The two of us were back out on the balcony. My emotions were still a jumbled-up mess. I loved every moment with Hunter, but I couldn’t help questioning my feelings and what was best for me. Now that my feelings were real and I could no longer deny them, the fear was starting to creep up. I tried to push down everything that was overwhelming me about the entire situation.

I knew it was best to just end this now—whatever ‘this’ was. I felt like there was a cloud looming over me the entire time; like we had an expiration date attached to us. The thought of it becoming a real relationship was too much for me. Continuing this wasn’t good for either of us.

“Oh, wow,” Hunter said, “It’s a lot colder out here than I thought it would be. I’ll be right back.”

He went inside to grab some blankets. I drew my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I rested my chin on my knees, gaze falling on the dark backyard of the neighboring house. That was when I caught sight of someone slinking around in the neighbor’s back yard.

I sat up a bit and craned my neck forward. Normally, I would have been scared and probably run inside to tell Hunter, but then I thought about what he’d said earlier. It was probably Cal out there. I leaned forward some more and squinted, watching the moving figure in hopes of making him out.

“Here we are,” Hunter said, nearly making me fall off the chair.

He looked at me oddly, but I said nothing. He shrugged and draped the blanker over my shoulders before sitting beside me, his own blanket on his lap. I glanced over at him before turning my attention back to the neighbor’s yard. Whoever was out there was still at it. I fixed my eyes on the figure moving around in the dark.

“What’re we looking at?”

“Cal,” I responded simply.

“Oh shit,” Hunter cursed, quickly standing up and going to the railing. He waved his hands around and jumped, trying to quietly get his best friend’s attention, but it wasn’t working. “Cal! Cal! Get your ass up here!”

I pressed my lips shut. I thought Hunter sounded a bit like a parent as he tried to get Cal to notice him without making so much noise that Mrs. Christianson would hear. It was obvious Cal couldn’t hear him, so he sunk down to sit beside me and we just stared silently mortified as Cal continued about his business.

I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but whatever it was it probably wasn’t a mature thing to do. With all the success Hunter and Cal had, they certainly had immaturity down. It was something that still got under my skin.

 

“I, uh, I really don’t know what he’s doing out there,” Hunter said quietly, “I’m just worried. If it’s bad and he’s caught…” Hunter trailed off with a long sigh, “I told him to keep it smart.”

Hunter stood up again and waved his arms as he shouted, “CAL!”

The moving figure stopped abruptly and started looking around to see where the voice came from. He didn’t even turn to look up at the balcony. He didn’t see us up on the deck watching him. Cal shrugged and must have decided it was all in his imagination because he continued with whatever he was doing. Meanwhile, we were forced to watch in silence.

“What the hell is that?” Hunter asked as he squinted in the darkness.

“I have no idea. It’s too dark to make out,” I whispered.

Cal was walking back and forth from one area in the bushes and putting something down each time he stopped walking. I sighed and debated between waiting it out and just leaving. That was when he finally seemed to be finished. He disappeared only to reappear on the deck of Hunter’s house, right beside us a few minutes later.

“What the hell were you doing out there? It better not be stupid,” Hunter warned.

I was already rolling my eyes and clenching my fists in frustration. I hated Mrs. Christianson as much as they did, but that didn’t mean I’d go lurking around her yard at night. “Cal, what were you thinking? What did you do?”

Cal grinned mischievously before leaning back against the house. He pulled out a big spotlight and switched it on to shine it down on Mrs. Christianson’s lawn. Hunter and I leaned forward and squinted.

Hunter started laughing. It was his big and genuine laugh.

I leaned back and looked away, shaking my head. Without saying a word, I took the blanket off me and dropped it on the table. I headed straight into the house to start gathering my things and get out of there.

“Hey. Hey, what’s wrong?”

Hunter followed me inside, but failed to notice how irritated I was until I turned to look at him. I opened my mouth but promptly shut it, turning away and shaking my head. In my mind, Cal’s prank and Hunter’s reaction was a perfect representation that Hunter really was the immature young man I thought he was.

He was thoughtless and careless.

Even if he hadn’t taken part in the prank, he condoned it. That was the worst part about it.

“You honestly thought that was funny?”

Hunter was about to respond when Cal stepped inside, shutting the deck door behind him. Sensing the tension between us, he tactfully stepped out of the room. I watched him until he was out of my line of sight. I turned to look at Hunter, hoping I wouldn’t have to repeat the question.

He cleared his throat and crossed the room to close the door. I was going to object, but then decided maybe it was best. Or should I just storm out of there now? Once again, I was at a loss with what to do. Everything about this was a mess and I started to get even more worked up about the whole situation. I wouldn’t even be caught in all this if I had just stuck to my plan and kept people like him out of my life.

“Let me get this straight,” he started, “You’re mad because I laughed?”

I scoffed, “I’m not mad, Hunter. I am capable of having other feelings.”

“I never said you weren’t.”

“Whatever,” I said dismissively.

“This clearly isn’t ‘whatever’ so… What? What’s going on here? What am I missing?”

“What are you- Oh my god, Hunter. It’s like you’re a child.”

“There’s no need to insult me, Cass.”

“Don’t call me Cass!”

“Fine! Whatever, Cassie. No need to fly off the handle either.”

“Oh, so now I’m flying off the handle? Anything else you care to add to that?”

“Cassie, I just want to know what’s going on.”

“And I want to know if you thought that was really funny,” I replied flatly.

Hunter stared at me, “Well, generally when a person laughs it’s because they found something funny.”

“You can insult someone without resorting to name calling, you know.” I shot back.

“Cassie, what is this really about?”

“Fine. Let me lay it out clearly for you because you’re obviously not going to get there on your own.”

“Whoa,” he muttered.

“Yes, ‘whoa.’ This doesn’t have to be about- Never mind. Look, Hunter. You condone that kind of behavior. You obviously thought Cal’s little prank was hilarious. It just boggles me that you don’t see anything wrong with what he did.”

“Cassie, that woman hit his dog. She hit NotCat and left him for dead without a care in the world. She’s probably pissed that the dog survived! And you’re pissy over a fucking prank that he pulled on her yard? It’s not like he set her house on fire!”

“Pretty sure you’d come to his defense even if he did,” I murmured.

“Wow, you really think I’d go that low. Says a lot about what you think of us.”

“I didn’t mean it literally. Calm down.”

“You’re really in no position to tell me to calm down.”

“You know what? Just forget it. All of it. I’m done talking about this and I’m done with you.”

“You’re done with me?”

“Yes! Yes, I am! You know why? I could never be with a guy like you. You say I’m too serious? Well, guess what? You’re not serious enough. You aren’t serious at all! Everything is fun and games to you. You’re so childish and immature. I really can’t believe I got carried away with you. You know what? I came here tonight to tell you I’m leaving. I’m going back to North Carolina, because people like you are toxic in my life.”

Hunter stared at me for a moment before responding. “Well, let me tell you that you’re not just too serious, you’re also presumptuous. What makes you think I even care if you could ever be with me or if you’re going back to North Carolina? I don’t recall ever talking about being with you. If you went ahead and wrote something differently in your mind just because we fucked a few times, that’s on you. I could never be with such an uptight bitch anyway.”

“Fuck you! You have no right to speak to me that way!”

“Oh, but you can yell at me and insult me all you want?”

“Fuck this. I’m done.”

I grabbed my purse and stormed out.