"Skylar!" I turn to find Taylor walking towards me with a grin.
"What?" I ask.
"Almost summer vacation." My heart fills with joy of her words.
"I know I am looking so forward to it, and all the partying." We cheer.
"Yeah, I know. The first one is at Matt's house." I nod. Taylor's eyes move behind me.
"Is that Hunter?" I turn around finding Hunter corned up to her locker, by Amy and her friends.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know." Taylor answer. I start to walk, but before I could reach her, Amy pushed her into the locker.
"HEY!" I yell, taking their attention. Taylor follows me. I step between Amy and Hunter.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Fuck of Skylar!" Amy yells. I move to look at Hunter, who looks down at the floor. Then I turn back to Amy.
"What the hell did she ever do to you, Amy?" I snap. Hunter may be a year older than some of us, but she is smaller than Amy and me.
"I want her to stay away from Ryan." Her eyes drifted to Hunter. I turn my head to the left to see Hunter in my peripheral vision; I do not want to lose sight of Amy, in case she is going to do any more harm.
"She can talk to whoever she wants to Amy and leave her alone," she pushes her blond hair back.
"I guess you're the one giving her the bruise she had here weeks ago as well?" She has a sly smile on her face. It takes all the power in me not to hit her in the face.
"Get the fuck away, Amy." She has this evil smile on her face and I know this is not the end. She has been a curse since we started high school. She and her friends walk away and I turn to Hunter.
"I-I didn't talk to him." I know she is telling me the truth. She was so uncomfortable when he stood so close to her. The bell rings.
"I really have to go, Skylar." Taylor tells me.
"Yeah, see you later." Then she is gone.
"You okay?" Hunter is avoiding my eyes.
"Yeah." She is lying and that is why she can't look at me.
"Hunter, what hurts?" I ask strictly.
"Nothing." Still, her eyes are aimed at the ground. Why does she have to be so goddamn stubborn? I sigh and take her hand.
"Come." I start walking out to the parking lot with her, it is only the last period so I do not care.
"Where are we going?" She asks.
"Wherever you want." I guide us to my car.
"But we have class." She indicates.
"I don't care..."
"But your dad..."
"I'll explain it if we get into trouble, okay?" I stop in front of her, next to the car. She nods uncertainly.
"So what do you want to do?" She shrugs, I sigh. She is always so unsure about things, especially herself.
"I know, get into the car." She does as she is told and I start driving.
"Where are we going?" She looks curious.
"Home." I answer.
"Okay?" We sit in silence the rest of the road. I stop the car in the parking lot, next to our house. Then I turn to look at her with a sly grin.
"What?" She asks a little irritated with flaming red cheeks.
"What do you say to a little football game?" A smile creeps up on her face.
"One against one?" She asks.
"Yep." I answer with confidence. She has a playful smile on her face, I have never seen that before, and it makes me wonder what I have gotten myself into.
"Come on Skylar." Hunter yells. I fall down on the grass, exhausted. Goddammit, this girl is fast and good. She is leading 5-3 and I can't even stand on my legs anymore. I breathe so hard that I think my lungs are about to explode and my heart is going to burst out of my chest. I hear Hunter's footsteps coming closer. The sweat on my forehead running down my face.
"Skyler come on." She laughs.
"No-no, I'm literally dying here." I take a deep breath.
"I think you underestimated me." She says and sits down next to me.
"Not really, I knew you were good, but I never thought you would destroy me like that." I tell her and take a new big breath. She chuckles.
"You should join the team."
"No, I don't want to." She says.
"Why?" My breathing has calmed down again. The sun shines like never before and it is so goddamn warm. Before we started playing, we changed into shorts and T-shirts. I swear I have never sweated so much before. My shirt is soaked. I hear Hunter laugh.
"I simply don't want to take your spot."
"Ha-ha" I laugh and throw some grass on her. Dad comes out the porch door.
"Hey, girls. You are home early." There was a suspicious tone in his voice. He walks over and stands next to us.
"Um, yeah, we skipped the last hour."
"Why?" He asks. It feels like the air around me has disappeared. I do not like to lie to dad when it happens, but now I am not sure if I should tell him the truth or not. I look at Hunter looks for words or even something to help me to clear my mind. But she looks as lost as me.
"Um..." but before I could even start on my first word, Hunter jumps in.
"I kind of got into a fight today, and Skylar helped me."
"A fight?" He looks concerned for her. Then I start to talk.
"No, she didn't fight, someone pushed her against her locker and I jumped in before something worse would happen."
"Okay, do I need to talk to the school about it?"
"No." Hunter said before I could even open my mouth. It was not a surprise that she would say that. If she saw the look in Amy's eyes, she would have been worried. I haven't told her about it and I am not sure if I even should, I simply don't want her to be more afraid of walking around the school. I guess I have to keep my eyes on Hunter from now on, until summer vacation. It's just a couple of weeks anyway, so I hope it will turn out fine.
"Okay. If it happens again, I am going to do something about it." Hunter and I nod and he walks back in.
"I was about to lie to him." I tell her she gives me a shy smile.
"You don't need to help me all the time you know."
"I know." I answer. She takes the ball and throws it at me.
"Ouch. What was that for?" I ask upset, she laughs.
"The day you made me fall out of the bed."
"Remind me again why you sleep in my bed?" I tease and she smirks. If my cheeks could look redder than they already are they would look like a fucking tomato.
"And who was the one begging me?" She teases. God, she is good at this game. I am glad she has found her confidence around me, it's fun and sometimes, like now she can make me feel so embarrassed, but it is so worth it.
"You didn't disagree"
"Well, I did not really have a choice. You are so stubborn." I give her the death glare. She just keeps on having that teasing smile on her face.
"You better run." I turn around to take the ball and run after her. Why do small people always have to be so fast? I throw the ball at her but miss. She stops running and takes the ball with her.
"I suggest that you should not be a goalkeeper if that thought ever comes to your mind." She says laughing. I smile and shake my head.
"You are unbelievable." I say chuckling and she smirks. I shake my head again and start walking to the door, but then I feel the ball at the back of my head.
"Hunter!" I yell and turn around. She notices that I am angry, but still, she burst out in laughter. She points at me, and say.
"That is how you do it." I take a deep, deep breath. But I guess there is not enough air to make me calm myself down. I start running after.
"You're so dead Hunter!"
"Yeah, well to have long legs you are very slow." Her teasing makes me laugh. Finally, I reach her and grab her shirt. She falls down at her back laughing and looks up to me.
"You know your eyes are getting really dark when you are angry."
"You're not gonna stop are you?"
"Stop what?" She asks with a huge smile.
"Annoying me." I tell while rolling my eyes, and she laughs.
"You don't look irritated; you look more- more amused"
"DINNER!" Both of us look towards dad.
"YEAH!" I yell back at him.
"I race you!" I say and start running, but Hunter's hand is on my ankle and I fall down. She laughs.
"I'm sorry." She says, standing up and reach me her hand. I take it and drag her down. She lands upon me, and chuckle. She places her hands on my stomach and pushes herself up. Her touch sent shivers through my body, it happens all the time.
"If we don't stop, the dinner will get cold." I tell her chuckling
"Yeah, we better get going before Luke comes again." We both stand up and start walking.