That wasn’t exactly bravery,I thought to myself. More like stupidity and sudden, completely-unwanted horniness.
“If he kills me, I’ll haunt both of you forever,” I said, giving them a weak smile.
“Totally understandable,” Trina said. “Now go get ‘em, tiger!”
Adam groaned. “Sorry, T, but you really can’t pull that off.”
She laughed. “I know,” she said, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Anyway, go, Laney! Don’t let Hunter get away with any more bullshit non-answers.”
“I won’t.”
I left the cafeteria and briskly strode through the maze of hallways, heading for the senior lockers. Just before I turned the corner, I heard two familiar voices, and I stopped in my tracks, forehead creasing.
It was Hunter and his father.
“I’ve been hearing some rumors about you and Laney Collins,” Charles was saying. “Is it true?”
“Is what true, exactly?” Hunter asked.
I peeked around the corner to get a look at them. They were standing right by Hunter’s locker, and the rest of the hallway was completely clear.
“Are you giving her a hard time? Because that’s what I’ve been hearing,” Charles said. “I ran into her last time I was here, too, and the poor girl looked petrified.”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing. Just normal school drama.”
“Well, put a stop to it. I don’t want you causing any more trouble for her.”
“Why?”
Charles folded his arms. “Because I set up her scholarship,” he said. “So obviously, I can’t have one of my sons harassing her. It makes me look bad. You can understand that, can’t you?”
My brows shot up. I was wrong the other day. It was Charles Connery who arranged my scholarship. Not Hunter.
But why? Why now? If he cared so much about the children of his employees, why wouldn’t he arrange a scholarship before their final year of school?
It wasn’t that I was ungrateful at all—even one year at RFA was an incredible boon. It just seemed odd that he’d choose to do something so generous now, even though Mom had been working part-time at his house for years and never received so much as a minor pay-rise.
Perhaps he saw it as some sort of long-service reward for her, or something along those lines. Then again, if that was the case, why keep it a secret? Why not tell Mom what he did for us?
“You got her the scholarship?” Hunter said incredulously, echoing my thoughts. “Why?”
Charles bristled. “That’s not your concern,” he said. “Now, tell me you’ll leave her alone, or I’ll reconsider making that phone call to sort out the misunderstanding with your Alton application.”
Hunter glowered at him. “If you knew what she was really like, you wouldn’t care what I say or do to her,” he said. “You’ll find out soon, though. Everyone will.”
Charles slammed a hand against the lockers, and the sudden loud crack made me jump. Hunter didn’t react, though. He was obviously used to this sort of abrupt, violent behavior from his father.
No wonder he smashed his computer the other day, when he found out about the Alton thing. That was the behavioral model he’d grown up with, so that was how he dealt with anger now, mirroring the things he saw his father do when he was a child.
I frowned as I mulled it over, wondering how he ended up like that while Adam turned out completely normal and non-violent. Did Hunter protect his younger brother from seeing their father overreacting and smashing things when they were kids, so he could have a chance to grow up into a happy young man? Did he do the same for Lindsay while she was still alive?
I had no idea.
All I knew was that I felt slightly bad for Hunter now.
Ugh.
“Leave her alone, or I won’t make that call for you,” Charles finally said, his voice cool and calm again. “I’m not messing around, Hunter.”