"Hey, mom," I shouted into the hallway once I returned from school and threw my bag into one corner.

"Jules! Where have you been? You weren't home all afternoon!" she scolded, hands on her hips as she stepped out of the kitchen to see me.

"Yeah, I know," I said, running a hand through my hair, "I hung out at Emily's."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I rolled my eyes, but answered: "I didn't think you'd be home before six."

Knowing exactly why mom was always acting so worried, I tried not to get too annoyed by it. Still, her overbearing, overprotective nature could make me feel smothered at times.

"Fine. Just make sure to at least text me next time. Dinner is almost ready."

"Okay. Thanks, mom," I said and hastily kissed her cheek as I walked past her.

A small smile formed on her face as she gently ruffled my hair on my way to the staircase.

As soon as I entered my room, I flung myself onto my bed and closed my eyes. Today had been a weird, eventful day: first the thing with Hunter being my new partner in Biology and my tent mate on the field trip, then the sudden reconciliation with Emily.

Especially the thought of sharing a tent with Hunter for three nights bothered me. It would definitely be...interesting.

Sighing quietly, I got up from my bed and decided I'd have a shower before dinner. After tripping off my clothes and tossing them onto my bed, I stepped into the little bathroom that was linked directly to my room.

For solid ten minutes I just enjoyed the feeling of the warm water raining down on me and loosening the tension in my shoulders. Afterwards, I just ran my fingers through my curls to untangle them a bit (which never really worked, but actually brushing my hair only made matters even worse) and put on some sweatpants and an old hoodie, my usual get-up whenever I was at home.

By the time I left the bathroom, my mother was already shouting for me to come downstairs for dinner. Yelling back an answer, I rushed down the stairs and entered the kitchen, only to see that my dad was already sitting at the table, currently stuffing his mouth with steak and potatoes.

"Hi, dad," I said and sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the table.

Dad only replied with a nod. He was still wearing his suit that he usually wore for work. My dad worked as a lawyer, my mom was a teacher, which was the reason why mom spent a lot of time at home, preparing her lessons, while I barely saw dad around the house.

For a few minutes we just ate in silence, until my mom looked up from her plate and said: "Jules, could you please do me a favor?"

I quickly swallowed a bite. "Sure. What is it?"

"Last Sunday I helped at that flea market, at the cafeteria..." mom said, referring to one of the charity actions she sometimes did for the local church. "Nancy was there, too and she forgot her cake server there...Would you be so nice and bring it back to her after dinner?"

"Wait, who's Nancy?" I asked with a frown.

"Oh, I assumed you'd know her since her son is attending the same school as you... She's living down the road, right in the first house."

"Why don't you bring it back to her?"

One corner of her mouth curled down. I knew that face, she always made it when she talked about someone she didn't like. "Well, we're not really on good terms," she said. "She reads tarot cards and believes in astrology and who knows what else... I wouldn't be surprised if she belongs to some kind of satanic cult."

"But I thought she's helping with the church-charity stuff?"

She shook her head impatiently. "No, you don't understand. She's just helping there a few times a year. She's not really active in the community."

"Maybe she's just busy with other stuff?" I suggested. I didn't like that tone she had. The problem with my parents was that they were both rather quick to judge, both forming their opinions on other people before even getting to know them. It was just one of the many things we had different opinions on and which tended to lead to arguments.

An annoyed expression spread across my mom's face. "Then she should make time. Church is more important than any of her occult nonsense!"

"Either way, it's not relevant to the topic right now," my dad suddenly cut in, setting down his glass of wine. "Just run this little errand for your mother, Julian. Or is that too much to ask for?"

"No, it's not," I sighed, trying not to sound too irritated, and got to my feet. "Where's that cake server?"

Mom just pointed at the kitchen counter with an unreadable face. I fetched the cake server and left the kitchen without another word. In the hallway, I quickly slipped into my sneakers, deciding not to make the effort to change into actual clothes. Nancy was probably just one of these other strange church ladies that owned a bunch of cats, wore aprons over flower dresses and had nothing else to do than to bake cakes for charity events, like most of the women my mom was friends with. I doubted she would care that I was ringing at her door wearing only sweatpants and a hoodie.

Since it was only a short distance, I also neglected wearing a jacket and stepped outside, shutting the door behind me.

Out here everything was calm and quiet, like it usually was in the type of pristine suburb I lived in. The road was already lit by street lamps every few feet, despite the sun only just going down. In a few windows, I could see the flickering light of a television, others were already hidden behind curtains, concealing what was going on inside.

I didn't encounter a single person on my way down the street, everyone inside and probably getting ready for bed already. In this area it seemed like life just paused at seven in the evening, when everyone returned to their picture-perfect homes, until the next ordinary day began in the morning.

The house my mom had described was only a two minute walk away. It was a huge house with a porch and a big yard in front, bigger than most others around here. I had never really paid attention to it, but now I was honestly kind of intimidated by the size of the property.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped onto the yard and walked up to the white front door, somehow feeling extremely nervous all of a sudden. My nerves peaked the moment I rang the doorbell.

It took a few seconds for the door to open, but when it did and I could see who was standing there before me, I almost screamed.

"Hey there," Hunter said, one eyebrow raised.

"Uh... hi," I muttered, giving him a quick once-over.

He was barefoot, only clad in dark jeans... and my hoodie.

Under his attentive gaze I suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, painfully aware of my clothes and the way my hair probably looked, still wet and all over the place. I was pretty sure I looked like a complete idiot standing there with the darn cake server in one hand.

But Hunter didn't laugh. Instead he said, eyes bright with amusement: "Damn, sugarpie. You make it pretty hard to think straight right now."

"Uhm, why are you wearing my hoodie?" I asked, speaking the first thing that came to mind and ignoring that horrible pun.

Hunter just shrugged. "It's comfy. Why? Do you want me to take it off?" His smirk widened.

"No," I immediately said. "No, that's not what I meant-"

"Calm down," Hunter chuckled. Then he pointed at the cake server in my hand. "I suppose you wanted to bring this to my mom?"

By now I wanted nothing more than to curl up and die. "Yeah."

Hunter stepped out onto the porch, closer to me, and took the cake server out of my hand. After he carelessly tossed it onto a drawer in the corridor behind him, he said: "Well, thanks for coming by."

I just nodded. For some reason my heart was beating twice as fast as usual and I could feel my hands shaking, not just from the cold.

"Why are you always so nervous?" Hunter suddenly asked, something that looked like genuine curiosity flickering across his features.

"Only when you're around," I replied truthfully. Something was off with my voice; the words came out sounding breathless, husky.

Hunter's eyes softened. "You don't have to feel that way," he told me.

I didn't know what to reply to that, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"Actually, I think you-" Hunter began, but stopped mid-sentence as the lights of a car suddenly lit up the yard.

I turned around only to see Sean McLarin, a guy I knew from my sports class, getting out of his car. Sean was tall and muscular, with a sharp jaw line and jet black hair. He was also known for having a slight problem controlling his anger, so there was good reason I was a little intimidated by him.

"Would you look at that," Hunter said. His voice had suddenly changed, from the softer, sincere tone he had just spoken in to the arrogant sneer I was used to. "My date of the week is here."

"D-date of the week?" I asked, shaking my head slightly in confusion.

"Sure. I sometimes call people to come over for a few nights a week. It's always quite fun."

Fighting down the sick feeling in my stomach, I watched as Sean neared us, until he came to a halt next to me.

"What's he doing here?" he asked Hunter instead of a greeting, not even really looking at me.

"Oh, he just-" Hunter began, but I cut him off.

"I was just about to go," I said, my voice sounding surprisingly firm considering the state I was in right now. "Bye."

Hunter shrugged. "Okay. See you around."

I wordlessly turned around and walked away as quickly as possible without actually running, just wanting to leave Hunter and Sean and this entire bizarre situation behind. 

When I turned around once more, the last thing I saw was Hunter pushing Sean against the wall next to the front door, his hands locked behind the jock's neck while he was kissing him roughly.