A week and twenty four hours had passed since the weird phone call.

I had already gone through my freaked out and scared shitless phase. Spending an entire day eating a tub of ice cream was as therapeutic as it was unhealthy, and it made me feel so much more calm.

Sometimes I felt like Jeremiah was playing with my head. I wondered if he was still searching for me, after all this time. Or perhaps he already knew where I was and was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

I wanted to be ready. But a big part of me was convinced that he wasn't aware of my whereabouts. The same part of me that didn't want to leave this place.

Although Hunter had promised to pick me up and take me to school that day, when I walked out of the house, instead of spotting a jacket clad Hunter, I found my car in the driveway. There was a note on the windshield explaining that he was too 'busy' to pick me up but had someone get the car for me. He didn't even bother apologising.

But he did bring me my car so I guess no apology was necessary. It was the only interaction we had the past week. I hadn't seen him since or heard from him since. According to Ethan, he was out of town and only returned this morning.

As Ethan and I walked towards Biology, he moved his hands animatedly, blabbering on about some TV show that he watched.

"And then, he jumps out from behind the shelf and bang! Bitch is dead."

"Ethan," I piped up, "You're great but right now I'm imagining stuffing a pillow into your mouth."

"I'll just talk to Shawn about it," He huffed, stomping away from me childishly.

I rolled my eyes and followed him into the room, taking a seat at my usual table beside Ethan. The tables were arranged in fours so one pair would be facing another. Ethan and I usually sat together with Shawn and Hunter in facing us.

"Lee," Shawn grinned. "You look like someone pissed in your Cheerios."

I shot him a playful scowl. "I spent the last hour listening to Ethan drone on about some TV series. I had to sacrifice my sleep."

"I'm sorry," Ethan apologised with what seemed like sincerity. And then he completed his sentence. "You really do need all the beauty sleep you can get."

I smacked him upside the head when he leaned down to pull out his Biology notes, which made him glare at me with his blue eyes.

"Mr.Archer! Miss.Winters!" The teacher called out and I turned around to look at her guiltily. "Last I checked, I'm the reason you're all here. Not each other."

"Actually our parents are," Ethan mumbled under his breath.

The teacher must have seen Ethan's lips move because she glowered at him angrily, the tip of her nose turning slightly red. Like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

Hey, she's a bad teacher so maybe Santa will hire her.

"Miss.Winters, you will be working with Mr.Frost today," She finalised. I opened my mouth to protest but she shut me off with a glare.

Unhappily, I grabbed my bag from the floor and switch places with Shawn. I took a seat beside the attractive, emotionless boy that I'd been trying to avoid ever since he had seen me almost half naked. Maybe he had forgotten about it.

"Hi," I greeted timidly.

Hunter gave me a negligible nod, greeting me with his cold, devious brown eyes. He slid his notes over to me; notes that I couldn't take down since I was too busy talking to Ethan.

"We're doing this one," Hunter pointed at something written down in neat handwriting.

Xylem Vessels Experiment - Flower.

I frowned at him in response. "I don't want to cut open a flower."

He raised an eyebrow at me before asking in a bored tone, as if already knowing how this was going to play out. "Would you rather dissect the frog?"

I shot him a look of absolute horror while I picture the process in my head.

"Flower it is," I mumbled with a shudder.

A few minutes later, we were almost through with the experiment. Well, Hunter was almost through with it. I spent the entire time gawking at the way he handled everything. The assigned time was fifteen minutes but Hunter was done in seven, every step conducted perfectly.

I was surprised but no one else seemed to be, they just looked at him the same way they always do: like they had expected him to finish first.

Once he was done, Hunter threw the flower away before grabbing a new one. "Your turn."

I looked down at the small white lily held inside his big, tanned hand and then back at his face, perplexed.

"Y-You're a g-genius?"

"Thanks." Hunter lips twitched upward into a ghost of a smile but never to an actual smile. Instead it turned into his signature smirk. "Maybe my genius-ness will rub off on you."

"You know genius-ness isn't really a word," I snickered, grabbing the flower from his hand and placing it onto the glass plate.

Hunter rolled his eyes playfully. "Just do the experiment."

Two flowers and several curses later, I was sulking with my head resting on Hunter's shoulder while Ethan and Shawn looked at me sympathetically. Hunter gently pushed my head off his shoulder, sliding off his chair.

"Get up," He ordered, clutching the small experimental knife in his hands.

I did as he said. He took my hand in his, wrapping it around the knife before wrapping his hand around mine. He made me face the table with his chest pressed to my back. His face was right beside mine, a small frown forming on his lips as he concentrates.

Our hands moved together, creating a small cut on the plant stem before Hunter picked up the red chemical solution. He poured a drop of it on the open stem and then placed it on the microscope.

He pulled the microscope towards himself, pulling me in front of him so that he was standing right behind me. My back was resting on his chest once again.

"You smell nice," I blurted out without thinking, immediately slapping my hand over my lips after the words tumble out.

I heard him chuckle behind me, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine. "You do too. Like cherries."

"Thanks," I mumbled, "It's my shampoo."

"I like it." Hunter's intense gaze met mine, his eyes holding mine hostage until the teachers voice snaps us out of our thoughts. I felt the hair on my arms stand up; my pulse raced.

I cleared my throat uneasily, trying to step away from Hunter but his arms were placed on either side of me, trapping me in between him and the table.

"Uh, Hunter?"

He snapped out of his daze to look at me for a second before awkwardly dropping his arms.n

"Not bad." He looked into the microscope. "Maybe next time, you'll get past the first step without help."

I frowned when his cold, insulting attitude returned, icing me out once again. Just when I thought he was finally going to let me in.

"Thanks," I snapped, the sarcasm dripping from my words.

There was still ten minutes left for the lesson to end but Hunter just shoved all of his things into his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. His tanned biceps flexed under the thin gray shirt he was wearing. He nodded at his friends before he walked towards the table, dropped a few papers on it and stormed out of class.

The teacher picked up the papers and scanned them before mumbling to herself. "Of course you can leave, thank you for asking."

Once we were out of the Biology lab, I started to interrogate Damien and Ethan, who were walking on either side of me. Their legs were much longer than mine so while I was walking fast, they seemed to be strolling.

"Since when is Hunter smart?" I asked, noticing the weird look that the boys share at my question. "What?"

Damien decided to respond first. "Since always, I guess."

"Then why does he hide it? I mean, he's such an emotionless jerk all the time! It's like his face does only one expression!" I exasperated and the two boys chuckled.

"The entire school knows that he has good grades. And everyone knows that he's probably going to go to Yale. If it wasn't for-" Ethan was cut off by Damien who shot him a glare, making Ethan's eyes widen.

"What? Why did you stop talking?"

"He has a great memory so he doesn't really even have to try as much as I do," Ethan complained instead of answering me, a hint of jealousy lacing his voice.

I chuckled. "That's cause you only have half a brain."

Ethan scowled at me as we walked into the cafeteria, the smell of cheap canteen made food hitting us right away. "Oh," Ethan's face perked up as he inhaled deeply. "I smell pasta."

As Ethan and Shawn rushed into the cafeteria, my eyes trailed over to the end of the hallway where a very pissed off boy was arguing with an even more pissed off Hunter. The boy pushed Hunter backwards, his lips moving rapidly. Hunter looked down at the boy, who was much shorter, before grabbing him by his collar and pushing him up against the locker forcefully. Then, he leaned down and pulled the boys bag away, grabbing something from inside it before disappearing around the corner.

I watched the boy compose himself as his friends surrounded him in concern. Trying to make sense of the scene that just occurred, I wandered into the cafeteria and take my usual seat at the table where everyone except Hunter was devouring Alfredo pasta.

"Where did you go?" Ethan asked through a mouthful of pasta, his words incomprehensible and making me scrunch up my nose in disgust.

Ethan rolled his eyes before going back to his food while I just sat there beside him, scrolling through my phone. There was a message from Maria saying that she found a new primary school for Mia and I was about to respond when the cafeteria doors slammed open with a loud bang.

All heads naturally turned towards the source of the sound and I shouldn't have been surprised that it was Hunter. The cafeteria was dead quiet as he stormed up to our table and took his usual seat. He must have noticed that everyone one was still staring at him because he looked around with his angry eyes.

"Get back to your fucking food," Hunter snapped. Everyone looks away from him instantly, the tension in the cafeteria thick.

In a few seconds, murmurs erupted before they turned into the usual cafeteria chatter. I saw Shawn, Damien and Ethan look at Hunter in concern. Ethan cleared his throat to say something but the cafeteria door banged open again.

"Who is it this time?" I heard someone mutter before we all turned to look at the door.

At the entrance of the cafeteria was one of the most beautiful girls that I had ever seen. Everyones attention was now focused on her, unable to look away, enchanted by her just like I was. She walked towards us with slow, graceful steps, everyones eyes following her. She wasn't extraordinarily beautiful, but there was something elegant about her that made it impossible not to stare.

Apparently, Hunter didn't seem to like that everyone was looking at her because he shouted out again. "Get back to your own lives or I will throw you out of the window myself," He growled.

I watched as she strutted towards our table, a small smile on her face. She pushed Jessica out of the way before sitting down on top of the table, right in front of Hunter. She placed her legs on the edges of his seat, trapping him between her long slender legs.

Well then.

"Hunter," She greeted in a soft tone, "How was practice?"

He looked bored as he replied to her. "Good."

"The girls and I were watching you and we think that your technique needs a little improvement," The girl teased, leaning forward slightly.

She had long blonde hair that fell up to mid back in beautiful waves. Her eyes were a sparkling, light shade of blue and her red lips were morphed into a smile. She was wearing a simple red skirt with a black top and flats but she managed to make the attire look much more sophisticated than it was.

That seem to have hit a nerve with Hunter because he slams his hands down on the table, on either side of her legs and leans forward, his face millimetres away from hers.

"Why don't you leave the work to me and focus on screaming out encouragements while wearing those cute little frilly skirts?" Hunter suggested, his voice deep. I watched him place a firm hand on her calf, squeezing it slightly.

I actually thought he was offended by her words until a small smile broke out on his face, a smile that I never thought he was capable of as he enveloped the girl in a hug.

She hopped down from the table and onto Hunter's lap, her legs straddling him and arms around his neck.

Beautiful people flock together. Wonder who said that.

"Peyton," He murmured, "I missed you."

She laughed and pulled away from him. "You better have hotshot." She ruffled his hair which made it stick out messily but it only made him look hotter.

Peyton then turned to face me, a massive smile on her face as she slid into the empty chair beside Hunter.

"Hi." She held out her hand. "I'm Peyton."

"LeAnna," I offered a smile, shaking her hand politely.

"You must be the new girl. Hunter has told me much about you," Peyton laughed. A melodious sound that would make anyone want to laugh with her.

Hunter nudged her slightly with a scowl on his face and she winked at him. "He seems quite fascinated by you newbie."

I raised my eyebrows at her name for me. "He sure doesn't show it."

"Hunter's like a roasted marshmallow," She chirped unexpectedly. Damien who was drinking water coughed, choking on the water while Ethan tried to swallow his food. But they were both laughing too much to do either action properly.

"A roasted marshmallow?" Hunter questioned in horror at the reference.

Peyton nodded. "Yeah. All dark and bitter on the outside but inside, you're all sweet and goey."

The boys couldn't hold their laughter anymore and Hunter shot them all looks asking them to shut up but they ignored him. Ethan gasped between laughs, "Sweet and goey."

Peyton flashed Hunter a charming smile and he just shakes his head at her, pulling her closer to him. I watched them smile at each other and feel a weird stabbing sensation form in my chest. The way they looked at each other reminded me of the way Jace used to look at me. Jace still hadn't returned my calls. His phone was switched off and it was like he went completely off the grid.

He's probably just protecting himself. And then he'll come live with us. Yeah, that's it.

I blinked my eyes a couple of times to get rid of the water that was collecting there before anyone else could notice, but Hunter did notice and he sent me a puzzled look. I just gave him a tight lipped smile before Peyton's laughter broke our contact.

"You like it here?" Peyton asked and I nodded, gulping when I felt my throat tighten uncomfortably at the thought of Jace.

Hunter's eyes were on me again, analysing my every move carefully before they moved onto Peyton. An automatic smile formed on his face again as they started talking to each other. I felt Ethan nudge me and he offered me a smile, sensing that something was up.

"You want to get out of here?"

"I have one more class left," I stated and he waves his hand in dismissal.

Ethan takes my hand in his and stands up, pulling me along with him. "And I have two." He flashes me a dazzling smile before facing his friends.

"Hey, we're heading out. LeAnna has class with you next Jess, could you tell the teacher she's ill?" Jess nodded before wiggling her eyebrows at me suggestively. I shot her a glare, praying that Ethan didn't notice her little devious smirk.

"I'll do that," Jess promised.

The last thing I saw before Ethan pulled me out of there was Hunter's blank expression, his eyes filled with curiosity and a silent promise to uncover anything I was hiding.

Little did he know, finding out would just make him a target.