Because of that Night (Book 2)

Chapter 25: Lila

"So, are you and Zooey planning on going to the carnival tonight?" Hunter asked Lila during a brief break to grab water on one of the hot, humid days of August later that summer.

Their final project together was coming to an end, and school was soon to start up in just two more weeks. It also meant that Lila was just one more week away from Michael getting back into town. The summer had been very long, and even though Lila thought that perhaps her run-in with Mr. Cooper and Hunter near the beginning of their break would help resolve the confusing tension between the two of them, it hadn't. Hunter had continued to keep his distance for the most part, and though Lila met other people through Garnsey Brothers, she felt as though she questioned herself for the entire summer.

Was she in the wrong to have forced her aid that night at the Tides? Should she have just listened to Hunter and gone home? It had clearly upset Michael to hear that Lila had seen that part of both his and Hunter's worlds, but it wasn't as though Lila judged their family in any way because of it. They had all gone through a lot, and she knew that grief looked different in every person. She knew this simply by looking at the three Cooper men. Each had a different coping strategy. Mr. Cooper coped by drinking. Michael seemed to cope through humor and baseball. But Hunter still seemed to be the wild card. To Lila, Hunter seemed to cope by continuing to move full steam ahead. There were no coping mechanisms, there was just moving forward and taking situations as they came. Was it maybe his track record with girls in the past year that had been his coping mechanism? Lila wasn't sure, but it didn't stop her mind from thinking about it often. She thought about all the Cooper men what felt like every second of everyday.

She was hopeful this was all just because Michael was gone. Mr. Cooper was bound to be better once both of his boys were back in one state again, but Lila wasn't sure the same would go for her. She was nervous for the return of Michael to Borne. It wasn't that she wasn't excited to see him again, but that their conversation after the night with Mr. Cooper always felt unresolved to her. Michael had told Lila he wanted to have more conversations with her about his mom and dad, yet the most she had learned about either of them had come from Hunter. Sure, Michael was away at baseball camp for the last two months, but it's not like they hadn't been dating before that. Was it just something that had to happen organically, or did Michael actually just not want to tell Lila anything? She sometimes worried that perhaps she loved Michael far more than he loved her. She was open about most everything about herself while Michael seemed more focused on the here and now. Lila thought it was important to be in the present moment too, but she also believed that sometimes in order to be present with someone with where they are now, it helps to know where they've been before you.

Hunter was still looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Lila took another sip of water and nodded.

"That's the plan," she said. "I know Zooey is feeling a bit unsteady about the whole thing, you know, because of last year, but as far as I know, we're going."

"She's got nothing to worry about. I'll even drive you guys if you want."

Lila perked up at this. "Really?"

Hunter shrugged, nodding his head slightly before getting up to head back over to the back-porch area of the house they were located at with a few of the other men on the job. Lila didn't even think about asking Hunter if he could drive them to the carnival. She had already made plans with Zooey that Zooey's mother would drive them there and Zooey's father would pick them up. Though it was brief, the small moment of kindness helped Lila silence a few of those voices that kept trying to tell her she had made too many mistakes with Hunter to ever go back to having a normal friendship.