Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 152045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
The football players stand on a platform, dressed in their jeans and jerseys as the head coach speaks at the podium. Kade Caruthers, as always, stands in the center of the lineup, chin raised, and I can almost see the ghost of the smile that always plays on his lips.
But…his green eyes are zoned in and sharp, which I know even if I can’t see them clearly from here, because I’ve known him my whole life. And this? Being awesome and alpha and feeding a crowd? This is his fucking job.
I assume I’ve missed most of the festivities for the night, but I’ve seen it before. Every year. Always the same Sunday in October that kicks off Rivalry Week.
Which technically lasts two weeks.
The second week is the official story. Parade, pranks, football, dance… Yay, fun. Looks great on the school’s Instagram page.
But the first week is just as exciting. Like a pre-game. Something to warm our blood, so it’s nice and hot for the showdown on the field. Parties, illegal pranks, and the prisoner exchange. One of my favorite parts.
For the next two weeks, the Shelburne Falls Pirates, the St. Matthew’s Knights, and the Weston Rebels will exchange one student. House them, feed them, take them to school…
At the end of the two weeks, we release the prisoners back to their respective student bodies, usually unharmed.
Sometimes they do a lot of damage while they’re here, though.
The guy Weston sent us last year got two girls pregnant during his two weeks here, so that was interesting.
This year promises to be no less exciting, because more than a year ago, one of our own turned on us—switched schools. He’ll be standing opposite of the team he once played for on this field very soon. Kade can’t wait to face him.
It’s all he thinks about. And talks about.
I watch as the coach invites Kade up to the podium. He gives his dynamite smile that he gets from his dad, and that makes all the girls feel like their hearts are filled with bubbles, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. By the way the crowd cheers, though, I can guess.
Kill!
Kill some more.
Kill everything and kill everyone.
Roar.
It laces all of his words and actions, because Kade’s pride is at stake. His brother is the turncoat who enrolled at St. Matthew’s, one of our rivals.
Kade has to win.
Pulling out my phone, I scroll the same text thread I’ve reread a hundred times.
I wish you would’ve stayed. Are you up?
He never responded.
Hunter.
Kade’s twin.
He made an appearance last Thanksgiving, but he mostly stayed anywhere I wasn’t. He hung out with his dad and mine for a while in the garage, then he moved to the kitchen with his mom and Addie, their former housekeeper, and then he walked outside, playing with his and Kade’s little sister, A.J., for a while. He didn’t talk much. Almost like we were all strangers to him and didn’t share a thousand memories together.
It was so uncomfortable. Our dads are stepbrothers, and they were best friends long before that. I grew up with Hunter.
But I can’t say his leaving, and transferring schools, was entirely a surprise. He and Kade had always been at odds while growing up, and one day Hunter just broke.
But why did he leave me too? He didn’t meet my eyes once when he came for Thanksgiving.
And he didn’t stay long. Without a word, he was gone. Back to his grandfather’s house an hour away, and St. Matt’s, his new school. I scroll, seeing a picture I sent him of a movie poster.
New Fast movie tonight at eight! I’m sneaking in your favorite candy.
I hoped that maybe in a dark theater where we didn’t have to talk, he might just come and sit, and maybe we could smile and laugh a little.
He never showed.
I ate your candy, I texted him the next day.
Months passed, and I got the hint. He didn’t want to talk.
Fine, then.
He had my number. I tried. If he wants to be friends again, he knows where I am.
But there were days that I couldn’t ignore.
Happy Birthday!!
I wrote in August on his and Kade’s eighteenth birthday, accompanied by a celebratory GIF.
He didn’t text back. He leaves the Read receipts on, though. Kade says it’s because Hunter wants us to know that he’s deliberately ignoring us. I think it’s because he wants us to know that he’s okay. If there’s no indication that communications are getting through, then we’ll come looking for him. He wants that even less than our texts.
Kade had a pool party for his birthday and had all of his friends tag Hunter in pictures, because Kade wanted his twin to know he was living the high life without him.
That’s when Hunter deleted his social media.
Hawke and his girlfriend are going to Chicago for a concert. I’m tagging along. Wanna meet up?