Chapter Three
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Hunter entered Storm Chargers and glanced around the store, spotting Dustin almost immediately. Finally, he thought to himself. Dustin had been avoiding him since the last fight; every time he tried to talk to him he came up with some excuse to leave. Hunter had tried, but he couldn't figure out why. What was Dustin's problem with him?
He went over to Dustin, who had already noticed him. "Hey."
Dustin nodded. "Hey. What's up?"
"Just dropping by," he said. "You haven't really been around, I thought I'd say hi."
He nodded. "Yeah, I've, uh, been pretty busy. Sorry."
"Doing what?" he asked coolly.
Dustin shrugged. "Just, getting used to everything, explaining it all to my family. Getting my head together." He put a hand up. "Don't even say it. I know I'm not all-together."
Hunter smiled a little. Dustin was so cute when he was dumb, it was one of his favorite things about him. "I wasn't going to say anything, Dustin, honest."
He smirked. "Anyway, it's just been strange getting used to everything."
"Sure," he said. "You know, you admitted something was wrong before so you don't have to lie about it. I just wish I knew why you keep avoiding me."
"I'm not avoiding anyone," Dustin said. "I've just been busy. I've got no problem with you, dude, we're cool."
Hunter sighed, shrugging a little. "Whatever."
Dustin looked uncomfortable, but straightened up and put on a small smile. "So you're gonna be a teacher, huh?"
Hunter nodded quietly. "Yeah."
"You don't sound too thrilled," Dustin noted.
"Nah, I am," Hunter said, trying to sound more enthusiastic than he felt. This was about the last thing he wanted to talk about at the moment. "It's pretty cool," he continued. "I mean, I never expected to be asked that, who would've known?"
He shrugged. "It's not a surprise. You'll be great."
"Really?" Hunter asked, surprised at how much he appreciated Dustin's simple words. "Thanks. So, you know what you're gonna do yet?"
He shook his head. "Nope. I just can't think of anything I'd really want to do for the rest of my life."
"Yeah, it's hard," he agreed. "But hey, you've got plenty of time. You could always go to college."
Dustin raised an eyebrow. "Willingly go back to school? Dude, that's messed up!"
Hunter laughed, his affection for the other boy overcoming his other feelings for the time. "I should have known."
"Yeah, you should have." Dustin's eyes twinkled a little, but another thought dimmed them. "It sucks we all have to go at all."
Hunter looked at him. "We'll be around, it's not like we're leaving forever."
"Yeah, I know," he said. "But we're gonna miss you."
"Thanks," he said, unsure of what else to say. Something else seemed hidden in Dustin's words, but it was hard to tell. "Things are sure changing," he said. "But we'll find time to catch up."
"Yeah." Dustin took a breath. "You wanna go out sometime?"
Hunter paused, looking at him in surprise. "Go out?" he repeated. What the hell was Dustin talking about? He hoped to death it was what it sounded like.
"Yeah," was all Dustin said.
How was he going to figure this one out? "You mean—like a—" he stammered. "Uh—"
"Just hang out," Dustin cut in. "You now, to keep in touch."
"Oh," was all he could say for a moment. He hoped he didn't sound too disappointed, but he couldn't help it. "I thought you meant, something else, for a minute there."
"Yeah, I could tell." Dustin laughed a little. "Did I scare you?"
"A little, yeah," he said. He glanced around uncomfortably. "Well, I'd better go."
Dustin's smile faded. "You okay? I didn't freak you out too bad, did I? Cause really, I didn't mean for it to sound—"
"It's fine," Hunter cut in. "I just have some stuff to do, that's all." He headed out but turned back. "Hey, did Tori tell you about tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Dustin replied. "She was just by. I'll be there."
"Great," Hunter said, smiling a little. "See ya."
"Later, dude," he said.
Hunter left the store and took a deep breath. That was strange. He'd wished so bad for those few moments that Dustin was really asking him out, but it was all so weird he couldn't even voice it. Like I could anyway, he thought. He'd never been able to tell Dustin how he felt. That would probably never change.
He walked away from the store, not sure where he was going. He'd been able to hide his feelings for Dustin ever since he knew, and he'd convinced himself he was happy being friends, but now . . . that brief thought had reawakened all his feelings. He didn't know what he was going to do.
Oh, yes you do, he told himself bitterly. You're going to hide it and convince everyone you're fine, like you did before. You know you'll never tell him.
It had just been a misunderstanding anyway, Dustin was known for saying things that came out wrong. It was obvious what he meant, only Hunter would have thought otherwise. But something about it . . . it didn't quite seem right. Could he really have been asking him out? He could have seen Hunter's face and immediately covered to pretend he wasn't. It was possible.
No, it wasn't. He needed to get a grip and forget about it. There was no point in dwelling on it. Hunter sighed and kept walking. The only problem was, he wasn't sure he could forget about it this time.
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