Hello everyone!

Here is a new chapter!

Enjoy!

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"Damn that stupid program." Anna cursed and snapped her laptop shut.

A startled Mary took off her headphones and looked with confusion at her roommate.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just got frustrated with that program. I tried everything in hopes of solving it, but nothing worked." Anna sighed and lied down on her bed.

"Do we have homework?" Mary asked in panic. She didn't remember any assignments were given today.

"No, we don't have any work. I am just doing extra credit work for Maths and computer science classes."

Mary raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend strangely.

"Are you serious? You are like a genius in our class. You have answers for everything even for the impossible questions. I don't think you will need extra classes to help you with your grades. Girl, you scored A in all our tests. Do you want to go over one hundred?"

"I do it just for fun." Anna shrugged indifferently.

But internally she was screaming. Only if you knew, I am struggling here to solve this mystery, but all my attempts are futile. It had been two weeks since Anna got the files from the headmaster's office. She dedicated all her free time to decipher the words in front of her. She even requested Simon's help, but he was as clueless as her.

She asked Ethan to seek help from more advanced specialists, but he declined immediately. Apparently, they didn't trust anyone else with this delicate information.

"Now, how about you forget your studies a little and come with me?" Mary hopped up from her bed and went to her closet.

"May I ask where are we going?" Anna asked confused.

Without answering her, Mary started throwing different dresses Anna's way. When satisfied with her choices, Mary turned to her shocked friend and raised an eyebrow.

"If you are going to just sit here and stare at nothing, then the party would be over before we arrive."

"Party? And why would I be interested in going to a party I am not invited to?"

"Actually we are invited. I met Alex today, and he said we are welcome to come to his welcome party. He is holding it at his house so you need to move it. Party starts at 22:00, and it's already 20:30." Mary informed Anna as she arranged the make-up they needed.

Anna was going to protest but thought against it. She really needed some time out from the mayhems going on in her life. She started rummaging through the pile of dresses on her bed. She took a simple black dress that comes just above her knees. She lifted it and looked at Mary for approval. The blonde girl gave her thumbs up and went back to her searching.

One hour later, both girls were ready to leave. Anna with a black dress and matched heels, she opted to straight her hair and put light make-up in the form of red lipstick and eyeliner. Compared to Mary, Anna looked like a nun as her roommate wore a mid-tight short red dress with black high heels. She completed her appearance by curling her blonde hair and turning all of it to one side. For make-up, she put a dark eye shadow that highlighted her green eyes and blood-red lipstick.

The photo is of "Mary" as Candice Accola

"Wow! You look stunning." Anna said to her friend.

"Thank you so much. You don't look bad yourself." Mary winked at her friend and retrieved her car's key from her school bag.

"Are you driving?" Anna asked.

"yes, of course, my car is parked in the school parking lot. We will go from there."

*********

Loud music and teenagers laugher was the first thing that greeted Anna when she and Mary descended the car and walked towards Alex's home. Anna looked around her and saw people dancing and chatting in the large backyard. The house wasn't a mansion, but it was impressive in its own way. It seemed that her classmate was a rich boy because for him to afford that kind of building, he needed to be from an upper-class family. She followed Mary inside the house and was led by her to a minibar where drinks were served.

"Are you planning to drink tonight?" Anna asked her friend who already gave her order to the bartender.

"Not really, I am just drinking a glass or two."

"remember you are driving tonight." Anna cautioned Mary then turned her attention to the bartender, "give me a glass of water please."

Sipping from her cold water, Anna noticed Mary flirting with a handsome boy. She rolled her eyes and wasn't surprised when her roommate put her glass on the table beside Anna and went dancing with the guy.

"what's an honour to have you here at my party," Alex said as he took a seat next to Anna.

"Hi," Anna greeted.

"Hi Helena, I hope you are having a good time."

"well, like you see my friend ditched me, and here I am sitting alone and watching others having fun."

Alex laughed at her and looked to the dance floor where Mary was having the fun of her life.

"Nice choice on your friend part, Andy is a quarterback in the football team. You can say he is the dream of every girl in our school, of course after the Salviatti boys who are the golden bachelors here."

"you realise we are still in high school. So it's a long way before we start talking about eligible bachelors." Anna laughed and rolled her eyes.

"anyway, what do you say to have a dance with me?"

"since I am bored out of my mind, I don't have a choice but to say yes." Anna extended her hand towards Alex.

With a smile on his face, Alex took her hand and the two moved to dance among the others. Anna was having so much fun. She came to discover that Alex was an easygoing guy and can brighten your mood no matter what.

But like always, good times ended too soon for Anna. She was slow dancing with Alex when a strong arm snatched her from his hold. She turned around to look at the intruder only to find herself staring at familiar blue eyes.

"hey! What do you think you are doing?" Alex said and grabbed Anna's free arm which left the girl in the middle of two angry boys.

Before anyone could say a word, Hunter swung his arm back and punched Alex right in the face. Alex stumbled backward and had a hard time stabilizing himself. Anna managed to release herself from Hunter's death grip on her arm. She ran to Alex's side and examined his bloody nose.

"are you okay?" Anna asked in panic.

"let's go," Hunter ordered coldly.

Anna looked at him in disdain, "you are crazy Hunter. You are the one who must leave before doing something dangerous. I don't even know why you are acting like this."

Anna was surprised when Hunter's expression turned from anger to hurt. He shook his head and turned to leave followed by Lillian and Eric. Aiden who remained behind looked concerned for Anna's well-being.

"are you going to be okay?"

"yes, don't worry. I will help Alex then go home with Mary." Anna reassured him.

"maybe I should give you a ride back to the dorms," Aiden suggested.

"no, I am fine. Just go and make sure Hunter is okay."

With that, Anna followed Alex who went upstairs. She had to open three doors before finding his room. Anna heard the water running so she entered the bathroom and found Alex facing the mirror and trying to clean his bloody nose. She walked the few steps separating them and took a clean towel and gave it to him. Alex took it silently and continued his work.

"I am so sorry. I didn't know he would react that way." Anna apologised.

"is he your boyfriend?" Alex asked as he threw the bloody towels in the trash bin.

"not anymore, we have a history together, but that's it. There is nothing between us now." Anna tried to explain.

"well, I think he stills has something for you. Apparently being friends with you will put me in the blacklist of the Salviatti family, and let me tell you, it's a bad thing......."

"don't worry. I will talk to him and make him understand that we are friends and that he doesn't have any say in my social relationships."

Alex laughed which came as grimace more than anything.

"you didn't let me continue talking. I was going to say but that would never force me to abandon you or end our friendship." Alex winked at Anna and draped his arm over her shoulders.

Anna smiled really big at him and helped him to go to his room. She made sure he was comfortably on his bed with the comforter covering him.

"I will go to the kitchen and bring you an ice bag."

"that would be great. I need some coldness to ease the soreness in my face. Thank god your boyfriend didn't break my nose."

Anna rolled her eyes for the tenth time that day and looked at Alex in exasperation.

"I am starting to regret telling you. And I made it clear that he is my ex."

Anna went down the stairs and headed to the kitchen. It seemed that the party had died down, and everyone was preparing to leave. She retrieved some ice packs and scanned the area on her way back to Alex's room in hopes of finding Mary, but the girl was nowhere in sight.

"Everything is under control. The work will be done before this year ends. I have waited so long, and I won't waste this opportunity for anything."

Anna heard Alex speak and surmised he was speaking to someone on the phone. And from his tone, she knew that the conversation was important.

"Okay, goodbye. I will call you later and update you on what's happening here."

Anna took that as her cue to enter. She was surprised when Alex looked at her with a panicked expression on his face.

"are you okay?" Anna asked in concern.

"yes, but when did you get here?" Alex asked with an edge to his voice.

Anna right away understood that he was trying to know if she heard him speak on the phone or not which meant that his conversation meant to be secretive.

"I just got here, why are you asking?" Anna handed him the ice pack and wandered to the bathroom to bring him some painkillers.

"Just asking," was Alex's plain response.

"here, drink those and try to sleep. I suggest you take tomorrow off so you can recover." Anna said as she handed him a tablet of painkillers and a glass of water.

"thank you so much, Helena, I appreciate you standing by my side. You can crash here if you want."

"no, I will search for Mary so we can go home. I need to sleep a little to function tomorrow in class."

After saying goodbye one more time, Anna turned off the room's lights and went to search for her disappearing friend. She tried to call her but all her attempts went to voice mail. Anna sighed and decided to stand at the balcony for a while. Maybe fresh air can cheer her a little. Anna closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Her previously boring life turned to a soap opera TV show.

"are you okay?"

Anna was startled when she heard Lillian's voice. She opened her eyes and saw the girl standing beside her.

"yes, I am fine."

"I thought you went home," Lillian stated as she moved to stand against the railing.

"Mary vanished from earth's face, and here I am stuck without a ride."

"I can give you a ride if you wish."

"really? That would be amazing. Thank you, Lillian, I owe you." Anna said brightly.

"you don't owe me anything, Anna. All I want is for us to return friends like before." Lillian said pleadingly.

The smile slipped from Anna's face, and she said forcefully, "after all, I don't need a ride. I will just spend the night here."

"no way, if you want Hunter to commit murder, you will spend the night here. My car is parked on the road. Let's go." Lillian said and walked away without waiting for Anna.

Anna looked at the sky filled with stars and muttered: "What crime did I commit to deserve these punishments?"

**********

Strong Headache, drooping eyelids, and fatigue were the symptoms Anna was feeling in social studies class, her last period of the day. It was a miracle she survived until now without fainting. She can't bring herself to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. She rested her head on the table and tried to relax a little.

"what's wrong?"

Anna lifted her head to glare at her friend then dropped it again on her desk purposely ignoring Mary.

"I apologised ten times already today, Helena. I am sorry I left you yesterday. I just got distracted with Andy. We spent a good time together. He even invited me to a date next week." Mary said dreamily, "so please, can you forgive me?" Mary used her puppy dog eyes.

Anna sighed and nodded, how can she resist those large green eyes.

"so tell me what happened yesterday? Everyone in the school is talking about it." Mary said curiously.

"if all the school is talking about me, I am sure you have the whole story by now."

"come on, I want to hear it from you." Mary pouted at her friend. when Anna only stared at her and didn't budge, Mary changed her expression and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Is there something going on between you and Hunter? All the party attendants said that his eyes were burning with jealousy when he saw you with Alex."

"don't you have a crush on him?" Anna asked confusedly.

"yes, I have a crush on him. But he and you are a dreamy couple. If you ever come out as a couple, I will be one of your fans." Mary said excitedly.

"I wish I can understand. Your mind is a complicated world." Anna shook her head. Mary really had a strange personality.

"attention everyone! I have an announcement." Mrs. Kane clapped her hands to grab her students' attention.

"don't think you are off the hook. I will interrogate you later." Mary whispered.

"because our first unit this year was about relationships between human beings, I decided to give you a project. You will work in groups of two. I have already decided on the pairs, so don't try to change them. For the next month, you will be taking care of robot babies."

At the groans of her students, Mrs. Kane just shook her head and resumed speaking.

"it won't be that hard if you worked together. Anyways, those babies are programmed to behave like a newborn human, which means that they have the same vital functions. So expect to endure crying, diaper changing, and sleepless nights. And I warn you, don't even attempt to ignore them because everything you do is recorded and based on what I will find in the records by the end of the month, you will be scored. This project will play a major factor in your final grades, so try to do it perfectly."

By the end of class, every two students were standing with a baby in their hands. Mary who was bubbling with happiness stood next to Alex with a blue bundle in her arms.

"look, Anna, we got a boy."

A forlorn Anna just nodded and looked at the baby robot in pink in her arms. Hunter, her partner stood beside her with a bag of supplies on his shoulder.

"We need to talk." He said to Anna and marched out of class.

Anna followed him, and together they took a seat at one of the benches.

"Since we are now responsible for that thing, we need to figure a way to make it work." Hunter was the first to speak.

"first of all, don't call her a thing. For the next month, she is our daughter, and you will call her Hannah." Anna said seriously.

Hunter looked at her as if she grew another head, "are you calling a robot our child?"

"you heard Mrs. Kane. She behaves like a human, so it means that she has the feeling of one. And excuse me Mr. Heartless, I won't treat my baby badly."

"Okay, I am not discussing this with you. How do you want us to share her?"

"she will spend a day with me and a day with you. Also, we need to spend at least an hour together with her every day so she can be with both her parents." Anna stated and hugged the baby to her.

The robot in her hand was designed perfectly that you can't distinguish her from a human baby. She had light brown hair and blue eyes. She was such a cutie. Anna knew that it was stupid to treat a machine like that but nonetheless she can't bring herself to ignore her.

"Which one of us will spend the first day with her?" Hunter asked carefully, he was afraid of Anna's reactions as she was being unpredictable and quite sensitive.

"of course she will spend the first night with her mother. You can have her tomorrow."

"Okay, like you want." Hunter agreed right away.

"well, I am going home. I will call you later if there are any changes." Anna said and took the bag from Hunter.

"I am sorry about yesterday Anna. I just couldn't take it anymore. He was dancing too close to you. And I know his intentions. You are too innocent to see his real face." Hunter said before Anna took the first step.

Anna sighed through her nose and put her palms on the baby's ears.

"screw you, Hunter. You don't know anything. Yesterday, you were being a jerk and a monster that used violence to satisfy his ego. I warn you, watch your mouth and actions in front of Hannah, or I swear to god, I will end you." Anna said in one breath then took her hands away from the baby's girl ears that started crying from nowhere.

"See, you made her upset." Anna glared at Hunter who looked confused and out of place.

"But I didn't do anything." Hunter tried to defend himself.

"keep your dumb excuses to yourself. Babies can sense the emotions of those around them, so try to be positive." Anna said and started marching away.

"I am sorry baby you have to witness your parents fight on your first day, but I promise I will make your stupid father work on his temper." Hunter heard Anna mutter to the baby in her arms.

Hunter plopped on the bench once again and ran his hand across his face in frustration. His life was a mess before, but now it was in chaos. Who was enough stupid to suggest giving a baby to high school teenagers? They want them to learn about human relationships, they should have invited his grandpa, and he was sure the man would have given them a good lesson about how relations between people are formed.

Anna returned to her room and had a hard time containing her laughter. At first, the idea of raising a baby with Hunter for a month was absurd to her, but now it was her way of revenge. She would act like a real sweet mother and drive him nuts. After all, he was the father of her first child who was a cute little baby.

Okay, Mr. Bad boy let's see who will crack first.

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