"Mom?"
"..."
"Can you buy me a box of pads? My period came."
"Uh I think you should check who you're calling because one: I'm a male, two: I'm not your mom, and three: I have some spare pads."
"Why on earth do you have pads?"
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Hunter slammed the door to his parents' house well, more like his mom's. Has been for the last ten years. Ever since the death of his father, his rock, everything in the household crumbled. His mother struggled with two jobs in order to pay off all their expenses. Sometimes she would come home at midnight and before getting a full nights sleep, was off to work at seven in the morning. His useless brother dropped out of college and went out to party and was barely home at all. Which made everything way harder especially when it was Hunter who made sure everything went fine.
"Mind your own goddamn business!" He yelled through the door where his older brother was behind. "Go do random shit like you always do you piece of shit!" He delivered a harsh kick on the door and stomped away.
Walking to the beach a few blocks down his house, the cooling breeze combed through his hair, sweeping the strands away from his forehead. As he breathed in, the anger slowly melted away.
He fingered the hard surface of his phone inside his pocket. It had been a week since he called her and a part of him wondered if she was doing well. He felt bad for not calling but given the current situation with his family he hadn't had the heart to dial. Especially when his mom got fired from one of her jobs.
Walking into the smoothie shop, Hunter went to get his name tag and pinned it on his hoodie.
"Yo, dude." His best friend greeted him with a clap on the back. "Woah, you don't look so good."
"I don't feel so good either." His face twisted in an annoyed expression before he ran his hand down, eliminating the frown.
An understanding look flitted past Josh's face and he put a hand on his back. He gave him a weak smile. "You'll get through this. Right now, it might seem hard, everything is in chaos, and the whole world seemed to be turning on you. But when the storm is over, you'll be glad that you held on."
Without any warning, Hunter tacked Josh into a tight hug. "Thanks."
A hand weakly beat on his back. "L-let go!" With a small laugh, Hunter released him and stepped back. "Jeez. You are as strong as you are tall." Josh rasped, rubbing his chest.
"That's because I'm one of a kind. A rarity." His cheeky answer earned him a deadpanned look.
"You should call her you know?" His best friend suddenly said, pouring some avocado smoothie into a plastic cup. Hunter went quiet. "She misses you."
He looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
"I bumped into her last week at the town square. She asked about you." Josh leaned against the counter, sipping the green beverage. "How's Hunter? Where has he been? Hunter this, Hunter that." He waved his hand around to emphasize his point.
¨I don't want to talk to her when I'm not myself.¨ Hunter ran his hand through his hair, shuffling the locks back.
¨Why not? It'll be good to talk to her about it if you know...you guys are going to be a thing." Josh casually sipped his smoothie but stopped as he shot him a look. ¨Okay okay. Just let her in, Hunter. Talk to her. Declare your love-" Hunter's hand shot out and covered his mouth, cutting him off.
Josh held up his hands in surrender, a teasing smirk appeared on his face. His eyes shone with mirth as he went to help a customer who came in.
Sighing, Hunter grabbed the fruits needed for the order as he concentrated on his work. He made a quick decision, he will call her tomorrow. Despite their lack of calls, he had missed hearing her voice and their calls had definitely helped him take his mind off of his family, even if it was for a short period of time.
****
Tomorrow is December!!! Are you guys excited? I am.
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