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As Hunter laid in his crappy twin bed, he stared at his phone and ignored his alarm clock that had been blaring in his right ear for nearly three minutes. He was staring at his Instagram profile, but not his main one that had regular comments from Spike, Minty, Dee, and everyone he knew from school. He was in a daze as he couldn’t peel his eyes away from his secret account, FreeWadey.

Over the summer, not even three weeks after his [i]relationship[/i] with Minty ended, Hunter went through a phase of just not caring about who he hurt. There was a lot of people who were just used for sex and for a while, he enjoyed it. When it all came down to it, he was feeling better by filling the void by whatever thot fell for the cheap lines Spike told him to use. Double dates and flings came and went, but that empty feeling didn’t. It persisted like a sprained ankle and it wouldn’t go away.

It’s why Hunter retreated to the internet. It was easy and being whoever he wanted to bring him some fulfillment. So he made the second Instagram account. Hardly anyone knew his middle name and nobody would think twice if he used a photo of him from three years ago, dressed in a killer whale costume. It was stupid but it gave him the secret identity he needed.

He spent a week just going around some artsy accounts, taking in that side of Instagram. Secretly, he had a thing for art. Half the time, he didn’t understand it, but he enjoyed looking at it. But then he came across one profile that drew him in.

Throughout the entire summer, Hunter spent it filling a void with someone he felt a connection with. Their name was Niki. He didn’t need any more than that. They were beautiful and, in a time when he needed something different and a reason to not feel so shitty, especially when his home life was shit, Hunter found a sanctuary in their eyes, feeling safe, feeling captivated. Niki was the person he could divulge some thoughts he never could tell anyone. 

And admittedly, Hunter’s own confusion about who he was attracted to has always been something he struggled with. Niki never made him feel like he had to pretend. 

[color=sienna]“But now, it’s back to the real world.”[/color] He sighed out heavily.

Hunter stood up and finally shut off his alarm.

With a stretch, he dragged his feet across his dirty floor until he heard his phone go off. As the light lit up and he checked the notification, he saw it was for his second Insta. He read it and he smiled.

[quote]Thank you! ♥ I hope yours is amazing as well! Text me if you ever feel it’ll be too much, okay?[/quote]
As soon as he responded and sent that message, his stomach was the epicenter of a swarm of butterflies, fluttering inside him, lifting him up and filling him with the right amount of serotonin to make whatever negative thoughts he had disappeared. Such a simple gesture, yet Hunter’s mood had taken a complete 180. He was moments away from letting a sour expression carry him all the way to the kitchen and into his car, but now, as he grabbed a protein bar from the cupboard, snagged his keys from a bowl by the door, and drove off in his Eclipse, Hunter wasn’t feeling depressed or anything of the sort.

He was smiling and ready to face the day in whatever it brought.

[center]~[/center]

Hunter lived close to Rosefell, so getting there was a matter of not driving too crazy in the seven minutes it took him to get from his house to the school. The problem, of course, wasn’t him but rather the backed up traffic. He was less than thirty feet away from the parking lot and he found himself proceeding like a snail. The time he spent honking at the quote-unquote “excellent drivers” went wasted after the first seven. Even someone as impatient as Hunter knew there was no point.

So he allowed himself to relax. He turned on some Underoath and blared his stereo. It was chaotic and noisy, but it relaxed him. And he definitely had his reasons. If nothing else, Liberty High shut down and the students who were expected to attend their fancy school were now going to join those who didn’t get a say in which high school they attended. 

When Hunter first learned of this, he didn’t know what to feel. He didn’t have anything against anyone from Liberty. He remembered a few of them when Rosefell would kick their ass at state and how they also beat them one year. The rivalry was intense but healthy. Hunter sometimes took it too far, but it was all in the name of fun. Despite this, Hunter couldn’t help but think about the rest of that email and how the Rosefell students had to serve as tour guides for the Liberty students coming in.

Hunter glossed over the list of the others, but he memorized who he had to show around.

[color=sienna]“Nikolai Zabrecky,”[/color] Hunter said aloud. 

The name didn’t mean anything to him, but then again, he didn’t know many people at Liberty. A few friends and some acquaintances he met at parties. And Juno. Can’t forget about the redhead he hurt the most. But he didn’t know this Niko person. He sounded like some Russian spy or something.

Hunter laughed at the thought of one of Vladimir Putin’s agents attending his high school. It would, at the least, make things interesting.

He sat with that thought as he pulled into an empty spot in the parking lot. After a few minutes of enjoying some music, Hunter grabbed his bag from the backseat, hoisted it over his shoulder, and got out. He took a few moments to straighten his [url=https://i.imgur.com/A3H9zbH.jpg]shirt and jacket[/url] because even Hunter Quinn cared about his appearance. Satisfied, he briskly walked across the parking lot. When he was about to cross the street, he saw Rico just up ahead. As he was about to call out to him, he saw his friend have a close brush with death.

[color=sienna]“Holy shit!”[/color] Hunter ran over to the Spanish romancer. [color=sienna]“Jesus, Rico,”[/color] he stopped by his side, looking at his friend, concerned. [color=sienna]“You okay, bro? Looks like you let your guard down. Almost met your maker there.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent][/color]