The Spiky Stranger
1198 Words
Hunter was sitting by the front porch of the huge mansion scribbling words on the paper on his lap when Cassandra walked up to him. His face screwed up into a deep frown the moment he saw her and a sigh escaped his lips when she sat on the next step below his.
She was here again, just like a bug. She kept coming back despite all his effort to make her stay away from him. Everything about her pissed him off: from her chubby self to her cheeky smile, then her loud laughter that sounded like the chirping of a cricket. She was always so happy and it irked him so much. He was irritated by her sunny appearance and he hated that she reminded him of everything he was lacking. He just wished she could disappear from his life.
"What are you doing?" Cassandra asked him after a while of just sitting quietly. She stared at the doll in her hand as she waited for his reply.
"What's your business?" He barked at her and she flinched, her eyes welling up in tears once again.
This made Hunter groan and he rubbed his temple wearily, hating that her tears were getting to him. He hated the sight of tears as much as he hated hearing people cry. It was for this reason he stopped letting his father see his tears.
"Why are you here? I thought I asked you to get lost." He eyed her intently as she tried to wipe her tears away.
"Mom said I should come to play with you since she and Mr. King wanna talk."
"Why?" Hunter frowned.
"I dunno. Mr. King was yelling at her. He looks very angry. I'm scared."
"What?" Hunter gasped, rising to his feet as he made way to walk past, but Cassandra's little hands shot out to hold him back.
"Where are you going?"
"To see for myself what's wrong, where else?" The teenage boy pulled his hand from her grip and Cassandra shook her head vehemently at him.
"Don't go. Mom asked me to leave. You're gonna interrupt their discussion If you go."
"Discussion, my foot." Hunter scoffed but lowered himself to the step once again. "That crazy man never discusses. He only growls."
"Don't call Mr. King crazy. He isn't crazy." Cassandra frowned and Hunter scoffed.
"Indeed."
The two fell into silence with Cassandra watching Hunter's puckered brows and lips as he stared intently at the book sprawled before him.
"What are you doing?" She asked again.
"Why do you care?" Hunter mumbled, his eyes never leaving the book.
"I dunno."
"Then just shut it and leave me alone. I'm tryna concentrate here." He shook his head, his eyes hovering over the mathematical questions given to him as an assignment. He had been trying to solve the questions but had been failing woefully. Being a sophomore was not so appealing after all.
With a deep sigh, he tossed the book aside and drew his knees to his chest, bowing his head and wrapping his arms around his legs.
Cassandra, who had been watching him quietly throughout his antics, reached out to smoothen his dark curls and Hunter's head shot up immediately, his frown deepening as he glared at her: forest green eyes throwing daggers at her.
"What was that for?" He demanded but she grinned widely at him, her missing tooth on full display.
"Puppies like it when I pat them." She replied and Hunter's eyes widened in shock, his heart plummeting in his chest.
"What nonsense are you spewing?" He stuttered, trying to get out of his shock. "Who are you calling a puppy?"
With his eyes still wide in surprise, he watched her giggle, the evening wind blowing her black hair to her face as she laughed happily.
"You looked like a puppy just now. That's the same way Tom will coil up when things don't go his way."
"How dare you compare me to an ordinary puppy?" Hunter yelled, the veins in his neck popping out as anger consumed him.
The smile on Cassandra's face immediately cleared and a pout filled her lips as her big blue eyes welled up with tears once again.
"I was only joking." She whimpered.
"You're so damn annoying. Just get lost and leave me the f**k alone!" He snapped at her, picking his book which he had tossed aside, and disappearing into the house before she could speak further.
Cassandra's eyes lingered at the closed door as she sniffed, but when she heard a voice from behind her, she turned.
Behold, there was a boy, much older than Hunter. He looked about eighteen years old and he was smiling down at her.
"Hunter is such a baddie, making a pretty girl cry." He mumbled with a foxy smile on his face but Cassandra only stared. She had never seen him before so it was strange to see him standing before her. Above all, his spiky haircut and lip ring were astonishing. It made Cassandra gawk at them.
"Here, have this and stop crying," he offered her a box of sweets but she kept looking at him, making no attempt to accept his gift.
He chuckled at that,
"Hey! It's rude to reject sincere gifts like this," he said with faux seriousness, his lips forming a pout.
He withdrew his hand when he saw that she wasn't going to collect it, and he smiled at her once again, before walking into the house.
Cassandra stared at his retreating figure, sniffing loudly as she stared, but the cool feel of a wet tongue on her leg made her look down and a big smile filled her face as she stooped to pick the puppy up, holding it in her arms like the prized possession it was.
It had been gifted to her by Mr. King on her tenth birthday and Cassandra had always brought the dog along each time she came over with her mother and that was every day. Her mother had tried to stop her from doing so at first but Mr. King had claimed he didn't mind having the dog at his house, so she had let Cassandra be.
"Tommy boy, you're awake," Cassandra brought the puppy to her face, nuzzling its head with her chin as she enjoyed the soft feel of its hairy body on hers. The dog's tail wagged as it licked her face happily
Cassandra giggled, setting the dog down and stooping to pat its head as she whispered,
"You wanna go for a walk, right?"
The dog moaned in response and a grin filled Cassandra's face.
"Let's go!"
She had barely moved when she felt a firm grip on her wrist and when she turned to see who it was, the exasperated face of her mother greeted her. There was an ugly welt on her left cheek and Cassandra couldn't help but wonder what was wrong.
"Mom," she began, reaching out to touch her but her mother only tightened her grip on her wrist, adjusting the bag she had slung over her shoulder.
"We need to go now." She informed, dragging Cassandra out of Mr. King's huge compound.
- Writer
