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Gabriel knew that from Becca.
He thought about what Hunter had said: You weren’t at lunch.
Maybe Hunter was every bit as lonely as he was.
“I’m avoiding Nick,” he offered.
Hunter caught the ball again and threw it back to Gabriel. “I get it.”
Gabriel caught it and dribbled, each smack of the ball echoing in the gym, then passed it back, hard. “You never told me why you followed me last night.”
Hunter caught it and returned with equal force. “Maybe you’re not the only one who wants to use his powers.”
“You know that was Alan Hulster’s house. He goes to school here.”
“So?”
“So we could have been caught.”
Hunter scoffed. “Please. You don’t give a crap about getting caught.”
“I give a crap about killing people.”
Hunter frowned. “You didn’t start that fire.”
Gabriel didn’t say anything, just tossed the ball at the basket again. It swished through.
Hunter caught it and passed it back. “They were going to leave that girl in there. If she had died, it still wouldn’t have been your fault.”
“Keep your goddamn voice down.” Gabriel cast a glance at the doors, but they were still alone.
“You saved her life! I can’t believe you ”
Gabriel got in his face and hit him in the chest with the ball.
“Leave it.”
Hunter stared at him, and for half a second, Gabriel wondered if he was going to back down, the way Nick or Chris would.
Or if he was going to fight back, the way he had behind the mall.
But then Hunter smiled and took the ball. “You’re afraid.”
“Of you?” Gabriel raised his eyebrows. “Fat chance, you ”
“No.” Hunter backed off, dribbling the ball as he went. “Of yourself. You pick a fight every time someone might figure you out.” He threw the ball at the basket from some distance down the court a solid three-pointer. It went right in. “You think I don’t wonder if I could have saved my dad and my uncle, if I’d been stronger?“
Gabriel didn’t look at him. That vise grip had his chest again, but it was an entirely different feeling from math class. “You didn’t kill them, Hunter.”
“We can talk blame all day. What difference does it make?”
It shouldn’t make a difference. But it did.
Hunter threw another basket. “My dad used to say, ‘If you can’t fix what you did wrong, at least try to make something else right.’”
He was talking about house fires.
But Gabriel thought of Layne.
