his shoulder and put my head down, my hand patting Hunter's back. He lifts up his head and looks to the sky, tears still in his eyes and running down his face.

"Me and my girlfriend, we-we would ask our parents to drive us out of Chicago and to Lake Michigan where we would look up at the stars and have a picnic under the stars, away from the light pollution. I would always tell her where the constellations where and what was happening that night," Hunter says. "That was when I was 9 and we were friends. Soon, she became more distant from me and up until I was 11, she didn't speak to me and that's really when the blues fell onto me. When I turned 12, she came around again and became more then friends, she loved me and I followed her lead. That was before the fights..."

Hunter goes silent and dips his head. "You still miss her."

Hunter nods. "But I'm healing... hopefully."

"Why hopefully?" I ask.

"I have a crush but I hope she isn't the same like my old girlfriend. I hope she doesn't break my heart."

---

Me and Hunter walk back to the meeting building, his head still hung, me in the most awkward position. I couldn't give any advice to Hunter because I haven't been in love or even had a crush; I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't date until a was in 8th grade. All I had said to Hunter was a "yea, hope she doesn't" but that didn't really mean anything to Hunter, all he did was sit there like a bump on a log and nodded his head until he told me we had to go back to the meeting building- Zap and Josie were probably questioning what caused me to be upset.

Plus he said he told me to much.

I open the door and Hunter walks in, his orange shirt having some tree bark on it along with his black shorts. The health monitor bunnies hop up to us and I pick up mine who balls up in my arms to keep me warm due to the air outside. I guess Hunter or Josie made the air outside a little bit warmer not to bother me.

"Alright, it's time to go to my house," I say as Zap and Josie come out of the EFTC room, Hunter petting his bunny as it wiggles its nose.

"Before you go, what did you name your bunny?" Josie asks both me and Hunter.

"Haley," I say.

"Eric," Hunter says as our bunnies look at each other as Hunter opens the portal to my house.