Hunter's Heritage (Sterling Hunter Series Book 2)

Chapter Seven

Tabitha found Jonas behind the Carter Inn. She had parked on the side of the road to try and hide her yellow bug. Derrick and the Gonzalez's cars were gone but Kyle was still there, and Tabitha would rather not run into him again.

Jonas was a little ways into the woods that surrounded the inn with a stake in hand as he fought off invisible assailants. Tabitha grinned, picking up one of the stakes off the ground where Jonas's backpack lay. Her feet didn't make a sound as she crept up on him and then pounced. Jonas spun around just in time, not quite as fast as her, but fast enough to catch her strike before she could make a blow. His eyes widened when his stake collided with hers. "Tabitha?"

"Would you look at that; you're learning," she teased as she twisted her stake, shoving his off hers and then shoving her palm into his chest. He fell back a few steps and clenching his jaw in determination. Jonas looked worse for wear, his appearance deteriorating over the past few months. Tabitha knew what it was like to lose a parent and now she knew what it was like to lose both. The community had had a memorial for her mother and Will and Brenda Carter. Tabitha and Jonas had stood together in the front row clad in all black as one person after another came up to say nice things about their parents. They stayed together, drawing comfort from their joined misery as people came up afterward to shake their hands and offer their condolences. And when all the funerals and memorials and mourning was over, both of them had to go back home to a parental figure they didn't particularly like listening to. Tabitha had gotten to stay at the Gonzalez's while still having Derrick hover over her while Jonas was forced to stay at the inn with his insufferable uncle. She knew from the many times over the years when his Uncle Kyle would come that Jonas wasn't his biggest fan. Jonas would complain about him having to come over and him having to spend time with his mother's brother every time and now Jonas was stuck with him.

Out of the two of them, Tabitha had it the best and she couldn't help but feel bad for leaving him out in the rain to mourn his parents and deal with his uncle on his own. She had been selfish to just skip town every few days without bothering to check up on him, especially by the way he looked now. His brown hair was disheveled and ungelled and unstyled. His brown eyes lacked the usual self-righteousness and exasperation that they usually held whenever he came face to face with Tabitha and his clothes were wrinkled and rumpled. Jonas was one of the more popular kids at school, which meant he always took great pride in his appearance. He never left his room without his hair being carefully styled, his clothes picked out and matching perfectly, but today all he wore were a pair of wrinkled jeans, a band t-shirt Tabitha hadn't seen him wear in years and a pair of scuffed up sneakers.

"What do you want Tabitha?" His question came out more as a tired sigh as he dropped his stance. He didn't even want to try and fight her? Not even when she baited him? Tabitha frowned, the guilt hitting her even harder. She should have checked on him. He was a complete mess and her friend, and she had just left him to deal with everything on his own. Tabitha dropped the stake, frowning. "I'm sorry Jonas. I should have come to visit sooner."

Jonas shrugged, folding his arms. "Why bother? I don't need your help Tabitha. I'm fine."

"Yeah, I can see that..." Tabitha said, making it obvious she didn't believe him for a second.

Jonas scowled. "What do you want?"

"I want to know if you're Ok."

"Do I look Ok to you? My parents are dead and the only reason I'm out here right now is because my uncle is driving me crazy. I'm tempted to pitch a tent out here and just live in the woods until I'm old enough to move out because I don't think I can take another day of having Uncle Kyle hover over and pretend to care," Jonas said, all of it spilling out at once. Tabitha knew he wasn't going to cry in front of her, but she could also see the pain behind his eyes. The only person she had ever been touchy feely with was Sebastian, but now all she wanted to do was hug her friend, to bring him some sort of comfort. Tabitha grimaced and pulled him into a hug. At first, he just stood there, probably surprised by her sudden show of affection, but then he untangled his arms and hugged her back.