Page 58 of Hunter
She was obsessed with Gabe and viewed me as her fucking adversary. I was just trying to survive out there, and she was making everything that much harder. Which is what she’s doing now when she walks up to the table we’re sitting at.
It’s like deja vu. Except we’re not at Kings anymore, we’re at Havenwood.
“Your cousin has a message for you, Valentine.” Her words go straight through me, and I feel an icy chill up my spine as soon as she says,“Hasta pronto, prima.” I’ll see you soon, cousin. Oh diosas, me va a matar. Oh goddesses, he’s gonna kill me.
“Tell his ass to come find me, leave her outta it,” Hunter grits.He’s gonna kill me.She tilts her head to the side and looks at him like she’s considering it.Me va a matar.He’s gonna kill me.
“He couldn’t believe it when I told him, Val,” she says while looking like a creepy fuckingBarbiee doll. Her lips curve into a plastic smile. Her eyes are wide and sparkly like high beams on cars that warn you about danger ahead. It’s hertelland one that I know all too well.
“See?” she says in a high-pitched voice while holding up her phone to show me their messages. “I sent him pictures of you at lunch. I mean, you look fucking terrible, even for you, Val, but he could tell it was you even with that ugly hat on.” She’s talkingfast, and her hands look like they're conducting the words that sing-song out of her mouth.
“And then he wanted to know who he was,” she says and jerks her head toward Hunter in this rigid, robotic way. It sends cracks through the ice that’s frozen me in place. It feels like my heart is boiling in my fucking chest and melting away any remaining traces of fear. “So I sent him everything that I could find on Hunter Wilton. Did you know he’s expected to go pro? Gabe was impressed.”
“DON’T YOU FUCKING LOOK AT HIM! AND DON’T FUCKING SAY HIS NAME!” I scream while slamming my palms on the table before jumping outta my chair. This bitch can say and do whatever the fuck she wants when it comes to me, but he’s off fucking limits to her.He’s mine. Mio. “¡TE CORTARÉ LA PUTA LENGUA! (I’LL CUT HER FUCKING TONGUE OUT!)”
“Ed!” he shouts as he snatches my hand away from my hoodie pocket, and I glare at him for interrupting me from grabbing my girl so that I can finally make this bitch bleed once and for all. “Don’t,” he warns, like he already knows what I was about to do.
“Wait, what did he call you? What does he think your name is? Did you say, Ed? Oh my god, your cousin’s gonna lose it when he hears that.”
“Call your man now, I’ll meet his ass outside and we’ll settle whatever this is,” he says to Payton, and I see her eyes flicker.
“Wait, she hasn’t told you anything, has she? You have no idea, do you?”
“FUCK YOU, PRINCESA,” I scream in her fucking smug-ass face and smile to myself, knowing that I hit my fucking target when she narrows her crazy eyes on me while her giant-ass nose twitches as her nostrils flare. This bitchhateswhen I call her spoiled and entitled ass, ‘princesa.’Bring it, bitch.
“Here’s what I do know, and you can go back and tell your little fucking boyfriend, that I’m the man that’s gonna end his ass if he ever fucks with my girl,” he threatens while squeezing my hand three times in a row.¿Qué quiere decir? What does that mean?
“He’d kill you first, but nice try,” she replies like he just told her a fucking joke and laughs while staring at her phone.
She’s too busy plotting to look up. I watch her click and zoom in on the thumbnail photo on her screen with her nasty-ass fingers. They’re fat just like her fucking fathers, and I lean forward to swat them off my man’s pixelated face with my free hand, and I knock her phone to the floor.
“WHAT THE HELL, VALENTINE!!!” She shrieks, and her fucking voice makes my ears bleed. “LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!” She screeches as she bends down to retrieve her stupid phone, and there’s a split second where I highly consider kneeing her in the fucking face.
“Don’t be fucking rude, Val, I was just trying to show you the photo I took,” she squeals like a fucking pink little pig as she shoved her phone in my face. “It’s a good one, he’s looking at you like he has no idea who you really are.”
I fucking hate her so fucking much. I turn my face away from her screen and look at him instead. She caught him smiling at me at lunch, and she knows he has no idea who I am. No one’s ever looked at me like that, and there’s a good chance that he never will again.
“Tell me, Val, what does he know? Does he know all about New York? About Kings? Does he know what you did, THAT YOU’RE A SNITCH AND A RAT? THAT YOU RUINED GABE’S LIFE? THAT MY FATHER KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU STARTED?! She’s yelling now, like full-on, causing a scene while she demands answers. People are staring, and I don’t blame them. The three of us look like a shit show.
“What do you want, Payton? This has nothing to do with him,” I hiss out at her while he squeezes my hand like he’s refusing to let go.
“I want retribution, Val. And I plan on getting it.”
THIRTY-THREE
“Absolutamenteno.(Absolutely not). You are not getting involved.”Oh fuck yes I am.
“Like hell I’m not. Call your cousin up, Ed.”We can handle this shit right the fuck now.
“I don’t have his number anymore. That was like ten burner phones ago.”What?
“I’m not playing.”
“Neither am I. What do you think? Every time a new iPhone dropped, I was waiting in line at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store,and they transferred all of my contacts over for me? As if,cabrón, that’s not what happened. I have no idea what his number is now.” She’s talking fast and moving even faster.
Since Payton walked off a minute ago, she’s managed to pack up all of her shit and power walk toward a different exit. If I got this girl on skates, she’d be the fastest one on the fucking ice.
“Ed, slow the fuck down. Where are we going? We need to figure this shit out. And give me your fucking bag, you demon.”
