IT STILL FEELS AS IF HE’S HIDING SOMETHING,  but what are you really going to do about it? you’ve got a habit of hiding things too, something you’re sure he’d be quick to bring up if necessary.

       ❝ i just can’t believe you hid this from me. i mean, how much do you know ?           did you know i was bad before everyone found out? ❞

GAZE STILL REMAINS FIXATED AWAY FROM THE OTHER,  not knowing how much he should disclose at this moment in time. it was never the plan, never in the cards to even let anyone find out, but the hand he was dealt had to be played.

HE LETS JAYLEN SHOVE PAST HIM,  doesn’t bother trying to stop him. the boy’s attempt at avoidance starting to feel like he was winning. and then jaylen speaks, and at first a smirk comes to his face at what feels like an admission of guilt, but then he processes what he was actually saying.

         ❝ are you calling me an idiot?  i’m the first one to figure it out, am               i not?  i feel like you should be giving me some credit here. clearly               i was kinda cunning if i managed all of this so far. ❞ 

        ❝ CREDIT COMES WHEN CREDIT IS DUE, AS USUAL. ❞

which is why he refuses to give hunter ANY. just because he caught on doesn’t mean he truly knows anything. his parents are important, so what ?  doesn’t mean the other is aware of everything going on in his life.

HE’S A STUBBORN GUY,  hunter would give him that. so quick to make a defense, tensions high, still talking about their romance as if that’d distract hunter from his discovery. and to some extent it would, but not quite enough.

        ❝ you don’t have any competition, first of all. there’s no one else i’m seriously trying            to get with. and second of all, when are you gonna give up the oblivious idiot act ?            i pretty much invented that, i can spot it a mile away. ❞ 

AT LEAST HE HAD THAT GOING.  head tilts upward, chin lifting just the slightest, knowing he’d been caught. before he could do anything rash, he shoved his way past hunter, not too hard, but enough to get the other out of his path, putting more distance between them.

HE THINKS FOR A MOMENT,  and when he does give an answer, it’s accompanied by a shrug.

          ❝you might’ve, or something else hit you on the head. all I know is             that you’re gonna have a nice little bruise and concussion for a little bit. ❞

POOR, POOR HUNTER.  he’d rehabilitated himself back to the side of the underdogs, but now ? their positions were switched. now, he had been so cautious to make sure no one caught on to the shift in his demeanor since his party. 

          ❝me ?  freaking you out ?  aww, thanks. and it’s real.             so very real, but you would know that. ❞

NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON SOMEONE,  no matter how calm they may seem. everyone is capable of becoming dangerous with one small opening given in a moment of i g n o r a n c e. twas the exact reason he was currently in this predicament, hunter holding him from behind, knife resting just against the skin of his neck. he doesn’t squirm, no, knowing one wrong move and he’d end up bleeding out on the floor, but he does make an effort to assess the situation.

          ❝ you know, as much as this could be an attempt at flirting, i think you’ll               find whatever you’re aim is other than that to be useless with this kind of               tactic. ❞

HE WATCHES CLOSELY,  takes note of the boy cleaning as if his life depended on it. seeming to be avoiding hunter at every cost. it doesn’t exactly make him seem confident in the things he’s saying. and so hunter decides to have a little fun with it. they already know he’s with the bad guys, why not also be an annoyance ?  so he moves, getting in jaylen’s way, doing all he can to force eye contact. as if that’s going to make any of this better.

         ❝ oh ?  so how do you feel about me then ?  in actual words and              not just vague implications. the mcalisters, yes. they were very happy              to tell me all about their son jaylen, who seemed almost a little surprised              that i’d been working with him. ❞

WITH HIM IN THE WAY,  jaylen is tempted to shove him to one side, or perhaps stab him with a pen, or hit him upside the head with a journal. anything to get the other out of his face. unless he was planning on doing something with those lips other than blabber on and on about something he has worked so hard to keep secret, he doesn’t want him interrupting.

“ dude! ”  tone is firm yet playful as she spins around him  ,  gaze marveling at his house interior design.  “ when were you goin’ to tell me you’re rich ENOUGH to produce my movie? ”

DUMPING BOOKS ONTO THE NEAREST COUNTER,  her words don’t register as quickly as they should, but he inevitably gets around to giving an explanation. not a true one, certainly, but one nonetheless.

         ❝ DID IT ? DID IT REALLY ?❞

the desire to believe is never as strong as that of cursed d o u b t, something he knows all too well. and this ?  this was no different.

         ❝ because right now, it all just appears to be part of this facade you’ve been              wearing since the day we all met. tell me i’m wrong, hunter. please tell me i’m              so terribly wrong in my assumptions and observations. ❞