Forever Seventeen

by Lizzie Bowen

CHAPTER NINE: DREAMS OF HUNTER

  The next day, I woke up really early for rehearsals. I wanted to be punctual so I sped the whole way there. When I stepped into the arena Hunter was the only one there. He was sitting on the stage looking into the empty seats. His head shot up when I entered.

  “Sam!” He cried, rising to give me a hug. I hesitantly patted his back, trying to get him to let go of me as quickly as possibly. His embrace was so warm, but I wasn't used to being hugged, or kissed, or loved, or touched that when it did happen a queer feeling overtook me. That feeling overpowered the warm, sentimental feeling. He pulled away, looking at my face and I wondered what he was looking for. My tenseness at his touch seemed to bother him a little, but the disappointment only seemed to linger on his face for a moment. He was replenished to his regular boyish charm in seconds.

  “Glad to see you're on time. It's nice to see someone who takes their job seriously for a change.” He said.

  “Are the other boys usually late?” I asked.

  “Usually. It's beautiful in here, isn't it?” He asked, opening his arms wide and spinning in a complete circle. He sat on the stage and motioned for me to be seated beside him. I obeyed and sat beside him. We stared at the empty seats in silence for a moment.

  “Isn't it amazing?” He asked, staring at the arena.

  “What?” I asked.

  “To think that in a week or so this entire stadium will be packed full of screaming fans... all to hear us sing.” He replied with a sigh.

  “It is pretty amazing to think about. This band must have changed your life.” I stated.

  “It's changed me more than you could ever know. I didn't even really think that I was going to make it in this band.” Hunter confessed.

  “Are you serious? What made you think that?” I questioned.

  “I'm quite different from the boys. I mean... they just posses this sort of quality about them that I don't have.” He said, quietly.

  “Seriously? Have you looked in a mirror recently?” The minute I said it I regretted it. My face turned bright red and I instantly looked at the floor. He grinned widely at me.

  “Really now?” He asked, inching just a bit closer.

  “I meant, um...” I stammered.

  “Well, I'm glad you think so.” He said, smiling at me again. I wished he'd look away from me. I hated looking people in the eyes. I couldn't look at a boy for more than a few seconds without getting insecure. So I certainly didn't like the way he was looking at me right now. But thankfully, the boys came and saved me.

  “WE'RE HERE!” They announced as they strut in.

  “You're late!” I scolded, wagging my finger at them.

  “You're way off schedule. Let's hurry and begin.” Connie said gravely as she placed us all on our proper parts of the stage. I sat on my stool at the side of the stage and strummed the first few notes of the opening song. I watched the boys as they performed and I could see why they were the number one boy band in the nation.

  It was the way that they were completely and utterly themselves every moment on that stage. They seemed as if they were some high school band entertaining their school in a talent show. But no... they were the biggest boy band in the world singing in front of millions of screaming fans, cameramen, and photographers capturing their every moment to be put in magazines or posted on YouTube.

  I watched Hunter as well. I saw why the ladies loved him so much. The way he flipped his wavy hair when he sang and how he bounced around the stage like a giddy little kid was just so alluding. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it was so attractive. I should have studied the music a lot more and the boys a lot less, but something about them was just captivating. They just had this glowing star quality about them that demanded the attention of everyone in the room and to be honest I wished I possed the same trait.

  I ended the song, with one last wailing note and then a hardcore strum before beginning the next song. When that song ended, we received a standing ovation from Connie.

  “That was amazing, boys! You smashed it as always. You're drumming was wicked, Kade. Your guitar playing was wonderful as always, Sam. Good job to all of you. Now let's break for lunch!” Connie said. I pretty much made a dead sprint for my car to find somewhere to eat since I felt like there was a monster in my stomach eating at my insides and begging for food. Hunter grabbed my arm before I made it all the way out the door.

  “You wanna grab some lunch?” He asked.

  “Sure, I'll go get the boys.” I said. But he stood in my way.

  “How about just us today?” He asked. I looked at him for a moment, but then shrugged.

  “Okay, whatever you want.” I said.

  “Yeah...it is what I want.” He said his blueish green eyes twinkling a bit. I nodded and tried not to stare at his perfect chiseled features too much. The way he had his jaw set right now was emphasizing his facial perfection.

  “My car's over that way.” He said. He held the door for me like a gentleman as I slid in.

  “Where would you like to go?” He asked, setting his eyes on me. I hated everyone and everything and I wasn't sure what this was. I wasn't used to people bothering to ask my opinion in anything. I wasn't used to being invited somewhere for the sheer fun of it. Whenever I was invited to anywhere, it was always someone working an angle with me. I looked down very quickly trying my best to loose his gaze.

  “Wherever you wanna go.” I answered, quickly. He ducked his head trying to meet my gaze once again.

  “Do you like steak?” He asked. I nodded, still continuing to keep my eyes glued to the floor. He started the car up. I wanted to jump out. I felt like a scared little girl trying to run from a cloud. I knew it was helpless and that he was only being friendly, but something about that terrified me. I guess it was just that no one had ever even made the slightest effort to be friendly to me. The fact that someone was spending time and money on me was terrifying. We drove on for a few moments in silence.

  “So, Sam... tell me a little bit about yourself. You've been here a while, but I still don't feel like I know you.” Hunter said, shattering my thoughts as if they were made of glass.

  “Well, my name in Samantha Baker. I'm seventeen years old and a junior in high school-” I began.

  “Tell me more about school.” He interrupted. Well, wasn't he being awfully pushy. I didn't want to tell him anything about school and certainly not about my life.

  Those were all things of the past that I felt no need to discuss anymore. This was a new beginning for me. So why dwell on old troubles that had occurred in the past?

  “Um, it was good. I guess I just had the average high school experience.” I lied. My high school experience was anything, but average. It was more like an eight hour daily torture chamber, peer wise and grade wise.

  “Did you have a lot of friends?” He asked. WHAT IN THE WORLD?! It was absolutely none of his business if I did or didn't have friends and I had no idea why he was grilling me so hard about this. I looked at him angrily.

  “Yes.” I said coldly. He raised an eyebrow.

  “What? I did.” I lied. We were at a red light, he set his eyes on me looking dead into mine. I looked down quickly. But this time he put his hand under my chin and tilted me face up, I was surprised and jumped at his touch.

  “Listen, Sam. I know something bad happened back there. I can just see that pain in your eyes and it seems to hold you back in everything you do. It even holds you back in your guitar playing. All I want to do is help.” He said, looking at me with compassion in his eyes. I was scared at first by his sudden forcefulness, but then I relaxed a little when I looked at the calm, comforting expression on his face. That let me know all my secrets were safe with him. I sighed and flopped back in my seat in exhaustion. I was done fighting. I had been holding in all this for so long and I was ready to spill my guts to someone. It was just so tiring to always be fighting someone or something.

&n
bsp; “I'm hated.” I burst out. He raised an eyebrow at me.

  “What do you mean?” He asked.

  “No one likes me at my school. I can't even look at my phone anymore because it's spammed with awful texts about how I'm fat, ugly, stupid, and overly attention seeking. Is wanting attention so bad though? Maybe if someone in this entire world gave me some attention every now and then I wouldn't have to go out of my way to seek it. You don't understand how hard it is to look in and mirror and despise what you see. Then, you come to school and all those little doubtful thoughts that have been welling up in your mind are confirmed. You are fat, you are ugly, and everyone does hate you.” I blurted on in one long rambling breathe. He parked the car and took the keys out of the ignition.

  “Those people are jerks. I mean look at you. They're just jealous.” He said, looking me over from head to toe. I fidgeted uncomfortably in me seat. He grinned then hopped out of the car and opened my door. He grabbed my hand and helped me out.

  “We can continue this inside.” He whispered in my ear. He opened the door of the restaurant for me and the waiter led us to a nice quiet table far off in the back that had a huge window revealing a lovely view of a sugar white sandy beach and a crystal blue ocean. The sound of the waves rolling in on the shore was so calming.

  “How long has this been going on?” He asked, ripping my attention away from the beautiful view. I sighed.

  “Since middle school.” I replied.

  “Have you told anyone?” He asked.

  “I think that's the problem. I can't really explain how bad it is to my mother. Something in me shuts down whenever I do. She knows of it, but she doesn't really know how bad it truly is. It's pretty much shut my life down.” I stated.

  “So nobody knows?” He inquired further.

  “I talked to the guidance counselor about it a lot at first. She set up a meeting with them and their parents. That made it so much worse though. They hate me more than ever now. Going to seek adult help was probably not the best option.” I answered.

  “But just look at you now. You're having the time of your life, right? Those looser are gonna have to stay at home and watch you shine.” He said, grinning widely at me.

  “Yeah, I know. To be honest, that's really why I auditioned. I mean don't get me wrong, music is my passion. But I just really needed to break away from everything. I just needed to start over.” I said.

  “Well, I'm glad I've given you the chance.” He stated.

  “I'm very thankful.” I said, offering a smile.

  “What would you like to drink?” The waiter asked, ruining the moment.

  “I'll have a Pepsi please.” Hunter said.

  “Can I have a diet coke?” I asked. Hunter's eyes widened a little when I said it.

  “You know you look great, right?” He said, once the waiter had left.

  “What do you mean?” I said, blushing a little.

  “I mean that those bullies are completely wrong. You're not fat and you're not ugly... far from it. You don't need to get diet this or that. You're perfect the way you are.” He said, sincerely. I blushed and looked away.

  “Oh, you don't mean that. You're required to say sweet things like that, right?” I teased.

  “Why would I be required to say that?” He asked.

  “Because if you don't I'll think you're a jerk and you'll make a horrible first impression.” I said with a laugh. He smiled and shook his head.

  “I've already made my first impression and I think it was a good one.” He said with a cheesy wink. I laughed.

  “Ohhh, suuure.” I said as he continued to strut and pretend to flirt.

  “How did you convince your mum to let you try out?” He said, returning to our serious and deep atmosphere.

  “Well, I kinda got kicked out of school.” I said quietly.

  “How?” He asked. I expected a bit of a more dramatic reaction from him, but he stayed calm and waited patiently for me to reply.

  “I punched a few kids... and a teacher.” I replied a little embarrassed. I thought he'd freak out, but his expression remained calm. He wasn't one to judge.

  “Well that would do it, but if I'd been put through what you did I might knock some kid's lights out as well.” He said, flexing. I laughed.

  “It wasn't right to do, but I was just sick of it. All of it. It was past time I stood up for myself.” I said.

  “And it was like this every day?” He asked. I nodded.

  “I'd look on face book and see all these pictures of me friends laughing and having fun... and I was always alone. I wished I could have friends like that, but I just never did.

  My only friend was a girl named Angela. Even though she was all I had she sometimes couldn't seem to find time for me. She was pretty popular. I don't know why she stayed with me to be honest. Maybe I was just her charity case. I seem to be that to everyone who's nice to me actually.” I said. Hunter raised an eyebrow at what I said last.

  “You're not my charity case.” He said, sincerely.

  “Oh, I know. I didn't mean it like that. Sorry.” I apologized quickly.

  “No, I mean it. I really like you, Sam.” He said.

  “Oh, well um... I-I-” I stammered.

  “Are you ready to order?” The waiter asked, saving me.

  “Um, yes I'll have the sirloin steak please.” Hunter said.

  “Yeah, I'll have what he's having.” I said. I had been so caught up in my conversation with Hunter that I hadn't even given my menu a glance yet.

  “Are you close with the boys?” I asked. I was trying to quickly change the subject and take the attention away from what had just been said. But I think he noticed my lack of acknowledgment on the matter.

  “Yes, the lads are my best mates. But I'm missing something.” He said, staring off into the ocean.

  “What's that?” I asked.

  “They all have girlfriends. They're madly in love with them and when I see the way that their ladies look at them... I don't know I just long to be looked at like that. I wish I had what they had. I've been single for months now. It's just a little more difficult for me to find the right one I guess.” He said with a sigh.

  “Why is it so hard?” I asked. He looked away from me.

  “It just... is.” He said quietly. I noticed the hesitation, but I was so sure why. He had a secret that he was keeping from me and it made me angry seeing as I had just laid my whole life story out for him.

  “Well, I'm sure there's someone out there.” I said. The sound of my voice seemed to be penetrating into his thoughts. He nodded and looked at me deep in the eyes.

  “Yeah... someone is.” He said. He reached for my hand and I knew then that someone really was.