"School starts soon," I threw the football into the air, catching it as it fell down. Today I finally started to hangout with Liv and everyone. We were all chilling at the abandoned area. Hunter thought the place was actually pretty cool. He thinks it's a bit creepy too.
"Don't remind me," Freddy threw a piece of wadded up paper at me. I picked it up and threw it back at him. He just grumbled, "You little bitch."
"You two are so stupid," Liv took the paper, throwing it away from us, "what do you guys wanna do? I don't know about you, but I'm freaking bored out of my mind." She was swinging back and forth on her butt. I laughed when she fell over, her sending me glares.
"No clue," Freddy muttered, "usually you guys come up with weird shit to do."
"Ugh," Liv laid down, frowning.
"How about we all go to the bowling place downtown?" Hunter took the football from me, throwing it at Scotty.
"I totally forgot about that place," I rolled onto my stomach, putting my head on my hands, "how much does it cost again?"
"Twenty bucks per person," Freddy is probably the only person to have any idea what anything costs in this town, "so is it just going to be us?"
"Who else would come?" Scotty was trying to tackle Hunter, but failed miserably.
"Leo, Billy, Bessie," he held up his fingers as he counted them, "and.... well them." We all knew who they were talking about. Chandler and Ruth. I could feel the awkward tension, which was stupid. Chandler is part of our friend group.
"Yeah why not?" I stood up, dusting off my shorts, "Billy probably won't come though... he's a bit anti-social."
"Leo will probably try to show off," Scotty muttered out. He's always found him a little annoying, "What's going on with Bessie and you?"
"What?" Freddy made a face, "She's the girl who gets me shit. Nothing else."
"Huh," Liv had a smirk, "nothing else?"
"Fuck you guys," he held the bird to us, "we aren't anything. Yeah we hook up once in a while and she deals me shit, but that's it!"
We all nodded like it was that, making him groan. Hunter came over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder, "You sure you want them around?"
No. I don't want him anywhere near me, but that's selfish, "He's part of the group." I looked over to Liv, smiling like nothing was wrong, "Just give me heads up... are they together?"
"I have no idea," she sighed, "I've asked him countless amount of times, but every time he avoids telling me. Do you guys know?"
"Nope," Scotty held his hands up, "we don't usually talk about shit like that."
"Freddy?"
He played with his fingers, "I'm not sure if they are together, but I know.... I know they've done shit. That's it. Chandler won't tell me if they're official or not." Great, at least we are all going into this blind. Not just me.
"Well it doesn't matter," I smiled, "invite everyone. It's only fair." They all nodded, getting to work. Hunter grabbed my hand, squeezing it, "I'm good. Don't worry."
"You tend to say that," he whispered into my ear, "even when it's not true." I huffed, giving him a side smile, "What?"
"I'm not afraid of anything, because you're here," I watched his expression turn into shock. I just gave him my big smile, "I can deal with them, because I know you're here." We shared a moment, but soon piled into Scott's car to go to the bowling alley.
~
"I suck at this," Bessie made a face. Today she was wearing something..... normal! She had jean cutoff shorts, a crop top that looked kinda like a sweater, her hair was pulled into two pigtails and she had sunglasses on. I almost wanted to cry!
"Don't worry," Freddy smiled, "I do too. We can lose together."
Mhmm... sure Freddy.
"What ball do you want?" Hunter called to me.
"Uhh...," I shrugged, "no clue."
"Come with me," he grabbed my hand, smiling like some idiot. We tested out the balls and apparently I'm a weak ass and I need to have a five pound ball. Hunter got a ten pound ball. I'm a weak ass.
When we headed back over, there was Chandler and Ruth. She was clinging to his arm while he laughed with Scotty. I felt a bit.... nervous but I glanced up to Hunter and calmed down a bit. Nothing is going to happen with Hunter here. I walked over, my head held high. When Chandler noticed me, his smile dropped and he looked.... nervous.
I placed my ball on the weird rack thing when Ruth decided to talk to me, "It's been a while Cody! Where have you been?"
I gritted my teeth, but smiled, "Hunter and I have been hanging out. I've done work and we went to see a drive-in movie the other day."
"Where were they holding one of those?" Liv seemed shocked.
"In the town next door," Hunter spoke up, "they were only playing The Summer I Turned Pretty though." Everyone chuckled a bit, but Hunter wasn't afraid of their criticism, "Yeah it was fun, it was just Ant and I."
"Like a date?" Freddy gave me that stupid teasing grin.
"Fuck off Freddy!" I lifted my middle finger to him, keeping my eyes away from Chandler.
"Well is everyone ready to see how shitty we are all at this?" Liv stood up, clapping her hands. We all shouted, getting ready to suck. Liv only got three pins down, making me topple over laughing, "Fuck you Cody!" She jumped on me, trying to strangle me.
Scotty knocked down five, Freddy eight, Ruth four, Chandler got a spare, and Hunter a strike. I was confused, "When did you get good at this?"
"Hmm," he smiled like some cocky asshole, "I've always been good at it, I just pretended like I wasn't to make you feel better." Hitting him only made him laugh at me, "Your turn sleeping beauty!"
I grabbed my ball, hearing Ruth laugh, "Five pound ball?"
"Yeah?" I rubbed my neck, "I really can't control anything bigger." She continued to laugh, making me feel insecure.
"It's okay," Chandler was the one to speak up, having all of us stare at him in disbelief, "let's see if you're any good."
I turned around, confused as hell. I swung the ball back and rolled it....... getting into the gutter. Everyone began to laugh, so I melted to the floor with a frown. Hunter shouted, "You have another shot!"
I sent him a glare, causing everyone to laugh even louder. Why do I suck at this so badly? I waited for my ball then rolled it again. This time I got two pins. Mopping, I moved back to my seat. Hunter tried to cheer me up, but I just sat their in my failure.
"You're a singer right?" Ruth again spurred conversation.
"Uh yeah, why?"
"I heard a few of your songs," she had this weird smile, "they were okay. Your duet with that girl Bonnie was interesting."
"Bonnie is really talented," I felt angry. Talk crap on me but Bonnie is amazing, "Her songs are raw and beautiful. She is an incredible artist and I really hope to work with her again. She inspires me a lot."
"But she's weird," she made a face, "like how she dresses.... she's crazy." I wanted to stand up and yell at her, but Hunter took over.
"It's her style, nothing else. If she sings great and her songs are good, who cares how she dresses? She's a singer, not a model," he was rubbing my back, telling me to calm down. I just didn't want her to talk bad about Bonnie. She can call my music trash, but not Bonnie. Yeah, when I first met her she creeped me out but getting to know her.... she's a great person.
We all played, Leo flirting with Liv which pissed off Scott. Freddy and Bessie snuck off and Billy disappeared. Ruth kept trying to irritate me, but I ignored her at some point. After we were done we grabbed some food at a café, then headed home.
Inside my house, Hunter ruffled my hair, "You did great today."
YOU ARE READING
What If?
Teen Fiction"What if?" He just had this smirk that made me want to lean over the table and kiss him. I know his game, this is all a joke. We have always been like this and honestly, I wished the 'what if' was real. However, I'm not about to let him win. I le...
