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"Argh, my hair is a mess," Clara whined, peering into the mirror in the bathroom attached to her bedroom. "So is my face," Hera complained, scowling at her best friend. The music blasting in the living hall was loud enough to rattle the items adorning the inside of the glass showcase mounted to the wall. 

It was Clara\'s birthday, and what better way to celebrate it than smearing the cake on each other\'s faces? Yesterday after school, Clara forced Hera to go with her, and now they were at Clara\'s house having the time of their lives with no one to restrict them from committing anything reckless. 

Clara\'s parents hosted a small family celebration yesterday at midnight as they had to go out of state the next day to attend a relative\'s wedding. Since Clara wanted to spend her birthday with Hera, she refused to go with them. The relative was a distant one, and Clara wasn\'t attached to them emotionally anyway. So it was easy to decline when her parents asked her to join them on the short trip. 

"I would be too tired after the trip, and it would affect my study time," Clara had said, begging her parents to exclude her from attending the wedding. They agreed since Clara used the school as an excuse and let Nathan and her stay back. 

Clara knew they would agree as her parents would go their separate way the sooner the wedding ended. They were never home and went on business trips frequently. So spending the weekend at their dorms or home alone wasn\'t anything new to Nathan and Clara. 

Now with their parents out, Nathan, Clara and Hera enjoyed their freedom. They ate pizza, cake and drank soft drinks. Hera had a great time sweating out her energy by swaying to the wild music along with her friends. She wanted to get away from her ex-boyfriend and needed this time to distract and refresh her broken heart. 

Nathan was waiting in the living hall, sipping soda from the can and scrolling through his phone while the girls washed the sticky remnants of the birthday cake off their faces and hair in the bathroom. 

Hera had laughed and danced until her legs gave out. She didn\'t regret any second of it, though her sour feet hurt like hell now. Nathan had accidentally stepped on her foot once or twice while they danced together. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Hera checked her abused little toe, which seemed too red and swollen. 

Subconsciously Hera\'s eyes fell on the anklet resting on her left ankle. Her hand touched the platinum object, fingers failing to resist the urge to touch and caressed the heart charm attached to it. It immediately made her think of Hunter. 

The mere thought of Hunter dug her wounds, and her heart ached. 

It had been a year since Hera broke up with her cheating boyfriend, but for the love of God, he wouldn\'t let her live in peace. Since the day Hunter caught her kissing Nathan, he had made this rule that no other boy in the school should dare to befriend her, let alone date her, even though he kept fooling around with every other thing that wore a skirt and walked on two legs. 

\'What a hypocrite.\'

Hera thought and cursed in her mind. 

The image of Hunter touching the other girl intimately flashed across her vision. It felt like a sledgehammer smashing into the glass of her heart, and the crash echoed in her ears. The inside of her chest constricted painfully. 

"He\'s too upset, you know," Clara spoke. Her voice broke Hera\'s chain of thoughts and brought her out of her agonising memories. 

The frown forming between Hera\'s eyebrows and the confusion in her eyes let Clara know that Hera wasn\'t listening. Sighing, Clara brought the first-aid box from one of the cabinets in the bathroom. Hera smiled in gratitude when her best friend took out a pain-reliever cream and nursed her little toe. 

"I noticed Nate flinching whenever you winced in pain as if he was the one hurting. He likes you a lot, you know," Clara said, stating the obvious. Hera ducked her head, avoiding Clara\'s eyes. "It\'s nothing. It doesn\'t even hurt that much," Hera said, shrugging. She was trying to dodge the inevitable question she knew Clara would ask. But the latter didn\'t take the hint and asked her anyway, "Do you like him?"

Hera tried not to grimace at the thought and forced a smile, looking at Clara. 

"Clara, you\'re very dear to me, and so is Nate. But I don\'t see him that way. He\'s a friend," Hera said as honestly as she felt. Clara scowled, whining in protest. "But why? Ace Hunter is out of the picture. You broke up with him a year ago," Clara pointed out. "For how long are you going to mop around? Move on, Hera," she scolded, a disapproving glare directed at Hera.

"I don\'t mind if you and Nate get together. I would be too glad to welcome you to my family as my sister," Clara admitted, nudging Hera\'s shoulder. She tried to make her understand how much Nathan was into her while Hera listened absent-mindedly, her fingers playing with her anklet. 

"Forget about that asshole and give Nate a chance. I know he\'ll make you happy," Clara stated, sounding too confident as she advocated for her brother. 

Washing her hands, Clara walked to the door, asking Hera to come out as well. 

Hera sighed and bit the inside of her lower lip. Every time someone reminded her why Hunter didn\'t deserve her, her already broken heart would shatter a little more. She cursed the day when Hunter announced to the whole school, labelling her as his girl. It would\'ve been easier to move on if no one knew Hunter was her boyfriend. 

\'Then there would be no one to remind me of him.\'

It stung a bit more each time people looked at her in pity while her ex-boyfriend, who had already moved on, pranced around with his new girlfriend, Samantha, tucked under his arm. Throwing her head back, she eyed the bathroom ceiling as if it held the remedy to all her queries. Taking a moment more to pull her broken self together, Hera finally made it to the door, only to get blocked by someone. 

Nathan stood in front of Hera with his arms stretched out, palms resting firmly on either side of the doorframe, his body blocking her way out. 

"She didn\'t lie, you know. I really like you," Nathan said, whispering in her ear. "A lot," he added, his breath hot on her skin and his face too close for her liking. Instinctively, Hera moved her head back and took a step away from him. It irked her that Nathan was eavesdropping, and she scowled at him in disapproval. 

"I wasn\'t eavesdropping. I accidentally heard your conversation, and you two weren\'t that secretive," Nathan offered in his defence as if he could read Hera\'s thoughts. 

He walked into the bathroom and kicked the door shut. Hera frowned in confusion at the strange look in his eyes. 

"Nate, what are you doing?" Hera asked, panicking at his sudden change of behaviour. She didn\'t have the time to prepare, and he was too quick when he moved forward and caught her hand. Hera was shocked when he pulled her into his arms. "Let\'s go on a date, Hera. Be my girlfriend," he requested, which sounded more like a demand. 

Hera\'s eyes went wide in surprise, and she let out an audible gasp when he suddenly touched her cheek with his lips, planting a kiss there. Nathan took a picture of them, capturing the moment in his phone\'s camera. He moved, forcing her to walk backwards until her back touched the wall behind. "Nate, please stop it," Hera said, trying to get away from his hold, but he refused to let her go. 

Nathan pressed his torso more into her, and Hera felt trapped while she struggled to push him off her. She used her hands as a barrier, trying to put some distance between their bodies. Hera took a deep breath, composing herself not to panic. It was only Nathan, her friend. However, before she could open her mouth to speak, Nathan kissed her on the lips covering her mouth with his. 

Hera kept her lips sealed, not daring to move. She resisted the urge to puke and waited for the kiss to end while Nathan kept their mouths pressed together. "Give me a chance, Hera. Don\'t be scared of Ace. I can handle him," Nathan said when he finally detached their lips. Hera pushed him off her, and thankfully he didn\'t resist. She sighed and took two steps away from him, putting a respectable distance between them. 

Hera thought about what Nathan said. 

Hunter had threatened all the boys to stay away from her after their supposed break-up. No one dared to go against him except Nathan. He was the only one who kept his friendship intact with her even after Hunter threatened. 

Hera knew Nathan wasn\'t afraid of Hunter, and for a fleeting moment, she thought of considering his proposal. She could say yes to Nathan and use him to hurt Hunter or make him jealous. It would be a tit for tat. Hunter would know what Hera felt when she caught him cheating, but still, Hera couldn\'t dare to risk the chance and put Nathan in danger. 

She felt ashamed for even letting the thought of using her friend cross her mind. She would never stoop so low.. Hera cleverly found a diplomatic answer to Nathan\'s proposition.