I am disappointed.

I am so damn disappointed. I haven't seen Hunter ever since our almost kiss in the library and I'm so disappointed that I haven't seen him or talked to him.

It's only been three days—including today—and I'm acting like some clingy girlfriend. And I'm definitely not clingy or his girlfriend. But I really needed to see him and talk to him. We have to talk about the almost kiss. I want to know why he almost kissed me. I needed to hear it from him.

Was it a just-in-the-moment thing or does he feel something for me too? I want to know. I need to know. Usually, I hate confrontations, but this is something I can't avoid or run away from. My mind will haunt me to death if I don't talk to him about this.

Did he realize that I'm not 'beautiful' like he said? Did he take a closer look at me and thought I was plain and unattractive just like how Melanie said I was? Does he regret almost kissing me?

God damn it, I don't know why the hell I'm setting myself up for hurt like this. I hate that I'm like this. So damn weak and vulnerable. Hate it.

"I need you to come with me. Right now." Nina said suddenly appearing out of nowhere beside me.

"Hello to you too," I said sarcastically while closing my locker.

"No time for sarcasm! Let's go." She said and grabbed my wrist, dragging me away.

"What the hell, Nina? Why are you in such a rush? Where are we going?"

"I'll explain when we get there. All we need to focus on now is that we have to be fast and slick."

"But why?"

"Just follow me! No more questions!"

Nina dragged me violently towards a classroom and opened the door to it. She pulled me in and closed the door. Then, she practically shoved me under the teacher's desk and that's when I realized that we were hiding.

"Why are we hiding? What is going on?"

"In a few minutes, my parents and Newt are going to be having a scholarship meeting here, in this classroom. Remember how I told you that my parents and Newt were acting shady? Well, we're here to find out why."

"Oh. We're spies now. This is kind of exciting. But how do you know they were going to have their meeting here?"

Nina smirked proudly. "I have my sources."

"You are scary."

"Thank you." She said as she flipped her hair cheekily.

"But why here though? Don't they usually use the conference rooms for meetings to take place?"

"All the conference rooms are on the second floor and my mom is in a wheelchair so."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Just then, we heard the classroom door opening, making us cover our mouths to make sure we were not breathing loudly. The teacher's desk covered us perfectly as the sides of the table were long enough to hide our small figures. For once, I was thankful that I was short.

"Let's take a seat and we shall begin." I heard our Principal, Mr. Davis speaking.

The sound of the chairs creaking was an indication that the people in the room—excluding Nina and I—were taking their seats.

"So, this will be our third and final meeting regarding Newt's scholarship. Newt, have you thought this through thoroughly and made your final decision?"

"As I said, Mr. Davis, my decision has not changed, and it will not change no matter what. I am staying here and that's final."

Nina and I simultaneously looked at each other as our eyes widened at Newt's words. What the hell is he saying?

"With all due respect Newt, you should know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This private school is offering you such an extraordinary scholarship with so many excellent benefits. It is a scholarship that is so rare and only given to three kids every year. Not every student gets this kind of chance and if you got it, you should at least consider it."

Holy Moly. Newt got a prestigious scholarship for a private high school?! Not college but high school?

"And I'm saying that I don't want it. I like studying here and I am doing just fine. They should give this to people who need it more than me. I can name you a few if you want. I'm sure they'll be more suitable." Newt said confidently.

Mr. Davis sighed exasperatedly. "Mr. and Mrs. Preston, I'm just trying to let you know just how big of an opportunity this is. If Newt studies in this school, he'll be more successful and hirers would want him more than any other regular applicants. He is a bright kid and he deserves to shine in a place like this."

"We do know that Mr. Davis but this is our son's life and we're not going to tell him what to do. If he doesn't want it, then he won't take it. It's his choice and we will fully support him and his decision." said Mrs. Preston with her voice filled with pride.

I looked over at Nina and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her eyes were watery, and her hands were shaking. I quickly held Nina's hand in mine and my gesture calmed her down a little. She laid her head on my shoulder as she covered her mouth with her other hand tightly, probably not wanting to accidentally let any sound out.

"Okay." Mr. Davis sighed defeatedly. "I understand. But I still do think that this is a great opportunity for Newt and therefore I'm delaying the deadline until tomorrow. Just in case you changed your mind. That will be all for now. Thank you for taking the time to come here today."

"Oh, it's no problem at all. Thank you for caring deeply about our son. It means a lot." said Mr. Preston.

Once again, the sound of the chairs creaking indicated to us that they were getting out of their seats. Then, the sound of a few footsteps along with Mrs. Preston's wheelchair rolling got louder and softer and eventually out of the room.

Just when I was about to get out of the cramped and stuffy hiding place, I heard footsteps. It got me on alert, and I placed a finger on my mouth as a sign to Nina to not make any noise.

The footsteps got louder and louder and my heart rate got faster and faster. Nina squeezed my hand and I knew instantly that she was equally terrified as me.

A pair of legs appeared in our sight and I covered my mouth to omit any kind of noise I could possibly make. Please don't let us get caught, please! The pair of legs went to stand against the wall where the green board was.

"You guys really suck at hiding, you know that, right?" said Newt's voice making me roll my eyes.

Of course, he would catch us. It's Newt for God's sake. It's like nothing can get past him.

"No one is here. They all left. You can come out now." He said sternly.

I was about to do just that when Nina abruptly and violently got out of the crappy hiding place. Never again am I going to do that. Being a spy is not for me. Lesson learned.

"What the hell is this, Newt? When were you going to tell me, huh? Were you never-"

"Ow!" I screamed as my head decided to meet the wrath of the hard-wooden desk.

"Oh my, are you okay?" Nina asked.

Newt quickly came over to me and helped me out, making sure that I don't hit anything again like some klutz. "Shit, it looks like it really hurts." Newt then turned to look at Nina. "Seriously, Nina? Must you really include her in your little spy game?"

Before Nina could say anything, I spoke. "No, it isn't her fault. I wanted to be part of this." I said while looking at Nina and eye-signaling her to go along with what I was saying. "How did you know we were here anyway?" I asked Newt.

"I knew she was up to something." He said pointing to Nina. "So, I followed her. She used her twin privilege to find out about today's meeting from the school general office."

"Wow. The both of you are the literal definition of evil masterminds. Remind me to never mess with you guys." I said shuddering a little.

"Noted. Now, back to you Mr. Newt lying Preston. What do you have to say for yourself?" Nina asked Newt with her arms crossed.

Newt rolled his eyes. "I have nothing to say. And I'm leaving." He said and walked out of the classroom, leaving our jaws dropped.

Nina and I looked at each other and then looked at the door where Newt walked out of and then looked back at each other. We then had a telepathic moment as we both knew by heart what the other was thinking about. 'This is not over'.

We quickly ran out of the classroom and looked for Newt. He was walking away but he wasn't too far away. We ran to him and Nina literally jumped on his back shocking me and Newt. I definitely had no idea she was going to do that.

"You son of a bitch! How dare you say that you have nothing to say, huh? Don't think for a second that I have forgiven you because I will never! I'm going to kill you, you asshole!" Nina said while almost strangling Newt to death.

"Nina, get off me! Get off me, right now! You're going to kill me!"

"Good!"

"Nina! Come on, get down! Don't kill him, please! For my sake! For your amazing and lovely best friend's sake. Hmm?" I asked hoping she would listen.

Surprisingly, she did listen as she got off Newt's back not so gently. Newt could finally breathe while Nina just threw eye daggers at him.

"You're alive only because of Hera! Just know that!"

"You're crazy!"

The twins were close to ripping each other's head off and that was undoubtedly my cue to step in.

"Guys! Calm down, okay? Newt, you have to understand why Nina is so angry. You hid something so big from her and it obviously hurt her."

Nina looked at me like I was crazy. "Oh, come on, I don't care that-"

I cut Nina off by pressing my finger against her mouth, shutting her up instantaneously. "Zip it. I'm the one who's going to do the talking and you guys are going to be the ones who are listening, is that clear?" I said threateningly.

The both of them nodded while looking shocked at the fact that I'm being threatening. I'm even shocked at myself, to be honest.

"As I was saying, you hurt your sister, Newt. So, she has every right to be angry. And you-" I said turning to Nina. "I get that you're angry, but you have to give him a chance and hear him out. I'm sure he had his reasons for doing what he did. Back to you-" I turned to Newt. "Stop acting like a jerk and explain to us why you hid this from us. Yes, I'm upset too. So, tell us. What's this about you getting a scholarship to a private high school?"

Newt sighed. "Look, I'm sorry that I hurt you girls. But I didn't tell you guys because it meant nothing. I was never going to accept that scholarship. That private school was in a whole other town and I don't want to move. I like it here. So, that's why I didn't say anything. Because it was insignificant."

"But hearing what Mr. Davis said, it looked like a really good scholarship. Did you even take a look at it?" I asked.

Newt scratched the back of his neck while looking absolutely guilty. "I may or may not have thrown it away the moment I received it..."

Nina immediately slapped the back of Newt's head, "What is wrong with you? You know, for a smart person, you're not so smart!"

"Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Why are you so adamant about not taking this scholarship? What's keeping you here?" I asked as I tried to connect the dots.

Obviously, something was keeping him here and that hold on him was so strong that even a prestigious scholarship couldn't faze him. He was determined and confident about his decision which made me curious about what's holding him back.

Newt gazed at me sudden intensity. "You really don't know?"

The tone in his question caught me off guard. "Uh, I-I don't."

"Well, first there's mom and dad. How can I leave them so soon? They need me and frankly, I need them. Then there's Nina who can't live without me." He said, lips twitching.

"Don't be gross!" Nina sent a death glare in his way.

He chuckled. "I'm the only one who knows how to help her when people decide to be jerks to us. It's a twin thing." He said and I remembered how he calmed Nina down when Melanie was being so mean to her.

"And then....there's you." He locked eyes with me and I found trepidation in them.

"Me? What about me?" I laughed nervously, not really knowing why.

"You're here, Hera. Why would I go anywhere else?"

For a moment, I stared at Newt. The expression on his face and the undertone of what he just said was baffling to me.

Am I tripping or is Newt looking at me in a way that I never ever thought he would? There is no way that can be true. Newt would never. I mean he couldn't. It's not possible. I really am tripping.

Shifting my gaze to Nina, I saw her anxiety as she looked back and forth at me and Newt, raising my suspicions. I gulped as I felt my hands sweating profusely.

"W-what are you saying?" I asked, feeling my heart beat out of my chest.

"I think you know exactly what I'm saying, Hera," Newt said firmly with his gaze fixed on me.

What is going on? There's just no way Newt could possibly feel something more than friendship towards me. Me for Christ's sake. Maybe I'm just seeing it wrongly. Maybe he is just saying that because I'm his best friend. Yeah, that should be it. It can't be anything else but that.

But if it really is nothing, then why the hell is it so hard to breathe? And why are tears threatening to leave my eyelids?

"Newt, maybe you should go now-" Nina tried to save me from this horrendous situation but Newt cut her off.

"No, I'm not leaving. Not like this."

I sighed tiredly and looked at him. "Newt, I feel like I'm misunderstanding this whole thing-"

"No, Hera. You're not misunderstanding anything. In fact. you're understanding perfectly. I'm finally going to say this so listen carefully, okay? I lik-"

"No!" I cut him off, not wanting to hear those words. "Stop, please don't do this, Newt. Please! I can't- I don't-"

"Hera, I-"

"Stop it, Newt! Can't you see she's not okay?" Nina pulled me in for a warm side embrace.

Why the hell is this happening? Why?

Just then, a clapping sound erupted behind me, stealing all of our attention. My eyes widened at the person standing—not too far away from us—with his shoulder leaning against the wall.

"Hunter?"

"Wow, what a brilliant performance! So fun to watch! You guys should make a Netflix show out of this. I'm sure it will hit zero views." He said sarcastically while walking over to us.

Nina looked at me confused but I just frowned at Hunter with my tear stricken face. "What are you doing here, Hunter?" I asked firmly.

"You know this is a public hallway, right? Anyone can walk by?"

"Just get lost and don't interfere with our problems," Newt said in a tone that sounded scary.

But Hunter just smirked at him. "Trying to act all macho, huh? I have to tell you, bro, it's not a good look on you."

Newt was definitely offended as he clenched his jaw and fists. "Just shut the fuck up and walk away man."

Hunter seemed to love Newt's reaction as he smirked even further. "Why? Is someone angry that he got rejected? Is his poor little heart broken into tiny little pieces? Well, guess what? It's going to stay broken because Hera is never going to like you back."

That was the last straw because Newt threw a punch to Hunter's nose, causing Nina and I to scream in horror.

"Oh my God, Newt! Why did you do that?" I asked somewhat angrily as I walked up to Hunter and analyzed his nose.

I thought Hunter would be outrageous and ready to fight back Newt but instead, he looked all smug and satisfied. As if he wanted Newt to punch him. As if he provoked Newt on purpose. That realization made me furious.

"He deserved it." He said bluntly as if he didn't feel even one ounce of guilt or regret.

And then, he walked right away. Nina looked torn as she didn't know if she should go after Newt or stay with me. I decided to make things easy for her as I signaled her to go after Newt.

"You sure?"

"Yes, now go."

Then, it was just Hunter and me. He looked completely unaffected. But I'm pretty sure his nose was throbbing in pain.

"Follow me," I commanded while wiping away my fallen tears and started to walk in the opposite direction.

After a few seconds, I heard his footsteps trailing behind me. Thank God, he decided to actually follow me. If not, that would've been a tad bit embarrassing.

I walked towards the nurse's office and opened the door to the room. Just as I expected, the nurse wasn't in because it was after school and he doesn't work that late. So, I got to do this by myself. Damn it.

I had no idea how to treat a punched nose. But luckily for me, I have my trusty friend, Google to help me.

"Sit down," I told Hunter as I pointed towards the bed.

He sat down without any argument. I then took out my phone and searched for what to do. "Okay, so I'm trusting Google to help you with your nose. First of all, you're not bleeding so, all you have to do is elevate your head."

Hunter did as I told. "Then, you need to apply ice on your nose to reduce the swelling. Ice, where would the ice be?"

"There." Hunter pointed to a mini-refrigerator beside the nurse's desk.

I went over there and found a pack of ice in it. How convenient.

"This will do, I guess," I said and passed the ice pack to him.

"Lastly, you will have to take Advil to relieve the pain."

Hunter groaned. "Oh, come on, I don't have to do that. It doesn't pain at all!"

I pressed my finger on his nose and he hissed in pain. "Did you say something about not feeling pain?"

He grimaced. "Fine. You win."

I smirked and passed him the Advil and a cup of water which he took. "Now that my work here is done, I'm going to go."

"Wait!" He said as he grabbed my wrist with his free hand. "Where are you going? I'm still hurt."

"Yeah, you're hurt because of your own stupidity. I'm freaking pissed at you, Hunter. Why did you provoke Newt like that? Why did you have to go and say all of those things to him?"

"Because it was the truth. I only told him the truth."

"But why did you have to be so harsh and brutal? It was already hard enough on him and you-"

"Why are you getting so defensive, huh?" Hunter said cutting me off while taking one large step towards me. "Don't tell me you're actually considering liking him back or something?"

That snark comment of his aggravates me for some reason. "So what if I do? What are you going to do about it? What if I actually like him back? What is it to you?"

Hunter goes silent. He was breathing so heavily and was clenching his fist ever so tightly and that was a clear sign that he was beyond angry. But why?

I shook my head at him because of his lack of reply and decided that I didn't want to be there anymore. So, I walked out of the room, leaving Hunter in his own thoughts. However, I only managed to take a few steps away from the nurse's room because Hunter ran up to me, grabbed my wrist, turned me around, and kissed me right on the lips.

Wait. What?

Hunter. Is. Actually. Kissing. Me. Right. Now.