Chapter 5

That evening, Jacob was sitting on the couch and staring into space. College, as predicted, went by extremely slow and he couldn't wait for the weekend but it was only Tuesday.

He was a little nervous that Hunter was coming over. He had to interact with him because they were in a group together. He really wasn't a social person and would much prefer to shut himself in the bedroom all evening.

"Alright, I've got some paper and pens. Tonight we can just make a spider diagram or something to get together our idea's," William said and entered the room. "Hunter should be here any minute."

He was speaking to his brother who was completely zoned out and didn't hear a word he said.

His mum and dad looked at him with a smile.

"Is he staying for dinner?" Grace asked.

"Dunno," William shrugged and walked over to Jacob. "Hey."

Jacob snapped out of his trance. "What were you saying?"

"For the project, tonight we could-" Before he could finish, there was a loud knock at the door. "Oh, that'll be him."

Scott and Grace watched him turned and hurry out of the room. Now that Jacob wasn't still in his own little world, they grabbed his attention.

"Are you okay son?" his mum asked.

Jacob nodded and listened to his brother say hello to his friend.

"It actually took me a while to find the house," Hunter smiled and took off his coat. William took it and hung it over the door.

"It would be if you're not used to the city. I was told that you live on the outskirts of town?"

"Yeah," Hunter smiled. "We're surrounded by fields and a big forest. I don't come into the city very often."

"I could probably show you around sometime," William suggested as they walked towards the living room.

"Sure, that would be great," Hunter said before entering the room. His eyes instantly found Jacob. He was sitting on the couch and fiddling with the sleeves of his jumper.

"Hello," Scott greeted him with a friendly smile. "I'm Scott, William and Jacob's father. This is their mother, Grace."

Jacob watched his mum get up too so she could meet him.

"Hi," Hunter smiled but his gaze kept wandering back to Jacob who very slowly climbed off the couch. He couldn't be bothered with college work but the sooner they did it, the quicker it would be over and done with.

"I can't be bothered either."

"Don't talk to me," Jacob mumbled.

"We'll do the work in the bedroom," William said and led his friend to the stairs. Jacob eventually followed, leaving some space between him and Hunter.

When they were upstairs, Hunter followed William into the bedroom. It gave him an opportunity to have a good look around.

The floor was dark wood and the walls were painted a light blue. The curtains were black because William insisted that they kept out the morning sun so he could sleep in. There was two white chest of drawers, one on the left and one on the right. Hunter could tell who slept at what side of the room, judging by the tidiness.

William is very organised while Jacob seems to be the type of person who would lose his head if it wasn't screwed on.

Hunter stood to the side and allowed Jacob to hurry past so he could get to his bed. He watched him pretty much collapse onto it and sigh with relief. He had the urge to sit with him but thought it would be best to sit on William's bed instead.

When they were sat down, William instantly started talking about ideas for the project. Hunter listened but his mind seemed to be in two different places.

"I bet you'd rather be sleeping."

Jacob leant back against the wall and connected his fingers together so he didn't fidget. He listened to his brother as he talked about sociological theories.

"I thought about linking our campaign to a sport but Jacob doesn't study it so maybe we could just write about the theories?" William suggested. Hunter only just managed to listen to what he said.

"Yeah, sounds good. And it should be easier to write about just the theories too."

Jacob knew a bit about sociology but not as much as his brother, he wasn't the one who had to re-sit the first year.

"It said on the unit guide that we only have to write about three so maybe we could each pick one we like the most and write a few paragraphs and then we can come up with an idea about how to put them into a five-minute video?"

Hunter stared at William before chuckling with disbelief.

"I haven't even looked at the unit guide yet. Is that what we have to do? Make a five-minute video?"

"Yeah, it should be easy, to be honest."

"Alright well, we have a month to get it done so we have loads of time."

"I just like to get stuff out of the way," William grinned and laid back against his cushions.

"I can tell," Hunter didn't think Will would be so keen but he did fail the first year at college which is probably why he was so eager to get things done this time around.

Just then, Grace knocked on the door.

"Hi boys," she beamed. "Hunter I was just wondering if you would like to stay for dinner?"

Jacob glanced at him and it was the first time he noticed his appearance.

Hunter had short black hair with olive skin that made his unusual grey eyes really stand out. He had a strong jaw and was very big built. The more Jacob looked, the more he noticed how muscular he actually was. And he was taller than him, making him overall just a really big person.

He looked like someone who could hold a lot of dominance.

"I'd love to if you're sure that's okay?"

"Yes it's no bother," she smiled. "Do you have any dietary requirements?"

"No. I'll honestly eat anything I'm given."

"You're like Jacob then, not a fussy eater and I bet you eat a lot like him too," she said. "But William on the other hand-"

"Mum," William whined, "go away, we're busy."

Grace rolled her eyes and shot him a grin before turning and leaving the room.

"She'll just go on and on and on if you don't butt in," he chuckled.

"A bit like you then?" Hunter grinned.

William scoffed and shoved him.

Jacob watched in amusement as Hunter shoved him back and William fell off the bed.

"Your smile, it drive's me so crazy."

Jacob's entertained expression altered as he tried to ignore the voice.

"Are you made of metal or something?" William asked, rubbing his shoulder.

Hunter smiled and glanced at Jacob who very quickly diverted his gaze.

"Have you always been shy?"

"Yes, always," Jacob sighed and allowed his eyes to drift around the room. Sometimes when he was uninterested he would respond to the voice like a normal conversation. Boredom made it much harder to ignore it.

"Is there a reason? Or is it just who you are?"

"I think It's just who I am."

Hunter sat back against the wall as William started drawing a spider diagram. He watched the pen move on the paper but he was finding it difficult to concentrate tonight.

"It's sweet."

Jacob chewed the inside of his lip until it stung. He didn't know if being complimented by a voice in his head was creeping him out or not.

"It's not sweet and you're not real, so will you please just be quiet so I can pretend to be at least a little bit normal?"

"But you're very far from normal Jacob. You really don't know how special you are."

"You talk a lot of shi-"

"Jacob?" William snapped his brother out of his deep thought. "Do you have a theory that you'd like to write about?"

"Um," He said quietly, "I-I don't know."

"Have you learned about them all yet?"

He shook his head to say no.

"It's fine, we can talk about it tomorrow." William could tell that he wasn't in the mood to think about college work.

Jacob debated going downstairs. It felt like too much effort to be around Hunter because he was someone new and he couldn't fully relax.

"Your scent is so strong, especially in this room. It's driving me mad."

Jacob frowned with confusion. To him, that really made no sense.

"You'll understand why I say these things soon."

"I hate it when you say that. You're just a voice in my head," he sighed.

"And I hate it when you say that because I can't tell you who I really am, not yet."

Hunter glanced over like he was trying to suppress his emotions from showing. Although, William could tell that he was a little distant tonight.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah." Hunter sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "I've just not felt too well today."

"Well can I get you anything? You don't have to stay for dinner if you're not well."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine, it's nothing I can't get over," he said but even Jacob saw the pain before he covered it with the smile.

"Alright, but there's no way you're throwing up on my bed. Throw up on that one."

Jacob then caught Hunter's eye and as usual, his gaze immediately darted somewhere else. There was something about the way Hunter looked at him that made him feel unusual.

"Any day now and this year of stress and confusion will be over. And I won't have to keep pretending that you mean nothing to me."

Jacob bit hard on his bottom lip to prevent any emotion from showing. He hated how the voice talked about revealing itself. In fact, it was beginning to frighten him. He couldn't predict what it would say next.

"Because Jacob Jones, you will become the centre of attention in my life and I can't wait much longer."