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❝Like a soldier, quickly breaking his bones, she had to break her heart very fast to save someone else. Like a soldier, she was.❞

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  ♚ Pretty please with an Ian Somerhalder on the side and a Dylan O'Brien on the top, hit that vote button on the button, my lovelies. Xx, MD ♚

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"IT'S SIMPLE, REALLY," I say with a shrug as I lean back in my seat, "all you have to do is get even closer to Phoebe and the girls, act like you actually want to be in their presence; hard, I know," — at that, I roll my eyes sarcastically — "and give me back any secret stories they might have."

"How long do I have to do this?" he asks, circling the rim of his cup with his fingers, not meeting my eyes. He haven't met my eyes for the whole half hour unless it was with a glare. I ignore it and force myself to continue.

"Give me good stories, and it won't last long."

"How do I know that you won't give out my story?" He narrows his eyes.

"You don't. But I did promise that I'll tell everyone about your lovely mother," I say, not missing it when he flinches at the mention of his mother, "if you don't keep your end of the bargain. And I keep my promises." 

I swore to myself that I'd always keep my promise after what happened. After I lost her. This is why I need to get April back.

"I don't trust you."

I'm surprised when I feel a small but sure pang of hurt at hearing his words. Stupid me, what did I expect? I'm blackmailing him into helping me. He's not supposed to trust me, but I'm just this silly girl hoping that he'll magically befriend me and get closer.

I chuckle humorlessly and coldly. "No one does . . . but that's okay, people would trust me if I trusted them. And I can't afford trusting people."

His stare is intense when he looks at me, but I ignore it. I wonder what he's thinking about. Probably, that I'm a crazy psychopath that needs help.

Clearing my throat, I straighten my back and look at the time in my phone.

"It's getting late, I have to go," I tell him as I stand up.

He nods, standing up, as well. We walk out of the coffee shop, not exchanging goodbyes as we start to separate ways.

As I'm about to step out of his sight, I remember something and turn around arrubtatly. "Hunter!"

He turns around with a questioning look.

"You wanted to talk about something important in there. I forgot."

Something flashes in his eyes as he looks down, shaking his head. When he looks back at me, I think I see a sad expression on his face before it hardens again.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion as he steps into his car. He really seemed intent on telling me whatever it was.

I sigh heavily as I step into my own car. It's been a long day, and my bed seems way more interesting than figuring out a complicated and puzzling Hunter.

---

I lean against the wall next to Jer as he carelessly dumps his books into his locker, making me chuckle. Opposites attract, but with Jer and I, similar's attract even more.

"You know how the desserts suck in our cafeteria?" Jer asks as we start making our way there.

"Yeah?"

Jeromy and I have a serious problem with the school's so said desserts. The other food maybe good, but their creme caramel tastes as bland as grass. It really makes zero sense; aren't they the same cooks who cook the pepperoni pizza?

"Well, I have a plan."

I look at him from the corner of my eye to see him holding a proud and satisfied look.

I know Jer well enough to say that I should be agreeing right away and going head first, no matter my trust in him. "Is it a good one?"

He's about to say something and opens his mouth with a raised finger before closing his mouth again. "I have a plan."

I hide my smile. "Jer, what exactly are you planning to do."

"Just hold a protest against the school to get better dessert, and if that doesn't work, we're going to secretly change the menu inside the kitchen and trick the caf ladies by using hypnotization to thinking that chocolate fudge from Gloria Jeans is the main dessert along with some cherry jelly." He shrugs.

"Yeah . . . No. As much as I think that nothing will ever go wrong in that flawless and smart plan of yours, the secret menu inside is printed and has a specific format, we won't be able to replicate that." I push the doors to our lunch hall open and start heading to our usual table with Jer.

He looks at me with a 'seriously, India?' look. "That's where you think it'll go wrong?"

"I didn't want to hurt you, buddy." I pat his shoulder apologetically.

He rolls his eyes with a smile and takes the seat next to me. Only when I sit down do I realize that Hunter is sitting directly in front of me. We meet eyes for only a second before we both look away.

"India," I hear Ruby say my name, annoyingly roll the word on her tongue, "did you do your social studies test, yet?"

"Yeah, I probably got a full mark." I wave it off; it's probably my easiest subject.

"Always the show off, we get it you're a smartass," Ruby jokes with a roll of her eyes. "I also have Mr. Andrew, what were the questions."

Making Jer snigger, I give her a look that shows I'm not amused by her joke. "Most questions came from the lesson assessments in the textbook. Oh, and focus on the very last lesson."

Jeromy leans in to whisper in my ear. "Nothing came from the last lesson."

I shrug and lean back to whisper in his ear. "I'm a smartass."

He bit his lips, trying not to laugh, gaining weird looks from Ruby. 

I can't help but watch as Hunter and Phoebe talk in hushed tones. They haven't been listening to any of our conversations for the past fifteen minutes.

He's probably already starting with his job, I think.

"How did your talk go with Hunter yesterday?" Jeromy asks.

"How'd you know?" I feel slight panic settle in my stomach; did Hunter tell him about my plan? Jeromy is a person I trust — very much — but I can't take any risks when so much is at stake.

"He was at my house yesterday before he left to talk to you. He wanted to discuss what happened between you guys," Jeromy lowers his voice when he adds the last part.

I try not to let the relief show on my face, but my stomach does some weird things when I hear his words. What happened between us — I'll never forget.

It's funny how people will do whatever they need to just to get what they want. To satisfy their needs. I realize with a pang in the gut that I'm not any better than him.

The feeling goes away when I finally register his words. That's the reason he wanted to talk to me. Was he trying to fix things between us?

I scoff; unfortunately for him, I'm not one to forget.

"He never told me anything about that," I say honestly.

"Weird," he muses. Thankfully, he doesn't mention it again.

My eyes fleet to Phoebe as she laughs at something Hunter said. His expression softens a little as he chuckles lightly.

Gnawing at my bottom lip, I look away.

That's what I wanted. I just didn't know it would be that hard.