Through the Dark

Chapter 18: Friendship And Family

Jesse Chambers is the daughter of the famous inventor, Harrison Wells. Due to that, she gets attention and very special treatments. She knows not many adore her father due to his arrogance, but nevertheless, she's proud to be his daughter.

She clapped along with the rest of the school as Harrison Wells came down the stage. Her father's talk has just finished, and Jesse felt pride as they all stood to give him a standing ovation. Although, she wondered why her Dad kept looking on one spot of the crowd. Harrison always had a knack at being speaker; he knew when to look, and where. But during the duration of the talk, he kept glancing on a certain part of the crowd.

But he still managed to deliver the speech well.

She did not approach him, knowing they would see each other at home. She knew her Dad already have tons of praises at his feet, anyway. Thus, she decided to find Andrew Cohen.

As she was searching for Andrew, or Drew for short, she saw him talking to a boy. The boy looks new around here. He has black messy hair and emerald green eyes.

She approached them cautiously. The boy introduced himself as Hunter Hartford. If she recalls, their new chemistry professor's last name is also Hartford, but Jess didn't ask. The boy looked sheepish, reminding her of the young Andrew, before high school happened and young Andrew, the loner, was no more. When the boy looks at her, she saw something there.

In her mind, Jess found Hunter Hartford's demeanor endearing. She decided to call him 'squirt'. The boy looked abashed, but agreed to it. She asked the younger boys to a café near the school, and although hesitant at first, Squirt agreed.

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When they arrived at the café, the owner, Jose, gave them one of the best seats. The teenagers gratefully took it and settled down.

"So, Squirt, you're new here, right?" She asked, and Hunt nodded, "Why did you move out of London?"

She saw Squirt gulped. Something must've happened back there, and it must've been bad. "Complications happened," was his only answer. Jess felt for him. Hunt looked obviously sad.

"It's alright, Hunt," Drew consoled, "At least, you're here now. All of it, whatever that was, was in the past." Hunter only gave both of them a thankful smile.

"I think we ought to stay away from that subject, right, Squirt? But just so you know, we're friends now. If you want to confide with something, we're here."

"Thanks, Jess."

Their topics soon moved on. From the reason why Squirt and his family moved away, they learned that he doesn't have a mother. He said she died when she gave birth to Hunt, and him and his Dad were the only ones together since then. Hunter told them stories about his other friends, back in London. In turn, they told him stories about their childhood.

"Our families are friends," Andrew stated, "So, we practically grew up together. I have an older sister-- she's in Manchester, working as a computer programmer."

"I'm an only child," Jess told Squirt.

When their order arrived, both Andrew and Jess were surprised to see Hunter brought out what seemed to be pills from his bag.

"Hey," Drew nudged Hunter, "You're not on drugs, are you, Hunt?"

"Nah, that's just ridiculous, Drew," Hunter said with a small laugh, "It's my meds."

"Meds?! As in medicines?! Why?" Jess exclaimed.

Hunter shrugged, "I have lymphoma. Got diagnosed a few months prior coming here."