Chapter Text
Hunter
He was only doing this for the money, he assured himself.
Well, the money and a home-cooked meal. He couldn’t decide which was more of a rarity as a college student.
A small stipend and a non-campus prepped dinner sounded like a dream come true.
And yet, the whinging English major in front of him was still fretting over his participation—to his indignation—despite already having convinced him with the former two incentives.
“Pu-lease, Hunteeer. I promise it’ll be easy peasy, lemon squeezy!”
“For the last time, I already said—“
“I’ll even babysit Flapjack for you. Whenever you want!”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Please, please, please, please.”
‘In one ear and out the other…’
The exasperated junior whipped around, a few inches from slugging his bookbag into his classmate, who was now groveling on the tiled floor with interlocked hands cupped high over her head. Her copper beanie flopped forward with the weight of several buttons pinned to the fabric, dangling over her cropped waves of hair.
A sigh escaped between his upper two teeth.
“Luz. I said I’d do it.”
He felt a mild heat creep into his cheeks as several students in the lecture hall corridor observed the duo, their antics prompting an uneven chorus of chuckles, with some passersby gawking with incredulity.
Luz, oblivious to the gathering spectators, sprang up from her crouched stance and wrapped her reedy arms around Hunter’s shoulders with an unprecedented amount of force.
“Ohh, mil gracias, no sé qué haría sin tí!”
She rocked him against her pivoting torso and it took every ounce of willpower in his body not to break free from the embrace. Her breath smelled like gummy bears.
“I promise you, it’s gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”
“… I’m sure.”
Hunter gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he attempted to shuffle sideways down the hall in hopes of shrugging off his bubbling peer, debating if it were any more possible to become further annoyed.
To his immense relief, she detached herself from his flank but still stayed a bit too close to comfort as he sauntered off. Pulling up his tote so it wouldn’t slip off of his side, the college junior twisted two of his fingers loosely around the fraying hem of the strap, as the underclassman rambled on.
“Okay, now I know you probably remember the gist of the project.” Without warning, Luz summoned a chocolate bar out of nowhere, unfurled it, and proceeded to make a lopsided bite into the brown block with a loud crunch.
‘Jesus Christ...’
“Buuut, I’ll provide you with more details here—just a sec,” she garbled, still munching on the treat.
It was like a puppy trying to keep up with his long strides while simultaneously bouncing ahead to stare sparkly-eyed back at him. And her smile, flecked with mottled shavings of chocolate, was so wide that he wondered if it was starting to hurt her face.
“Fine.”
He inhaled while counting—one, two, three, four—in his mind, exhaling when they both rounded the corner to the set of double glass doors.
Fresh air would ease the third-year's escalating headache, he hoped.
Tawny yellow and burnt orange leaves fluttered outside the lecture hall, the early October air pungent with evergreens and smoldered campfires. It was still afternoon, the golden overcast of the late sun’s rays blanketing the Western Connecticut State campus.
The physics major felt the tension in his neck and irritation dissipate as he reveled in the crisp breeze that fluttered around his plaid sweater. Even Luz’s energy, which could be matched by very few, had little effect on him now that he had escaped from an over-hour-long seminar and out onto the autumnal grounds.
Humming to herself, the zestful sophomore herded him over to a stone bench that was positioned under a still-maturing oak tree, its warm leaves vibrating in the wind against the outstretched limbs.
Content, Hunter sat down closest to the undergrowth, subconsciously wanting a view from below the shrubbery as he withdrew his water bottle from his satchel.
“So,” he broke the minute silence, mentally preparing himself for yet another one of Luz’s monologues. In hindsight, being friends with the second-year had allowed him to practice his interpersonal abilities—not that he had many when they initially met—particularly within the listening comprehension department.
“What is it you’re doing again? An experiment?”
Luz flipped up her cotton, cat-eared hood on top of her beanie from behind the acid-washed jacket she had donned, her eyes betraying her excitement.
“A social experiment. It’s a collaboration between some of the arts and science clubs.” She took another obnoxious chomp from her sugary snack.
“Mmhm. And what do we have to do? Hug each other?”
“Err… yeah! Kinda.”
She flexed her jaw against the melting bar, savoring the sweetness as Hunter clicked his bottle cap open to rehydrate himself. Luz suspended the half-eaten confectionery in front of his face, offering him a snicket, to which he tersely declined.
After a momentary interlude of candy chewing and water gulping, Luz glanced sideways to watch the foliage dance along the pavement, stuffing the wrapper in her denim pocket. A few leaves skidded in front of the pair, with the sophomore taking the opportunity to clamp them under her high tops, crackling them under her toes.
“Kind of?” Hunter pressed, taking another swig from the glass vial.
“Uh-huh. Except it’s hugging… with your lips..?”
Liquid burst from Hunter's mouth, a heated dam breaking from his throat and flooding onto the concrete. He felt Luz’s palm rap against his hunched back as he strained his windpipe against the watery struggle it was now up against, fervently downing another cup to soothe the spasming.
Yet despite the burning in his esophagus, the third-year managed to croak out an involuntary, “K-kiss… ing?”
How he couldn’t recall that smooching a complete stranger was a major component of the experiment mystified him beyond measure.
“Oh man, I wish I could have caught that on camera!”
Luz appeared to be processing a plethora of emotions across her face: innocence, amusement, pity, and—above all—eagerness.
“You alright?” she queried, tucking her lips together. “Hangin’ in there?”
He ignored her, instead washing down another bout of hacking he felt coming on. The tips of his ears felt like they were on fire.
“Kissing?” he hissed at a lower volume, once he was able to irrigate his throat and catch his breath.
She nodded—why the hell was she nodding with so much enthusiasm—retrieving a folded flier from her coat pocket.
The crumpled advertisement, which was now upside down in her grasp (was it covered in Sailor Moon stickers..?), displayed an eloquent header font that Hunter could barely make out.
“The kissing project!” she proclaimed, holding up her creation with the designated title three inches from his face as if it was her firstborn child. “Picture this: no music, no special effects, and absolutely no pretense. Just two people being as vulnerable, passionate, or awkward as they want!”
Hunter stared at her.
Luz took that as her cue to resume her pitch.
“Isn’t it incredible? We already did some practice runs and everyone who volunteered had a great experience. Loads of endolphins to go around!”
“... endorphins.”
“Yeah, those things!” She recreased the poster up, less skillfully than it was previously pleated but folded nonetheless, handing it off to her baffled peer.
‘She’s only in her second year of undergrad and she’s already losing her mind.’
Another current of air weaved its way between the two students, sending a chill down Hunter’s backside. Goosebumps prickled at the surface of his skin, an unfortunate concoction of spreading apprehension and his dropping internal temperature.
“I… I don’t know, Luz.”
He was looking up at the growing oak again, eyeing the silhouette of the cross-section of branches and vegetation swaying against the gilded sky. The flier stayed wedged between his fist, unmoving as he concentrated on the tree above the duo, the cool air blowing across his face. Out of his peripheral vision, the English major mimicked his actions, tipping her calico ears backward to stare up into the seasonal reverie.
The two fell into a comfortable silence before Hunter realized that the sun was beginning to set, the warm sky now transitioning into a cooler, purple hue.
Luz must have sensed his uneasiness, her hand brushing over his own, still clenched around the crinkled paper.
“Hey, you know what?” she piped up. “I totally understand if you don’t want to do it.”
She offered his knuckles and digits a soft squeeze. “But… would you at least sleep on it? We only need to find one more pair. And it wouldn’t just be a favor for the student organizations. But for me too.”
The sophomore never failed to surprise him. Sure, she was chaotic and borderline insufferable at times. But she was extremely capable—even more so than himself, he’d wager—and her compassion was enough to make a saint envious.
He felt his mouth tugging upward as he regarded the empathetic young woman slumped against the bench next to him.
Her sidelined gaze met his own and, before he could respond, he saw it: the faintest trace of mirth shimmering in her eyes.
“Plus, I know you aren’t currently seeing anyone.”
There it was.
‘And smart-aleck. Not to mention a smart-aleck.’
Hunter let out a sound that was a mixture of a huff and a groan of frustration, feeling a sudden warmth bloom across his cheeks and over his ears. He tugged on the unrestrained piece of hair that always seemed to find its way hovering over the bridge of his nose, the sweltering of humiliation spreading up to his scalp.
“Y-you… how do you know I’m not?"
She grinned. And he hated that she could.
“So I'm wrong?”
Defeat did not come easily to the physics major.
But he knew when he had been bested.
Scowling and blushing, he folded his arms against his chest, earning a genuine hoot of laughter from Luz.
“That’s what I thought,” she snickered, still facing him. “But in all seriousness, Hunter, it would just be one kiss. No date, no obligations, no strings attached. And also—”
He registered her drop in tone, shifting his now softening glare towards his friend.
“I’m worried about you. I know we haven’t talked much this year, but I… I just thought you would be a wonderful participant for this project.” She smiled at him, almost pensively, and it reminded him of something she had called him when they had first met in their bygone years with kindness in her eyes.
‘A bad but sad boy.’
He felt… well, he wasn’t quite sure how or what he felt.
But whatever it was, it touched him. More than anything had in a long time.
It was no secret that Hunter had ostracized himself from his band of friends, devoting most if not all of his time to his studies. A part of him was merely convinced that educational obligations took precedence and that kinships were mere distractions; distractions that would not withstand three to five years of countless credit hours, self-discipline, and grit.
And yet the other part of him felt regret.
Especially now, seated next to one of his only confidantes.
Unraveling his limbs, Hunter pivoted on the bench, gripping the cool stone underneath his thighs.
“D-do…” he stammered, suddenly feeling overheated. “Do I get to choose who... who I k-kiss?”
Though the college junior was no newcomer when it came to the art of lip-locking, romance was… not his forté. He speculated that he could easily count on a single hand how many short-term relationships he had been in—or attempted to be in—all of them ending in a similar fashion. And the looming notion that he would be better off on his own than with a counterpart.
“Ah, no, unfortunately not,” Luz interrupted his brooding, tapping under her lower lip in deliberation. “Oh, but! We assign everyone their partner based on a short questionnaire. I can send it to you later if you’d like.”
‘Hey, dumbass. Remember that new bird cage you’re saving up for Flapjack?’
He sighed, resting his elbow on the back of the bench while balancing his chin in his palm.
By now, he was ready to return to his apartment. The draining warmth across the campus was causing his fingertips to numb, the wind biting around his ears. Before long, the shortening days would soon be followed by frost glistening over the school grounds, with students huddled in groups trudging to class and chasing after the condensed vapor clouding from their breaths.
He wanted to relish the departing season for as long as possible.
“If I agree,” he grumbled, more or less to himself. “How do I know I won’t get sick from the—”
“I’m glad you asked!”
Her vehemence, he swore, was not helping settle the wave of dread that was engulfing his stomach.
“We’ve also included a medical agreement and consent waiver at the bottom of the form if you’re worried about catching a bug.” She stuck her tongue out to emphasize ‘bug,’ as if it was somehow a pantomime used to make her argument more compelling.
To further captivate him, she leaned into his side, encroaching onto his claimed turf of the bench before batting her eyelashes.
“Aaaand, don’t forget about the banquet. I’ll be hosting it at mí mamá’s house the following week as a thank you to everyone.”
He wasn’t sure how she did it, but she wriggled her eyebrows at him in rapid succession, nudging him in the side with her bony elbow. “There will also be chivo guisado picante there.”
‘Oh, god.’
The mere prospect of a steaming bowl of goat stew with a side of freshly cooked rice and fried plantains in front of him was enough of a catalyst, saliva foaming up from his taste buds.
‘She just had to bring up spicy chivo.’
Luz, who was still meandering over what dishes she and her mother wanted to prepare, paused to take a gulp of air, before hurriedly adding: “I guess the money is a plus, too.”
Hunter couldn’t help but suppress a smile; typical Luz—valuing her mom's cooking over cash.
He pushed himself up from the bench, lifting his bag strap over his shoulder and stuffing his frigid hands in his pockets. The flier tickled against his wrist, the wrinkled page reminding him of its presence.
“I’ll… I’ll think about it.”
“Really? You mean it?”
There were those puppy eyes again.
“Yeah. Now c’mon, I wanna find a candy bar.”
Luz, giddy yet again from happiness, hopped up to trail after him down the paved path. “I knew you’d consider it! Besides,”
And before he could protest, she was pinching his cheek, her fingers still warm for some inexplicable reason.
“Who wouldn’t want to kiss this face?”
Features ablaze, Hunter shoved her beneath the draping cat ears, nearly propelling the ecstatic teenager into an undisturbed pile of leaves.
“Don’t push your luck.”