Hera peeled the arms off her and turned around to face the person. She let out a sigh of relief when Evelyn smiled at her. Though Hera tried to be brave, she couldn’t forget the uneasy feeling she went through a while ago. She was frightened. 

The smile vanished from Evelyn’s face when she saw the alarmed look on Hera’s face. “Oh, my God! Did I scare you, Hera? I’m so sorry if I did. Are you okay? You look frightened!” She asked, words laced with concern. Evelyn’s smile had always been beautiful, so friendly and full of life that Hera felt awful for making her worry. 

“It’s not you, Evie. I was a little shaken by the earlier events. It was scary,” Hera admitted with a sad smile. Evelyn pulled her into a tight hug, which Hera gladly returned. “Missed you, Hera.. Holly Molly! You look so much different. Taller and prettier,” Evelyn said, smiling, her words coated with genuine appreciation. Hera smiled shyly, not knowing how to respond to her compliment, but at the same time, it made her feel fine because coming from Evelyn, it was a huge compliment. 

Evelyn herself was an epitome of beauty and grace with her oval-shaped face, sapphire blue eyes, straight Greek nose and a small mouth with red, full lips. Her white, even teeth looked perfect when she grinned. She had flawless ivory skin and dark blonde hair. Tall, slender, model-like personality only made her look more enchanting. 

“I’m sorry for what my friends did to you. Please don’t mind them, Hera,” Evelyn apologised genuinely, and Hera could detect the sincerity in her tone. 

Someone cleared their throat, and Hera found two handsome boys grinning widely at her. 

“Baby girl, missed me or what? My baby has grown up so much in less than two months,” a handsome boy with golden blond hair and cerulean blue eyes said, kissing Hera’s cheek. Then he frowned, looking down at her dress. “Why the fuck are you wet?” He asked, twisting his lips in disapproval. Hera had spilt water on herself from the cup she was holding when Evelyn hugged her from behind, startling her. Before Hera could reply, Adelaide squealed, making Hera jump. 

“Oh, my good Lord! So fucking hot. Are they angels from heaven? Please say yes, Hera,” Adelaide said. Eyes fixed on the two boys in front of her, she was practically drooling, and her jaw nearly hit the ground. So were Celine and Brittany’s. 

Evelyn laughed while Hera scoffed.

‘Oh, the irony!’ 

“Yes, Adelaide, you guessed it right. They are angels, like literally,” Hera said, turning to the golden blond-haired boy with cerulean blue eyes. She noticed a bruise on his big, long nose and under his chin. He was hurt in that fight earlier, but that bruise didn’t do anything to lessen his good looks. 

“Adelaide, meet angel Michael. Michael, this is Adelaide, my new friend.” Hera introduced, and they shook hands. “Call me Mike, Adelaide. And you have a beautiful name to match your beautiful face,” Michael said and pulled her into a tight hug. One hand went around her waist while the other went up, caressing her back. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Motherfucker is feeling her up,” Evelyn whispered to Hera and laughed when Hera scowled in disgust.

Rolling her eyes, Hera turned to the one with honey blonde hair. His beautiful aqua blue eyes were busy checking out Adelaide’s figure. Hera wanted to throw up. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle with his action. 

“And, Adelaide, meet angel number two Gabriel. Gabby darling, meet Adelaide,” Hera said, smiling sweetly and the said Gabriel rolled his eyes before pulling her hair playfully. 

“Thank you for coming to the party, Adelaide. By the way, I go by the name Eric. And your name is as sexy as you are,” Eric said before kissing the back of Adelaide’s hand while she giggled like an idiot. 

‘Could he be any more cheesy?’ 

Adelaide pulled Hera a few feet away from them and whispered in her ears. “Please tell me which one of them is your boyfriend so that I can call dibs on the other one,” she said in an exaggerated tone, and Hera smirked. “Neither, Ade, you can call dibs on both of them. All yours,” she said with assurance, winking at Adelaide. 

Adelaide pumped her fist in the air as if to celebrate a victory. Jumping up and down, she squealed once again, adding a further effect to her victory dance. Hera didn’t want to judge her new friend, but couldn’t help thinking whether to describe her excitement as too cute or too slutty. Adelaide’s behaviour every time she met a good-looking boy was too much, to be honest. Hera felt like a mother, reprimanding her young daughter, but she resisted doing the same. 

‘Is it even considered normal for a girl to react the way Adelaide does whenever she meets a new boy?’

Sighing, Hera decided to ignore it, blaming the hormonal changes of the teenage girl. Shaking her head as in to snub her thoughts, Hera smiled, turning to Evelyn. 

“And this is Evelyn. The original one of them all, the true angel,” Hera said, making Evelyn giggle. She greeted Adelaide with her angelic smile. 

“Thank you, Evie. What you did there for me, I appreciate it,” Hera said, expressing her gratitude. “Speaking of that, we need to take care of something. Come with me,” Evelyn said, taking Hera’s hand. She told Hera’s friends to enjoy the party and assured them not to worry about Hera before dragging her along to somewhere. 

“Don’t drink anything that a stranger offers you, Pixie,” Hera heard Eric’s stern voice, warning her seriously. Both Evelyn and Hera rolled their eyes at that. 

Evelyn was leading her to the pool where Bianca sat with Samantha. Hera stopped in her tracks, and her back stiffened. “Trust me, Hera. It’s going to be fine,” Evelyn said. She tugged her hand, urging her to go with her. Hera watched while both of them glared daggers at her. Evelyn cleared her throat, and her friends detached their hateful glare away from Hera. 

“Sam, Bee, I want both of you to apologise to Hera for what you did earlier,” Evelyn ordered in her sweet voice, her tone soft as if talking to her toddler siblings. Samantha snorted, and Bianca laughed, giving her a high-five while Evelyn glared in a silent warning. “Evie, come on. It was just a prank. I was only trying to have some fun,” Bianca said, pulling an innocent puppy look. 

“Seriously, Bee? What you two did to her, it wasn’t funny. It was cheap and cruel. She’s too young and innocent to face such cruelty. You crossed a line this time, and I want you to apologise,” Evelyn scolded and held her palm up, stopping her friend when Bianca opened her mouth to protest. “Apologise right now, or I won’t talk to you anymore,” she threatened, and Bianca hissed through her gritted teeth. “Fine. Sorry, Herraaaa,” she drawled Hera’s name in distaste. 

Evelyn crossed her arms around her torso and eyed Samantha, daring her to deny an apology. Samantha clicked her tongue in objection. “Don’t even think about it, Evie. If you think it was cruel, then she deserved every bit of it. You can’t expect me to say sorry to her. I just hate her so much. She’s trying to steal my boyfriend for God’s sake,” Samantha yelled in exasperation. Evelyn shook her head in pity. 

Meanwhile, Hera flinched at her harsh tone. As much as she wanted to disappear from her sight, Hera knew it would be rude to leave Evelyn’s side. After all, she was fighting Hera’s battle. 

“If he can’t stay away from her, then it’s his problem, and you should talk to him about it. After all, he’s YOUR BOYFRIEND. Don’t dump your shit on Hera,” Evelyn said, gritting her teeth. Samantha knew Evelyn was mocking her when she said, “Your boyfriend”. She smiled, and it was a painful one. “You know, Evie, sometimes you make me wonder if you are our best friend or Hera’s,” Samantha spat angrily. Evelyn knew her harsh words cut through Samantha, but she needed to hear it. 

“Just because I’m your best friend, it doesn’t mean I’ll nod my head up and down like a puppet to everything you say or do. Hera is my little sister, and you can’t bully her in front of me and expect me to turn blind-eyed. And, Sam, I assure you, Ace won’t like it either when I tell him what you did to her,” Evelyn said, justifying her action. Samantha ignored her threat and started walking away in the opposite direction. 

Evelyn exhaled in frustration. Her stubborn friend was only inviting trouble. “I didn’t hear your apology, Sam,” Evelyn said in a stern voice. Samantha thought it was pointless to apologise to Hera. She hated it but had no choice and accepted her defeat for the time being. “Sorry,” she yelled without turning to face them. 

With one last glare at Hera, Bianca went after her friend.