Mandy had to go to school the next day. Hunter said it may be best if she stuck with him, incase Dominic tried to do anything. She thought that was a safe thing to do, so she warned Hunter that she would stick to him like glue today.
When Mandy pulled into the school parking lot, she parked in a different spot than her usual one. She kept her eyes peeled for any sign of Dominic or Mason. She went to her locker and Hunter was already standing there, leaning against the cage. He smiled when he saw her, and Mandy felt a feeling of relief when she saw him.
Hunter: "Good morning. Your personal escort is here."
Mandy: "Haha... I'm sorry if this is inconvenient for you."
Hunter: "Are you kidding? I'm great at being a body guard. I was even trained in mixed martial arts for this moment *he winked*."
Mandy raised her eyebrows and gave him a playful look. She grabbed her books for first period and headed off to class with Hunter.
When they entered the class, Dominic was already in his seat and saw them enter together.
Here we go.
Hunter whispered to Mandy and explained an idea he had.
Hunter: "Okay, what if we swapped seats for today's class? Mrs. Wallace is never fully awake or assertive in 1st period, so she probably won't even notice. This way, I'll be in the middle of you guys and it will be harder for him to interact with you."
Mandy: "Sounds good."
They sat in each other's seats, and Dominic immediately grew pissed.
Dominic: "Dude what do you think you're doing? You taking on the role of knight and shining armor or something?"
Hunter: "Yeah, actually I am. Deal with it."
Dominic: "Whatever *he looked over to Mandy* Mandy! Come over here I wanna talk."
Mandy: "No, we're over and I don't want anything to do with you."
Dominic: "You know that's not true. Look, some untrue things came up that night and we can sort it out if we just talk."
Mandy: "No, there's no way that what went down was "untrue". You were drinking, which as an ASB member is incredibly immoral, and reality comes out when you uncontrollably consume alcohol. Oh and here -"
She reached in her backpack and took out the bracelet that Dominic bought her. She threw it over to him and he caught it. He looked at it longingly.
Mandy: "I hope you still have the receipt for that."
Mandy turned forward and didn't focus on Dominic anymore. Hunter pulled him close, and brought his voice to a whisper, so that only Dominic could hear him. He said:
Hunter: "Don't you ever bother her again. And you know what happened to Mason and his little friend, so if you even think about hurting her, I'll do 10 times the damage to you."
Hunter leaned back out, not even caring if Dominic was going to respond or not. And Dominic looked defeated. Class began, and Mandy felt a moment of relief.
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After school, Mandy and Hunter were gonna go to the studio and work some more. Mandy needed to grab an extra pair of clothes and supplies at her house, and they wanted to carpool, so both her and Hunter drove to her house.
*at Mandy's house*
Mandy: "You can come in, I just need to get a few things. We can also grab some of my dad's tools if you need them."
Hunter: "Okay cool"
They headed inside. Mandy's mom was in the front room when they walked in.
Mandy's Mom: "Hi Mandy, how was scho- Oh, hi Hunter! What are you doing here?"
Mandy: "Hey Mom, Hunter and I are gonna go out and work on a project together, but I just wanted to stop at home to get some supplies. I'll be back in time for dinner."
Hunter: "Hey Mrs. Matthews, how are you?"
Mandy's Mom: "Oh how fun! I'm doing well, Hunter, thank you. Do you want to join us for dinner? Since you'll already be together might as well!"
Hunter: "Oh I wouldn't want to barge in-"
Mandy's Mom: "No of course you wouldn't be! I'll call your parents and ask if they want to join as well! Are you okay with that?"
Hunter: *he looked at Mandy, who smiled and nodded at him* "That sounds great, and I'm sure they'd love that as well. Thank you."
Mandy: "Okay Mom we gotta go now but we'll see you tonight!"
Mandy's Mom: "Okay you two, have fun!"
After Mandy changed clothes and grabbed her stuff, they went out to Hunter's car. It was still the big black Silverado truck that she had seen the first time she went to the studio. Hunter opened the door for her, and Mandy attempted to climb in. The truck was so tall that she had to grab the handle on the side to help pull herself in. Hunter laughed a little.
They drove to the studio, which was a little less than 5 miles from her home. They got there and worked for about 2 hours doing lots of things.
Mandy: "Well, what should we do now?"
Hunter: "We've got all the things done that needed to be done today... now we can just hang I guess."
Mandy: "Cool. You said there was some coffee pot around here last time, can I get some?"
Hunter: "Yeah sure, it's in that room over there, let me show you."
He led her to a room in the corner of the studio. She hadn't been in there yet. When he unlocked the door and walked in, she saw and desk with a chair and computer. There were 2 smaller chairs on the side, with a landline phone on the desk and pictures on the wall. Hunter went straight to the coffee pot that was on a little side table in a corner of the office while Mandy looked around. The room wasn't too big, but perfect for 2-4 people.
She took a look at the picture frames on the walls. The first one was a photo of Hunter. It was just him, and it was the day he received his black belt. Mandy remembered seeing his mom take that photo of him. It was right before she gave him her love letter. Then she looked for the next photo. It was a photo of their MMA friend group, before any of them had gotten their black belts. They were all around the age of 10. It was with Hunter, Mandy, and their other close friends: Jake, Kat, Angie, Ethan, Nick, and their instructor.
Then she looked around to see if there were any more photos. Just when she thought there weren't any more, she saw the big frame hanging over the desk. It was a bigger print out compared to the other ones. The photo was of her and Hunter. It was the one they saw the night that they looked at her dad's photo files. She smiled when she saw it and that's when Hunter saw her looking at it.
Hunter: "That was the first thing I put up in this place. It was during the summer, before I even knew you moved here. It was almost like my motivation I guess... just seeing your face and remembering how determined you always were."
Mandy: "I love it. Is this gonna be your office?"
Hunter: "That's the plan, but I actually wanted to ask you something about that."
Mandy: "What?" *he handed her a cup of coffee and then continued*
Hunter: "I know this may sound crazy. And this is just a simple question, so don't feel obligated to say yes; I promise I won't be hurt or mad if you say no. But I was wondering, would you possibly consider.. being a co-instructor with me once this place is ready to open? I could give you half of the ownership, and we could- "
Mandy spaced out of what he was saying. He kept on ranting and explaining details, but from the moment the word "co-instructor" left his mouth, she knew that was what she wanted. It sounded ideal. Working with kids, and getting to pass on what she's learned. It would mean the world to her.
Hunter: *still talking* -it just occurred to me because you were one of the best students when we trained, and you said you loved working with kids-
Mandy (cutting him off): "I'd LOVE to!!" *she jumped into his arms and hugged him*
Hunter: "Wow, really??"
Mandy: "It sounds perfect!!"
Hunter: "I'm so glad you think so; I was worried I couldn't do this on my own."
They let go from their hug. They stayed face-to-face though. They looked long and hard into each other's eyes. They both lowered their voices to a soft tone.
Hunter: You know... I think I love you, Amanda Matthews. Actually, I've loved you for all these years.
Mandy: *she laughed a little* "Hunter Reyes, I think I love you too."
Hunter pulled her face towards his and kissed her. Mandy's heart fluttered. A part of her deep down knew that she's loved him all along, and she just didn't let it out until now.