Chapter 72

KATHERINE.

The drawing was of a guy, whose face was only partly visible, facing a window in a classroom and the next drawing looked even tougher than the previous one did. I kept flipping through Hunter’s sketchbook, passing nine drawings that were roughly drawn – four were of boys and five were of girls – and when I got to the final drawing in the book, I paused. This too was roughly drawn and it was of a girl whose face I couldn't see, standing in front of the woods. Whereas the previous drawings were plain, this one had been colored and the only things that were were the night sky and the girl's hair which was red.

‘I don’t think Hunter drew this,’ I thought after a couple of seconds of staring at the last drawing. It must have been his little sister since she was here for the anniversary and the last Hunter-like drawing was of her.

The sound of a door opening drew my attention and I looked up to see Hunter walking back into the room with two cans of soda in his hand before he paused when his gaze slid to the book in my hand. “Ah,” he muttered, surprise evident in his voice, and my gaze bounced between him and the book as I wondered if he didn’t like that I was going through it without asking him. I closed the sketchbook while he closed the distance between us and he collected it from me before handing me one of the cans in his hand.

“Sorry,” I said while he walked over to where his bag rested against the wall and kept the book in it.

“Whatever for?” he replied before walking back to me with a smile. “The auction is about to start.”

“Oh… Are you ready?”

He shrugged and opened the can in his hand as he leaned against the table next to me. “Will you stay with me till it ends?” he asked and I returned his smile before nodding. That made his smile widen before some people came into the room and began to carry the paintings out while the door I’d come into the room through also opened and Blake, Theo, Lenore, Priyanka, and Josie walked in.

‘Oh.’ It was clear they were here to support him as they all had smiles on their faces except for Priyanka who looked like she had been dragged here, but based on her interaction with Hunter which I’d witnessed, she was also happy for him. Theo wasn’t smiling too but that was his normal expression.

“What are you guys doing here?” Hunter asked incredulously, quickly standing upright, while Josie tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at me. It reminded me of the dinner party the school had for the administration when she asked me if I had a crush on Hunter, and I pressed my lips together before also tilting my head at her. Then my gaze slid to Theo who was standing next to her and when our eyes met, a line appeared between his brows before he looked away. That told me he just remembered what I’d said in the pool room yesterday and I wanted to shrink.

“Okay, he doesn’t want us here. Let’s go,” Priyanka said, turning around, but before she could head towards the door, Lenore yanked her back while Hunter said, “No, Pri. You misunderstand.”

Priyanka groaned loudly while Lenore dragged her over to Hunter before hugging Hunter and a smile graced his face as he hugged her back. “We’re so proud of you,” Lenore said as she pulled away.

“I’m not,” Priyanka cut in, looking at anywhere but him, before Lenore turned to flick her forehead and she let out a yelp. Then she pouted and narrowed her eyes at Hunter. “You’re all right, I guess.” The corner of his mouth turned up at that before he pulled her in for a hug. “Ew… okay, that’s enough.” She patted his back and when he still didn’t pull away, she heaved a sigh and wrapped her arms around him.

“Here to cheer your man on?” Josie asked as she sidled up to me and my mouth fell open before I immediately glanced at the group to see if anyone had heard that. Thankfully, it seemed like they hadn’t since they were having a conversation.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. What do I mean?” she replied with a smirk. I shot her a look before she nudged me with her elbow and I gently pushed her away. “Hunt, will you be going on stage?”

“No, I’m staying back here.”

“Damn. I planned to give a speech while you were on stage.”

“Good thing I decided to stay here.”

Josie booed him and he gave her a dismissive wave before they all grabbed stools, brought them over to the desk, and began to talk about the anniversary whose festivities were coming to an end.

****

I wrapped my arms around myself as I blew out a breath, glancing sideways to see if a UTV was in sight, but the only thing I saw was students lounging around. ‘Where is he?’ I thought before checking the time on my phone.

It was 12:48 am and I was currently sitting on the steps of Stavenger Hall, waiting for Blake to drive by since he was on duty today, but there had been no sign of him and the UTV for the fifteen minutes I’d been here. ‘Did he get assigned to another part of campus?’ I thought before texting him, asking that, but several minutes passed with no response. ‘Is he not on duty today?’

I’d assumed he was because every Friday night since the first night I rode with him in the UTV, I’d always seen him driving past.

I lifted my gaze from my phone just as a UTV finally appeared on the path and I immediately focused my attention on it, but it wasn’t Blake that was in the driver’s seat. It was Keith.

He gave me a nod the moment he saw me and when he was close enough, I asked, “Blake’s not on duty?”

“No,” he said and my shoulders sagged. “I drove past him not long ago though.”

“Oh. Where?”

“Next to Ermin Hall.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

I made my way over to Ermin Hall, getting there in a little while since it was close to Stavenger Hall and, sure enough, Blake was there. I spotted him standing under a tree by his golden hair with his phone pressed to his ear while he was facing away from me. It seemed like he was having an important conversation and as I got closer, I heard what he was saying.

“No, come on… Don’t do that…” His shoulders sagged and he let out a harsh breath. “Max.”

‘Oh, he’s talking to his brother.’

“I want to. I’m trying, I really am...Can we talk tomorrow, please? …Okay… I’ll call.” Moments later, he pulled the phone away from his ear before taking a deep breath and as he leaned against the tree, he finally noticed I was there.

“Hey,” I said while he drew his brows together, frowning at me.

“How long have you been standing there?”