"Holy moly !" Ben gasped dramatically as soon as his sight fell on Lia " My goddess! " He exclaimed and without warning, slammed her into his chest, engulfing her in a bone crushing hug.

" You're here at last " He cried and tightened the hug, swaying her from side to side " I missed you "

Lia rolled her eyes and tried to pull away from him when the hug of a thing passed a few seconds. "Ben " She called but no reply

"Ben " She called again but still no reply and the students were beginning to give her strange looks.

It was not everyday you get to see a guy and a girl hugging in the hallway and swaying side to side to an unknown tune.

"Ben!" she called this time but with a firmer tone and thankfully it elicited a response from this guy friend of her's.

Sometimes Ben's weird behavior makes her question if he's her boy friend or girl friend - cause he fulfils both roles.

"You have a lot of explaining to do " Ben said and grabbed her arms leading her to God knows where.

If it wasn't for the fact that Lia was now a lot stronger than the average human, she would have had her pepper spray at her side, you just might never know what this guy has up his sleeve.

Thankfully, he led her to a secluded corner of the school that served as a makeshift hideout for troublesome students and those who want to cut class. There was no body in sight so it gave them the opportunity to speak freely.

"Now, tell me everything " Ben demanded leaning against the wall with arms folded and his gossipy ears perked up.

"Class - "

"Would approximately start in fifteen minutes time " Ben interrupted her with a knowing look, he knew she was trying to avoid his questions.

"And what a surprise " He gasped theatrically, hands on his chest " Enough time for us to catch up on things. Now start ! "

Ugh, sometimes it's quite burdensome to have a friend who knows every little details about her and read her perfectly. Her every lie and deception can't even escape his eyes.

"Fine, tell me yours first " She asked him instead "What do you remember about that Friday? "

Ben scratched his head awkwardly " Truth is I don't remember much, all I know is that I passed out after that final drink and found myself the next day at Asher's place and heard what happened afterwards from your vampire friends "

Sounds reasonable, Lia thought. After all Caroline had orchestrated everything that night perfectly only it didn't go according as planned.

So Lia spent the next five minutes recounting everything that happened, excluding the fact that the guy who saved her was also her mate.

Ben wouldn't betray her but he has a loose mouth and might spill the news unknowingly, cause this mate issue wasn't something that should be taken for granted at lest until resolved - by rejecting one.

Just the thought of it made her heart heavy but she shifted it to the back of her mind, this wasn't the time and place to ponder about it.

"Ugh" Ben gritted his teeth " That blonde witch Caroline !" He cursed out loud and Lia couldn't help but chuckle.

Honestly, this idea of a sidekick wasn't so bad, at lest she has someone to share her day without worrying about her secret being exposed, though Ben can be very annoying, like now.

" So " He cooed, approaching her with this lopsided smile that told her his gossip mode has been activated.

He wriggled his brows suggestively " Tell me about this guy "

uh-oh , we're so not going there

"Come-on " He whined and blocked Lia's path when she tried to escape.

Lia made an X shape with her arms with a serous expression saying "No way " but Ben was one annoying fly.

"Is he handsome? " Ben probed and though she tried to keep a straight face, a blush betrayed her.

" Wow, She's blushing " Ben teased her and Lia wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

She hated this matebond of a thing, just mere thinking about him made her cheeks burn and heart to quicken.

"But wait a minute " Ben stopped his teasing and pursed his lips thoughtfully " Is this why Asher was jealous? "

Her jerked up "Asher was jealous?! "

Ben faced her with that ridiculous smile on his lips again " You should've seen the look on your mate's face, he was struggling to keep the green-eyed monster at bay " He snickered.

Lia frowned, this is bad. What if the two of them tear each other apart from jealousy before they even reach a consensus? No, this is incredibly bad, She has to do something.

Ben's face suddenly lit up " Talking about it, Why were you with another guy? isn't this considered cheating? Why is Asher doing nothing about this! " He peppered me with questions that wasn't supposed to be answered.

Ben might be stupid at times but he's incredibly smart when on a quest to uncover a mystery.If this goes on at this rate, it's only a matter of time before he finds out the truth.

She has to do something right now.

"Have you seen my powers? " Lia blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I haven't but would love to ! I only heard of your exploits last week friday which is awesome by the way " Ben jabbered eagerly much to Lia's relief.

At lest , the distraction is working .

"Umm, I can't show you the first one yet " Lia disclosed when she met Ben's eyes gleaming with anticipation. " Asher says it's dangerous especially since I have no control over it "

She tried to explain to him but Ben booed at her and accompanied it with a thumbs-down.

Lia rolled her eyes before she offered "But I can show you the second one "

And as expected, his face lit up like Christmas. Sometimes it wasn't that hard to bribe Ben.

" Alright " Lia breathed and cracked her neck and knuckles " Let me get the hang of it " She said stretching her waist.

Ben stared at her confused, was calling forth her powers that difficult? Why was she stretching and warming up like someone about to run a marathon.

"Alright come at me " Lia ordered and gestured him to throw a punch at her which he happily obliged but it wasn't what she expected .

Lia facepalm " Ben, we are not shooting some action movie, I didn't ask you to slow-motion your blow " She chided, burning with the need to strangle that guy right now.

"And when throwing a punch, try not to make it that obvious and pre- ouch! " Lia cried out in pain when he punched her unexpectedly.

"What was that for? !" Lia yelled, holding her painful reddened nose

"You said not to my make my punch obvious!" He countered.

"Yeah but I was still in the middle... " But she was still halfway speaking when Ben raised his fist to throw another punch but she instinctively held up her both arms and Ben's punch met an obstacle.

Ben tried to force himself but there was an invisible force like pushing against him. Totally awesome!.

But suddenly, Lia brought down the force and sprang towards the direction where they heard something drop.

------

**The Green-eyed Monster : Jealousy personified.