The next day at school passed by in a blur. It was all a mix of sitting in class, listening to the sleep-inducing ramblings of the teachers, talking to Emily and Nate in the hallways during the breaks, and quickly going through my notes for the English exam in the last period before class. The exam itself was rather easy; English was my best subject at school and I usually didn't even have to study for it.

The only interesting part of the day was meeting Hunter and his friends for lunch. I hadn't even planned on doing so, but as soon as Nate, Emily and I entered the cafeteria, Alexis called us over to their table. Even though Emily protested quietly at first, she eventually sat down next to me, so that I was trapped between her and Hunter.

Kind of ironic, I know.

Nate sat on the opposite side of the table, between Alexis and Liam. Adam was nowhere to be seen, and when I asked where he was, they all just shrugged vaguely.

The whole table quickly got involved in a more or less excited conversation about prom that was going to take place in a few months. I didn't really care about such events, especially since I couldn't shake off the feeling that Emily and I wouldn't be going to that prom together, so I didn't bother to contribute to the discussion.

Unfortunately, my silence got noticed soon.

"Hey, Jules, do you know if you'll come?" Liam asked, with his mouth still full of spaghetti.

"I don't know," I evasively said. "Probably not. I'm not really into that kind of stuff."

"Oh come on, of course you'll go," Hunter said. "Who else is going to vote for me as prom king if you don't?"

"You think I'd vote for you?"

Hunter smirked smugly. "Obviously. Who could resist this?" He pointed at his face and laughed in amusement as Alex flicked a grape at him.

"I'm quite positive I can," I said and grinned provocatively.

I immediately regretted my words when I saw his eyes darkening. "I'm quite positive I could change your mind about that," he said, low enough for only me to hear and sent me a suggestive look from underneath his long lashes.

Next to me, Emily cleared her throat and directed my attention back to her.

"Of course we're going, Jules! We can't miss this year's prom. Did you hear what the motto is?"

I shook my head.

"The motto is Once Upon A Time..., so anything that has to do with fairytales, really," Alexis explained.

A smile tugged at my lips as I saw the excited glimmer in her eyes. When I looked at Nate, I could see that he had noticed it too; he was looking intently at her, a soft smile on his lips as he watched her. Like a love-struck puppy.

I lightly kicked his shin bone under the table. Fortunatel,y he got the hint and quickly looked somewhere else.

"So everything will be decorated like a ball room in a castle. We're even planning on setting up a little fountain in the middle of the gym, just for the evening of course..."

"Are you in the committee?" I asked.

Before she could even open her mouth to answer, Hunter said: "Oh, she's doing pretty much every voluntary activity you can do at this school. She's in the festive committee, school magazine, she tutors, she's in the jury for the school awards..." His voice was mocking, but also sort of admiring and, if I wasn't mistaken, a little proud.

"You forgot the student council," Alex chuckled and absently toyed around with the bracelets on her wrist.

"That's amazing," Emily said, clearly impressed.

I looked at Alexis with a horrified expression. "How do you even have time for anything else besides school?"

She just shrugged. "Good time management, I guess."

"How are you friends with him?" I asked incredulously and pointed at Hunter, who made an offended little sound.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked and glared at me.

"I mean...she's so dedicated and nice and you're..." I trailed and gestured at Hunter, who was slouching in his seat wearing his leather jacket, hair messy and overall looking like the stereotypical bad boy in cliché movies.

"I've known her since elementary school. And she's not that much of a good girl as it might seem."

They exchanged a knowing grin, leaving the rest of us wondering what that was about.

"So...did the two of you ever, you know..." Emily pried, asking what I had wanted to know for weeks.

Alexis seemed puzzled for a second before she understood and burst out laughing. "Oh my god, no. He's not... No, that wouldn't have worked out."

Hunter nodded but added: "We kissed once, though. Two years ago, I believe?"

"Yeah, you were sixteen and I was fifteen. It wasn't that good. In fact, it was pretty weird, like kissing my brother or something." After a moment she hastily added: "Not because he's not a good kisser, of course. I heard he's amazing at kissing and stuff..."

For some reason I couldn't help but think that the last part was directed at me, so I felt obliged to mutter: "I wouldn't know."

I immediately cussed myself for saying that as everyone around me cracked up laughing, except for Emily, whose face had gone deadpan.

Hunter turned around to me and smirked. He could've just held up a sign saying Hey, we can change that and it would've been just as obvious as the look he gave me.

I swallowed hard and stared down at my fingers which were nervously fiddling around in my lap, until I was sure that Hunter had looked away. He still hadn't when I looked up again and was still staring at my face with an expression I couldn't quite read.

Before anyone could say something, Victoria suddenly marched up to our table, heels clicking loudly against the floor. She barely looked at any of us, not even Alexis as she greeted her politely, and only had eyes for Hunter. As she saw that there was no chair left for her, she simply sat down on the edge of the table, leaning towards Hunter.

"Hey, babe," she purred, leaning further in for a kiss.

Hunter looked at me for a split second before he hesitantly buried a hand in her hair and pulled her in.

I tried to keep my face neutral, but I couldn't hide at least the tiniest scowl. Victoria was pushing Hunter's tray aside and shifted so that she was fully sitting on the table. Judging by the way Alexis and Liam rolled their eyes, they didn't approve of this, but had witnessed it so often that they had stopped caring.

I leaned away from the passionately kissing couple as far as possible, until I was nearly sitting in Emily's lap, and quietly asked Alexis: "Is he doing that often?"

She nodded with a haunted expression. "Yeah. You know, he usually ends up with the... clingy type of people. Those who seem to follow him anywhere, always available to make out in a school corridor or something..." she trailed as she saw my face. "Anyways, it's disgusting. You have no idea how many fights I had with him about objectifying and using people, but in the end he's right when he says that it's their choice. He's never the one to ask anyone first or to actively do something for the relationship. It's always them who basically offer themselves."

"How can someone be so stupid and want to date him, then?" Emily asked, sounding disgusted.

I scratched the back of my arm, feeling quite uneasy all of a sudden (and not only because of the sounds Hunter and Victoria were making next to me).

Liam shrugged. "I mean, just look at him. That boy is blessed with looks that could make nearly anyone weak. And I guess that bad boy thing really works for him. Acting all mysterious and cocky apparently sells better than actually caring and being nice to people."

I looked over at Hunter once more, taking in the image of how Victoria's hands slid under his shirt and the little gasps that sounded every time they interrupted the kiss to inhale. Somehow I had to fight down the urge to reach out and push her off the table, but I was sure Hunter wouldn't have appreciated if I broke his toy before he was done with it.

Luckily, before my self-control could come to an end, Hunter broke away from her and leaned back in his chair. His cheeks were slightly flushed and his hair even more tousled than before, but other than that he seemed calm and collected.

"That's enough," he said and waved a hand as if dismissing Victoria. "You should leave."

Victoria looked as if he she was going to refuse or at least snarl a bitchy reply, but then she gracefully slid off the table. Before she left, she gave me another dirty look.

I had no idea why, so I settled for raising a brow at her before I turned back to Hunter. "Was that really necessary?" I couldn't hide the least bit of anger from my voice.

Hunter seemed entirely unimpressed. "Jealous, sugarpie?"

On the other side of the table Nate nearly choked on the sip of water he had just taken.

"Not jealous. Annoyed," I retorted, "Because whenever I'm near you, you'll make out with someone next to me and I've got better things to do than watch that. Plus, I always end up getting glared at by Victoria or Sean. I'm not even doing anything!"

"Don't take it too seriously, sugarpie. I'll pick you up at your house at eight."

For a moment I didn't realize that he was talking to me. When I did, all I could do was stammer out: "You ...you'll what?"

"I'll pick you up," he said slowly. "We'll drive to the party together."

It was only then that I remembered that I had agreed to go to that stupid party with them. "No, we won't! I have a car," I objected.

"See you at eight." Hunter grinned, ignoring my reply, and walked off, not without stealing a fry from Alexis' plate beforehand.

"Unbelievable," I huffed.

"Yeah, unbelievable," Emily quietly echoed.

+++

Despite my objections to the offer Hunter had forced onto me, I was ready to leave as soon as eight o' clock came around. Also ready to throw up, because hell, I was a nervous wreck.

Social events weren't really my thing, but social events where everyone was drunk were downright terrifying.

If it hadn't been for Nate, I would probably have cancelled already. But I had told him I'd be there and I couldn't just let him go there all by himself. Aside from that, Hunter was going to pick me up at my house, and I knew that if I didn't go with him voluntarily, he probably wouldn't stop annoying me about it until I did.

So I was waiting anxiously for him to arrive, while I looked in the mirror once again. I had replaced the usual hoodie with a black t-shirt and an unbuttoned plaid flannel shirt. I had even put on jeans that were a bit tighter than the ones I was used to wearing, though they were a million times less comfy.

Needless to say I was feeling like an idiot in these clothes, but before I could go back and change into something else, the door bell rang. I nearly jumped at the sound and rushed down the stairs.

A little out of breath, I opened the door, only to have even more trouble breathing when I saw Hunter.

He was wearing a black v-neck that made his skin appear lighter than it actually was, so his green eyes stood out even more. So did the dark shadows under his eyes, but in combination with his tousled hair they strangely made him look even more...dangerous? Intriguing? It was hard to describe Hunter, but right now, standing in the fading light on my front porch, he was a sight worth taking a photo of.

Not that I was going to. I had already embarrassed myself enough by staring at him for what felt like hours.

"Hi," I said, trying to sound calm and collected.

"Hey," he said, with a strange smile that was kind of looking like he was thinking about a joke that only he understood.

When I didn't respond, he stepped closer and pointed at my outfit. "Now, that's interesting. I don't think I've ever seen you wearing anything else than hoodies and wide sweaters."

"I know, I look ridiculous in this," I said and grimaced, nervously clenching and unclenching my hands.

"You don't," was all he said.

I shrugged uncomfortably, feeling uneasy as always when someone complimented me, and grabbed my coat from its hook, before shutting the door behind me and stepping out onto the porch. The air was surprisingly warm, you could tell that it was nearly June. Spring had been cold this year, but it was slowly getting warmer.

"Can we go?" I asked.

"I don't know, can we?" he retorted. "You're pale. Are you feeling alright?"

"Just anxious," I admitted.

Hunter hesitated for a moment, looking around, before he came closer and carefully reached for my hand. He stopped inches away from making skin contact, giving me enough time to slap his hand away in case I didn't want to be touched.

I met his eye, nodding subtly. He smiled slightly and took my hand, intertwining our fingers. He was holding it carefully as if he was afraid he'd break it if he squeezed too tight.

We stayed like that for a moment, him holding my hand, his thumb laying on my wrist. It took a while for me to realize that he was checking my pulse, waiting for it to slow down.

My heart was always beating fast when I got anxious and somehow he knew that and waited patiently for me to calm down. Right now it wasn't just the anxiety that was making my heart race, though.

"That's not gonna slow down while you're holding my hand," I eventually said and laughed nervously against my will.

He frowned in confusion, before he understood. Instead of the smug grin I had expected, his eyes widened. "Oh."

I just nodded and tugged lightly at his hand. "So...are we going?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, but he still seemed thoughtful.

That didn't change throughout the ride to the party and even though he was talking to me as he usually did, he seemed strangely quiet.

The party was thrown by Dave, a guy that I knew briefly since he was in my sports class. He was on the football team, too, and apparently lived in a huge house in one of the wealthier, quiet neighbourhoods. At least I suspected it usually was quiet; right now, however, there was loud music blasting out of the house and noisy teenagers were hanging around in the front lawn of his house. Red plastic cups scattered the grass as Hunter and I crossed the lawn to get to the front door.

"Hey, can you promise me something?" Hunter asked before he opened the door.

"What?"

"Please don't drink as much as you did on the field trip, yeah?"

I rolled my eyes at him and opened the door. As soon as I entered the house, the sound level got five times louder and I could feel every note vibrating straight through my body. People were standing everywhere, dancing, drinking, making out. There really wasn't much space and I immediately felt like I couldn't breathe. Big crowds in tight spaces were horrible and I felt like I was about to hyperventilate, when Hunter's hand on my arm interrupted my thoughts.

As soon as his fingers closed around my wrist and his thumb gently pressed against it, I felt like I could breathe a little easier. I gratefully squeezed his fingers while we pushed through the crowd until we reached another, less packed room. In here the music was more quiet too, so that people could talk.

Hunter quickly let go of my hand when he spotted our friends on one couch in the room.

Nate was sitting next to Alexis; both seemed pretty drunk already and were grinning sheepishly at each other while they talked. Next to them, Liam and Adam were currently sharing a bottle that looked like it contained hard liquor and was alarmingly empty already.

Before I could cross the room to get to them, a tall blonde guy suddenly appeared in front of me. He grinned down at me, dimples showing. "Hey! Jules, eh?" The way he slurred his words was enough to tell me that he was drunk.

I nodded hesitantly.

"Yo, do you want a drink, dude? Coke?" He held out a red cup for me to take.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, man," I said and took the cup, when Hunter suddenly ripped it out of my hand and growled at the guy.

"Are you serious?" he demanded. The look on his face was murderous. "Talk to him once more and I'll punch your teeth out."

I stared at him in astonishment and quickly pressed a hand to his chest as he stepped towards the guy. "Hunter, what-"

"Why don't you drink this yourself, asshole?" Hunter asked with narrowed eyes and pushed the cup back into the hand of the blonde dude.

The guy stared down at it in mild terror for a moment before he glared at Hunter and dropped the drink in a trash can next to him.

"Yeah, thought so," Hunter snarled. "Now turn around and go. Yeah, that way." He pushed him towards the door and only turned his back to him when he was out of the room.

Then he came back to me, still glaring. "You don't ever touch a drink a stranger offers you, alright?"

I nodded silently, scared to say anything wrong while he was still looking ready to break someone's neck.

He must've seen a hint of that concern in my eyes, at least his voice was softer when he continued: "That drink he was going to give you was spiked. That guy has a reputation for experimenting with some weird drugs, okay? Never drink something you didn't pour yourself or that you watched getting poured."

"Sorry," I muttered.

Hunter intently looked at me for a few more second before turning around abruptly, leaving me alone in the crowd.

+++

About two hours later, Hunter had still not re-appeared and I had no idea where he had gone. I was still hanging around the living room, talking to a few people I briefly knew from some of my classes.

"Jules, you little bastard, where are you?"

I rolled my eyes as Nate yelled that sentence so loudly that everyone in earshot turned around to stare at him.

"Over here, dumbass!" I called, although in a lower voice.

It took Nate a while to stumble towards me through the crowd, and when he finally accomplished it, he had to lean onto me for support for a second.

When he had refused to believe that Alexis could drink more than him, they had made it a competition. After the fifth cup of whatever it was that they were drinking, I had decided that I wasn't in the mood to call the ambulance because one of them got alcohol intoxication, so I had kept them both from drinking any more.

Now Liam was bringing Alexis home (turned out he hadn't drunken that much and it had been Adam who had downed almost the entire bottle they had been passing back and forth on his own), while I was dragging Nate out of the house. In his drunk state he had called his mom to pick him up.

As soon as I had steered Nate outside, he spotted his mom's car. She was already coming towards the house and handled him from there on, thanking me for taking care of him.

After Nate was safely in the car, I went back inside to check on Hunter. Since he had given me a ride here, I had to drive home with him now. Of course I could've asked Nate's mom to drive me home, too (I knew she would've done that), but I didn't want to leave without telling Hunter.

I didn't have to look for him for too long, because as soon as I entered, I saw him stumbling down the stairs. It was weird seeing him moving like this, seeing as he usually was so graceful.

I rolled my eyes as I saw who was trailing behind him; obviously Victoria was here too, clinging onto him as she always did. Her red lipstick, smeared all over his face and neck, was evidence enough that they had done what they apparently could do best.

"Hunter!" I shouted and waved him over.

He immediately spotted me and crossed the room surprisingly quick, seeing as he was tripping repeatedly. "What's up, babe?" he asked, voice darker than usual.

"Oh my god, you're wasted," I said.

"Yep, that was the plan," he said, laughing with no concern.

"Come on, I'll take you home," I sighed and reached for his arm, but Victoria suddenly slapped my hand away.

"Don't you dare touch him!" As soon as she opened her mouth I could tell that she hadn't been drinking much, if anything at all.

"I just want to get him home so he can sleep it off," I explained.

She narrowed her eyes at me and put a possessive hand on Hunter's shoulder. "He's fine. I want to stay here with him for a bit longer."

Something about the way she made decisions for Hunter without asking him bothered me, so I turned directly to him. "Hunter, do you want to stay here or do you want to go home with me?"

A lazy smile spread across his face. "Babe, I'd go pretty much anywhere with you."

I flashed Victoria a victorious grin. "See. You can't keep him here if he doesn't want to. You'll find someone else to hook up with, I'm sure."

With that I took hold of Hunter's hand and guided him away from her. I'd only come a few steps far, when long nails suddenly dug into my shoulder and forced me to turn around.

Victoria offered me a gloating smirk as she saw me wincing. "Hatcher, you're really starting to get on my nerves."

"The feeling's mutual," I retorted, but she went on as if I hadn't said anything.

"What's your plan behind all this, huh? Always acting all sweet and innocent and like you have no idea what you're doing, just to win him over?" She jabbed a finger at me. "You wouldn't even know what to do with him once you got him."

I shrugged, trying to keep my face neutral. "You're right, I wouldn't. Which is why I'm not trying to do anything with him. I'm not trying to get him to like me. I'm not trying to ruin whatever you two have going on, either. So I don't know why you dislike me so much, or why you can't stop blaming me when you fail to get through to him. Maybe he just really prefers being with, you know... nice people."

I didn't even wait for her reaction. Instead I demonstratively wrapped an arm around Hunter's shoulders and walked him outside. When I reached his car, I swiftly reached into his pocket and took out his car keys.

"Do you mind if I drive?" I asked out of courtesy, even though I knew for sure that I wouldn't let him drive in the state he was in.

He shook his head and walked around the car to get into the passenger seat. Once we were both seated, I backed out of the parking space and onto the road.

By now it was two a.m. and I started to get tired. So did Hunter, apparently; it didn't even take him a minute to doze off next to me.

I had to smile just a tiny bit as I realized that he was snoring quietly, and reached over him to fasten his seat belt, something that he had forgotten to do.

A few minutes later, we arrived at his house. For a moment I was just sitting there, watching him sleep so peacefully, before I gently tapped his shoulder to wake him up. As I didn't get any reaction, I lightly laid a hand to his cheek, stroking it just a little bit. He sighed contentedly and snuggled deeper into my touch.

"Hunter. Hunter, wake up."

He reluctantly opened his eyes. "Wanna sleep."

"I know," I laughed. "Which is why I want to get you inside and into your bed, okay?"

"Mhm."

It took another two minutes and lots of persuasion until he finally got out of the car and I could lead him up to the front door.

I unlocked it as quietly as possible and ushered him inside. "Where's your room?"

He didn't answer, he just shuffled up the stairs, holding tightly onto the handrail since his walk was still swaying. Eventually, we reached a closed door, which he pushed open. Inside, he didn't bother to turn on the light and just dropped onto his bed, where he was laying on his stomach for a moment.

I chuckled quietly and shut the door behind me before walking towards his bed. The room was big, way bigger than mine, and as far as I could see in the darkness, its walls were white. The biggest piece of furniture was undoubtedly his bed; it was a king-sized bed with a huge amount of pillows and blankets on it.

Next to the bed there was a pile of books and on top of it was a reading lamp that I turned on to see more.

Hunter rolled over onto his back and blinked into the bright light. "Are you going to come into the bed now, or what?" He asked it with a casualness that indicated I definitely wasn't the first one he had asked that question.

"No," I said, but sat down on the edge of the mattress. "Do you want to change into something more comfy to sleep?"

He seemed to think about it, then he just shrugged and pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it carelessly onto the ground. His pants followed, until he was left in only his boxer shorts. For a second I feared he'd take them off too, but then he just let himself fall back into the pillows.

"Where's the kitchen?" I asked.

Despite his slurring speech, he was able to describe where it was surprisingly well, so I could find it without much searching. Once I crossed the threshold, I took a glass out of one of the cupboards and filled it with ice cold water.

As soon as I was back in Hunter's room, I helped him sit up and held the glass to his lips. He downed it willingly after I explained that I wanted him to drink in order to prevent a massive hangover.

Afterwards, I pushed him back down onto the mattress. He stared up at me with mild curiosity, through half-closed eyes that refused to stay open much longer.

I bent down and pulled one of the blankets up to his chin, then another one since he was half-naked and his room wasn't exactly warm.

I didn't know what it was, if it was something about the way he couldn't quite keep his eyes open or how some strands of hair fell into his face, but something about the way he was laying there, looking sleepy and vulnerable, was enough to give me a weird feeling in my stomach.

I knew that it was stupid and I knew that it was forbidden, but just for a minute, I was able to push all of these thoughts aside and bent down once more. It wasn't exciting or scandalous; it was nothing but a chaste kiss I placed just below that dimple of his, but dangerously close to his lips.

A sleepy smile appeared on Hunter's face as his hand slipped out from under the blanket and touched his cheek, just where my lips had brushed it.

For a second, fear boiled in my stomach - what will he think of this tomorrow, what if he's angry at me for doing that, what if he tells someone – but I quickly suppressed it.

Hunter was drunk out of his mind; he probably wouldn't remember any of this. Surely he wouldn't.