Life Goes On (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 2 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Thirty-Five

❝balloon (pronounced bəˈluːn or buh-loon), noun
a large bag filled with hot air or gas to make it rise in the air, typically one carrying a basket for passengers.❞

Hunter drove up to the school and Elle got out of the car, seeming slightly hesitant. He hated seeing her that way, especially considering how much she had loved school. Ryan felt awful as well. She should've noticed a change in her behaviour. Then again, she was going through enough of her own.

"Good luck on the spelling test, Ellie," said Hunter.

"Okay. Bye." She climbed out of the car without kissing Hunter goodbye.

He sighed. "I've been getting Jessie to pick her up and drop her off. I wish I'd realised she was being bullied."

Ryan looked at him, letting her hand brush against his cheek. "It'll be okay," said Ryan gently, "I pinky promise."

He leaned in and kissed her on the lips once, and out of the corner of his eye, saw a flash going off. His head snapped to look at the source of the flash, and he saw a cameraman running. He cursed quietly. "Crap, that'll be in the news today."

She chuckled. "And?"

"And... don't you mind?"

She smiled. "Let the media say what they want. I have you. They don't. I love you."

He smiled, leaning in and kissing her again. "Screw the media, right?" he mumbled against her lips, and she laughed.

"I'll see you soon, Hunt."

"Bye, love."

She climbed out of the car, and Hunter saw a cameraman try to follow her into the school, only to be yelled at by a teacher. He smiled to himself. Back when Lilly was alive, she hated the paparazzi. To know that Ryan didn't care was uplifting. He drove off, going back home and beginning to write a song.

Meanwhile, Elle was in her first class, the spelling test. Mr Davenport handed out the sheets, and Felicia whispered, "Bet dumbo's gonna fail," to which the other girls tittered in response. Drew narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. Elle just held her chin up, refusing to let herself get upset at their comments. She'd be good at this test. She would.

Mr Davenport got to the front of the class. "Okay," he said. "Your first word is 'run'. I run to the station. Run."

Elle scribbled R-U-N onto her page. She briefly considered the fact that maybe it was R-A-N, but decided to go with instinct. "Your next word is 'want'. I want ice-cream. Want."

She smiled to herself, writing W-A-N-T. Maybe this test wouldn't go so badly after all.

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It was the end of the day, and Ryan's last class- Elle's class- filtered in through the door for their final class of the day, music. None of the kids said anything to her face, but Ryan could see that Elle looked upset. Some of the other girls, like Felicia, tapped her on the shoulder, before whispering something into her ear. She just bowed her head and kept walking. Drew sat beside her, and Ryan saw him say, "Are you okay?" to which she just shook her head and lay it on the table.