And I may be stupid and I may be selfish and I may be wrong. Still, it's such a short time you would heal and such a long time you'll be gone, scattered to the wind.
-TV Girl
It'd been one week since the 'CBAT' incident. Amity had in fact ended up telling the whole camp, as they had predicted. Middle schoolers are VISCIOUS and they did not live it down for quite a bit of time...
However, as viscious as they are, middle schoolers have very short attention spans. It had spaced itself out, as everyone forgot it about over some random drama going on. Apparently, there was a whole fight over 'Best Diligence' and Amity was NOT happy she didn't win... She apparently got very violent about her spot as a top student.
Since the camp was... mostly well behaved, Hunter and Ed decided "Hey! A hike won't be half bad." So, guess who was loading up buses?
He climbed up the steps of the old bus. They did a hike every year- it never felt like an actual treat with how difficult terrain was some years. He did pretend like it was though.
Hunter walked down the sweaty, cramped space between rows. He hated buses. It was an exhausting endeavor trying to gather students, get them on and off, and even just find someone to drive them. Luckily, the camp librarian, Lillian, was kind enough to take a break from her studies to lend a hand.
He sighed, and moved to the pair of seats where Edric was. Hunter's only camper friend, Luz, was sitting with her friend Willow. Edric was leaning against the window, his amber eyes half closed. He has pretty eyes, Hunter reminisced. So did his sister. Maybe their parents were really attractive, or something. He did know they were a fairly wealthy family. He slid carefully in the seat beside him.
"Are you good?" He inquired of the boy.
Edric mumbled a half hearted response, something about needing tires? Or eating shires... Oh, Hunter realized. He was tired.
Hunter slouched down into the seat, propping up his hood. The bus started and Hunter went to look out the window, but Edric's head was blocking the view. He grumbled and shut his eyes, expecting to get some sleep.
Until the bus unexpectedly turned, causing Edic's head to fall onto Hunter's shoulder. It took him a minute to process what was going on, but when he did, his face turned bright red. Edric had fallen quickly asleep, and his face was full of relaxed peace. It reminded Hunter of a napping puppy.
With his mind racing of thoughts, the drive went by quickly. Before they realized, the bus was already at the spot. Hunter watched outside the window.
He is going to kill me when wakes up.
Thankfully, that never happened. The bus slammed to a stop as a rabbit hopped quickly in front of the bus. Edric fell off his shoulder, slamming into the seat in front of him.
"OW, OW, OW!" He yelped, rubbing his head. Hunter chuckled to himself, sliding out of the seat.
"You alright?" He reached out a hand to help the other boy.
Edric nodded and shrugged and took his hand. Something fluttered in Hunter's stomach. He could feel his face redden slightly. What is happening to me?
The hike took about two hours in total. But with the constant chatter of the kids and Edric combined, it felt much more like seven.
Hunter sighed. They had finally reached the overlook. It looked over the suburban area and the rolling greens. The kids wandered off to do their own thing, but Hunter and Edric sat on the cliff, their feet dangling over the edge. They watched the sunset together, as the sun slowly dropped to the horizon, lighting everything in sight with a brilliant orange.
"Hey." Edric started, Hunter turning towards him.
"I just wanted to say, thanks. I know haven't been the BEST coworker, but you haven't said anything for a while. I appreciate it." Edric smiled at Hunter; his face illuminated by the soft glow of the setting sun.
Hunter looked into his eyes, which had been so perfectly complemented by the warm light, surprised. His eyes shone with amazement and another strange feeling.
"Uhm... yeah, yeah. No problem, buddy-o." Hunter replied awkwardly, unsure of what friendly term to call him.
Edric laughed. A light, jingling, sweet laugh. A laugh that sounded like a thousand dancing bells singing in unision. Hunter watched the movement of Edric's body shaking, the movement of his head, the movement of his lips. He turned red.
He looked perfect, just sitting there. Edric didn't even need to be doing anything special to get his full attention at this point.
Hunter's heart fluttered his hands shaking a bit from the excitement he was suddenly feeling.
He didn't just get good looks from his parents entirely... he realized with a jolt.
He just thought Edric was actually really cute, and he couldn't remember when he hadn't.
He started to giggle, and then chuckled, before he just laughed along with Edric. He smiled at Edric when they were done laughing, his eyes so genuinely full of a new emotion, one he never thought he'd experience.
If there was one thing Hunter would have changed about any movie depicting any form of love, it would be the cheesy, corny way they'd always realized their romantic interest. No one could look at another person and all of a sudden they're head over heels, right?
Wrong. Hunter always criticized teen movies for that, but now he understood why it was potrayed that way... because it was accurate. He felt so much more towards Edric now and it had all been just a sudden burst.
It all made so much sense now. Maybe... Maybe there really was a reason Edric showed up on that cabin doorstep that night, other than to bother Hunter.
949 words.