Pretending she wasn’t interested, Hera walked to the window and tried to ignore her friends. She looked at the empty fields trying to distract her mind, but she couldn’t tune out their voices no matter how much she tried. It’s Hunter they’re talking about, after all. 

“He has a motorbike all right,” Celine started. Hera silently listened while Adelaide squealed with excitement. “And the trademark leather jacket all the bad boys are supposed to possess. Like a typical bad boy, he secretly goes to nightclubs. Fighting and racing are his hobbies. If you provoke him, he could be dangerous. He breaks all the rules all the time, and nobody dares to mess with him,” Celine continued, and Hera scorned at her way of describing. 

She’d made him seem like a superhero. She wasn’t depicting him as a bad influence at all, as though she was talking about a knight in shining armour. 

.

Besides, Hera knew that even with all of these bad qualities, it still didn’t tag him as the typical bad boy of the school. Why? Because he’s the school captain. He’s a Principal’s pet, an apple of all the teachers’ eyes. He’s the topper of the school. Frankly, he’d put all the nerds of their school to shame. He always topped in all the fields, be it studies, quiz competitions, writing competitions, sports, etc. He’s the master of all games. 

Moreover, his family was loaded, and they sponsor a large amount of money for the school’s welfare. To top it all, God had blessed him with a sinfully handsome face and a body with an enormous amount of sex appeal that was hard to resist. 

Hence, she could never complain or report against him, no matter how much or how bad he bullied her every day. It wouldn’t bring any change to her life anyway. 

‘That bloody Satan! Oh, he’s everybody’s favourite, alright!’ 

Only Hera knew the real face of Hunter. She had seen his true colours. At this point, Hera wanted to laugh at her pathetic excuse of a life. 

A loud knock on the door made them all turn their heads, and Abby pushed opened the door since it was never locked. She had already showered and all set to go. 

Adelaide let out a gasp of astonishment, making Hera wonder what caught her attention. Abby giggled knowingly. Hera eyed her handsome brother leaning against the door frame with his signature pose, adorned with pride and arrogance. 

“Please tell me, Hera, he’s not your boyfriend,” Adelaide asked, her voice no more than a whisper and she oddly sounded breathless. Hera rolled her eyes. “No, he’s not,” she immediately supplied. 

“Oh, my goodness! He’s the most handsome and hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said and sighed dreamily. “Is he taken?” Adelaide whispered again. “No, he’s not,” Brittany and Celine whispered in unison. 

Abby grinned at her friends’ flustered faces. They all looked cute with their hot and rosy cheeks. “Word of advice, Adi. He’s the man-slut of our school, and also happens to be my cousin. Stay away from him, Adi, he’s bad news,” Abby said in warning. Adelaide winked before whispering her next words. “I’ll be glad to be his personal slut any day.” 

Celine and Brittany giggled along with Adelaide while Hera and Abby rolled their eyes at the stupidity of their friends. They’re used to girls fawning over Danny all the time. “Don’t waste your time on him, Adi, he’s not worth it,” Abby whispered in Adelaide’s ear. 

Hera pulled out her hair-band from her wrist and tied her wet hair into a loose ponytail before picking her backpack up as Danny jerked his head, motioning her to follow him out. She walked out along with her friends, silently following her brother. 

“How did he enter the girl’s block? And I wonder nobody stopped him. This block is forbidden for boys, right?” Adelaide whisper asked no one in particular. Hera ignored it and went to the community hall to meet her guy friends, but of course, only after seeking Danny’s approval. She hugged and kissed them all before bidding her goodbye with a promise to meet tomorrow night at the party. 

Hera walked with disinterest, dragging and urging her unwilling feet to move forward, subconsciously counting her footsteps. 

“I know, right. It’s so much more, better than those communal showers and bunker beds. I’m in love with my new room,” Abby was saying, sharing her excitement with Brittany. 

Her cousin’s cheery voice faded into the background when Hera heard the unmistakable familiar sound of the engine roaring to life as she neared the gate. Hera’s breath hitched as she looked at Hunter’s black, shiny, Range Rover waiting for her at the gate. She was only ten feet away from reaching it. As she crossed the distance, her palms started to get sweaty. 

Hera cursed under her breath for being unable to tame her heart’s wild hammering. She was nervous. 

With a hasty goodbye to her friends, she grabbed Abby’s wrist, pulling her to the front. She needed moral support, okay. 

In all honesty, Hera was ashamed to admit she was selfishly using her cousin as a shield. 

Danny settled himself in the passenger seat without wasting any time. Hera caught a glimpse of the person behind the wheel when Danny opened the front door. It was John, Hunter’s driver, and Hera heaved a sigh of relief that her Satan was not in the car. Abby sat in the middle seat, followed by Hera. John gave Danny a fist bump in greeting and smiled at Hera and Abby through the rear-view mirror. 

Soon they reached their destination South Kensington, one of the fanciest neighbourhoods in London. It took only twenty minutes for John to drive them to their destination. 

Anxious, Hera bit her lip as the car entered into the large gate of the white, gorgeous mansion, standing proudly in front of her with a charming front garden. She got down from the car and stood nervously, adjusting the strap of her backpack. 

‘Pft, I surely will get a heart attack soon.’ 

Feet glued to the spot, Hera hesitated to step forward. She was facing the entrance of Hunter’s mansion. She didn’t want to come here, but she had no luxury of refusing. She couldn’t afford to anger him by disobeying his order. Otherwise, Hunter would not only make her life hell, but he would also bully her friends. She would never want her friends to get hurt because of her.