The cars are lurching fast on the road, splashing puddle water all over the bus stop where I am currently seated waiting for the bus to come. The rain is pattering loudly onto the roof of the bus stop and is only getting louder as time passes. I have no choice other than to stay under the shelter of the bus stop and try to avoid the splashes of water from the vehicles passing by.
Detention was extremely humiliating. Hunter had come in, looking gorgeous as usual. As soon as he came in Serena stopped her blabbering and froze, her eyes fixated on Hunter. I can't really blame her. He can be intimidating at times. I'm talking about the 'he's-too-hot-and-definitely-out-of-my-league' intimidating.
So as I was saying, Serena, as usual, was struck by Hunter. Hunter chose to sit in front of Serena but was literally facing her the whole time. It was so unnerving to watch them undress each other with their eyes. The thought of it just makes me shiver. Gross. Rosaria didn't even glance at them once.
I was minding my own business, trying way hard to block out the hushed whispers of them flirting. I tried really hard. I really did, but I got tired of them eventually. Just as soon as I was about to tell them to be quiet Ms Rosaria announced that she had to get something from her office. Perfect.
I waited for her to exit before turning to them both. "Guys," I yelped. They went silent in a heartbeat. "This is detention. Not speed dating. You guys need to be quiet."
They only stayed that way for about a minute or two but started a conversation again when they thought I wasn't paying attention. I kept silent, though, trying to focus on my book. It was one of those moments where you read the words, but your brain isn't processing any of it.
"What wedged itself up her ass?" Hunter had whispered to Serena. I lowered my book a little to peek at them. Serena shrugged, eyes still trained on Hunter.
"Serena," I mumbled.
She glanced at me, smile widening. "Yes?" She answered.
I set my book down on the table and rested my arm on the table just below the book. "Can you recall that time you sat next to me in that one class?"
"Yep."
"I thought you said you were a lesbian."
Hunter straightened his posture. "Are you sure it wasn't you the one who said that?" He remarked playfully. Serene giggled.
"Yeah, the more I see you the more I consider going lesbian," I snapped. Like always, he smirked at the comeback but didn't look remotely hurt at what I said. Maybe he was just used to it.
"Okay, I know I said what I said. I am a lesbian but I'm also gay."
Both me and Hunter looked at each other with confusion. It took some time to process it in my head but... It never did.
"I like both girls and boys." She explained. I nodded, hesitantly.
"Wait, so do you mean bisexual?" Serena slowly turned her head to look at Hunter, her smile slowly transforming into a frown. I watched, intrigued by why she looked so offended all of a sudden.
Hunter didn't look like he was going to even flinch if Serena punched him. "You're not mad, are you?" Serene asked in a low voice.
Hunter looked even more confused than I probably was. "I don't have anything against bisexual people."
"No. I mean, that we hooked up and all. I've kissed girls before."
Hunter looked utterly amused. "Hot."
"Wait, really? You think I'm hot?"
Hunter leaned forward and rested his crossed arms on Serena's table. "Are you into threesomes?"
Serena's eyes widened. "Depends with who."
"I don't know." He shrugged before staring straight at me. "Perhaps Leah." He joked.
Serena laughed with delight. "Leah, we should totally do it."
I scrunched my nose in disgust but Hunter only stared at me with his lips pursed, obviously trying not to laugh. I didn't bother replying before rotating myself so my back was facing them. I don't think I can ever see Serena the same way. The worst part is the fact that I have no idea if she was joking. Knowing Serena, she probably wasn't. Absurd is her middle name.
"Leah!" My leg twitches with surprise when someone calls out my name from the distance.
"Kaylin. I thought you went home." She shakes the rain out of her hair and wipes her face with the sleeve of her turquoise jacket.
She sits down next to me."Nope. I had to stay back and help the dance club clean the hall for Monday's concert. Why are you here so late?"
"Detention."
Kaylin gasps, dramatically covering her mouth with her hands. She smiles smugly. "That's a first," she says after taking her hands away from her face. "What'd you do? Shag Hunter in the janitor room?"
"Gross. I'd rather lick the school's toilet seat than shag that asshole."
Kaylin only raises her eyebrows at me teasingly. "First off, with the number of bimbos at our school, you would get STD from licking the school toilet seat. Secondly, everyone wants to shag Hunter Kings. Come on, we're talking about Hunter Kings. His family is probably related to David Beckham's family. A lot of people call him Hunter Beckham."
The rain seems to die down for a while, droplets now coming so lightly you can barely hear the patter on the bus stop roof. "No one calls him Hunter Beckham."
"Okay, true, but still. He's freaking gorgeous. There are two types of people in the world, Leah."
I hum to indicate that I'm listening. "Ones who want to be with Hunter."
"So no one."
"And those who want to be him."
I lean my head back against the glass wall of the bus stop. "Impossible. No one wants to be any of those."
Luckily for me, my bus arrives just in time to sweep me away from all of Kaylin's incoming complaints on how wrong I am.
The bus halts to a stop in front of me. The door opens and I step onto the bus right away, not in the mood to hear Kaylin's talk about Hunter. After swiping my bus card on the card reader I take a seat by the window, noticing how irritated Kaylin looks when I wave at her tauntingly. The bus is just about to lurch forward when I see her pointing her middle finger up at me.
The blonde girls in front of me snicker under their breath when they see Kaylin's gesture. I grit my teeth, narrowing my eyes at her daringly. She flashes me a sarcastic smile, her nose scrunching a little. The bus abruptly rams forward onto the road before I can do anything else. I turn in my seat, my body now facing the front again.
When I finally get home, I come to a realisation that no one is home. Dad's working. Mum's visiting Uncle Jacob, and the twins are sleeping over at their friends'. What a great way to start the weekend. I don't even remember this until I am left knocking on my own front door and no one is opening it up. There are no footsteps inside the house, and if there is, I probably won't even hear it with the gushing wind whistling loudly against the Oak Trees lined up almost symmetrically on the sides of the road.
It's about to rain and if I don't get in my house soon I'm going to be left out here all cold and wet.
"Mum, where are you?" I speak into my phone, leaning back so my back is leaning against the front door, trying to stay away from the droplets of rain now starting to pour down. There are incoherent static noises on the other end before I hear the word 'rock'. "What?" I say it louder this time. The wind is just not cooperating.
The line then goes dead after a few seconds of silence. I gape, trying not to believe that I am locked out in this glum weather. On any day, I would prefer this weather than any other scorching weather, but that's only when I'm not locked out with no food or drink or good reception. My phone is also on the verge of dying with 2% battery. I thought I had it charged all night but turns out I forgot to flick the switch on. I woke up this morning expecting my phone to be fully charged but found it with the same amount of battery as I left it the night before.
I sit. If I am going to have to stay out here until one of my family members comes home then I might as well get comfortable. I have to preserve my battery life in case someone calls so instead of scrolling through social media I just listen to the flurry of rain hitting the roof. Some splatters of rain hit my face when it bounces off the deck.
I watch as a black car zooms past the neighbourhood, not even caring that the pavement is already wet and slippery with rain.
A few seconds pass and I stare into the distance, trying to think of happy memories that can lift up my mood. I mean, it is Friday after all. That's a huge bonus. I would've sulked more if it was a Monday. But let's be honest, locked out or not, I will still complain about Mondays.
From behind the trees, I see the same black car reversing and stopping just by my driveway. I hover my hand above my bag, ready to run if I have to. I try to see through the semi-tinted windows of the car but the rain isn't helping much.
My phone starts to coincidentally vibrate in my hand. I look down to see the caller but the number is not saved in my contacts.
Crap. 1%.
I pick up and hold it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Get in the car."
I harshly pull the phone away from my ear and look at the set of numbers once again. My chest heaves with shock. My breath catches in my throat when I shakily raise the phone back to my ear.
"Hurry up or I'm leaving."
The mysterious caller did say he would leave if I don't get a move on. That means his intention is not to force me to go with him. He's not a kidnapper. I'm not getting kidnapped today. "Bloody hell," I mutter after sucking in a breath of surprise. Who the hell is this guy? He thinks he can just honk at me? It doesn't even matter that the car probably costs more than the money I'm ever going to get throughout my entire life.
He honks again but this time he keeps his hand pressed down on the horn to indicate that he's getting impatient.
I should go. No, I shouldn't. What if he's a hacker kidnapper? Maybe calling me was a trick to convince me to think that he's someone I know. How did he get my name? Maybe he used facial recognition to search for my identity.
Paranoid bitch.
I stand, dusting my skirt and heaving my bag onto my shoulders while trying to seem unaffected by the conversation I just had with whoever had just called me. I begin a slow descent down the stairs, mentally sighing in relief because the rain has given me an opportunity to at least find out who's trying to lure me into their car.
As I walk down the driveway I notice that my heart begins to pound in my ears noisily. My steps begin to slow cautiously as I get close enough to the car to at least see who's inside. Is that...
I stop abruptly when the window rolls down a little. What the fu- Hunter? What the hell is he doing here?
He leans toward the passenger seat to look at me, yelling something before flicking his wrist, ushering me to get in. I, of course, get in. I'd rather stay in a car with the heater on full blast than have to wait outside my own house, even if it means I have to spend time with Hunter.
I sigh in relief when I feel the heat from the car heater engulf me. After sitting on the very stiff wooden patio for quite a long time, I feel as though I'm literally melting into the plush car seat.
He had already changed from the hideous school uniform into an all-black outfit that really brings out his green eyes the more you stare. Black cotton shirt, black leather jacket, black jeans, black boots. Well, I can understand why he likes black. He looks damn good in it. His inky hair sits atop of his head messily. Not so messy that it looks unbrushed. More of a 'he's-been-running-his-hands-through-it' messy. My imagination continues to run wild for however many seconds, and not all are very appropriate. The heady, woodsy scent of him does nothing but spur my imagination further. He's sitting in a relaxed pose. Posture slightly slouched, one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on the gear stick.
I manage to finally say something when I realise he's been watching me the whole time I was fantasising about him. "My family's out and I am locked out." He only replies with a nod, shifting the gear stick and pressing on the gas. The car speeds through the relatively quiet neighbourhood."Where are we going?"
"I'm dropping you off at mine."
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere."
"You got ready awfully quick to go to this 'somewhere'."
"Still thinking about detention?"
"What's there to think about?"
He glances once, grip on the gear stick tightening. "My offer." I watch him with intent, simultaneously pondering on what he's talking about. There is no way he's talking about the threesome. It's completely ridiculous. I'm 100% sure he's not even interested in thinking about me, let alone be in such close proximity to me naked. Just the thought of it makes me shiver.
When he notices I don't say anything he answers the question I asked myself mentally a minute ago. "Do you have amnesia? The threesome."
I just can't help it. My eyes bulge out of their sockets, and suddenly there's a lump in my throat. The car halts to a stop when we finally reach the traffic light. "You were serious about that?"
He looks ahead, narrowing his eyes as he thinks. He doesn't give me an answer until the traffic light turns green. "Well, there's no point in saying anything now because I know you won't do it anyway."
"How do you know that?"
His eyebrows raise questioningly, his smooth lips morphing into a teasing smirk. "You spent almost half of your high school year complaining about students pressed up in hallways." Okay, that might have happened. "And that's not even going all the way."
"Well, I don't anymore."
He snickers, shifting in his seat. "So is this your way of telling me you want to fuck me?" I almost gasp at his questions. He seems to enjoy my reaction, smirk widening into a half-grin. "I'll take that as a yes."
"No." I defend. He doesn't look at all convinced.
"Look, you don't have to try to hide it."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"Maybe you should shut up. The more words come out of your mouth, the more convinced I am you would take up on that offer."
I glare. "Maybe if you weren't such an ass all the time-" I am interjected by the sudden halting of the car. I screech, my hands reaching up and pushing against the glove box to stop myself from lurching forward onto the glass. Fortunately, we're in a fairly deserted area so if for whatever reason you need to stop, it's not a problem at all.
Hunter then leans over me and reaches his hand out toward the door. I try not to sniff his hair when he does but he's so close I can smell his shampoo anyway. I can almost feel the heat radiating off his body, which literally melts me into a puddle.
"Seatbelt." He manages to say as he leans over. His hot, minty breath fans across my face, heating it up to the point where I feel as though I will explode.
The click of the seatbelt sobers me from my thoughts. "Of course." I breathe out when he finally sits back in his seat, resuming his driving. "Safety comes first," I mutter to myself when I finally start recovering.
We eventually round the corner to his house. "How responsive," he whispers. I nibble on the inside of my lip anxiously. My palms are covered in sweat. My stomach feels warm. Almost like someone lit a fireplace inside of me.
I am so focused on trying to calm myself down I don't realise that he has already parked the car in front of his house. I hum to say thanks, unbuckling the seatbelt as I do. I then notice the heavy rain pouring down. Hunter looks annoyed when I take a glance, mentally asking him what to do.
He briefly looks down at his watch before turning back to me. "I am going to be late if you don't get out."
"I'll be soaking wet as soon as I open the door," I explain, pointing toward the rain outside.
"What difference will it make?"
I glower at him. "Please tell me you did not just say that."
"Get out, Leah." He grumbles, clearly irritated.
"Give me an umbrella then."
"For fuck's sake. I should've left you at your house."
"It's goddamn raining and your house is like 20 metres away."
"I am going to be late." He repeats. I stay unmoving, ass still glued to the leather seat. "Fine." He huffs through clenched teeth. "But you'll just have to stay in the car."
"What do you need to do anyway?"
He ignores, lips turning into an upset scowl as he pulls out of the neighbourhood.
I don't say anything as we speed through the highway, trudging through the other cars that, compared to us, were very slow in speed. Hunter drives as though he's being chased by the police, and if he doesn't stop, it might actually come true.
I look around when we finally park somewhere. The rain's stopped but the clouds are still grey and hanging thick in the sky. It's usually not so dark at this time, but today is an exception. The street is quiet and derelict. No vehicles pass by. It's completely deserted. The wind is howling like some horror movie opener. The street lamps outside shines just dimly. They cast smudgy beams onto the black street.
"Stay."
I almost claw at Hunter's leather jacket when he opens the driver door. That would stop him but I decide if I am to act sensibly then he would at least let me come with him rather than leaving me in the car. "Wait, can I come?" Where is he going anyway? There's no building around, and it's getting dark.
He pays no attention to my question and instead slams the door closed before locking it with a press of a button on the car key. I grit my teeth, just now regretting the fact that I didn't get out when I had the chance. Even though I am scared beyond belief, I keep watching his back as he walks toward a protruding neon street sign in the distance. He then disappears into the tree line, or perhaps a building. I can't exactly be sure. He parked the car so far away I can't even read the writing on the shop sign.
I slump into the seat, feeling extremely moronic. My parents are probably home by now. They're probably worried about me. I can always get out of the car and try to look for Hunter, but that idea immediately dissolves from my mind when I look up. A figure is running in the direction of the car I am in right now. I glance to the side, slightly relieved that Hunter had the decency to at least lock the car.
All my worries go away when I see the familiar leather jacket that Hunter had worn, but that worry comes back twice as quick when I see his face smothered in blood.