Hunter was never one to offer much information about anything that had to do with himself and me being the person I am, I never asked for more than he gave. It worked well for our friendship. If you could call it that anyway. Besides, he was great to my sister and those days, that was all I wanted in a friend.
*~*
"Dustin!" I heard him call my name from down the hall. I stopped in my tracks and waited for him to catch up to where I was standing.
"What's up man?" I asked tiredly. The thing about our relationship that I liked best was, around Hunter, I didn't have to pretend. It was like a breath of fresh air form the suffocating mask I wore full time. We walked on in companionable silence out into the courtyard. We both had free period. Not surprisingly, no one else was out there. Blue Bay Harbor High didn't have the most inviting courtyard, but it was nice. It was almost like the forest that led to the portal for the Wind Ninja Academy. I plopped onto a pile of stray leaves, lying down. Hunter sat against a nearby tree. Neither one of us said a word, each involved in our own thoughts. Not many words were ever exchanged between us when Chloe wasn't around, which meant I had a lot of time to myself since I had a lot of classes with him. We were both seniors as was Shane, but somehow, Shane was in honors classes.
"I just don't get it," Hunter spoke suddenly, anger and confusion coursing through his voice.
"Don't get what?" I asked, propping my head on my elbow. I had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about, but I asked anyway. It wasn't everyday that the elder Bradley offered information like that.
"Why they don't like Chloe," he continued, "It's so dumb!" I looked at him, surprised. Hunter met my look and shrugged, blushing furiously, "Well it is."
"I hear you, dude."
"Blake and I fought last night," he admitted quietly after a pause. My head whipped up in total astonishment. Blake and Hunter fought? But that was impossible! They never fought!
"Yeah I know, weird huh?" he continued, "But it was like he just didn't understand what I was going through. What I felt. I guess it always seemed like all I wanted was a nice quiet life by myself. I realize I don't have the most inviting personality. But that's what makes Chloe stand out to me. She doesn't care that I won't let her into my thoughts at first because she really likes me and respects my privacy. Instead of prying for information all the time, she waits until I'm ready to tell her. I tried to tell Blake last night and he got all defensive about it. He accused me of betraying him or something. I just don't get it. We're brothers. I love him and I thought no girl would ever come in between us! I didn't let Tori come in between us when Blake told me he liked her. I still don't let Tori come in between us. How could he let Chloe?!"
I sighed, "I know what you mean, dude. I've known Shane and Tori since the third grade and we've never disagreed about anything more than Chloe. I've always known that they didn't like her, but I never could figure out why. They never openly hated her…at least not to her face. She may have gotten into trouble a few times and she may have been sent to boarding school, but I know for a fact that she did not commit the crime that sent her back here."
"What was she accused of doing anyway?"
"I don't know if I should tell you," I hesitated, "Maybe you should ask her."
Hunter nodded in understanding. We were quiet again for a little while just enjoying the fact that no one was arguing. The bell rang a few minutes later and the two of us got up together to head over to my locker where everyone usually met us for lunch. That day was different though. Nobody else showed up.
"Well Shane has to make up a test he was out sick for," I reasoned.
"Yeah then where's Tori and Blake?" Hunter questioned. Sighing, I banged my head against the locker. Why was everything so complicated all of the sudden? Disapointed, we both made our way to the cafeteria alone.
"Dustin! Dustin! Dustin!!!" I heard Chloe calling my name multiple times as she raced through Storm Chargers. Kelly laughed as she attempted to skid to a stop in front of me, but failed, falling into my arms.
"Damn, Chloe! What's gotten you so happy?" I laughed.
"I can't believe he did it! I can't believe he did it!" she repeated over and over again. At this point, I was pretty confused. She was babbling about something and, frankly, I had no idea what she was talking about.
"You'll never believe what just happened to me!" she squealed acting like a twelve-year-old teenybopper. I was suddenly reminded of why I never understood girls; why I never had a girlfriend. "What just happened?"
"Guess!" I rolled my eyes. I hated it when she did that. It was so damn annoying.
"Santa Clause came early?" I asked her tiredly
"No!"
"Um…you got an A on your science test."
"No!"
"You learned how to ride motocross properly?"
"NO!"
"You-" Finally tired of waiting for me to guess, Chloe blurted it out herself.
"Hunter asked me out for Friday night!" I dropped the wrench I was holding.
"What?"
"Hunter asked me out!" she repeated. I blinked absently for a few minutes before I cracked a full fledged grin. This was great! This was awesome! Finally the boy did like I told him to! Finally someone listened to Dustin Brooks and finally Dustin Brooks was right! I told Chloe this and her smile grew wider, if that was humanely possible. I didn't think it was, but I guess that I was wrong. For the whole week, almost nothing could bring Hunter and Chloe's moods down. Whenever I saw one of them, it was all smiles and when they saw each other, it was like paradise city. For all parties involved. No one asked questions and we didn't see our 'friends' for most of the week anyway so it wasn't a big deal for us. At least it wasn't until Friday at lunch.
Hunter and I headed to the cafeteria with Blake and Shane, Tori already being there. Blake and Hunter hadn't exactly talked about the whole Chloe issue and there was noticeable tension between them, but Shane, Tori, and I tried to mask it with fake cheerfulness. Just like I masked everything else in my life. Hunter had been like a bomb, ticking until he was set off ever since the first fight between him and Blake. That Friday happened to be the big blow-up. We all sat down around the table, as usual, and ate our lunches in an awkward silence.
"Anyone want to hang-out tonight?" I asked, trying to make everyone cheer up a little. No one looked up at me except for Hunter.
"Sorry dude, I'm busy tonight," he said.
I rolled my eyes at him, "I knew that already dude. I was asking the others."
Out of nowhere, Blake slammed his milk carton on the tray, milk spraying everywhere, "Why are you doing this, Hunger?" he asked angrily. I jumped.
"Doing what?" Hunter muttered.
"This! Going out with that idiot sister of Dustin's!"
"Hey!" I jumped up, "My sister is not an idiot. Maybe you're the idiot. Maybe you don't like her, but don't get mad at Hunter because he does!"
Blake stood, "What are you going to do about it, Dustin? Huh? Run to Cam? Because he's not going to protect your sorry ass forever!"
"Don't push it, Blake."
"You mean like this?" he reached out to shove me, but Hunter stepped in between us and grabbed my arm, pulling me back. Shane and Tori didn't say anything to make things worse, but they didn't exactly make things better either. They just stood there staring at us, looks in their eyes evident at which side they were taking. I stared at them for a minute in complete disbelief. I shook my head and grabbed Hunter's arm, pulling him out of the cafeteria before either of us made asses of ourselves. Hunter followed me silently, not even protesting. Why the hell was everyone being so damn difficult with us?
*~*
It was the first of so many fights to come and I should have seen it. I should have seen how our group of friends was falling apart. I was so obsessed with trying to fix everything that I didn't see how much worse I was making it. And if, for a second, I just stepped back and looked at everything the way it was, it wouldn't be the way it is today.
Sorry this chapter sucks and is so short!!! Thanks for all my reviews!