For a moment, all I could do was stare at him while he was impatiently waiting for my answer. I had thought about him so many times this week that it felt surreal to suddenly be this close to him in real life.

Just like me, he looked like he hadn't slept a lot (which actually wasn't that unusual, but somehow still worrying to me), but his eyes were alert as he watched me carefully. Strands of hair were falling into his face, making my fingers itch with the urge to push them out of his eyes.

But I kept my hands to myself, hiding them in the pocket of my hoodie. Then I tore my eyes away from his face and made a move to push past him, just to get held back by his hands pushing me back against the wall.

To hinder me from trying to walk away again, he stepped closer this time, until I could've easily touched him if I only lifted my hand.

I swallowed and looked down at my shoes, which he immediately prohibited by clasping my chin with one hand, tilting it upwards so he could meet my eye.

It was the first actual physical contact we had made in a week. Enough to make my heart stutter.

"Jules, talk to me," he said, sounding strangely desperate.

I was so busy staring at his lips, that it took me a moment to register his words. They immediately snapped me out of my daze and, suddenly becoming aware of my situation, I grasped his wrist and made him let go of my face. My voice was hardly more than a whisper as I said: "I can't... Hunter, you need to let me leave. I can't be here."

"You mean you can't be here with me?" he asked. "I won't let you leave until you at least properly break up with me. Do you understand?"

I winced at the harshness of his words.

Hunter looked me straight in the eye as he added: "You can't just completely ignore me from one day to another without at least telling me what I did wrong."

Feeling a pang of guilt, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Which I immediately regretted as I inhaled the scent of him; smoke, leather, aftershave, a hint of mint. It was painfully familiar.

Everything about him was, yet right now it felt like I was talking to a stranger. Hunter had never talked to me in that voice. He had never sounded angry or disappointed before.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I said quietly.

"Then why don't you want to see me anymore?" Hunter asked.

It was the genuine hurt in his eyes that broke me. "My parents found out," I breathed. "They saw the video of us in the club. Victoria sent it to them. They decided that I shouldn't see you anymore and basically hired Victoria to watch out for me and tell them if I'm with you. If Victoria finds out, I'll have to go to Church Camp."

Hunter's expression had turned progressively darker throughout my explanation. "That fucking-" He took a deep breath to calm himself down, but I could see his jaw working. "I should've known that she was behind all of this. The way she was clinging to me all week... But why didn't you send Nate to tell me?" Hunter wondered, looking at me questioningly.

"She had an eye out for him, too. If he would've approached you, she would've known what it was about."

Hunter nodded slowly. "Okay. So, what now?"

I swallowed and studied his features. The small space between our bodies felt like miles and all I wanted to do was to pull him into a kiss. But I didn't dare, not yet. Hunter had every right to be mad at me. "I don't know," I replied honestly. "But... I don't want to lose this."

Hunter almost smiled and said: "Me neither. So... Are you up for some hide and seek?"

Laughing felt strange after a week of not smiling once. "We'll have to be careful."

He nodded, eyes suddenly sparkling again. It made me want to lock myself in my room and paint them with every little detail, just to catch the expression, to preserve the look of relief and unrestrained happiness in them. I was so focused on them, that I didn't even realize he was leaning in until his lips met mine.

My eyes immediately fluttered shut as my hands clung onto his neck, every cell of my body screaming for more. I had no idea how I had endured seven days without this. It was like tripping out after a week of withdrawal.

I kissed him until I needed to take a breath, still clinging onto him, not willing to let go anytime soon.

"I missed you," Hunter breathed, eyes still shut.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

Hunter's eyes suddenly snapped open. "Don't apologize. None of this is your fault. It's Victoria's and Sean's and your parents'. And mine, because I brought you to that bar and didn't pay more attention."

Glaring at him, I backed away just a little. "I'm going to punch you if you say something this stupid again." As he stared at me blankly, I groaned: "Hunter, you didn't force me to go there. I chose so myself. And I enjoyed it. How many times do I have to tell you that? That Sean was there was unfortunate, but how could either of us know that? It happened, it's over. Sooner or later, I would've had to tell my parents anyway."

Hunter still looked utterly confused. "How are you so okay with all of this?"

"I'm not, but I can't change anything about it now, can I? I'll just have to get used to it. It might take a while, but I will. As long as we are together, I'll manage," I said softly, even though it sounded cheesy, and finally pushed the stray strands of hair out of his eyes.

Hunter caught my hand in the process and brought it to his mouth, lightly brushing his lips against my knuckles. "Then you don't have to worry. I'm not planning on letting you go that easily anytime soon."

I laughed quietly. "We really are corny today, huh?"

Hunter smiled a little, looking down. "I think we deserve a bit of cheesiness after this week." When he looked back up, his face was serious again. "They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

I thought of the few moments when my father had been close to losing control, when he had lifted his hand and had been seconds from actually lashing out. Repressing that memory, I shook my head. "They wouldn't go that far."

Hunter looked convinced and incredibly relieved and leaned down to kiss me once more. When he broke away again he said: "We should get out of here. I'll find a way to get in touch with you and then we'll find a way to meet. Alright?"

"Yes," I said, even though I would've liked to stay here like this forever. "I'll go first?"

He nodded before he suddenly pulled me into a hug. For a second, I was frozen in shock, then I buried my face in the crook of his neck and wrapped my arms around him. As strange as it was, we had really only hugged once before, after my brief panic attack in his kitchen the other day. Just like then, the gesture was almost startlingly comforting, Hunter's chin resting on my head and his hands splayed against my back.

"Be careful, okay? I don't want you to... get in trouble," Hunter muttered.

I nodded and reluctantly let go of him. Then I opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, not looking around to avoid seeming suspicious. Victoria was leaning against the lockers at the end of the hallway, smirking at me. I suppressed a triumphant grin and shot her a cold look instead.

When I hurried away from the room and Hunter, I was pleased to see that she was following me. She wouldn't notice him leaving the same room in a few minutes.

I almost couldn't believe how quickly things had changed. When Hunter had dragged me into that room, I had been devastated and ready to burst into tears at any given moment. Now I felt almost fine again, better than I had felt all week. A few minutes with him had been enough to make seven days of hell seem okay.

+++

Two days later, Hunter still hadn't talked to me and I was starting to go back to being on edge and easily stressed out. My parents were still grinding on my nerves; my father apparently felt the need to make stupid remarks every time I entered the room, while my mom had completely stopped talking to me altogether.

Every time I handed the crappy Nokia phone over when I came home after school, I was fuming with rage on the inside, but never gave them the satisfaction of actually seeing me get worked up. I knew that my dad was just waiting for me to break, so I saved all my anger and tears for the confines of my own room.

Knowing that Hunter knew why I was acting so strange helped though, since I didn't have to worry about him being hurt or angry at me anymore.

Still, every time I saw him around school, my heart skipped a beat. Occasionally, he would smile at me when I walked past him. Once, he had brushed his hand against mine when he walked to his seat in Biology class, making my hand tingle for the rest of class. We weren't sitting next to each other anymore, but just being in the same room as him was enough for me right now.

The only place where Victoria couldn't follow me, was the boy's locker room before sports class and the restroom, which I was incredibly grateful for. But since Sean was often there, I didn't dare to talk to Hunter. I was suspecting Sean to tell Victoria, since the two of them had been hanging around together a lot during the last few weeks.

I jumped when two fingers suddenly snapped right in front of my face. When I looked up, I saw Red rolling her eyes at me with a grin. "Stop dreaming of loverboy and start making an Iced Americano, J."

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling my cheeks heating up, and got to work.

While I scooped ice into a glass, Red asked: "So, have you been able to talk it out with him?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I told him everything. I think we're good for now."

"Have you guys started hanging out again?"

"No, we can't. Victoria's still following me everywhere and likes to whisper threats into my ear in passing," I said, rolling my eyes.

Red's expression darkened. Since I had told her about Victoria's part in this, she hated the other girl with a passion. Whenever Victoria dared to come here to check if Hunter was with me, Red wrote insults on her cup and refused to let her near me. Even Darryl, after somehow hearing what had happened (I was pretty sure Red had informed him about it during pillow talk), had told me he was tempted to ban her from this shop.

"Do you think it'd be acceptable for me to spit into her coffee the next time she walks in here?" she mused while handing a customer his order. The poor man looked petrified, but Red only smiled sweetly at him.

"Sounds reasonable to me," I laughed and pushed the Iced Americano over the counter to a girl in her twenties. She was wearing a dress and a leather jacket that immediately reminded me of Hunter. "Here you go."

She thanked me and batted her lashes at me, probably attempting to look cute, but only achieving to look like she had gotten something in her eye. When she handed me the money, there was a little piece of paper between the banknotes. I raised a brow when I saw that there was a hastily scribbled telephone number and a smiley face on it.

When I glanced back up, the girl was looking at me in anticipation. I smiled uncomfortably and said: "Sorry, I have a boyfriend. Hey, I love your outfit though!" Technically that was a lie, since Hunter and I weren't actually official, but I didn't know what else to say.

The girl's cheeks flushed bright red and she muttered something under her breath before she turned around and practically sprinted out of the store.

Next to me, Red was laughing almost hysterically. "I love your outfit though?" she panted between fits of laughter. "Now that was the least heterosexual thing you ever said."

I glared at her and made sure to bump into her when I walked over to the coffee machine to prepare the next order. "Jesus, what was I supposed to say? I never know what to say when this happens."

Red, who was slowly calming down, wiped tears of laughter away from under her eyes. "We should make this a drinking game. One shot every time a girl asks for your number."

"There were two guys too," I recalled, grimacing at the memory. One of them had been pretty cute, the other one simply intimidating. "But come on, you got hit on plenty times as well."

"Right," Red said, grinning widely. "Can't blame them though. Who wouldn't want a piece of this?"

I stared at her for a moment. Sometimes it was scary how similar to Hunter she actually was. Then I shrugged and pointed at me. "Me, for instance."

Red looked up from the change she was counting to roll her eyes at me. "I'm not talking about people who are about as straight as a rainbow."

I chuckled, but the sound died in my throat as I saw who had just entered.

Hunter was looking around the shop, probably to see if Victoria was near, before he flashed me a smile and walked up to me, hands in his pockets.

Red whistled as she saw him approaching and bumped me with her hip. "Boy, you're so damn lucky."

Against my will, I had to grin as I scanned his face. "I know."

Hunter, who hadn't heard our conversation, propped his elbow on the counter and said, barely containing his laughter: "Hey, I'd like to order a... Victoria."

I blinked at him in confusion. "A what?"

"Victoria, a Flat White," he said, cracking up laughing about his own joke.

Red snickered and high-fived him, then she pushed me out of the way as I walked towards the coffee machine to work on his order. "I'll handle it, you go spend some time with loverboy."

"Thanks babe, I owe you one," I said and ruffled her hair before she could slap my hand away.

When I turned around, I caught Hunter still staring at me. He didn't even bother to look away and act embarrassed as I raised a brow at him.

Biting my lip, I walked around the counter so I could properly greet him. As soon as I was within reach, he hooked two fingers into the collar of my hoodie and pulled me into a kiss.

I pushed away the thought that there were at least a dozen people in the shop who could see us and focused on kissing him back instead.

Hunter grinned happily when he brushed a few curls out of my face and pecked my cheek once more before letting go of me. "How are you?" I could tell that the question wasn't just out of courtesy.

"I'm fine," I said. For the first time today, I meant it.

Hunter nodded and whispered: "I can't believe you kissed me back. There are like twenty people watching us."

"I missed you," I said with a shrug. "What have you been up to this week?"

"The usual," he said vaguely.

"As in street racing, drinking and hooking up with strangers?"

He shook his head. "No. As in not being able to concentrate on anything because I was thinking of you and as in annoying Alex, Liam and Adam with my talking about you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Liar."

Hunter held a hand to his chest, acting offended. "That's the truth! I mean, okay, I may have done a couple other things too... But definitely no other people, if that's what you're worried about."

"Why would I care who you have sex with?" I asked, trying to seem unaffected.

Hunter wasn't impressed. "You do. Who wouldn't care about their boyfriend cheating?"

My eyes were probably the size of saucers as I stared at him in shock. Had I heard him right? "Did you..." I choked out. "Did you just call yourself my boyfriend?"

Displayed on Hunter's face, there was a mix of amusement, nervousness and confusion as he said: "Yeah...? I mean, I thought maybe we were that far, but... You know, if you're not comfortable with that, just forget I said that-"

"Oh my god, shut up," I breathed before practically throwing myself at him as I kissed him.

Against my lips, I could feel him smiling as he wrapped his arms around my torso and nearly lifted me off my feet.

It wasn't until someone cleared their throat behind us, that we let go of each other.

Hunter turned around with a questioning look. Behind us stood a man in cargo shorts and a shirt in the same color, with a little boy in his arms who appeared to be around five. Next to him was his wife, a tall blonde with a strict ponytail and a sour expression.

"Boys, quit it," the man demanded. "No offence, but I didn't come here with my family to see two horny guys snogging!"

Hunter demonstratively wrapped an arm around my shoulder and calmly said: "Full offence; I didn't come here with my boyfriend to be bothered by an ignorant old man."

I failed to stifle my laugh as I saw the man's face turning a bright shade of red. I also failed to keep my cheeks from heating up at the word boyfriend.

"Why do gay people always need to make out in public for everyone to see?" the woman snarled.

"I'm bisexual," Hunter corrected her.

"So you can't decide?"

"No," he said impatiently. "It means that I like girls and boys." He looked over at me and grinned. "Especially this one."

I had to smile widely and squeezed his hand in return.

"And I think that everyone who has eyes in their head can see that there are way more straight people showing affection in public than homosexuals. Overthink that argument and come back when you have a better one. Or do us all a favour and never come back at all," Hunter continued.

Probably wanting to stress that the image of two boys kissing would forever scar the child's memory, the man said: "My son-"

"- should learn about things like homosexuality as early as possible so that he doesn't turn out to be an intolerant asshole like his dad." Hunter smiled innocently at the family.

In lack of anything clever to reply, the man huffed angrily and turned around on his heel, dragging his wife with him.

For a second, I was so awestruck that all I could do was stare at Hunter.

Red suddenly appeared right next to us with a huge grin on her face. "You know, loverboy, I'm starting to like you more and more," she said.

I jokingly scowled at her and wrapped my arms around his middle possessively. "Back off, he's mine."

Hunter laughed quietly and freed one of his arms to rest them on my back. "You heard him."

Red looked at us for a second before she turned around, muttering something along the lines of I can't believe they didn't get it on yet.

Meanwhile, Hunter looked at his watch and sighed. "I gotta go, I'm meeting Alex in twenty minutes. I'll write you though."

"I still can't use my phone."

"I know," he said with a grin. "We'll do it the old-fashioned way."

Before I could ask what he was talking about, he swiftly hugged me and pressed a kiss atop my head, before he left, not without taking the cup of coffee Red had fixed him with him.

+++

The following two hours went by in a blur of making and serving coffee, chatting with customers and joking around with Red.

I felt like walking on clouds; Hunter's visit, as short as it had been, had brightened my mood significantly. Talking to him seemed to be the only thing of importance this week, while the remaining time had been drenched in sadness and anger.

At seven in the evening, I said my goodbyes to Red and Darryl (though I wasn't sure if they heard me, seeing as they had been quite engaged in eating each other's faces in the storage room) and drove home.

I took a deep breath before I unlocked the front door. It was an unsettling feeling to not feel safe and loved in your own home, but I was slowly getting used to it. There would be no smiles and warm hellos when I came home anymore, no How was your day? or Dinner is ready. No one to even care whether I was home or not.

Over the past few days, I had pretty much taken care of myself, making my own food, washing my own clothes. I tried to be as invisible as possible, to the extent that I got up an hour earlier in the morning so that I could leave before my parents were up. It was unbelievable how little you could interact with someone who lived a few rooms down the hall.

That's why I was all the more surprised, when my mom came towards me once I entered the hallway and closed the door behind me.

I was tempted to just leave her standing there and bolt right up the stairs to my room, but the stupid little glimmer of hope I still had in my parents made me stay where I was. After I slipped out of my shoes and got out of my jacket, I just stood there, looking her up and down.

She looked thinner and older than she had a week ago. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line, her eyes like an owl's behind her glasses.

The silence was weighing heavy on my chest as she mustered me without saying a word. Then, finally, she crossed the small distance between us and put a hand to my cheek.

I nearly flinched away from her touch, but then reminded myself that this was my mom, not my dad. Those were the same hands that had held me when I had cried in kindergarten, put band-aids on my knees when I had fallen from my bike in elementary school, and helped style my hair before my first date in middle school. Hands that, despite what had happened, were still familiar and gentle.

Her voice was quiet and high when she said: "I'm very sorry, Juley."

My eyes widened in surprise. Those were words I hadn't expected to hear, especially not out of her mouth. I almost smiled, incredulous and relieved beyond words. Maybe the days of tense silence were ending sooner than I had thought.

"I'm very sorry that you had to choose this way," mom suddenly continued in the same gentle voice. "I always thought we had taught you well."

Her words felt like a punch in the stomach. I automatically stumbled a few steps back, her hand dropped down limply. "Mom?" I cursed myself for the weakness in my voice, the hurt in it. I shouldn't have expected anything else.

She looked at me sadly, tears already starting to fill her eyes. "Juley, don't you understand? What you've been doing, that's not you. It's not God's view, it's unnatural-"

Anger was a familiar burning in my chest, yet my voice continued sounding soft and defeated. "Mom, when will you see that you can't excuse your wrong views with religion? Just because-"

"Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God," mom chanted, her lower lip quivering.

"But isn't love the highest virtue for Christianity?" I answered. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Isn't that what you always told me?"

Mom looked almost embarrassed for a second, but then she shook her head and whispered: "But how am I supposed to love a sinner? If you would just come to your senses and realize that this is not what the Lord wants, there may be redemption..."

"Mom, I... I didn't choose this," I muttered, willing her to listen to me just this once. "It's not something I can change, not even if I wanted to."

My mom opened her mouth, but all that came out was a strangled sob as she wiped tears away with the back of her hand.

Dad came down the stairs just in that instant, eyeing me with a dirty look. "Now look what you've done!" he exclaimed and wrapped an arm around my mom's shoulders, not noticing the way she winced when he touched her. "This is what you're doing to your mother. Every damn night she's crying her eyes out because of you!"

I recoiled, unable to look away from my mom's tear-streaked face. Before I could reply, I heard a ring at the door.

As I turned around to my parents questioningly, I saw my mother quickly disappearing into the kitchen, sniffling quietly, while my dad's lips twisted into a thin smile. "Go get Maya," he said, waving a hand at me. "We have a special guest over for dinner tonight."

I huffed, but didn't try to object. Instead, I rushed past my dad and up the stairs to Maya's room. Her door was slightly ajar, revealing pink walls and carpets and loads of toys all over the floor. Maya was perching on her bed, humming quietly to herself while she combed her doll's hair. When she saw me peeking into the room, her small face immediately lit up.

I immediately had to smile back. "Are boys allowed in here?"

Maya seemed to think hard for a moment before she nodded. "Where were you?" she asked, sticking her lower lip out in was must've been the world's most adorable pout.

Of course I knew what she meant by that. Since I'd been trying hard to avoid my parents, I hadn't really seen her all week since she was with them at almost all times. "Sorry. I didn't have much time," I said, feeling guilty as I looked at her.

She nodded and threw her doll to the floor, apparently losing interest in playing.

"Maya, we have a guest," I said. "Do you want to say hello?"

Again she nodded, eagerly this time and stretched her arms out for me to carry her. I laughed a little and bent down to pick her up. Maya could walk very well on her own, but she was the laziest four year-old I had ever met.

She squealed a little as I spun around a few times, holding her up high. Then I propped her up on my hip and walked down the stairs with her.

Half-way down the staircase, I heard a voice at the door that made me freeze in my tracks.

"We're so glad that you followed our invitation. I can't even repeat too many times how grateful we are for your help in this case..."

"Oh, no worries, Mr. Hatcher," Victoria chirped in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I couldn't miss out on this now, could I? Oh, hi Jules!"

I gritted my teeth as I walked down the rest of the steps. Victoria was standing in the door, next to my dad, and smirked at me as she saw me. She was probably wearing the less revealing clothes I had ever seen on her; jeans and a long-armed red turtle-neck, making her look much more mature, which was probably what she had been aiming for.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not even trying to sound friendly.

"Victoria will be dining with us tonight to inform us on your... progress," dad answered with a self-satisfied smile.

If I hadn't been carrying Maya, I probably would've slapped someone in the face by now. "Fine, do whatever you want. I'll be in my room."

Dad shook his head and glared at me. "No, you won't. You'll be sitting with us and you'll behave."

Victoria grinned widely. This had to be her absolute dream come true: me being mocked by my parents, who absolutely adored her, unable to do anything about it. She was intruding my home, my personal life, and was in a position where I could do absolutely nothing about it.

Maya was tugging at the front of my shirt before I could shoot back. I looked down at her frowning face. She stretched a little so that she could cling onto my shoulder with one hand while she whispered into my ear: "Who is the rude lady?"

I snorted. "That's Victoria. She's... a meanie."

Maya nodded knowingly and peaked over her shoulder at Victoria, sticking her tongue out at her. I couldn't deny that I was a little proud of her.

Victoria scrunched up her nose, looking like she had smelled something bad. "Your little sister, Jules? How... adorable."

"That is Maya, our youngest," dad said proudly. "Alright then, dinner should be ready by now. Come on into the kitchen!"

Victoria thanked him with her never ending nice smile and entered the kitchen before me, where mom was currently dishing up steak and potatoes with rosemary.

"Oh, hello Victoria!" mom chimed happily and hugged her. All traces of tears were gone from her face by now.

I looked away as Victoria wrapped her arms around my mother in turn, smirking at me over her shoulder. My parents acted like she was their child, not me. Which was probably what they would've actually preferred.

Victoria sat down to my dad's left, my usual seat. I swallowed down the bitter taste of jealousy along with all words of protest and set Maya down on a chair. Then I sunk onto the chair right next to Maya.

Mom served everyone except me, so I helped myself to potatoes.

Meanwhile, dad turned to Victoria and said: "So, Victoria, tell us a little. Has Jules had contact to Hunter at school?"

Victoria looked over at me, clearly enjoying herself. I looked back coldly, even though my heart was racing. She couldn't know that we were talking again, could she? "No, he hasn't. But I believe that's just a matter of time."

My parents nodded sadly. "It's true. He lets temptations have the best of him," dad said.

I felt my grip around my fork tightening as I stared down at my plate, trying not to listen.

"It's quite sad," Victoria sighed, faking sorrow. "How he can't even see that someone like Hunter will never stick around."

"What do you mean?" mom asked worriedly.

"Well, it's not exactly a secret that Hunter... comes around quite a lot. I don't think he'd be able to stay with Jules, even if he wanted to. Getting someone to sleep with him is a challenge for him, and once he accomplished it, he moves on to the next."

I looked up only to glare at her. "You forgot about that when you practically threw yourself at him, huh?"

"Be quiet, Julian," dad hissed through gritted teeth. "Your wrong acquaintances really changed you. A few weeks ago you didn't talk like that."

"Maybe because a few weeks ago, I didn't have to constantly listen to your insults and stupid opinions on something that I can't change! What am I supposed to do, sit here and be happy to be treated like I committed a crime or something?" I asked incredulously.

Dad stared at me with a hard expression on his features. "You're supposed to behave and understand that this is just a phase and that you've been misled by a confused teenage boy!"

I snorted and got up from the table with so much force that I sent the chair scraping across the floor loudly. "Okay, that's it, I'm done. If I have to listen to this for one more minute I might throw up."

Ignoring my parents' protests, I walked out of the room and continued up the stairs, when I suddenly heard another pair of feet behind me.

Turning around, I saw Victoria following me with a smug look on her face. "Now, that was highly entertaining. Is that how you always talk with your parents?"

I was tempted to push her down the stairs, but instead I said: "Not before you came and ruined it all. Are you happy now?"

She shrugged. "It's not really my problem, is it? When I go home tonight, my parents will be there and ask me about my day. My mom will make me hot chocolate and we will watch TV together. Then I will go to my room and call my friends while I do my nails. It will be a good day, except for one thing: I will not be able to go to Hunter at night. I won't be able to be with the man of my dreams and all because of you." She was silent for a moment, her lips breaking into a cruel smile. "But I will know that you... You won't have any of that. Your parents won't even listen to you, you'll never meet Hunter again. So yeah, you could say I'm happy."

For a second, I was rendered speechless. The sheer amount of hatred in her words was too much for me to comprehend.

We had come to a halt at the top of the stairs during her speech. Now she shoved me aside and pushed past me, looking down the corridor, probably to find my room. When she didn't find it just by looking at the closed doors, she walked up to the very first door next to the stairs.

I immediately darted towards her and gripped her upper arm, dragging her away from the room. "Don't touch that door," I hissed.

Victoria rubbed her arm with a glare in my direction, but continued to strut down the corridor. Before I could stop her, she opened the door to my room, grinning victoriously as she entered.

I groaned and followed her inside.

"Wow, your room is even more boring than I had expected," she said snidely.

"And why would I care what you think about my room?" I snapped and flopped down on my bed.

She didn't reply, instead she began digging through the stuff on my desk. I didn't really care. There were a few sketches and some school work, nothing interesting. Except for...

"Now, what's this?" Victoria asked triumphantly as she held up the portrait of Hunter I had drawn all those weeks ago, before we had gone to that gay club. That evening felt like it happened years ago. "Well, that is..." she said and suddenly ripped the picture in half without hesitation. "Adorable."

I got up from my bed and picked up the pieces she had dropped to the floor. Then, looking at her, I asked: "Seriously, why do you hate me so much?" I had intended to sound angry; instead I sounded like a kicked puppy.

"Oh Jules, you really are as stupid as you look, aren't you?" She jabbed a finger at my chest. "You are the reason why Hunter dumped me overnight. And you didn't even have to do anything for it. All you had to do was look cute and act all innocent and blush a couple times around him. Do you have any idea how long it took until he only as much as looked at me?"

When I shook my head silently, she spat: "Months. It took months. Weeks until I had his phone number, but he never replied to any of my texts. Then, suddenly, on the fieldtrip, he showed up at my tent at night. He said he wanted some distraction. Later I found out what he meant by that." She laughed bitterly. "He came to me after you had gotten sick. He had noticed that your ex, Emily, was jealous of him. He didn't want to ruin your relationship with her, so he thought that I'd help him to forget about you. Jules, over weeks I was nothing but a replacement for you."

I gulped. "But how is any of that my fault?"

Victoria lifted her hand from my chest to point at my head instead. "If there were only a few brain cells in there, you would've noticed what was going on. You could've been thankful and continue to live happily ever after with Emily while I was with Hunter."

"Victoria, it doesn't work like that," I said quietly. "I would've never been able to be happy with Emily, not for long."

Victoria wasn't even listening to me. "I would visit Hunter every night from then on. We would have our way, then he would send me home. I didn't mind... until he started talking about you. Talked about how pretty you were and how gentle and I don't know what else. Once he whispered your name while we were doing it. I was never enough for him, not even then, all thanks to you."

I didn't know what to make of all this new information. "Victoria, I understand that it must be painful, but I don't get why... Why would you still be so obsessed with him after all of that?"

Victoria took a deep breath, suddenly looking softer, younger than when she had this mask of hate on. "Because the few minutes he gave me were better than anything I've ever had with anyone before. Because to me, he was more than just a hookup. I thought maybe, after time, I could be more to him too." She looked back up at me. Her eyes had gone hard and cold again. "He thinks only you can be. But don't worry, I'll teach him otherwise."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and stormed out of my room, leaving me speechless and with more than a little to think about.