“Ms Rooney, I’m here to see Mrs Mathew. Can I go in?” Hera asked. 

“Of course, Ms Hunter. Waltz in like you own the place,” Julia said, waving her hand. Her sarcasm made Hera clench her teeth, yet she smiled sweetly consuming her anger. Abby heard Danny’s distant voice coming from the Principal’s office since the door was standing ajar. Before Hera could retaliate, Abby immediately pulled her behind. 

“Ms Rooney, we’re here to complete the formalities of our admission process and my cousin Daniel is already inside. It’ll save us time if you let us in since he’ll be dealing with our admission process too. Please, Ms Rooney,” Abby said, requesting sweetly. 

Hera cringed at the sickly sweet voice of Abby that was obviously fake. She even saw her cousin pouting, making a puppy dog face, which usually works fine with everyone.. Surprisingly, it worked on Julia too. She gestured them to go in with the tilt of her head. Hera didn’t miss the look Julia passed on her as if she’s some filthy trash. 

“What a bitch,” Hera muttered under her breath while walking past her, and smirked in satisfaction when she saw Julia’s red angry face. 

‘Good that you heard it, bitch, because you were supposed to hear it.’

“Excuse me, what did you say?”Julia asked, glaring at her. Hera turned to face her by putting on a sweet, innocent expression on her face. “Very kind of you, Ms Rooney, thank you,” Hera replied with a polite smile. But she knew very well her tone was anything but polite. 

As soon as they entered the office, their Principal, Mrs Sandra Mathew’s friendly smile greeted them. She informed them that Danny had already handed her the check their parents sent for her. Since Danny was officially eighteen years old now, he took care of all the formalities of the admission process. So they could collect their books and uniforms. But of course, they had to listen to their Principal’s pep talk about following the rules, to be an obedient student, blah blah blah before they got dismissed. 

Mrs Mathew could be an uptight person when it comes to School Rules.

Once Mrs Mathew shooed them out of her office, they all went to see Mrs Paige Wilkins to collect their books. As they entered her office, she received them with a warm welcome. She was the Head of Department and also taught them English. Mrs Wilkins was every student’s favourite person among all the teaching staffs of the school. She’s kind, sweet and very friendly. She was a fine lady in her late thirties with a pretty face, chocolate brown hair with matching brown eyes, five feet three inches tall. 

“Welcome back, kids, look like you enjoyed your summer holidays. Took you long enough to rejoin the school, I see,” she said with a teasing tone, and they all returned her smile with equal affection. “Oh, look at you, all grown up and beautiful,” Mrs Wilkins said, smiling at Hera and she blushed at her teacher’s kind words. 

After chitchatting for a while about the things they did during their holidays, Mrs Wilkins signed a paper, permitting them to collect their books. They met the staff in charge of book distribution in the office, and he handed them their books along with their schedules, their new locker numbers and explained how to use the combination codes. With the last information about how to collect their uniforms, he dismissed them. 

On their way out as they crossed Julia’s table, Hera’s surprised eyebrows arched up when she saw the look on her face. With a sweet smile plastered on her lips, Julia ridiculously fluttered her eyelashes. Hera glanced over her shoulder only to find out that it was her brother Danny’s approaching figure behind them, Julia was openly ogling. 

Once they were at a safe distance, Hera elbowed Abby, and they both noticed that Julia still had her eyes fixed on Danny. 

“Good day, Julia,” Danny greeted with a charming smile while he walked past her. Hera’s eyes widened as a saucer and Abby gasped in shock as they exchanged a knowing look. 

‘Meanie Rooney actually blushed!’ 

“Have a nice evening, Mr Aiken, the handsome. See you later?” Julia asked, and Danny winked at her in response. Hera cringed in disgust while Abby’s face mirrored Hera’s expression. The way Julia was flirting with him, they could tell, she was sending him signals. 

“Please don’t say that he’s screwing her too!” Abby whispered so that only Hera could hear. Hera shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not saying anything,” she replied and shook her head. 

“Ew ew ew… Disgusting,” they both said in unison and pulled a face as if they were about to puke before they burst out laughing. 

As promised, Hera’s friends were all waiting for her when they walked out of the office. Hera and Abby joined their friends when Danny called out Abby’s name loudly. She turned to him, and they bid goodbye by hugging each other. He looked at Hera, who had her gaze already fixed on him and Abby, watching them with her eyes full of longing. 

“You both have an hour to settle down, and then we’re leaving,” Danny stated in his usual commanding tone to which Hera and Abby both agreed without any objection. He went near Hera, and for a second she went stiff when he hugged her. Hera was shocked that her brother was hugging her. He’d never done that. 

“Don’t worry, Hera, he’s not here,” he whispered in her ear only for her to listen. With that said, he walked ahead of them towards their dormitory. Abby smiled at Hera knowingly. It’s not every day that her cousins hug each other. It’s a special moment. Hera shrugged nonchalantly in response. 

Danny’s words echoed in her mind. 

‘He is not here. What does he mean?’ 

However, she decided to ignore it for the time being and joined her friends. On their way, her friends started to fill her in about everything that happened in the last ten days. Hera held her breath, bracing herself for the worst since she knew their conversation would eventually lead to Hunter. She had a feeling that she would hear something or the other thing about her tormentor, which won’t be in her favour.