I'll Reach For You, page 6
"Hey, how is she?" He asks while loading a suitcase.
"I don’t really know, she’s shut me out again." Dad turns to look at me, he seems worried.
"Are you okay?" He asks. I look at him, wondering why he asked me that. Hunter’s the one hurt.
"It bothers you, Skylar."
"Of course, it does, you should have seen her sitting there on the ground. It was heartbreaking." He smiles.
"I’m happy you care for her, but as you know, she needs time. I think the incident today may have triggered some memories. She’s been great when she’s around you, it's like everything on her mind just disappears. You’re really helping her by being her friend, I think that’s one thing she’s never had." What? She’s eighteen and never had a friend? That’s insane.
"Just so you know she has difficulties like everyone else, but Hunter’s been through hell, so when she’s down, she’s kind of lost. Be patient, Skylar." I smile.
"I’m always patient." He snorts, and I punch him in the arm.
"Dinner," Mom says. I turn and nod. Dad and I walk in. I'm glad I talked to him, it made me feel much better. I hope Hunter will talk to me someday about the haunting cloud that's over her head.
Chapter 19
Lonely
"Do we have everything?" Dad asks. We’re all sitting in the car waiting to drive to grandma’s house. I look at Hunter, who’s listening to music on her phone and looking out her side of the window.
"Yeah," I answer. Hunter hasn't talked to me since we were in my room, she’s barely looked at me.
"Okay, then, let’s drive." Dad enjoys driving at night because there’s less traffic and he doesn’t have to listen to mom talking the whole way. She always sleeps when we drive at night and it’s a six-hour drive so it's boring. Grandma’s always been the best, she spreads all her warmth around to everyone. The scary part is she sees much more than others can, she’s so wise. I’ve never seen her angry, even the time I broke her window playing football. She said she didn't want to punish me because she could see all the guilt inside me and that was enough. I felt like shit for weeks after that, so I understood what she meant. I turn to look at Hunter again. She looks lost in thought and her music. She’s wearing the black sweater that’s too big for her and drowning in it. Just like she’s drowning in her own mind. It must be a fight between heaven and hell in there.
After an hour of driving, mom fell asleep, the rest of us are still awake. It's been quiet, Hunter hasn't said anything or even looked at me which is driving me insane. Like an itch on my skin that no matter how much I scratch, it won't stop. I want her eyes on me; I want to see those sparkling blue eyes. I reach over and take her hand in mine, I know I shouldn't, but I want to. She looks down at our intertwined hands, her eyes stuck on them. Hunter's hand is warm and soft. She’s always so soft and comfortable, it’s one of the things I like about her. The other things I like about her is she’s selfless and can tease when she wants to, I love that. Hunter squeezes my hand but doesn't look at me and turns back to the window. At least she allows me to hold her hand; it's more than I can ask.
It's 2 am the middle of the night and dad’s parking on grandma’s lot. I’ve only slept for two hours but can sleep once we get inside. We all help dad get the stuff out of the car. Grandma comes out the door and I throw my bag on the ground.
"Hey sweetheart," Grandma says, I walk quickly to her and hug her.
"I missed you, darling." She tells me.
"I missed you too." I let her go and help Hunter, she picked up my bag after I threw it on the ground.
"Thank you," I say, and she gives me a simple smile.
"And you must be Hunter," Grandma says with a smile, her grey hair the same it’s been for years, short. She reaches out her hand to Hunter. My grandma’s usually the one who gives hugs when she meets people, but I guess she can see Hunter isn’t comfortable with it. They greet each other, and we move into her house.
"I have some news for the two of you." Grandma looks at Hunter and me.
"I only have one bed in your bedroom, so one of you will have to sleep on a mattress on the floor." She views us concerned. I look at Hunter and she turns to me.
"I'll sleep on the floor." She says not even fighting, she never does.
"Oh, I thought it would be a problem." Grandma looks surprised; I think it has something to do with my cousin and me. One time we were in the same situation and fought for hours.
"Hunter, you don't have to, I can sleep on..."
"No, it's fine." She says impatiently. Then walks down the hall to find the room and steps inside. I sigh and look at grandma who looks taken aback.
"Is she ..."
"Moody?" I finish, and she snorts.
"Maybe. What happened to her face?" She asks. I guess she didn’t want to ask Hunter since she’s off today.
"School."
"Oh, no need to say anymore." I laugh and shake my head. She’s really something.
"I’ll see you in the morning, darling." We say Goodnight and I stumble into the room with my bag. Hunter’s laying on the mattress on the floor, listening to music. This is going to be a lonely night. I put my bag on the floor, take out my sleeping clothes, change in the bathroom and walk back out to Hunter. She’s staring at the ceiling with music blaring in her ears. I lay down on the bed and turn off the light that sits on the nightstand.
"Night Hunter." I know she can't hear me, but it doesn't matter. I just wanted to say something. Hunter moves on the floor, I stare at her back. She’s completely avoiding me, and it hurts, but she needs time. It's only been half a day and it’s already killing me. What if this lasts for a while, days or even weeks? How am I supposed to survive that long? I can't even go a few hours without her looking at me, it drives me crazy. We’ve been good friends for weeks now, then Amy comes along and destroys it in two seconds. How’s that even possible? It took weeks for her to open up to me and now Hunter’s walls are up again. I know there’s something other than the fight bothering her, and I want to know what it is. As dad said, be patient. I’m going to be even though it’s torture. I close my eyes and let sleep take me away.
Chapter 20
Nightmare
The sound of moving and heavy breathing causes me to wake from the deepest of dreams. I rub the tiredness out of my eyes and turn on the light. Hunter’s laying half on the mattress and half on the floor. Her duvet has fallen off and she’s breathing really heavy. She sounds like me when we played football for hours. She moves and twists even more. I kick the duvet off and move down next to her. Hunter’s wet with sweat on her forehead.
"Hunter?" I whisper nothing. I say her name louder, but she doesn't respond. The heart in my chest is beating so goddamn hard right now. I’ve been afraid for her before, but this is the worst thing I’ve experienced. I place my hands on her shoulders and shake her.
"Hunter!" She wakes up fast in a sitting position and takes a deep breath. She almost smashes her head on mine. Her distant, blue, clear as ice eyes are looking around the room like she can't remember where she’s at.
"Hunter?" She looks at me and blinks her eyes repeatedly. I cup her face in my hands.
"It's okay, I'm here," I promise her. The tension in my body has calmed. My heart beats normal again, but I can feel the tears falling down my cheeks. Watching her in pain hurts, every time. It feels like someone’s stabbing a knife through my heart. Hunter nods and I smile at her, to let her know everything’s okay. Then to my surprise, she wraps her arms around me tightly and starts crying. I haven’t seen her cry since she broke down in the living room at home. I place my arms around her as well and start stroking her back. She’s clammy and so warm, it's like touching a flame.
"I-I'm sorry I woke you." I can’t help but laugh.
"Hunter, how can you be worried about me when you're the one hurting?" She shrugs making both of us move.
"I’m here for you, no matter what." Her grip on me tightens. I can't sit on my knees any longer, it hurts so bad and I fall on the mattress with her on top of me. She’s still holding me as if I’m the only thing keeping her from falling apart. Her face is buried in my shirt on my chest. I know she’s already warm, but I manage to cover us both with the duvet, she’ll freeze once she calms down. I don’t really need a duvet, I have Hunter and her heat’s enough for me. Her sobbing stops and her breathing has calmed.
"You want to talk about it?" She shakes her head and moves her arms onto my back. I lift her and myself up, so she can get them from under me. Still, she holds on and I’m glad for that. I lay my arms on her back. She grabs my shirt by the shoulder with her left hand. I noticed she’s left-handed.
"I really, really like you, Skylar." Her words warm my heart more than the sun can warm my skin.
"I really like you too, Hunt." She snorts at the nickname I gave her.
"I like that." She says and turns her head to the other side.
"You're the only one that’s found out how to take my nightmares away."
"I'm glad I did." She looks up at me with a smile, her blue eyes sparkling more than ever, but I still see the worry in them. I’m not sure if it’s her dream or something else that’s bothering her.
"And you Hunter, make my nights warmer and more meaningful." Her cheeks turn red and she lays her head back down on my chest. I smile so brightly my cheeks almost hurt.
"We should sleep now because if we sleep through the day, my grandma will break down the door." Hunter chuckles, making both of us shake. Her temperature has fallen back to normal.
"Goodnight, Sky." I smile.
"Goodnight, Hunt."
Chapter 21
I always do
"Skylar." I hear my name, but I’m too tired to open my eyes, so I ignore it and try to sleep again.
"Sky." I shake my head and feel the weight of Hunt on me.
"Sky, you need to wake up, I hear your grandma walking around." I shake my head again, but this time I move us around and I lay on top of her. My face buried in the pillow and her cheek next to mine.
"Sky, you're crushing me." I smile as I hear her struggling to talk.
"Five more..."
"Sky, come on."
"No... HUNTER!" I yell and roll on the floor. Hunter put a finger on each side of my stomach, tickling me and now she’s dying of laughter. I take the pillow and throw it at her, but she can't stop laughing.
"I-I didn't' know you were that ticklish."
"It's not that funny," I say and stand up, but I can't help but smile at her laugh. Her laughs are contagious, and I can never stop the smile that always comes to my face. Why should I even try? We both turn to the sound of a knock on the door.
"Yeah?" I answer. Grandma comes in.
"What’s going on?" She asks, looking at me and then down at Hunter.
"We were..." Oh God, my mind is blank.
"Umm..."
"We were just having fun." Hunter takes over; I look at her thanking her.
"I'm glad you feel better, Hunter. Rachel and Luke have already gone to the beach, there's breakfast in the kitchen." Hunter and I nod.
"Thank you," I say, she smiles to both of us and walks out.
After we finish eating, I go into the bathroom to put on my swimming clothes and Hunter uses our room. When I said we were going to the beach, she looked extremely nervous. I’m not sure if it’s because there are other people around or something else. Hunter meets me in the living room; she’s wearing shorts and a black T-shirt, and I’m wearing shorts and a white tank top. Underneath, I’m wearing my black bikini, which I’m going to strip down to once we lay on the beach.
"You ready?" I ask, and she nods. We walk out the door and find mom, dad, and grandma further down the beach. The sun is shining brightly as Hunter's eyes did last night. The sound of children playing, and crying fills my ears. The smell of water is one of my favourite things, except for Hunter's smell; nothing beats that. Without thinking I grab her wrist and pull her down with me; just excited about being here. Hunter doesn't argue so I guess it’s fine. She’s been so quiet since breakfast. I let her hand go as we reach them.
"Oh hey, darling. I brought towels for you both." Grandma says and hands them to me; I give the other one to Hunter. We lay them down, and I take off my shirt. I like to wear my shorts, so I’m keeping them on. I look at Hunter who’s staring down into the water. She’s still wearing her black shirt, it must burn her skin because the sun’s hot as hell. I lay down next to her on my towel. My eyes are on her, but she’s avoiding me. I wonder what she’s thinking about.
"Hunter?" She turns to me.
"Hmm?"
"You okay?" I ask, she just nods. I lean closer to her, so the others won't hear.
"Hunter, don't lie to me," I say. She looks down at the sand between us.
"Are you warm?" I ask. She shakes her head. I can see her forehead is shining.
"Hunter, you’re sweating" She shakes her head again.
"You can just..." She stands and starts walking back to the house.
"Skylar, what's going on?" Dad asks.
"Nothing, I’ll be right back," I answer and jump up, pulling my shirt back on. She’s already halfway to the house.
"Hunter," I call her name, but she won't stop. I start to run.
"Hunter." I grab her arm just as she’s about to open the door. Hunter turns to look at me with her pleading face. She bites her inner cheeks and her eyes are sad like a pup. She knows it makes me weak.
"Hunt, please tell me what’s wrong?" I know her well enough to understand that something’s bothering her, but not enough to know what it is.
"It's nothing." She answers, and I sigh.
"Hunter, I know it’s just nothing. Please tell..."
"Skylar!" Her tone is harsh making me almost jump. She’s always calm when she talks, so this is scary.
"Just leave me alone, I’m fine."
"No, you're not," I argue, she snorts.
"Yeah, you got that one right," Hunt says sarcastically as she opens the door to walk in and I follow.
"Stop beating yourself up like that," I tell her. She turns to look at me, but this time all I see is a fire in her eyes, she’s angry. I have never seen her angry and she’s clenching her teeth repeatedly, making her cheeks and jaw move.
"If you haven't noticed there’s something horribly wrong with me, Skylar!"
"STOP, JUST STOP!" I snap and feel the tears streaming down my cheeks. I walk towards her, but she steps back and turns to walk away.
"HUNTER!" I yell and run after her, grabbing the back of her shirt forcing her to stop. Then I walk in front of her and she takes a deep breath.
"Did I... did I do something wrong?" My voice is shaking right now just like the rest of my body. There’s a lump in my throat and my heart’s beating too fast to be normal. She looks calmer now.
"No, you did nothing wrong, Skylar."
"I pushed you too much, didn't I?" I know this is my fault.
"Skylar, listen to me." She cups my face and looks into my wet, brown eyes. Her eyes are a beautiful blue, just like the ocean and she’s as deep as one. There’s so much to her and I don’t even know half.
"You didn't do anything. I’m the problem, okay? I am, not you." I grab her shirt at her stomach with both of my hands and hold tight.
"Tell me what the problem is, and I can help you," I beg, the tears slide down my cheeks again and she wipes them away.
"There’s nothing you can do, it won't go away"
"Just tell..."
"Sky, you can't fix everything." I move out of her hands.
"Please, Hunt," I beg. She shakes her head.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" She asks mocking me.
"Because you are," I answer, and she snorts.
"I’ll tell you one day, I promise." I wrap my arms around her because I really need a hug.
"Just wait for me, okay?"
"I always do"
Chapter 22
Hunter, you can drag me through hell
Iwake up finding myself alone in the bed. I get up to dress. I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already. Grandma’s sitting in a chair outside. I stretch and go out to her.
"Oh, hey darling."
"Hey, grandma." I smile and sit in the chair next to her.
"Where's Hunter?"
"They went out shopping." She answers, and I scratch my neck.
"Without me?"
"Hunter said you were sleeping deeply, so we let you sleep until you woke." I smile brightly at the thought of Hunter sleeping. She didn't get the chance to say goodnight before she passed out. She was drained after we played football last night. Her face was buried in my neck and her breathing was tickling me. I look at grandma who gazing at me oddly.
"What?" I ask. She’s holding in her laugh.
"I think," She starts.
"My granddaughter’s in love." My mouth drops open and my eyes widen. I feel the way Hunter looks when she’s frozen. My cheeks are burning, and my heart’s beating like crazy.
"Don't worry honey, your secret’s safe with me." She says and pats my leg.
"No, no, no" I shake my head.
"No, I’m not." She laughs at me.
"I’m not in love with anyone."
"Yes, you are." She protests. Hunter then comes around the corner, thank God. She has a big smile on her face and hands full of bags.
"Hey, sleepy head," She teases. Mom and dad follow behind her.
"I’m just going take these in." She says. I nod, then all of them walk inside. I look back at grandma who has a sly smile on her face.
"What?" I ask, and she raises her eyebrow.
"You don't fool me, darling. I’ve never seen you smile so bright before, and you two are like magnets."
"What are you talking about, grandma?"
"Do I really have to say it out loud, darling?" I’m not sure if I want to hear it.
