Underneath

7

hunter

Hunter leaned against the ridged white wall near the front entrance of Clements High School. This is where he stood at the end of every school day. Excited chatter that consisted of after school plans filled the air along with the sight of students pushing past one another, each trying to exit the school the fastest. Hunter scanned the crowd for one person: Oliver.

Since the beginning of Hunter's junior year, Oliver had volunteered to be Hunter's designated chauffeur to and from school -- after all, they only lived ten minutes from each other. This was an immense blessing to Hunter because not only was he able to sleep an extra 30 minutes in the mornings, but he could also avoid the obnoxious chatter from freshmen on the school bus.

Within a few minutes, Hunter saw Oliver's blonde head turn around the corner and gave him an upward nod. Oliver's worn out face immediately lit up at the sight of Hunter as he made his way towards the school's navy blue entrance.

"Hey, man. You look so exhausted," Hunter said, his eyes clouding with concern. He peered at Oliver closely, now noticing that Oliver's features appeared slightly sallow with dark circles beneath his blue-gray eyes.

"Yeah. I just took the worst test in AP Calculus BC. I literally spent all of yesterday at home studying for this test, but I guess I'll just never understand limits," Oliver said. He shook his head in defeat and opened the school doors.

The sun's brilliant rays shone brightly and Hunter instantly felt a shower of warmth. The heat made them pick up their pace to the school's parking lot.

Hunter glanced over at Oliver and was taken aback to see Oliver looking so dejected instead of his usual cheerful temperament. 

"It's okay, Oliver. I can tutor you once my grandma is out of the hospital," Hunter said. "It's only the first test."

They approached Oliver's silver Honda Civic and Oliver unlocked the doors.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll probably come by this weekend to get help. I'm so stressed -- yesterday, my parents lectured me about my GPA and SAT's. They really want me to get accepted into Rice University," Oliver said. He buckled his seat belt and started the engine.

"Don't worry," Hunter said. He settled into the shotgun seat, his seat belt barely on when Oliver throttled the car out of the parking lot. "You have what, a 3.8 GPA, right?"

Oliver's grip tightened on the steering wheel, avoiding Hunter's gaze.

"Dude, if you bust your butt studying for the SAT's and and focus on boosting your GPA this semester then you'll have no problem getting in. Your stats are pretty close anyways and you're one of the smartest people I know," Hunter said. "Your parents wouldn't set that goal for you if they didn't think you could reach it."

Oliver was quiet for a minute and Hunter could tell there was something he was not telling him. Hunter settled into his seat, waiting for Oliver to speak. Instead, Oliver turned up the air conditioning in his car and changed the subject. "What did you and Delilah talk about today? I didn't know you guys were friends."

Hunter felt a flash of annoyance as he remembered the encounter he had with Delilah just earlier today. "She wanted to make sure I wouldn't tell anyone that she was dealing weed again."

"She's dealing weed again? Right after she was literally just arrested last week?" Oliver stopped at a stop sign before making a right turn. "Wow, that girl is dumb. She's cute, but dumb."

"Yeah, tell me about it. She's the cutest out of all her friends, but the decisions she makes," Hunter said, shaking his head. He glanced at the time on his iPhone 6 screen. It had almost been twenty four hours since he had last seen his grandma. "Drop me off at the Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, okay?"

"Okay, I'll come with you to see how Nana's doing," Oliver said. "Wait, how did you even know Delilah was still dealing?"

"You'll never believe this -- it was the weirdest thing. Delilah and her friends came and sat down at our table yesterday and Parker started pressuring Delilah to deal again and she gave in," Hunter said. "And the whole time, no one even noticed I was sitting there. It wasn't until later that Parker noticed and he basically told me to leave the table or else he and his friends were going to make me. That guy is such a bitch."

"Woah, that sounds intense," Oliver said. "What did you do?"

Hunter heaved a sigh. "Nothing. Getting into it with Parker was definitely not worth it, especially since we're so close to graduating. I wouldn't want to mess that up."

Oliver turned into the parking lot of the Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. "Yeah, smart choice. Parker may seem all tough, but we all know he's just another kid with an addiction."

"Yeah, I hope they all get caught. That'll for sure teach their privileged asses a lesson."

"Even Delilah?" Oliver asked. "I thought you guys were friends."

"Hardly. She was kind enough yesterday to give me a ride home to see Nana since you weren't here and it was an emergency. I thought she came by our lunch table today to check up on how Nana was doing but of course, she just came to pay me to keep my mouth shut about her business. And get this -- I didn't accept her money so she actually threatened me."

Oliver parked the car and shifted towards Hunter, his eyes widening. "No way. What did she say?"

"If you say anything about my drug business, I'll find a way to ruin you."

Oliver stifled a laugh as he got out of the car. "Ruin you? How would she ruin you if she didn't even know who you were before yesterday? Honestly, she's probably just scared because your dad is the lieutenant of the police department."

"Yeah, probably. I'm not going to snitch on her though since she did me a solid by driving me home yesterday. But, if she keeps going down this road, it's only a matter of time before she gets arrested again."

"I bet she'll get arrested again in two months. Old habits die hard," Oliver said.

They approached the six-story hospital building. Despite the colorful assortment of purple, pink, and white flowers in front of the hospital entrance, Hunter knew just how ominous the place truly was. Taking a deep breath, he walked through the automatic doors and to the front desk. 

"Hi, we're here to see Mia Ellis."

***

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