After work, I race home, my stomach growling. I quickly lock my car, hop into the elevator in the apartment building, and sprint into my apartment. I immediately make a bee-line towards my refrigerator, but it’s empty.
My stomach growls.
I check the few cabinets, finally finding a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. Smiling victoriously, I get out a pot and start boiling water in it. I slump against the counter, still hungry. What do I do now? I pull out my phone and text Ginny.
Me: Hey. I’m starving. I’d murder anyone in the entire world just to sink my teeth into your home-made chicken parmesan.
I get out of the texting app and pull up my music. Of course, since I live next to old grumpy neighbors who live to file complaints against me any time they get the chance, I stuff my earbuds into my ears and plug them into my phone. I push shuffle, and a Dan + Shay song turns on. I grin.
MY JAM. I MUST DANCE AND SING.
I start dancing wildly alone in my small kitchen, singing along with the words and the guitar riffs and drum solos. I bang my head as if I were at a punk rock concert.
As I dance, I somehow only spill a little bit of the Mac and Cheese onto the counter when I try pouring it into the bubbling water.
The song ends, but another one immediately starts.
One way
Two wheels
Black boots
High heels
Careful girl, you’re dressed to kill
I almost scream. I sing the lyrics, but I try not to be too loud in fear that my neighbors would hear. Last time I was singing they called the authorities because they thought I was high on drugs or something (yeah, yeah… my voice is bad, I know).
“Young blood! My love! It’s more than enough to fire me-”
“BOO!” someone shouts, grabbing my waist.
I scream, almost falling to the floor. I whip my earbuds out of my ears and turn around to face a laughing Hunter. I shove his shoulder.
“Come on, Hayes! You just ‘bout gave me a freaking heart attack.”
His laughter dies a little, his shoulders bouncing. “You should’ve seen how high you jumped.”
“Shut up,” I command him, turning back to the Mac and Cheese. I find that it’s done, so I stir it one more time for good measure before turning off the stove.
“So…” Hunter drawls, but before he can say anything, I ask, “Wait. How do you know which apartment was mine?”
He shrugs. “Easy. I already knew that you lived in this apartment building since I drove you here, and then I just followed what sounded like a llama choking on pipe cleaners.”
I cross my arms. “Har-de har-har. Guess who won’t be getting any Mac and Cheese?”
Hunter’s blue eyes turn serious. “What? Oh, I was just kidding, Harper.” He puts his hands together like you would if you were praying and begs, “Please, please, please let me have some.”
I think for a moment. “Alright. Grab a plate and a fork.” I point at a drawer. “They’re in there.”
Hunter sighs, “God bless you.” He retrieves two plates and two forks, one for each of us. As I scoop him out some Mac and Cheese, he asks, “So, how was your drive home last night?”
I shrug. “It was a drive. Oh, and by the way, have you checked your twitter lately?”
“Um,” he says, his brow furrowing. “No.”
“Okay.” Before he can ask me why, I say, “So how much do you want?”
“That much is good, thanks.” He takes the plate as I start piling some onto mine as well. He moves and sits down on the couch, perching his feet up on the rickety coffee table. My eyes widen as I suddenly remember the state of my apartment and that Hunter’s famous.
“Oh my gosh,” I gasp, quickly setting down my plate and speed-walking into the bathroom in search of the cleaning supplies. I hear Hunter set his plate down on the coffee table and his quick footsteps following me.
“What’s wrong?”
I turn around, but I have to take a step back because he’s so close. It’s already cramped as it is with one person in the bathroom, but now that he’s in here with me, I feel like I can barely even breathe.
“My apartment, it’s such a mess! You’re probably used to clean tables and stain-less walls and-”
I start to walk around Hunter, but he raps his hand around my arm. I look down at him.
“Harper, it’s fine. I don’t mind at all.”
“Seriously Hunter, it would only take a minute to-”
“Since when do you care what I think?” Hunter asks, taking his hand away from my arm and crossing his arms across his muscled chest.
I shrug. “I don’t know, but you’re famous and-”
He groans. “Please, just forget about that. Be normal around me.”
We lock eyes for a few moments before I give in. I sigh. “Okay. Sorry.”
“It’s good. Now, come on, our Mac and Cheese is probably getting cold and it’s all your fault,” he teases as he pokes my shoulder. I chuckle lightly, and then we both venture back into the kitchen/living area. Hunter takes his place on the couch again, and I sit next to him. We both eat our delicious food in silence.
After a minute, Hunter asks with a mouth full of mushed up food, “So, I was wondering, there’s this show coming up and… come on, Harper.”
I look up at him, then down at my phone. Whoops. I guess I tuned him out and started texting Ginny again.
Me: How was your day?
As expected, she doesn’t respond.
Hunter raises an eyebrow at me. “Really, who could be more important than me?”
I shrug, scooping another spoonful of golden goodness into my mouth. “My sister.”
“Oh,” he says, surprised. “I didn’t know you had a sister. I’ll have to meet her some time.”
I nod. “Yeah.”
He smiles, then continues with what he was saying before. “Anyways, you know how I’m on break and I’m going out on the new tour coming up in a few months? There’s this show in the city that I’m performing at as a little send-off thing in a few days. All of my friends, co-workers, and my folks will be there. I know it’s a bit of a late notice, but would you like to come?”
Seeing Hunter perform? Live? “Of course,” I answer. “I’ve never seen you live before.” I go to scoop another spoonful of Mac and Cheese into my mouth, but I pause. “Hey, why haven’t I heard you live yet? Sing for me!”
He frowns. “Now?”
I give him a sarcastic look. “No, later. YES, now!”
He smirks. “Nah, I’m good.” He shovels a spoonful of Mac and Cheese into his mouth.