My head turned to the familiar, loud voice and saw a group of three making their way towards us.

A boy, who was the same age as me, was stalking his way over to me. His platinum spiky blonde hair shined like pure silver in the light. His gray eyes matched his hair and his fair skin. He was no longer thin like he was as a child and his form a result from his endless running and adventuring.

"Hunter?" I called out instinctively, confused at his expression.

Hunter didn't look at my directly and was focused on Jason; who seemed a bit off-put by Hunter's glowering expression.

"What the hell are you doing?" growled out Hunter who forced himself between me and Jason. My brown eyes flickered from up to Jason and Hunter and to Hunter's gripping fists. They shook slightly from anger.

Jayden placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder, his hand gripping the other's leather jacket. A sign that he was both reminding and holding back Hunter, in case his temper got the better of him.

Jayden had dark, bronze skin with silky black hair. What stood out from his appearance was instead of many East Indian genetics, Jayden had green eyes that reminded me of a cross between a Jade and Emerald gem. They sparkled with life that changed from a smooth jade to a bright emerald. He was thin but his posture was composed, reflecting his personality.

Jayden's eyes flickered to me and he gave me a smile, before his eyes hardened to look between Hunter and Jason.

"Enough" reminded Jayden to Hunter.

Hunter glowered for a moment before his stiff posture loosened slightly. "What do you want with Kai?" struggled Hunter, his voice shaking with tension.

Jason seemed to narrow his eyes before his face switched to his usual light temperament.

"Now, now- don't be so brash Hunter." Jason reassured, to which Hunter made a sound of disgust, "I was merely checking on Kaitlyn, who seemed a bit unwell. No harm done in checking on a friend."

"She isn't your friend, she's ours" retorted Hunter.

"Hunter..." warned Jayden.

I felt awkward being put on the spot but I didn't deny the feeling of being relieved. Something felt off about Jason and I didn't have the evidence or anything to proof my gut feeling, so I was thankful for Hunter and Jayden being there and standing between me and Jason. I could handle an angry Hunter then what was going on with Jason.

I saw someone kneel beside me and I looked to see Alex. He looked at me in concern and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked me, whispering.

His violet eyes flickering between me and Jason. His face changing at the same time.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I reassured Alex with a shaky smile, placing a hand on top of Alex.

He gave me a relieved smile but his face became hardened when he looked up.

Jayden moved slightly in front of Hunter, not completely blocking him off but as a warning. He gave his best, polite smile and spoke.

"Thanks for telling us Jason," spoke Jayden, "we'll keep an eye out on Kai."

Jason seemed to hesitate for a split second before he gave a good natured smile.

"You're welcome" he said before he turned to me (through the mass of bodies of Jayden and Hunter). "Be sure to take care of yourself Kai, I'll see you later."

For some reason, I could hear an unspoken message from those words.

'There's still something I need to do'

Jason left, followed by Amanda and her friends.

Amanda gave me a heated glare at me before she huffed angrily and followed after Jason. I stuck out my tongue at the group's retreating backs.

When Jason's group had left, Hunter turned around and looked at me angrily.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "What?"

"You just let him get close to you like that? You know there's something odd about him!"

I got up and stood on my two feet, to stare Hunter down.

"I don't have any proof and it's not like he has done anything wrong yet" I argued back.

"Yet" emphasized Hunter as he ran his hand through his hair angrily.

"Hunter, enough" chided Jayden to his best friend, "You're not making a good impression on Kai's friends."

Hunter remembered that my group of friends were here as well. I could see from my peripheral vision that my friends were just looking between me and Hunter like deer in the highlights.

Hunter ran his hand through his hair furiously, his teeth clenched together. He let out an angry sigh before he took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I'll...see you later" Hunter mumbled before he turned around.

Jayden sighed and had his hands on his hips. He shook his head before he looked at me and my group of friends.

"Sorry about Hunter, he's a good person but his temper gets the best of him. Don't hate him please" said Jayden to my friends, a tired smile on his face.

"It's alright...." Said Clara before Jayden nodded.

He turned to me and gave me a half-hearted smirk.

"I'll see you later Kai. I'll talk to Hunter and hopefully he'll be in a better mood."

I nodded and gave back a smile, my hands on my small hips as well.

"No problem, don't forget I can help put some sense into Hunter as well!"

Jayden chuckled before he turned to leave.

"I have no doubts about it" he said before jogging to catch up after Hunter.

Alex got up and dusted the dirt from his worn, black jeans. "I'll help talk to Hunter," he said before he re-adjusted his purple hoodie.

I nodded and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Alright, see you later Alex" I grinned at him.

Alex gave a small smile before he gave a polite nod to my friends. I watched Alex leave and chase after Jayden and Hunter.

There was a small awkward silence and I felt all the tension leave me. I gave a sigh and rubbed my face several times, trying to ease out more of the tension.

That was weird and was totally not fun.

I turned to my friends and I knew there was going to be questions. I sat back down on the ground before my friends launch their questions.

"Well what the hell was that about?" questioned Stella, her face in confusion as well skepticism.

One after another, my friends asked their questions from what went on with Amanda, Jason, and Hunter-

I tried to answer them honestly and to the best of my abilities but I kept trailing off. I didn't know what was wrong with Jason, who seemed like a pretty great guy. But there were times that seemed unnatural about him that broke that nice guy image, making my gut feel heavier and heavier.

Then there was Hunter's reactions.

Hunter was always a bit brash and hard around the edges, even as a kid. Once you got past his initial personality, he was actually a great guy. He did care about his friends but that often resulted him being defensive and physically; a trait we somewhat share.

However, there was something odd about Hunter.

While it was true that he was always hard around the edges but lately; especially when he came back from his two years in London, something changed about him. He told me it was fine and it was probably a result of being around his extended family and the pressures they put on him-

Hunter seemed to withhold something from me. A weight that he refused to let me help with.

I didn't have much longer to dwell in my thoughts.

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. My friends and I got up to go back into the stuffiness of the school, before we split apart. Some of us went to our separate classes and some of us gathered to the same class.

I was with the latter group as me and my friends quickly made our way to the Girl's changing room for our Physical Education class.

When we were changing, I thought on what had happened and tried to answer the questions in my head. 

(2/2)