Noble Creek High,
Senior year,
Present day
My aim was to get away from Hunter as far as possible but I only managed to get to Emily's front desk because he grabbed my wrist and turned me around to face him.
"Hera, I love you."
Shock filled my whole body as I felt my heart beating erratically at Hunter's words. The ones I haven't heard in three whole months.
Hunter held both of my arms and had a determined look on. "I still love you and I have never stopped loving you even for one moment. You have to believe me when I say everything I told Melanie that day was a huge lie."
All of a sudden, it got really hard to breathe and that had me hyperventilating. "W-what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that it was all a ploy to get Melanie to confess. I was seriously stupid for trying to do all of that on my own. I should've told yo-"
Hunter's lips were still moving but the sound of his voice was starting to fade away. I felt dizzy and lightheaded and it just got harder to breathe by the second. I couldn't think straight and all the strength in me was disappearing at a moderate speed.
"Hera, are you okay?" I heard Hunter's voice faintly along with a door unlocking sound.
Out of nowhere, there was a white blinding light shining on us coming straight from the library's entrance. But that was all I could see because all of my consciousness had left me right there and then.
< ~ >
"I can't believe she was locked in the school library the entire night. This is madness. Should we sue the school for this?"
"Let's just wait for Hera to wake up, okay? We will handle all that later."
Slowly opening my eyes, I realized that I was on an unfamiliar and uncomfortable bed. I took in everything I could see and that's when it hit me that I was in a hospital room with an IV drip needle attached to my arm. What the hell am I doing here?
"Oh Hera, you're finally awake. Oh God, I was so scared." Mom said holding my hand.
"Mom? Elias? What are you guys doing here? What am I doing here?"
"Honey, you fainted after being locked in your school's library the whole night. The doctor said you passed out of emotional stress and hyperventilation. But you're okay now. You're safe." She said squeezing my hand as an act of comfort.
"Oh." Just then, something popped into my mind. "Hunter. Where is Hunter? Is he okay?"
"He is fine. He's actually waiting outside right now. I told him to go home but he refused. Do you want to see him? It's okay if you don't want to."
As everything that had happened last night resurfaced in my head, I remembered the last thing he told me and I think I definitely have to see him. "Yeah, I want to see him."
"Are you sure, honey?"
I nodded and smiled at mum. I know she's just worried. But I really need to know why Hunter said what he said.
"I'll go get him," said Elias.
After a minute, Hunter walked in with Elias right behind him. To say that he looked exhausted would be an understatement. But despite that, he still looks so handsome. How is that even possible?
"Hey." He said sitting beside my bed on the opposite side of my mum who was currently shooting daggers at him.
"Hey," I replied with a little smile.
Just as I was about to ask him how he was doing, my hospital room door opened revealing Emily and.....Mr. Bennett.
"Hello. Sorry for the interruption but we are here to do a follow-up. It will only take a while." Mr. Bennett said to my mum and Elias.
"What are you guys doing here? Together?" I asked confused.
"We're the ones who found out that you two were stuck in the library. I installed a security system at the front desk and my office last year ever since some students thought it would be funny to spray paint my cupboards. It was dark times, I know. But now it seems to have come in handy because I received a security alert in my phone the moment you guys opened my cupboards. Therefore, the rescue mission." Emily explained.
Thank you students who decided to mess around with Emily's desk. Thank you.
"Wait. How could you have found out about our lock-in together?" I asked confused.
"Because we live together." Mr. Bennett said nonchalantly.
"Say what now?"
"We're married, dear." Emily smiled.
The whole room fell into a pregnant pause before I broke into a fit of laughter. "Gosh, you're funny. You almost got me." I said in between cackles.
The sound of a throat-clear is what caused me to shift my gaze back to Emily and Mr. Bennett. That was the moment my laughter died slowly because I started to realize that there was nothing hilarious about this current situation.
"Oh, you're serious," I asked shocked at these two's sudden reveal of their shared private life. "Oh my God! Since when are you guys married?"
"Since a long time ago. We just keep it lowkey at school."
"Well, you guys do an excellent job at that." I smiled. "Anyways, thank you for rescuing us."
"No, no. Don't thank me. It's my fault that you guys got locked in. I didn't do a thorough check and just left, leaving you guys there. I'm really sorry." said Emily.
"No, Emily. It's our fault too. We should've checked the time and left the library before closing. You can't take the blame." said Hunter.
"Well, as part of the school, we're still very sorry to all of you for what happened. We will make sure something like this will never take place again," said Mr. Bennett. "Ms. Hawkins, may we have a word with you and your partner outside?"
"Sure. I'll see you in a bit, Hera." said mum and stepped outside along with the rest of the adults.
"Emily and Mr. Bennett. Who knew?" I asked.
"Not me. I'm as shocked as you are," said Hunter chuckling.
"Are you okay? You look really tired." I said honestly.
"Yeah. Just need some sleep in me. How about you? You okay?"
"Better than you, that's for sure." I teased to which he laughed.
Then, we fell into a comfortable silence, just like in the library. But I knew I can't be silent forever. I had to ask.
"About what you said before I passed out-"
"We can talk about that later when you're feeling better. It's fine." He smiled in assurance.
"No, it's not. I need to know what you meant. I need to know everything."
Hunter sighed. "This is going to be hard because I don't even know if you're going to believe what I'm about to say. And it'll really break my heart if you don't believe me."
Before I can react to Hunter's hurt-filled voice, a familiar voice emerges from the entrance of the room. "We can help you with that."
"Woah, what are you guys doing here?" I asked frowning at the unexpected appearance of Nina, Newt, and Dare.
"You mean, why didn't we come sooner? Girl, I can't believe you were locked in the freaking library with your ex-boyfriend! The universe is really working its ass off to get you guys back together, I'm a 100% sure." said Nina excitedly to which I ignored her remark. "But are you okay? They said you passed out of emotional stress."
"Yeah. I'm okay now." I said smiling at the twins who came over to stand beside my bed. "But I feel bad though. You guys didn't need to come all the way here."
"Don't be silly. Of course, we would come." Nina was about to smile when she got interrupted by Newt's nudging.
The twins exchanged some weird looks before Newt decided to finally speak up. "We did come here to check on you but that's not the whole reason."
I blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Hera, we're about to tell you something that we literally had just figured out yesterday when you guys were stuck in the library. Something Hunter couldn't tell you in the past three months," said Nina nervously.
"What?"
"I know my best friend." Dare said to me as he took a peek at Hunter. "And I know that he isn't the kind to do what he did to you. It felt off to me. He wouldn't tell me anything about what happened and gave me the cold shoulder. But I just knew he was in a lot of pain after the break-up. I finally couldn't take his weird behavior and his excessive drinking anymore so, last month, I told Nina about this and we started our own investigation to find out what really happened."
"But little did we know that this guy over here-" Nina said pointing to Newt. "-was also having his own little investigation going on. So, we decided to team up."
"Really?" I asked Newt while trying to hide my shock.
"Yeah. I wasn't too sure but it felt off to me too. Something about all the things he said to Melanie that day didn't sit right with me. Especially after what he told me to convince me to help him on that date he planned for you in the school library."
I looked at Hunter to find him flushed as he avoided everyone's gaze. "What did he say to you?" I asked Newt.
"First, he apologized to me for being a jerk. I was honestly surprised because I didn't think he would ever apologize to anyone. Then, he told me how he fell in love with you. The day you guys got together was the day he fell in love with you. When you figured out why he was acting like a douche and when you told him that you'll fight for him, he said he couldn't help it. The look in his eyes when he was telling me all of that was what convinced me that he really is in love with you. He said that he knew how much I meant to you and that's why he was swallowing his pride and asking me for a favor just so he could make you happy." said Newt with a small smile.
My jaw dropped at Newt's words. Hunter had spoken to Newt—the two people who have a mutual dislike towards each other—just so he could make me happy. That just makes me beyond confused. I shifted my gaze to Hunter and found his nervous eyes already on mine. But I didn't know how to react to all this. It was a lot to take in.
"Okay, she's really confused so we better start telling her," said Nina to Newt and Dare.
Newt sighed and looked into my eyes with a mix of sadness and determination. "Melanie is the one who's behind all this."
"What do you mean?"
"She didn't just sabotage your relationship with Hunter, Hera. She sabotaged your scholarship too," said Nina.
Shock hit me like a slap to my face as I tried to process this new information. "I-I don't understand. I received the scholarship. How could she have sabotaged it?"
"We won't be explaining that because she will," said Nina who looked behind her, indicating me to look too.
There was Dare—whom I didn't even know had left the room—entering with the one and only Melanie Hawkins, my dear cousin. More like dragging her to be very honest. Melanie looked terrible and this would be the first time I would ever say that about her. Her deep eye bags were on display and the exhaust on her face was glaringly apparent.
"Go on. Do what you came here to do," said Newt in a very intimidating tone.
Melanie sighed and avoided Newt's burning gaze. "I wanted to strip you of your scholarship so I slept with Mr. Kerner in exchange for that."
My eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
"Chill, bitch. You still got your stupid scholarship, right?" Melanie said distastefully.
"Shut up, Melanie!" said Newt angrily at Melanie who flinched in fear. "Say only what you're supposed to say, got it?"
"Fine. Hunter approached Mr. Kerner and asked him about your scholarship and why you haven't received it yet. But Mr. Kerner was acting shady because that son of a bitch can't tell a fucking lie properly. Hunter started to find him suspicious and went on to do his own research. Somehow, he managed to make the connection between me and Mr. Kerner and so, he approached me like he was on my side. But I knew he was only trying to get information out of me. So, I acted like I believed him. I knew it was my chance to hurt you even further." Melanie said looking right at me with vicious eyes.
"Hunter tried to talk to me like you didn't matter to him just so he can get me to trust him. But I turned that against him and made you listen to what he had to say. My plan to hurt you worked because he successfully broke your pathetic heart." She said with pride.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Melanie went to the extent of sleeping with a school staff just so she can hurt me. She sounds almost crazy.
"Why?" I asked in disbelief. "Why would you do such things?"
"Because I hate you. I thought you already knew that. And I told you, didn't I? I told you; you will pay for it." She said glaring at me.
"Pay for what?" asked a frowning Nina.
"Pay for breaking Newt's heart. For picking that blind fucker over Newt. For taking the twins' friendship away from me. For stealing Newt away from me when you don't even love him!" She screamed leaving us all in surprise.
"What the fuck, Melanie?" said Nina after a minute of complete silence. "How dare you claim all of that when you're the one who fucked up? May I remind you that you're the one who disrespected our mother? Don't fucking hate on Hera when you're the responsible one."
"I didn't! It's all her fault." Melanie screamed. "She stole you guys away from me. She stole Newt away from me!"
"Stop it, Melanie!" shouted Newt angrily. "Hera didn't break my heart and she never stole me away from you. I don't know what the hell is wrong with you but you have got to stop all your nonsense. Just get out."
"Please, Newt. I love you. Don't leave me. I love you!" Melanie begged.
"No, you don't love me. You don't even know me. Please just leave, Melanie." said Newt using a stern tone.
"I'll get her out. Babe, help me."
Nina and Dare held Melanie's arms and dragged her out of the room while Melanie screamed 'I love you' to Newt until she was out the door.
I heaved a sigh of relief because Melanie was finally out of our sights. I can't believe that just happened. I can't believe that Melanie just acted like a totally insane person.
"That was crazy," said Newt who ran his fingers through his hair. "She actually said that to me. I didn't even know she felt that strongly towards me. She barely even knows me."
I didn't know how to respond to that mainly because I'm still very flabbergasted at Melanie's multiple confessions. I guess Hunter doesn't know too because he was also silent.
"Well, I'll just go outside right now and take in everything that had just happened. You guys, please work things out."
Newt was about to leave the room when I stopped him by calling his name. "Thank you, Newt. Thank you for helping us. I really, really appreciate it."
He shook his head. "The truth was bound to be revealed someday anyway- Woah."
Newt was cut off by Hunter who pulled him in for a tight embrace shocking me and Newt. That was totally unexpected and truly dumbfounding. Who in their wildest dreams would've ever thought that these two would ever hug?
"Thanks, man. I really appreciate whatever you did for us." Hunter said while doing a bro handshake with Newt.
"No problem. You two deserve to be happy." Newt smiled. "Now, go and work things out with your soon-to-be-girlfriend-again."
With that, Newt left the room leaving Hunter and me in our own thoughts. There was so much to talk about. But I didn't know where to start as the new pieces of the eye-opening information was kind of overwhelming. However, I did know one thing. I wanted to be in close proximity to Hunter again.
"Can you lay beside me?" I asked the currently standing Hunter.
"You sure? The bed is kind of too small for the both of-"
"I'm sure." I smiled slightly.
"Okay then," Hunter said and climbed onto my bed in a swift move.
We laid on the bed facing each other while looking into each other's eyes. I could finally take a good look at him without the darkness like in the library. He was undoubtedly beautiful.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't try to listen to your explanation."
"I'm not going to lie by saying I wasn't angry because I was. I was beyond furious that you didn't trust me and didn't give me a chance to explain myself. Then the anger turned into hurt. It hurt so much that you didn't trust me and you just threw what we had so quickly by kissing someone else. It was as if you were waiting for me to screw up because you didn't trust me and my love for you."
All I feel at the moment is regret and guilt. I hate myself so much right now. If only I gave him a chance to explain, none of this would have happened and we wouldn't have suffered from heartache in the past three dreadful months.
"But after a few days following the break-up, I put myself in your shoes and realized that if I were you in that situation, I would have reacted the same. Not the kissing someone else part but the running away and not listening to my explanation part. But you have to know that I said all of that just to get her to trust me. She made it really hard to gain her trust. That's the only reason why I had to go that far. I didn't mean any of it, Hera. You have to trust me on this." Hunter sighed and held my hand. "I know that having to hear all that crap from me must've been really hard. I'm sorry about that."
"What? No! Don't apologize. None of this is your fault and I realize that now. I do trust you, Hunter. But why did you do all of that and on your own? Why didn't you just come to me? After all, it was my problem to deal with."
Hunter grimaced. "I thought maybe you shouldn't have to find out about your monstrous cousin sleeping with the school's admin just to take away your scholarship. I thought I could do it all on my own. But now, I wish I had just told you."
"Oh." A thought suddenly entered my brain, making a frown appear on my face. "Then, how do I still have the scholarship?"
"I threatened Mr. Kerner saying that I have a witness—which I actually don't—who saw Melanie and him together. He fell for my trap and made a deal with me. After putting myself in your shoes, I thought I should at least do that for you."
Damn, Hunter is thoughtful to no end. "Hunter, I know I might sound selfish asking this but why didn't you try to fix things between us again in the past three months?"
"I did, actually. I tried approaching you three times after my anger subsided. But every time you saw me coming your way, you ran away from me like I'm some deadly virus. After three times, I just couldn't try again because it hurt so much that you couldn't even stand to be around me." He said with a small smile.
Gosh, I'm such an idiot. I don't deserve him at all.
I sighed in frustration which was caused by me. "Hunter, I can't even stand myself right now. I screwed up, big time. I'm so, so sorry that I didn't trust you and for hurting you so much. It really was not my intention to hurt you like this but I'm truly sorry nevertheless. I understand if you want to nothing to do with me-"
"Are you kidding me, Hera? Did you forget about the part where I said I still love you? Wait, did you actually forget? Because if you did, I might have to call the doctor."
I smiled at his adorable self. "I remember."
"Good. I meant it, Hera. I still love you. I have always loved you. There's no one else for me. It's you. It's always going to be you." Hunter lifted his left palm and caressed my cheek gently. "We both have a lot of reflecting to do but I know we can get past this. I know we can learn from our mistakes. We can make us work, I just know we can."
"I love you," I said as a tear left my left eye. "It's you for me too, Hunter. I want us to work."
Hunter leaned in closer and left a soft kiss on my forehead before resting his against mine. "We will, I promise."
"I promise too."
"Good."
"So, does this mean you're my boyfriend again?" I asked cautiously.
The corner of Hunter's lips twitched in amusement. "Would you like that?"
"I would love that."
"Can I kiss you if I'm your boyfriend again?"
"Would you like that?" I imitated his words with a teasing smile.
"I would love that." He imitated right back.
"Then, yes! A thousand times yes!"
He chuckled at my excitement. "Then, I shall be your boyfriend again."
"And that makes me your girlfriend again." I grinned.
"And that makes me happy." He said staring into my eyes with a fond smile plastered on his face.
Both of us leaned in simultaneously and captured each other's lips for a soft and sensual kiss. I can't believe I'm actually back together with Hunter. All this while, I thought I would never ever see him again but fate had a twisted way of showing me otherwise. And I'm glad it did because I would have never learned the truth if it weren't for this suffocating and slightly traumatizing event.
I guess being locked in the school library all night with my ex-boyfriend—who is now my boyfriend once again—isn't my worst nightmare after all.