Ari's POV
Hunter stared at me like I had completely lost my mind, like the words that had just come out of my mouth didn't belong to someone he had spent the last few years getting used to. His brows pulled together slowly, his lips parting slightly as if he wanted to respond immediately but didn't even know where to begin. For a few seconds, he said nothing at all, just looking at me with a mix of confusion and disbelief that grew clearer the longer the silence stayed between us.
Then he let out a small breath, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. "Ari… you can't be serious," he said, his tone firm but uncertain at the same time, like he wanted to believe I was joking even though something in him was starting to doubt that. "You're telling me you can hear people's thoughts? That's not possible."
He leaned back slightly, studying my face like he expected to see some kind of crack in my expression, some hint that I would laugh and admit I was messing with him, but I didn't give him that. Instead, I just looked back at him calmly, not reacting the way he expected me to.
"You don't believe me," I said, not as a question but as a simple statement, because it was obvious he didn't.
He scoffed lightly, running a hand through his hair as he shifted his weight on the bench, still staring at me like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve. "Of course I don't," he replied, letting out a short laugh that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're basically telling me you can read minds. That's not something people can just do."
He paused for a moment before leaning forward slightly, his gaze sharpening as a challenge slipped into his expression. "Alright then," he added, his voice a little more serious now. "If you can hear thoughts, tell me what I'm thinking right now."
The way he said it made it clear he expected me to fail, like this was the part where everything would fall apart and prove him right, but I didn't answer him the way he wanted. Instead, I let out a breath and shook my head slightly, my gaze shifting away from him for a moment as I considered a different way to prove it.
"How about this," I said after a second, my voice calm, not rushed or defensive. "Instead of that, I'll tell you something you've been thinking about for a long time. Something you haven't said out loud to me, and if I'm wrong, then you can call me crazy, and I won't argue with you."
That caught him off guard in a way I expected, because it wasn't the direction he thought I would take. He frowned slightly, clearly confused now, his body tensing just a little as he tried to figure out what I meant. "What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice slower this time, more cautious than before.
I didn't drag it out or build it up. I just said it.
"You like me."
The words left my mouth simply and directly, without hesitation, without anything to soften the impact, and the reaction was immediate.
'What the fuck?' The thought from him slammed into my head so loudly that it almost felt like he had shouted it, even though he hadn't spoken yet. His eyes widened at the exact same time, his entire body going still for a brief moment before he repeated the words out loud almost exactly the same way.
"What the fuck?" he said, his voice filled with shock as he stared at me like he didn't even recognize me anymore. He shook his head quickly after that, like he was trying to push the idea away before it could settle, already preparing to deny it. "No, that's not…" he started, but I didn't let him finish.
"Don't bother denying it," I cut in, my tone still calm, almost too calm for what I had just said. That stopped him immediately, his words dying in his throat as he looked at me again, this time with something closer to unease creeping into his expression.
"I already know," I continued, not raising my voice, not showing any sign of doubt. "I knew the second it changed."
His confusion deepened, mixing with something heavier now, something he didn't want to name but couldn't ignore either. "What are you talking about?" he asked, quieter this time, like he was no longer sure what was real in this conversation and what wasn't.
I leaned back slightly, keeping my gaze steady as I answered him. "I know when you stopped seeing me the same way," I said. "When it stopped being just… talking, just passing time, and became something else." He didn't interrupt me this time, and that alone told me enough. "And I know you told someone about it," I added, watching the way his expression shifted again, the way his shoulders stiffened slightly without him realizing it.
"Kal," I said, and that was the moment everything changed for him. His eyes widened more than before, and I could feel it clearly now, the way his thoughts were scrambling, trying to make sense of how I could possibly know that.
"You told him how you felt," I continued, my voice still steady, like I was just stating something obvious. "And he told you not to say anything. He also told you it was a bad idea and that I'm… not someone you should get close to." I paused briefly before finishing, "He said I look like someone with a dark cloud over my head and that you should stop being friends with me before it gets worse."
The silence that followed was heavy, and for the first time since I started talking, Hunter didn't have an immediate response. He just stared at me, his face completely changed now, the disbelief from earlier replaced with something much more real and much harder to ignore.
"How do you know that?" he finally asked, his voice low and unsteady in a way I hadn't heard from him before. "You couldn't have overheard that. You weren't even there."
I gave a small shrug, like the answer was simple, like it didn't carry any seriousness at all. "I told you already," I said. "I can hear your thoughts."
He shook his head again, but this time it wasn't as confident as before. It was slower, uncertain, like he was trying to hold on to disbelief even though it was slipping through his fingers. I could feel the shift in him, the way his mind was moving faster now, trying to catch up with everything I had just said, trying to find some other explanation that didn't involve accepting the truth.
Whether he believed me or not didn't really matter to me anymore.
"Why, Ari?" he asked suddenly, his voice serious, though there was something behind it now that hadn't been there before. "Why are you telling me this now? You're leaving tomorrow, Ari. Why would you say something like this now?"
That question made me pause, not because I didn't expect it, but because I hadn't fully decided on the answer until that moment. I let out a slow breath, looking away from him as I thought about it properly for the first time, the words forming slowly instead of coming out without thought like everything else had.
"Maybe this is just my way of making it easier," I said after a few seconds.
"For who?" he asked immediately.
"For you," I replied, my voice quieter now, though still steady.
He frowned, clearly not understanding, and I leaned forward slightly, resting my arms on my knees as I looked down at the ground. "Kal wasn't wrong," I said. "About me."
He reacted to that right away, shaking his head as if he wanted to reject it before I could even explain. "Don't say that," he said, but I didn't stop.
"I have a dark cloud over me," I continued, my tone calm, almost detached. "I always have, and anyone who gets close to me ends up dealing with it, whether they want to or not." I paused briefly before adding, "So maybe this is better."
He let out a frustrated breath at that, clearly not agreeing, but I didn't give him the chance to argue properly. "If you think I'm weird or crazy," I said, "it'll be easier for you to forget me."
"That's not how that works," he shot back, though his voice didn't carry the same certainty it did before.
"Maybe not," I admitted, pushing myself to stand up, brushing my hands against my clothes as I straightened. "But it's enough."
He looked up at me immediately, something unsettled in his expression now, like he could feel the shift in the moment, the way it was coming to an end whether he liked it or not. "Ari…" he started, but I cut him off before he could continue.
"Don't," I said, my voice firm enough to stop him, and he went quiet.
I didn't look at him as I spoke again, keeping my gaze forward instead. "Tomorrow, I leave," I said. "And once I do, that's it. We're not going to see each other again."
The words felt final in a way that settled deep, but I didn't hesitate as I continued. "So it's better this way. You don't have to deal with me anymore."
He tried to respond, but I kept going, not giving him the chance to interrupt. "I hope when you get out in two years, things are different for you," I said. "I hope you actually get a good life, something better than this." My voice dropped slightly as I added the last part. "And I hope you forget me quickly."
That was all I said, and after that, I turned and walked away without looking back.