Hera tossed and turned as sleep took its sweet time to seize her consciousness. Hugging herself, she took a deep breath, inhaling Hunter's scent his jacket had caught on. It brought a sure comfort as Hera struggled to keep her tears at bay. It was all in the past, but still so fresh in her memory like it happened just yesterday.
That day, when Hunter left her alone, Hera slumped to the floor, and cried her heart out, hiding her face in her palms. No one was next to her to console. She didn't need them anyway. The only one she wanted was Hunter, but she doubted he would appreciate her presence right now. Only one thought kept digging deep in her brain.
'Would Hunter forgive me?'
She was afraid he would break up with her.
Michael, Samantha and Bianca left as soon as Hunter decided to abandon Hera.. Probably to offer moral support and console their best friend. He was heartbroken, after all.
Eric stared at her for a while, still maintaining a blank look. He and Evelyn spoke in a hushed tone. Hera didn't know how much Eric revealed to her, but judging by the shocked surprise pasted on her face, maybe Eric told her what Hera did with Nathan. Evelyn looked like she still wanted to help her, but she hesitated and followed Eric when he walked away.
Danny was standing right in front of her. Hera wished for the ground to open so that she could jump in and vanish from his sight. Before that, she wanted to know what happened to Nathan. But couldn't dare to ask him.
"Why, Hera?" She heard her brother ask, but she didn't give him any answer. She didn't want to. The only one who'd the right to ask was Hunter. She owed answers only to him, but he was nowhere. Scoffing in disappointment, Danny too walked away. Fortunately, her brother barked at the crowd to get lost, and they did. They weren't interested in Hera's tears or her agony anyway. The entertaining drama was over for them.
A few minutes later, everyone dispersed and left her alone. Hera was thankful she could finally breathe in peace.
The distance she'd to cover to reach her dorm seemed agonisingly longer than usual because she'd to do a walk of shame. She counted seconds, minutes, hours, waiting for Hunter to approach her, but he never did. She hoped he would come, at least to grill her for answers or to scold her for the wrong she committed, or to blame her for hurting him.
Anger, hatred, or accusation, anything would do.
Hera was hurt too. Despite it being her fault, she didn't think she deserved that humiliation. Because she wasn't actually cheating on him, but he didn't even give her a chance to explain, and she hated that.
Somehow, her friends understood she needed space, and didn't ask questions. Hera skipped the school the coming day, but she couldn't fake illness or make any more excuses after that. She had to attend the classes. She successfully managed to avoid Hunter for two days. She spent her lunch breaks alone in the empty classroom and was deliberately late to school so that she could skip the assembly.
Hera and Hunter didn't speak for almost a week after Nathan's episode. Well, they had to meet first to face each other, right? Both of them weren't ready yet. Hunter was hurt, still trying to make any sense out of it. It was hard to believe Hera did something like that, something like cheating on him or at least attempted to cheat.
Though they both were reckless, immature teenagers, Hera believed, Hunter was acting more immature than her by not seeking to confront her because she felt her situation was more sympathetic than his. She was only thirteen years old, and imagine being in her place while her boyfriend chose to kiss her in front of the whole school. Not that she minded kissing him, but it was something too intimate, too personal and not meant to display for others to inspect and dissect for their pleasure.
That kiss wasn't anything romantic in the first place. It was more of a mauling. Hunter's only intention was to hurt her as she did him. Hera too was angry because he'd no right to humiliate her like that. He could've chosen any other way to punish her like avoiding her or not speaking to her, which he was doing right then anyway. But he preferred to punish her by insulting her in front of so many people.
She couldn't forget that incident and those judgmental eyes never left her alone, imprinted in her mind, in her thoughts.
Apart from that, branding her as his, only added to the humiliation. It felt as if she was nothing more than an object he owned. Like a dog with a collar and a leash, Hera had to wear that invisible tag of his name. Wherever she went, students whispered that she's Ace's girl. No one would dare to look at her directly, especially boys. Everyone avoided her like a contagious disease.
No one knew about their relationship status before he announced it to the whole school. When they spent their lunch breaks or free time together in the school or the dormitory, other students always believed that Danny's sister was part of his group of friends. Whenever Hunter showed protectiveness, they assumed that he's protecting his best friend's sister. No one else knew they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and the love of each other's lives aside from Hunter's friends and Abby.
At last, Hunter made the first move because he couldn't stay away from Hera any longer. And surprising him, Hera met him halfway through. They couldn't ignore the big fat elephant standing between them forever. Eventually, they'd have to confront and address the issue.
Hera hugged him, and her heart sunk to her stomach when she felt him stiffen in her arms. She sighed in relief when he returned the hug, though a bit reluctantly before his arms wrapped around her.
They both uttered sorry simultaneously and letting out a nervous laugh they apologised again. Finally, ready to resolve the issues, Hunter apologised for the humiliation. "I did it because I want everyone to know that you're mine," he admitted straight away.
When Hera's turn came to justify, the first question Hunter asked, made Hera speechless.
"It's not the first time you kissed him, is it?"
Biting her lip, Hera looked away in shame. The minute she opened her mouth to explain, she knew she would sound stupid. But she would tell him the truth, no matter how absurd the reason seems. She knew he would believe her because somehow, he always could distinguish between her lies and truth.
It was months ago, at Nathan's birthday. He'd invited her along with his few other friends to his home. It was a small family gathering. As cliche as it appeared, they played truth or dare, and Nathan chose dare as his task.
His friends asked him to kiss Hera as a dare. If not, he would have to strip naked and clean the Girls' toilet in the school in front of his crush as his punishment. He pleaded Hera to help him, and she had no choice but to agree. It was just a simple peck on the lips and over in a second.
Hera kept it secret from Hunter because she was afraid he would brand it as cheating. But somehow Hunter had already known it.
"I found out the day after his birthday," Hunter revealed, shocking her. He didn't tell her that Danny and he both had warned him to stay away from her. When Hunter saw them together, locked inside that empty room, he'd known it, that bastard Nathan was playing a dirty game. Because their warning last time didn't come without throwing some fists.
Hunter knew Nathan was taking advantage of Hera's innocence. Confirming his theory right, Hera confessed everything.
"Nate said he likes someone and wanted to know if it's just a crush or more than that. He wanted to kiss me to confirm the stage of his crush. He wanted to test if it feels the same to kiss others. He doesn't trust anyone else to be honest with him, so he asked me to help him," Hera said, timidly. She was afraid he wouldn't believe it. When she said it out loud, it sounded ridiculous in her own ears.
"That's stupid," Hunter said, his tone filled with resentment. "That fucker was just taking advantage of you," he concluded. Hera shook her head, disagreeing.
"He wasn't. There's more to the story," Hera admitted, speaking softly, afraid he would judge her lowly. Hunter's brows furrowed as he frowned. Wordlessly, he stared, urging her to continue. "A few days before I heard Samantha talking about us with Bianca. She said you'll break up with me soon because," Hera gulped nervously before continuing. She was thankful that Hunter didn't interrupt her.
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