Hunter

Hunter was a minor character. He was to be a recurring character in Season 2, and later return for brief guest appearances (mainly flashbacks) in Seasons 4, 5 and 6.

Development
Hunter was developed in 2016, as a character from Jake's past, who would be introduced in Season 2, with a guest arc between 2x10 and 2x19. The two had a history of having feelings for each other as they grew up together, and would develop on the show, and was intended to unravel details of Jake's past. This never happened and ultimately lead to the decision to cut his character completely. Jake was very open about having feelings for Hunter, but Hunter would be apprehensive about getting with Jake, which would later be revealed by the revelation that Hunter was straight and only intended to manipulate Jake with his sociopathic tendencies by leading him on. He was to be brought on the show by showing up at Jake's doorstep one night, claiming his parents kicked him out after discovering he was gay, though the real reason was because he was too much of a handful for his parents. Jake would have taken Hunter in and forced John to provide for him, and sign him up for school.

Hunter was a mute character who could not sing, but auditioned for the club with the help of Andrew, and managed to get in due to his amazing dancing abilities, which would make him unique among the rest of the cast. Hunter's main intentions were to mess with Jake, and didn't really interact with many other characters.

After Jake caught onto his scheme, he made his final ploy by dropping the bomb he was straight, and kissing Emelia right in front of Jake, upsetting Jake. Gabbie would hear about this and then plant some marijuana in his locker, which, upon discovery, would lead to Hunter getting expelled. These events would cause tension between Emelia and Ryan, as Ryan thought Emelia had moved on, as well as solidify John's position as principal after expelling Hunter. Both these developments were moved elsewhere.

During his time on the show, Jake would have sung Katy Perry's The One That Got Away, and Andrew would sing I Want You Back by The Jackson 5, which Hunter would dance to for his audition song - both of which were cut from the show. Hunter would have dance sequences during Moves Like Jagger and The Greatest, and the songs, Chasing Cars, Can't Remember to Forget You, and Never Let Me Go, would have had allusions towards Hunter by Jake and Emelia.

Hunter was officially cut from the show in early 2019 after the writers felt his character didn't add much to she show. His main storylines were with Jake, who already had an abundance of arcs during the shows second season, and Hunter's intention was to bring up stuff from Jake's past for further development. As Jake already had a budding romance with Drew, Hunter's inclusion only made things messier for the writers, and after years or writing, no development of Hunter bringing up stuff from Jake's past was made. When they realized Hunter was nothing more than a plot obstruction, they made the decision to cut his character.

In the very early drafts for the show, Hunter was going to be Christine's grandson, where she would bribe John to allow him to be accepted into the school, which would account for how he came into the show. This concept was later scrapped, though it appears the two still have some relation as both are masters of blackmail. He was also supposed to come back in the shows Fourth Season, in place of the character George. It was going to be Hunter who broke into Jake's house, to seek revenge, and accidentally killed Marilyn (instead of Claudine). However, the writers felt like this was a cheap way to write Hunter as a "bad guy", and felt the timing was random. Instead, the storyline was changed to feature Emma's mother, and a new character, George, was created, who was obsessed with Hannah.