School for the remainder of the week had included avoiding people as much as she could. People kept trying to congratulate her for winning Save the Citizen but with each 'well done' came the memory of soft lips on her own. She had even taken to spending the night at her Aunt and Uncle's so as to avoid him further.

The problem wasn't even that he had kissed her, it was the fact that she had enjoyed the kiss. However, Lash Livingston was a bully – he was a Hero with a dark side. Even more importantly, he was someone that Astrid could never end up with. Furthermore, any time she was in his presence, she was reminded of the dream.

When she thought about them locking lips, it was replaced with the dream of him locking students in the hall with Royal Pain but when she thought about how cruel he had been to her, all she could hear was the agony in his voice when Royal Pain shot her.

Shaking her head to expel the thoughts from her head, Astrid trudged down the stairs to bid The Commander and Jetstream a safe mission.

"Will and Gwen are upstairs studying in his room. Make sure Will goes to sleep before 11pm." Josie fretted.

"Aunt Josie, calm down. I've done this before. Now go save the world." Astrid reassured, practically shoving her Aunt out of the door to ensure they left.

Passing by Will's bedroom door, she grimaced upon hearing Gwen's voice. Being around the Senior made Astrid uneasy as there was something about her that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise. Astrid couldn't help but feel as if the whole 'perfect girl' act was nothing more than a façade to cover up something far darker. Also, it didn't help that Layla was heartbroken and going to Homecoming with Warren Peace whilst Will was losing his friends and turning into an asshole (yes, Astrid blamed Gwen for that).

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Groaning in frustration as she erased yet another calculation for Mad Science, Astrid paused the film playing on her TV so she could go get herself a drink. Narrowing her eyes at the sound of music thumping from downstairs, she grabbed her glass and made her way to the top of the stairs.

"He's a dead man." Astrid muttered, storming down the stairs in search of her stupid cousin.

Will Stronghold was throwing a party.

"Astrid you've got to help me," plead Will once the two cousins found each other amongst the throng of people. "This wasn't mean to happen."

"Why did you even invite these people over? You know you're not allowed." Astrid hissed, smacking him upside the head.

"Gwen said only the Homecoming committee was meant to be coming over."

Rolling her eyes at the mention of Will's 'girlfriend', Astrid let out a laugh of disbelief. Of course this was all Gwen's fault; that girl had been using and abusing Astrid's cousin since day one and poor, innocent Will had fallen for it.

"Astrid, please. Help me sort this out." Will begged, knowing he could count on his cousin.

She had always been there to pick him up and help him out when he got himself into trouble.

"You got yourself into this mess so grow a backbone and fix it yourself." Astrid snapped before storming back upstairs.

Exhaustion mixed with a stressful week meant her patience wasn't as long as it usually was. Muttering to herself, she didn't notice the figure creeping upstairs after noticing that Astrid was making the journey back to her room. Wondering if she had been slightly harsh on her younger cousin, Astrid forced herself to not feel guilty. She knew he would never be able to put an end to the party before his parents returned but she hoped that the bollocking his parents gave him would be the wake up call he needed to ditch Gwen and sort out his issues with his friends. Even if she took some of the blame for the party, Astrid knew that if her sweet cousin returned, it would've been worth it.

Shutting out the party downstairs, Astrid placed her drink on the corner of her desk when a voice came from the corner of the darkened room. The only light came from the fairy lights around the ceiling, the small lamp on her desk and the TV.

"So this is what Astrid Stronghold's bedroom looks like."

Shrieking, the frightened girl disappeared from view as her body instinctively shifted into fighting stance. Whipping around, she noticed Lash was sat on the pink sheets of her bed, glancing around the room with a small smirk. The walls were white with pink stripes and she had photos of her family and Natalia hung on one wall. A pile of laundry sat on the armchair by the window and she hurried to hide the bra that was placed on top. The chuckle he let out informed her that he had already seen it.

"It's not my actual bedroom," she corrected, coming back into view but refusing to look at the striped Hero. It was the first time she had seen him since Monday.

"You've been avoiding me," he pointed out, standing from the mattress to turn into her line of vision.

"Have I?"

"Don't be smart."

"I know this may be difficult for you to understand but I happen to use my brain. You know, hence why I'm smart."

"Stop avoiding the subject." Lash demanded. "Why have you been ignoring me?"

"What makes you think I've been avoiding you? I might've just been practising my power." Astrid said innocently, attempting to maintain some distance between her and Lash.

However, when she took a step backwards, he took two steps towards her until her back thumped against the wall and he was caging her in. An arm rested beside her head and he begged her to look at him when she refused to look up from her sock-clad feet.

"No." Astrid whispered. "You can't keep doing this to me. You can't be nice when we're alone and then hurt me in front of the entire school. I am not here for you to mess with my feelings so stop! Pick one or leave me alone entirely! What is it you want from me?" Astrid fumed, hitting him on the chest as she finally glanced at him, eyes pooling with tears.

"We shouldn't – no, we can't be friends." Lash muttered pathetically.

All he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and console her as a tear slid down her cheek. Guilt flooded through him when he realised that this probably wasn't the first time he had made her cry but he was hoping it would be the last. After tonight, he would've made her hate him to the point where his actions at Homecoming wouldn't impact her as much.

"Get out of my room." Astrid spat. "Don't sit by me on the bus on Monday. Don't talk to me. Don't even acknowledge me. You're a bastard, Lash Livingston."

Casting one last look at the girl he had grown to care for, Lash clenched his hands into fists before walking out of the door. His heart cracked with the sound of the door slamming behind him. Whilst he knew that hurting her this year would've been unavoidable, it wasn't supposed to happen tonight. Astrid wasn't supposed to have been here. Gwen hadn't said that she was here.

However, when he saw her storming down the stairs in her fluffy socks, Lash knew whatever was going on between them was to end tonight. As she was talking to Will, Speed had informed him that his job for the evening was to keep Astrid distracted so that she didn't interrupt.

"Dude, you ready to go?" Speed asked when Lash returned.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Lash responded before the duo sneaked out of the house, something precious smuggled beneath Speed's coat.

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Sliding the door, Astrid silently sobbed as emotions swirled within her. Some part of her was relieved to know Lash wouldn't be bothering her any longer but the largest part (that she tried to ignore) was hurt.

You should've known the kiss meant nothing to him, she berated herself, and that it was nothing but another ploy to humiliate you.

Rubbing furiously at the traitorous tears, she forced herself to be okay. She was strong and she had survived far worse than some immature teenager playing around with her heart.

On Monday, she would be back on the normal bus, she would look him in the eyes when he walked on and he would show him that he meant nothing to her.

A voice from downstairs called her name and she slid into her bathroom, splashed her face with cold water and hurried downstairs. Josie and Steven had returned home and scared away the partying Supers. Glancing at his niece, Steven noticed the bloodshot eyes and pink nose and when she smiled, it didn't quite reach her eyes.