The blaring sound of an upbeat Top 40s tune ripped through the peacefulness of the morning, announcing the start of a new day. Hunter stirred in his bed, his hand fumbling in the direction of the nightstand to silence the grating alarm. With a groan, he blinked away the remaining fragments of sleep, squinting at the harsh light of the phone screen as he ended the noise.

Rubbing his eyes, Hunter swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his feet meeting the soft floor. A yawn left him as he stretched his arms overhead and pushed himself upright, his messy hair a testament to just how much he moved around while asleep.

Despite it still being annoying overall to wake up that early, it was becoming easier. In a way, Hunter was getting used to it, forcing himself out of bed when before he would sleep in until at least eleven AM, eating an early breakfast, and attending his other classes, for the most part. Even when he walked the school hallways, he found that things were…shifting. Teachers and fellow students alike were staring and whispering about him less and less, seemingly getting used to his presence as well.

It was different, that was for sure.

He’d fallen into the routine of showing up early so Ashley wouldn’t wonder where he was throughout the day, and felt like it wasn’t really something he could just backtrack on. So, he just decided to stick with it, regardless of how much he still detested school as a whole.

That was different, too.

Pulling on a tank top from his clothing pile, Hunter shuffled toward the window, curious about whether or not it’d be sunny out. He peered through the blinds just in time to catch a glimpse of Ashley and who he always assumed was his mother—they had a pretty decent resemblance—leaving their house. Hunter had seen her before, but never his dad.

The neatly attired woman opened the driver’s seat, relaying something to her son that Hunter couldn’t hear, although he could see that her face carried a weary expression. Ashley replied something back, swiftly shutting their front door and climbing into the passenger seat. From what Hunter could tell, the pair continued to exchange a few words once inside the vehicle before it disappeared down the street, leaving a faint trail of exhaust in its wake.

Moseying away from the window, Hunter carelessly dug through one of the batches of t-shirts and jeans that laid before him. Nothing he owned looked half as expensive as what Ashley, or even his mom, wore. Their car probably cost more than he’d make in a lifetime, too. And yet, they moved to Meadowbrook.

At this point, Hunter had resigned himself to the idea that he would probably die before knowing much of anything about Ashley’s personal life. He knew he was studious—was that because of his just-as-stoic mom? —sensitive to being called boring, and he liked ballet…but that was pretty much it. The enigmatic boy had been living next-door for a few weeks already, but the biggest question of all continued to loom. Why did he live there, in a house that was as shabby as Hunter’s, when it definitely seemed like they had money?

Hunter sucked his teeth, grabbing a pair of worn-out jeans that were hidden beneath the chaos. He ran a hand through his dirty blond hair, with a sigh.

Maybe he should clean sometime.

                                            ****

At noon the first lunch break rolled around, and Hunter found himself alone in the cafeteria. Evan and Micah ditched, and Cassie was home, sick with a cold. That kid he barely knew named Kyle was around, but apparently he couldn’t handle hanging with Hunter’s group because he stopped chatting with them ages ago. Not that he cared, he didn’t like that guy anyway.

Hunter grabbed his preferred choice from the monotonous options Meadowbrook High provided their students—a burger with some seasoned fries—and made his way outside, away from the space full of rowdy teenagers. As he strode through the other masses in the school courtyard, Hunter glanced around a bit, seeking out a nice spot where he would mostly be unbothered. His brain clicked, and he settled on staying behind the science building, a place where few people lingered during break because of its obscurity and distance from the cafeteria. 

He sat on the ground, gave a casual nod to some kids he recognized from his gym class who were standing nearby, and took a bite of his burger. Greasy and cheap tasting as always, but he still liked it. Then, fuck, some grease got on his leather jacket and—

“Hello, Hunter.”

A sudden greeting pulled Hunter’s attention from dabbing his clothes with a piece of notebook paper, because, dammit, he forgot to grab napkins. Hearing the familiar voice, he glanced up, abandoning the paper, swallowing the food lingering in his mouth, and thoughtlessly wiping ketchup from its corners. “Oh, uh, yeah. Hey, Ash.”

Ashley stood above him, holding a lunch tray of his own. Out of all the tempting, calorie-loaded choices, he opted for greens and baked chicken. Of course.

But wait a sec, did Ashley just come up to him?

“Do you mind if I sit here?” The spectacled boy questioned. Hunter shrugged with a feigned indifference, as his mind started hitting him with flashbacks of their last interaction the other night. The one where he rambled on and said a bunch of embarrassing crap he shouldn’t have said. He inhaled through his nose, trying to keep his breathing even.

“So…what’s up?” Hunter began, although he looked off into the distance as he spoke. “There a reason why you’re here, next to me right now?”

Ashley cut through his chicken with precision and ease despite the knife being plastic. “I just asked if you cared if I sat here. Would you like me to leave?”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Dude, that’s not what I meant.” He put his empty tray off to the side. “It’s more like, just…why would you want to sit with me? Don’t you usually go somewhere else during lunch? I’ve never seen you around.”

“Perhaps I wanted to try something different today.”

Hunter blinked. Okay, what did that mean? Seriously, he never knew what the ever-mysterious Ashley was thinking. He half expected that he’d avoid the blond as much as possible after their awkward exchange in his bedroom. Apparently not.

“Right. Whatever you say.”

They sat quietly as Ashley finished his meal, observing any passersby in the mostly hidden area. Hunter was slightly curious about whether or not Ashley had made any friends of his own—having been at the school for a while now—and why he wasn’t sitting with them instead. If he did, they probably consisted of the few brainy kids at the school who made up the Honors classes. Complete opposites of Hunter.

He lazily eyed Ashley, who gently wiped his mouth and folded the napkin into a neat little square. The boy then started scrolling through his phone, to which Hunter frowned. Ashley wasn’t bothering to kick off a conversation despite being the one to come over, so he guessed it was up to him.

“Hey. I saw you and your mom this morning.” Hunter announced, fully aware of how this probably wouldn’t lead to anything interesting.

“How fascinating.” Ashley deadpanned and sipped his bottled water. Hunter gave him an incredulous glance, as he hadn’t been hit with Ashley’s unwanted sarcasm in a while. Looked like he was feeling daring again today.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Hunter scoffed. “I was just gonna say that, well, you live with both of your parents, right?”

Ashley didn’t answer, just finished the sips he was working on and replaced the cap, looking at the scuffed pavement beneath them.

“I’ve never seen your dad. What’s up with that?”

“I’ve never seen yours, either.” Ashley remarked, flatly.

Hunter exhaled. Might as well just tell him. It didn’t matter, anyway. “My ‘parents’ are always either working or doing other shit I don’t care about. That’s why you never see them.”

Ashley gave an absent nod, as if he had already deciphered that.

“I’m surprised you’ve never really asked about them, actually. You’ve literally been to my house like five times already.” Hunter added.

The raven-haired boy shrugged. “I figured I would meet them when I meet them, and it wasn’t my place to ask. But, yes, I was curious about your family, to be honest.”

Hunter straightened up. So, that was something they had in common. “Yeah, and maybe I’m curious, too. So, c’mon. What’s the deal with your dad, then?”

Fiddling with the bottle cap, Ashley’s gaze remained on the ground. Hunter had unintentionally leaned closer as he awaited an answer, but ultimately chose to sit back and let it go. The pretty boy’s face said one thing, but his body language said another. Looked like now was not the time.

“Okay. Then…what’re you up to after school? The project’s almost done so we don’t really have to worry about that today. Right?” The delinquent said, changing the subject from what was apparently a sore spot for Ashley. “I’m so fucking tired, I’m just gonna pass out when I get back.”

“That sounds ideal.” Ashley pushed up his glasses as he spoke, looking thoughtful. “I might just be able to do that, too. I’m going to have the house to myself tonight.”

That statement only served to reignite Hunter’s interest in Ashley’s home life, but instead of pressing on, he simply responded with “huh. Cool.”

After another moment of no words being exchanged between them, Hunter suddenly perked up, with a mischievous grin.