Fierce (5 page)

“I did not expect that.”

“No, I didn’t know she had heart problems.
Kind of puts things in perspective.”

Evie hums in agreement. I’m staring at the
grass, thinking about the whole scene. Brody really reacted over the top. I’m
not sure it was necessary.

“Well, even if she has heart problems, it
shouldn’t give Brody permission to act like that,” I say. “I think Brody’s
really turned into a jerk.”

Evie chuckles. “Now you’re saying.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to admit it, but it’s
true. He’s changed. A lot.”

“I wonder why. I mean, you always said he
was the nicest guy you ever met. Then when I met him I thought you were crazy
or something. He never struck me as a cool guy.”

“We used to be best friends. He always
stuck up for me when I got bullied.”

“Yeah, I know. Still, he doesn’t strike me
as the type to care right now.”

I nod and hum in agreement.

It’s true, what she says. I’m starting to
see it more and more, but I don’t actually want to admit it. It means we’re
really growing apart, and I don’t want that to happen. Before I came here I’d
hoped we could be a tight bunch together, just the three of us, having fun, but
now it seems he’s totally disconnecting from us. I barely see him anymore.

I don’t really want to think about it
anymore, so I look at the people around me instead and focus on what they’re
doing.

As I turn my head, my heart stops.

It’s Hunter.

He’s stretching his back and legs,
alternating positions while staring up into the sky. His face is blank,
concentrating on what he’s doing. The cut muscles hiding behind a thin layer of
cotton are mesmerizing to look at, and he reminds me of those sportsmen who
prepare for their challenge by increasing their limits.

He gets up on two feet and shakes off some
of his energy. Then he starts hitting a large ball that’s hanging from a tree
by a thick rope.

His strikes are hard and fast, and his face
turns into the face of a fighter. Full of energy. Full of anger.

I don’t know which one I find more
frightening.

He’s like a massive force of fury aiming
for the knockout punch. On a freaking ball.

Sweat drips from his face and makes his
skin shine. He’s wearing only shorts and a loose tank top, which moves fluently
with his shuffling. I can clearly see his six pack through his wet shirt, and
his brown nipples peeking through.

I gulp at the sight.

He looks marvelous. The way he jumps
around, hitting that ball like it’s his arch enemy. He’s lightning fast and not
heavy on his feet at all, even though he looks like a hulk right now. A big,
fierce, manly man with biceps the size of small melons.

And it’s making me drool like a teenager.

I can’t believe I’m thinking about him like
that, let alone gawking at him.

Each time he hits the ball, he sends it
flying into the air, and I’m amazed at his sheer strength. The aggressiveness
in his stance, his power. It’s like a magnet to my eyes.

 “Looks like he’s working out,” Evie says,
jerking me out of my daydream about Hunter.

The moment she opens her mouth Hunter looks
our way and stares right at me. My eyes widen, and my breath falters. I
suddenly feel caught in the act of admiration. Dammit, I didn’t expect him to
turn around, and I certainly didn’t expect him to notice me sitting here. What
an embarrassment.

My face starts to glow. His lips quirk up
into a smile, and he waves a little, so I wave back.

“Autumn!” Evie says, and she pokes me in
the side.

I turn my face toward her. “What?”

“Don’t encourage him.”

“He’s not even into me,” I say.

“Well it’s sure a coincidence he keeps
wanting to sit next to you,” she says.

“Maybe he just doesn’t have many friends.”

“I don’t think so,” she replies, and she
points at something behind us.

I turn around again and see Hunter
sauntering away. My eyes follow the direction he’s going, and I notice he’s
walking toward the fence. A bunch of guys wearing ragged clothes and unshaven
beards stand behind the fence. They’re clustered together, and it looks like
they’re talking, but I can barely see their mouths move. Their eyes skid from
left to right, scanning the area, as if they’re checking to see if the coast is
clear.

With a quick glance, Hunter checks if
anyone’s looking, and I quickly turn my head in the hopes he didn’t see me
looking. When I think it’s clear, I turn my head again and see him talking with
the guys.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Evie
says, squinting.

“I don’t know.”

One of the guys behind the fence rummages
in his pocket and takes out something I can’t see. Suddenly they exchange
something, and Hunter pushes something deep into the pocket of his jeans. Then
he does the same, giving something back to them. They’re lightning quick in the
trade. I can’t even see what it is, just that it’s small and lightweight.

They all nod, and the look in their eyes is
harsh, as if it’s a warning of some sort.

It freaks me out.

Everything. Not just the look in their
eyes. Not just the exchange. Everything about it has bad written all over it.
Just like Hunter.

“Nothing good,” I murmur.

“What?” Evie says, and she crawls closer to
me, lying down on the blanket.

“Nothing.” It just doesn’t look good, but I
can’t say what it is either. I didn’t see anything, but I know it’s not cool.
But I don’t want to worry anyone without proof.

We both peer at the boys as they part. The
guys stroll away from the premises, and Hunter comes back to the college
ground. I quickly turn around on my back, and Evie does the same, and we
pretend we’ve been laughing all this time.

Hunter passes us, and I know he’s been
looking. I don’t want him to know we saw everything. There’s no need yet. I
don’t know what it is he was doing, but I’m sure it’s something he doesn’t want
everyone to know. And I intend to keep it that way, as I’m far too scared to
face the consequences if I did tell anyone.

Yep, I’m chicken-shit.

Chicken-shit

My hand is hovering close to the door of Brody’s
dorm room, but I can’t pull the trigger and actually knock. I’ve been meaning
to talk to him for the past couple of days now, but I can’t figure out for the
life of me how to start this conversation. I don’t like fighting with my
friends, but at the same time I don’t want it to continue the way it’s going
right now. He’s important to me, and I can’t lose him. I want to see if I can
change this.

I’m shaking from top to bottom as I blow
out a final breath before knocking.

The waiting seems like minutes, but I know
it’s only been a few seconds. Still, he doesn’t open the door. He doesn’t even
respond.

I knock again, but still there’s nothing.

“Brody?” I call.

Nothing.

“Hey, Autumn.”

I turn around and Evie’s walking up to me.

“Do you know where Brody is?”

“Yeah, I just saw him downstairs. He’s
hanging in the lounge room with a couple of his weird friends. Not a good
idea,” she says.

“Well, I still want to talk to him.”

“Why? Is it important? He seemed too busy
laughing his ass off at fat girls passing by.”

With furrowed brows, I say, “What? He would
never do that. That’s not like him. At. All.”

“Tell that to the girl who ran past me,
bawling her eyes out.”

I bite my lip. “I think we just need a good
talk.”

“And you think that’s going to help?” One
of her eyebrows lifts.

“We’ve been friends forever, he’ll listen
to me.”

She sighs. “Look, Autumn, I get that you
were best friends and all, but Brody’s really changed. And it’s not for the
good.”

“Maybe if I can talk some sense into him
he’ll …”

“Don’t count on it.”

I look down at the floor, mulling over my
idea to talk it over, get this cleared up and out of the way. But Evie’s words
ring true. She’s not one to make this stuff up. I know for a fact Brody’s
changed, but I still think I can get through to him. I shouldn’t give up until
I’ve tried.

“If you really want to do it, I’ll come
with you,” Evie says, and she hooks her arm around mine.

I smile. “Thanks.”

“What would you do without me?” She winks,
and it makes me laugh.

We go downstairs and into the student
lounge. Brody’s sitting there with his supposed ‘friends,’ who don’t fit at all
with what I had in mind for his friends. They’re skinny, well-built, have smug
faces, and some of them have girlfriends hanging on their laps. I don’t
remember Brody being like this, but now that I see him sitting there with
Scarlet by his side, pretending he’s all that, he seems different than before.

They’re talking loud, and I can barely hear
what they’re saying, because they’re all yapping through each other’s
conversations. They’re also smoking, even though that’s not allowed, but it
doesn’t smell like tobacco. It stinks, and I feel like I’ve just entered a
private party.

Evie coughs, creating a distraction, and
the group stops talking. “Hello?”

“Hmm … fresh meat,” one of the group
members says. “What do you want?”

“Yeah, fuck off,” another one says, and
they all chuckle.

“Shut up!” Evie yells. “I’m not talking to
you.”

Brody calms down his peers. “Autumn, Evie?”
he says. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, hello? This is the student lounge
room. Everybody’s allowed in here.” Evie taps her foot on the floor.

The group Brody’s with laughs at her, and
her tapping speed increases.

“Obviously.” Brody looks annoyed by her
comment. “What can I do for you?”

“What can I do for you? Boy, you sound like
a real gangsta, don’t you?” Evie says.

“Don’t call him that,” one of the guys
cautions.

“Or else?”

“Evie,” I say, and I put my finger on my
lips. “Let me handle it,” I whisper.

She crosses her arms and puffs. “Fine.”

Clearing my throat, I say, “Brody, can we
talk?”

The group bursts out into laughter. “He
doesn’t have time for you,” one of them says.

“We’re busy, can’t you see?” another one
says, and they lean forward, looking bored and annoyed.

“Stop being such assholes!” Evie screams.
“Or I’ll …”

Now they all stand up. “Or what, bitch?”

The relaxed mood has suddenly changed to a
darker, scarier mood, and I’m not sure if I still want to talk to him. Heck,
I’m not even sure if I should stay here one second longer. I don’t feel safe.

“Or nothing,” Brody says. “Look, girls, I’m
sorry, but I don’t think this is the right time.”

“Yeah, fuck off,” one of the other guys
says. “Like you’re even welcome anywhere. Fat ass.”

Now I have to hold Evie back before she
charges in to start a wrestling match.

“What did you say?” she screams.

“Stop!” I yell.

“What, huh? What d’ya wanna do? Wanna
fight?” one of the guys says to her, and he tilts his head in contempt.

“Fuck you! Fuck you all!” Evie screams, and
she jerks herself loose from my grip. “And you too, Brody! Autumn’s your
friend, and you’ve been treating her like shit.”

“What? What did I ever do?” Brody says,
holding up his hands.

“C’mon, Evie, let’s go,” I say, and I usher
her out of the room with trouble. “They’re not worth it.” I can’t deal with
this right now, so the best solution is to cut it off.

“Damn right they’re not worth it!” she
screams, but I hope they can’t hear her.

I push her up the stairs and pull her into
our room. I have trouble containing her, because when she gets started she’s
like a bull with horns, ready to charge.

I slam the door shut and watch her pace up
and down. Kicking the door, she rages some more until she’s out of breath. Then
she slumps to her bed and flops down.

“God, I hate them.
And
I hate him.”

I sit down across from her, and just stare
ahead.

“Wow …” I say. “I seriously did not know it
was that bad.”

“Do you see now? Those guys are
not
good, Autumn. I tried to tell you, but you’ve been blind the whole time.”

“Well thanks,” I scoff.

She sighs. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like
that. I just mean that you really need to open your eyes to the truth. He’s not
who you think he is. Not anymore.”

“Damn it …” I say, and I let my back drop
onto the bed so I can stare at the white ceiling. It makes things a little
easier to process.

Neither of us say anything else until she’s
calmed down. When I can no longer hear her panting, I sit up straight, and so
does she.

“It smelled like pot in there. Brody’s
really gone nuts.” Evie twirls her finger around in the air, close to her
temple.

“I guess …” I say.

I don’t really know what else to say. I’ve
seen it with my own eyes now. He’s hanging with the wrong crowd, and now he’s
even smoking weed. Their behavior is violent and frightening, and I don’t want
to have any part in it.

“Friends are supposed to be there for each
other. To support one another. They don’t laugh at you or let their friends
treat you like dirt,” Evie chides in anger.

“I know …”

The more she says, the more I feel tears
stinging my eyes. It hurts to have her talk like this. Not because it’s wrong,
but because I know it’s the truth. I don’t like seeing my friends this way.

“Oh … crap … I’m sorry,” she says, and she
scoots off the bed and sits down on mine, putting her arm around me. “Don’t cry
because of what I said.”

“I’m not.” I wipe away a few tears I didn’t
manage to hold back. “I just hate the way this is turning out. I missed Brody.
All this time I was waiting to finally go to college so I could hang out with
him again, and now he’s like this.”

“I know … I’m sorry …”

“And the worst part is that I can’t change
it.”

She sighs and leans her head down on my
shoulder, rubbing her hand over my back. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. He
won’t ruin our day anymore.”

“Yeah …”

“Hey, what do you say we go swimming? Let’s
do something fun.”

“I can’t.” I reach into my pocket and take
out the money I have left for the week. I don’t need to count to know it’s not
enough to do anything else but buy food with. “It’s not enough. I’ll have to
wait until my next paycheck, and even then I probably won’t have enough.”

“Oh …” Evie swallows. “Well, we can always
go back to the library and pick out random books to read instead. Just
something to get your mind off Brody.”

I nod, and she claps her hands.

“All right, let’s go.”

She pulls me up from my bed, and we go
outside.

We bump into Scarlet in the hallway. “Hey,
where are you going, girls?”

Brody comes up behind her, and I wince at
the sight of him. He quickly walks around us and grabs Scarlet’s hand. “C’mon.”

“No, I want to talk to them.” She jerks her
hand loose. “Sorry about his friends. They’re a cranky bunch.”

Evie snorts. “That’s a big understatement.”

“So, what are you girls up to?” Scarlet
asks.

I clear my throat to stop Evie from
starting a fight. “We thought of going swimming, but―”

“Oh, can I come?” Scarlet interrupts me.

“We’re not really―”

“I want to make it up to you. Let’s go
together, I’ll pay.”

“No, you know that’s not good for your
heart. Now let’s go,” Brody says, and he swiftly grabs her arm and drags her
through the hallway.

“Sorry! Rain check, then?” she yells,
digging her feet into the carpet as he pulls her around the corner and out of
sight.

“Not a chance …” Evie mumbles.

“At least Scarlet is nice,” I say. “I can’t
say the same about Brody.”

“It’s like the world is upside down,” Evie
says. “Tan-and-pink chicks aren’t bitches, and they suddenly want to hang out
with us, and the nerd has turned into a complete asshole.”

“Let’s not go there again,” I say as we
walk downstairs.

“Right,” she says.

We make our way across campus toward the
library, and I spot Hunter in the middle of the open ground. The moment his
presence catches my eye I stop moving. He looks confident, but unsure of what
he’s doing at the same time, and it alerts all my senses to what’s going on.

He’s standing with a group of guys that
seem familiar. And now I know why. It’s the same guys as the ones behind the
fence, the ones he made an exchange with.

One of them has brown Justin Bieber hair,
what I’d call a flowerpot cut, but he looks quite handsome, and I swear I’ve
seen him before. Maybe in class.

It doesn’t really matter. What does matter
is that Hunter’s having a suspicious conversation with them, and this time I
can actually hear them.

“Shit,” I mutter, and I push Evie against
the wall.

“What?” she says, but I put a finger in
front of her mouth.

“Shh … It’s Hunter!”

“So? Who cares?”

“I want to know what he’s up to.”

“Why do you care? He’s just a guy …” Evie
sighs.

“Look,” I say, and I direct her attention
toward the guys.

Her eyes widen when she sees what I mean.

“Shit, this looks serious.”

“Yes, that’s why I want to know what’s going
on. Hunter’s been acting strange lately, and I want to find out why.”

She nods, and I turn my head and watch the
guys. I’m completely focused on the voices, all unfamiliar except one. His. The
gruffness of it never ceases to grab my attention.

Hunter’s standing close to the group of
guys, and they’re whispering some things, but when actual words come out I can
finally hear it.

“That guy,” one of them says, and he points
at a guy standing near a fountain, talking to someone else.

“What do you want me to do?” Hunter says.

“You know …” the other one says, and Hunter
freezes.

Their looks are stone-cold sober, so
serious it chills me to my core. I don’t know what they mean, but it creeps me
out. And the grim look on Hunter’s face doesn’t predict anything good.

He nods, and I gulp. They shake hands and
then disperse, as if they were never even there, discussing secrets.

“I don’t like this at all,” Evie whispers.

“Me neither,” I say, and we make a run for
it before any one of them notices we’ve been watching.

But before Evie and I turn the corner,
Hunters eyes meet mine. His piercing gray eyes zoom in on me, and he starts to
squint the moment he realizes it’s me.