"So, your uncle is always away? What does he do?" Marina asked, leaning over her empty tray of food. Hunter finished off his food and nodded a little, taking a sip of water.
"He sells this weird low cost chemical fueling system for power generators." He waved his hand a little when he saw the interest on her face. "Before you ask, I have no idea how it works. I might ask when I see him next...whenever that is."
"Where is he now?"
"Congo, I think. He's usually in some third world country selling them to missionary projects or other third world support organizations. He was in Haiti for a long time after the quake, I know."
"He sounds like a really nice guy. I'm sorry that you never get to see him." She said, reaching over the table and grabbing his hand. Hunter blushed a little and looked down at her hand in his. Marina and he had been hanging out a lot lately ever since they started making a new sword for Hunter. He liked her and he liked hanging out with her, but getting this close made him think about Brooke and against his own will, it made him nervous about actually entering into a relationship with her. On top of that, he wasn't sure if he saw her that way yet. He knew that she saw him that way, which made hanging out with her all the more painful. He didn't want to think about the look on her face when he was finally honest with her to tell her that he wasn't interested. At least not interested in that way. He couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of warmth coming off of her hand at that moment though.
"Well, I just wish that my aunt were as-" He stopped when he saw the time. He let out a sigh then looked up at Marina. "I should go. If I get there too late, I'll be locked out." He said, pulling his hand away, much to the disappointment of Marina, and standing. She did the same and they took care of their trays quickly before heading outside. Hunter adjusted his backpack on his shoulders a little and looked out at the hill before turning back to Marina. She had a pensive look on her face and she was twisting her hands together a little anxiously.
"So, you're coming back tomorrow night?" She asked quietly, brushing a little bit of hair behind her ear. Hunter swallowed nervously and nodded a little. He could tell that she was on the brink of blurting something out and he really didn't want her to.
"Well, I'll see you later, Marina." He said stepping forward and hugging her. She put her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the faint smell of smoke like from a campfire. "You're a good friend, Marina." He said and he felt her body stiffen for a moment before pulling away from him. Hunter waved at her then turned and started walking toward the hill. It wasn't a long walk to his aunt's house, but it wasn't a short walk either. It was around 8:00 when he was walking up to the medium two-story soft blue house with white shudders on the windows. He climbed the three steps up to the porch and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
"Coming!" He smiled when he heard his cousin's voice. She was part of the only reason he decided to come home at all. The door swung open to reveal Christina, a 17 year old girl with a thick mane of auburn hair in a typical state of disarray, a pair of blue glasses tangled within. She smiled and hugged him tightly, standing on her toes.
"It's good to see you, Chrissy." Hunter said, hugging her back, lifting her up enough to walk inside and close the door. She finally pulled away and looked up at him. She wasn't a lot shorter than Hunter. Maybe a few inches. She had a smattering of freckles covering her face and thin eyes, mostly because she was always smiling.
"My goodness! Since when did you become all...broad-shoulder and biceps and muscles and stuff." She said with a giggle, putting her hands on his arms to squeeze his muscles. "What happened to the little stick person that I used to be able to pick up?" She slugged him in the shoulder and he laughed. "You'll have to show me some tricks and maybe I can work on getting rid of this spare tire around my stomach." She said, pinching the extra weight around her waist. He scoffed and patted her arm.
"Unless, you want to exchange the little bit of extra weight around your waist for big beefy arms then you don't want tricks from me." He said, shifting so he was giving her a hug from the side. She sighed a little looking down at her stomach. She was a little big, but it was nothing that would stop her from being the lovely girl that everyone knew her as. It really bothered her more than anyone else. "Hey, remember what I said last winter?" She nodded and smiled up at him a little. "Good, now show me to my room." She laughed a little and rolled her eyes, leading him to the stairs.
"Is that Hunter?" Hunter sighed when he heard his Aunt Lisa's voice and he hid his face a little when she came around the corner. "Hey, good to see you, kid." She gave him a quick hug around the neck and looked him up and down once. "I like the haircut. Anyway, I'm about to go to bed. Hunter, shovel the drive tomorrow if it snows. We're supposed to get snow, so get up early. Good night, sweetie." She said, leaning over and kissing Christina on the forehead.
"Good night, mom." She said softly, watching her mom climb the stairs. Her door closed and Hunter relaxed a little. "Now, then. Come with me." She said, leading him past the stairs to a small room past the kitchen. "I pulled out the couch. You can sleep here. Now drop off your bag and we'll get to work on your meal of the visit." Hunter sighed and slipped his backpack off placing it on the bed.
"Isn't this a little silly, Chrissy?"
"That's head chef Chrissy, to you, sous chef." She said, poking him in the chest. "And besides, are you too cool to cook with your favorite cousin or something?" Hunter laughed and put his hands up in surrender.
"I'll never be too cool to cook with my favorite cousin. So, where is Steve then?" She smacked him again and he laughed. "I'm kidding. Come on. Let's go cook something." She narrowed her eyes at him a second then lead him to the kitchen. "Speaking of, where are the twins?"
"Julia and Steve drove in early this morning, so they said they were going to Skype with their friends a little bit then turn in early." Hunter nodded and then leaned on the counter as Chrissy walked around the kitchen, gathering ingredients. "Well, today we will be making a pasta pesto." She said with a laugh.
"Do you remember how this whole thing started?" Hunter said with a faint smile on his face. "Eggs. I was...oh, how old was I?"
"10. You woke up at 6 in the morning with some crazy nightmare. I showed you how to make eggs." She said with a smile as she pulled out the food processor. "Then the next time, it was cookies. Then bread."
"Then pasta. And now we're doing pasta pasta."
"Pesto."
"Whatever." She scoffed and turned to him.
"Girls like a guy who can cook, Hunter. You gotta learn how to cook, so you can attract all the ladies." Hunter must have done something, but she gasped and pointed accusingly at him. "Do you have a girlfriend?!" She squeaked, shoving him a little bit. Hunter blushed and took a deep breath.
"I don't have a girlfriend, but I did have a girlfriend." He said quietly. She smacked his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Hunter shrugged and stepped away from her.
"First of all, stop hitting me. Second of all, you know how your mom doesn't like me around here and all of my 'magic pagan hoodoo.'"
"Well, you're going to tell me, but first we need to start on this pesto." She handed him a knife and a bag of basil. "Cut that open. You're good with a knife so I trust you won't cut yourself."
"I use a sword. That's about 2 feet too long. I can't use a knife to save my life." He set the bag down then carefully stabbed into the plastic. "Okay. Now what?" He asked, handing her the knife back. She grabbed the basil and held it in his face.
"Smell. It smells fresh. Smells good." She inhaled and smiled before putting a handful of the leaves into the food processor. "Now..." She said tearing open a bag of pine nuts. "Pine nuts. And parsley and olive oil." She added the ingredients to the food processor and then hit the button to start grinding it up. As it was going, she filled a pot with water and put it on the stove. "Now, then." She said, stopping the food processor. "Tell me about this girl." She said taking off the lid and tasting the pesto.
"I...well, okay." He couldn't decide where to start.
"Hunter, we've told each other everything for years. Trust me." Hunter laughed a little then sat on the counter. He finally told her about how he saved Arabella and then dated Brooke, but that made him only feel closer to Arabella, but then she dated Brett and she dated Ethan and now he was starting to develop feelings for Marina, but now he was kind of confused. He wasn't sure how to act, now. Christina listened closely, taking a break to cook some pasta. When Hunter finished explaining everything, she walked over to him and hugged him.
"I'm not going to tell you what to do, except eat because the pasta is ready." She handed him a plate and he smelled it, moaning quietly.
"This smells fantastic." He said, sitting down at the kitchen table with her. She was about to hand him a fork when she pulled it away with a grin. "Oh, right. Uhh...Pine nuts, parsley, olive oil, and basil in the food processor with salt. Cook pasta then mix it together." She smiled and handed him a fork then hugged him a little.
"Well, what are you going to do about Marina?" She said, taking a bite of the pasta.
"I don't know what I should do," he said with a shrug. "I mean, I like her as a friend and I know she likes me and I kind of like her, but I feel like I barely know her. I, at least, know that I don't know her well enough to start dating her."
"I don't know all the answers, so I can't tell you what you should do. I'm no source on dating, since I've never done any dating myself."
"Christina, I trust your opinion more than anyone's." He said, taking a bite of the pasta. "I don't care that you--Sweet Poseidon, this is delicious." He said, looking down at the pasta. Christina laughed and nudged him. "I don't even remember what I was talking about. That's how delicious this is."
"You were talking about how fantastic I am."
"Oh, that's right. I trust your opinion more than anyone else's. No matter how little you've dated. It's not like I'm suddenly an expert because I've had a girl like me." He slipped an arm around her shoulders. "You are my best friend and my favorite cousin. I will always listen to your opinion more than anyone else's because you are an amazing person, so...there." He said, taking another bite of pasta.
"Well, I can say that I am not a fan of this Arabella girl." She said with a nod. "I thought you demigods were supposed to be heroic and honest like...Superman or Hercules." Hunter laughed.
"Superman was an alien not a demigod and the Hercules you know is the Disney version which is possibly the most inaccurate thing ever." She elbowed him and he laughed a little. "I mean, we're still humans just...mega-humans." He sighed a little then took another bite. There was a pause and Hunter finished off his pasta, putting his dish in the sink.
"Thanks, Chrissy." He said, turning toward her. "For being my reason for coming here."
"It's my pleasure." She said, hopping down from the counter and giving him a hug. "Well, get to bed. You have snow to shovel tomorrow. Bright and early!" She said, shoving him toward his room. Hunter smiled a little and walked toward his room.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Chrissy. Again...Thanks."
"Good night, Hunter."
"Good night."