Knowing You

Chapter 4 - It's Just High School, Right?

Mia's POV

Despite Friday night's insanity, the rest of the weekend passes quickly and quietly. Before we know it, it's Monday morning.

Hunter is in my driveway by seven thirty, a full fifteen minutes earlier than usual, and I barely have time to grab a granola bar before rushing out the door to meet him.

When I walk outside, he's leaning against the hood of his car, looking effortlessly perfect, and I can't help but wonder how he manages to be so attractive in just our school uniform.

Seriously, it's not fair.

He smiles as I approach, and I smile back, but as I get closer, I realize that there's something underneath his expression. A shadowed look on his face that's been there since the party.

Clearly, despite our talk the other night, he's still bracing himself for today like it might actually be the end of the world.

"Morning beautiful," Hunter says, moving to open the passenger side door for me.

I shake my head. "I rushed out of the house so fast I barely even had time to check my hair," I reply as I climb into the passenger seat. "You're early."

"Yeah, sorry about that, couldn't sleep," he replies. He shuts the door and walks around the car, climbing into the driver's seat. "After a while, I just decided to get up. Figured it couldn't hurt to get to school a little early today."

"It's fine," I reply with a wave of my hand. "I just wish I'd had time to grab something better for breakfast."

Hunter reaches into the back seat then and retrieves a small, brown paper bag. He sets it in my lap, and I look down to see that it's a muffin from my favorite bakery.

I look up at him, surprised, and he shrugs. "Told you, I couldn't sleep," he says. "I had some time on my hands."

I lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, and he smiles before starting the car and reversing out of the driveway.

"So why couldn't you sleep?" I ask, breaking off a piece of muffin. "Was it your parents?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, my dad's at some fundraiser for his alma mater until the end of the week," he replies. "Thing's have been pretty quiet."

"Then this is about the school merger," I say.

"Yeah," he replies, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I've been trying to let it go, but I just.. have a bad feeling about all this. Don't you?"

I take another bite of muffin and think about it for a moment.

If I'm being honest, I guess I am a little worried. I mean there's going to be an entire flock of new kids at our school. As if that weren't stressful enough, some of them are going to be incredibly hostile towards my boyfriend?

Doesn't exactly sound like my idea of fun.

But if we're going to get through this school year in one piece, one of us probably needs to be the voice of reason here, and if it needs to be me, then so be it. Admitting that I'm worried at this point wouldn't help anything.

"No, I don't," I reply, and Hunter gives me a look of disbelief. "I'm serious," I continue. "I think everything will be fine. I mean, no matter who's there, it's still just high school, right? Nothing we haven't done before."

Hunter glances over at me, probably to see if I'm telling the truth or not so I give him a reassuring smile. He nods and turns his attention back to the road. "You're probably right," he says. "I'm sure I'm overthinking it."

"Probably?" I say. "Come on, Hunter, this relationship is never going to work if you don't trust me blindly."

He cracks a smile and lets out a short laugh. It looks like at least a little of the weight is off his shoulders now, and I breathe a sigh of relief.