The weekend after the party had been torturous. I had woken up late on Saturday and had been over at Nate's to see how he was doing. Unsurprisingly, he had had a tremendous hangover, the first one he ever had, and hadn't really been able to do anything.

I had sat in the bean bag chair in front of his bed all afternoon, doodling in my notebook, while we had listened to music. Turned out that his parents hadn't been that mad that he had gotten drunk at the party. Their opinion was that we had to make those experiences while we were still teenagers and that it'd hopefully been a good lesson for him to be more careful when it came to drinking in the furure.

Nate had no idea how lucky he was; had it been my parents, they would've grounded me until my eighteenth birthday.

We had also talked about everything that had happened at the party, starting with Nate talking about what a great time he had had with Alexis, which quickly turned into him talking about how beautiful her eye color was for what had felt like hours.

All along I had considered telling him about how I had kissed Hunter on the cheek, but then I had decided not to. Nate probably wouldn't have been pleased, especially since I was still with Emily.

So I had kept it to myself and thought about it and the consequences it might have all weekend. Hunter hadn't texted or called and even though I had thought about trying to talk to him, I hadn't done it in the end. Mainly because I wouldn't have known what to say (Hey, sorry that I kissed you on the cheek when you were drunk, I don't really know why I did that, I just thought you were kinda cute in that moment? Anyways, please don't tell my girlfriend about it?), but also because I didn't want to embarrass myself further in case he did remember any of it. A kiss on the cheek surely was nowhere nearly as exciting as the things Hunter had done already and he'd probably laugh if he knew how much it had mattered to me.

Altogether, I didn't know what I was hoping for when I got out of my car on Monday morning. I just had this fluttery feeling of anticipation in my chest when I looked around the parking lot and searched for either my friends or Hunter.

In the end I found them both. Nate was standing with Hunter, Liam and Adam and, to my surprise, Emily was with them, too.

I smiled feebly at her before saying hello to the others.

Nate was looking significantly better than he had two days ago and if Adam and Liam had been hungover, they were back to looking like models from a magazine by now.

Hunter was the last one I forced myself to look at and I was definitely not surprised when I saw that he was watching me intently. I met his gaze for a split second before I quickly looked down at my shoes instead.

"Hey, uhm...how was the party?" Emily asked, trying to reanimate the conversation that had stopped when I had arrived, and nudged me with her elbow.

I cleared my throat and looked at her. "It was alright. I was mainly just looking after Nate, though," I said and grinned as Nate snorted.

"You didn't have to, I was doing fine!"

"Yeah right, if I hadn't been there to hold you back you would've joined the game of strip poker they were playing upstairs," I said, raising a brow as Nate scowled at me.

"Wow, Nate," Alexis laughed.

"Hey, you shut your mouth," I laughed and pointed at her. "You were already on your way upstairs. Liam had to drag you back."

Alexis turned around to shoot Liam an incredulous look.

He just shrugged and said, grinning widely: "Can confirm."

"No way! I can't even remember that!"

"Oh, don't worry, honey bee, I wouldn't remember anything at all if I had drunk as much as you did," Hunter commented, leaning against the car while lighting a cigarette.

Alexis wrinkled her nose for a second before she shrugged. "Do you remember everything, Hunter?"

I suddenly straightened and looked at him. That was an answer I wanted to know as well.

Hunter didn't seem to notice my sudden interest and answered nonchalantly around his cigarette: "I remember picking up Jules and driving there. Then he nearly drank something that was definitely spiked because he's a fucking idiot..." He sent me a meaningful look. "Afterwards I drank a lot, so that's where everything's getting kinda blurry. I just know that towards the end, Victoria came up to me and dragged me into a walk-in closet or something and...Yeah, you don't wanna hear the rest."

Adam snorted quietly. "How glamorous."

I looked at Hunter again, trying to read his face for any hints that he might remember more than that, but came up with nothing.

"Mhm. And she left some reminders," Hunter said with a sour expression and turned his head, pointing at his neck.

All the way down to the neckline of his shirt were dark marks that would surely take a while to fade.

Next to me, I heard Liam sucking in air through his teeth. As I turned my head to him and sent him a puzzled look, he explained: "You know, Hunter doesn't like hickeys. They're kind of a sign that you...belong to someone and that's just not what his weird relationships are about."

"Basically, he's always the one giving hickeys because he doesn't like feeling owned by anyone," Alexis said and rolled her eyes. "He only got a hickey...twice?"

"Three times, I think," he said and absentmindedly touched his neck. "And now she fucking branded me. And these are only the ones you can see, there's way more in places you can't even imagine."

"So what are you going to say to her?" I asked curiously.

"I think I'm gonna dump her. I've had enough of her already," Hunter said with a scowl.

Emily huffed angrily.

Hunter immediately turned to look at her and offered her a condescending smile. "Got a problem, Emily?"

She glared back at him, unaffected by his quite intimidating expression. "Yeah, actually. The way you're treating the people around you is pretty disrespectful and you know that, right?"

Hunter took a last deep drag from his cigarette before he dropped it to the ground and stubbed it out under his shoe. "So? Since when is that any of your business?"

"It should be everyone's business! You think you're better than the rest of us just because you're good-looking and act like nothing ever matters to you? You can't just take advantage of people like that! You're leading them on, keep them around for a few weeks and then move on to someone else? How-"

Hunter interrupted her simply by lifting a hand. "Oh, please. Calm down for a second, will you? I'm not taking advantage of anyone. They know what they're in for. In fact, I'm telling them beforehand. It's like a contract: they get to be with me for a while, including going out and all that, but there are definitely no feelings involved and I can ditch them whenever I please. So, no, I'm not using anyone, they choose that for themselves."

Emily opened her mouth but before she could say anything I put a hand on her shoulder and said: "He's right. You might not understand why people would still agree to that, but it's their own choice."

Hunter seemed to be taken off guard for a moment, then a broad grin took over his face. "Why, thanks, sugarpie. Anyway, we should get going. Class is starting soon."

"You care about coming late?"

"No, but I know that you guys do." He pointed at Nate, Emily and me.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. We should probably go inside."

Once we had entered the school building, we made our way to our Biology class, which we all had together.

The lesson started as usual, just Mr. Smith talking in front while we were taking notes.

Hunter was more quiet than usual, for whatever reason he might have, and I didn't have the guts to talk to him. So I was all the more surprised when he suddenly turned around to me and said: "I want to make a bet."

I stared at him for a moment. "What?"

"I want to make a bet," he repeated. "Are you in?"

"What kind of bet?"

He smirked mischievously. "Okay, listen. You can decide what we're going to bet on. The winner can ask anything of the other one." As he saw the look on my face, he rolled his eyes and added: "Nothing sexual of course, idiot. I wouldn't ask that of you."

I exhaled in relief and thought about it for a few seconds. I knew that it was a risk, but by now I was tired of always backing down, tired of always pushing him away and being scared. So I fought for a provocative smile and nodded. "Alright. I bet that you... you won't be able to evacuate this school in the next two hours."

It was something he would never manage to do, so I didn't have to worry about actually losing this bet to him.

A smile lit up his face after mere seconds of thinking. "Oh, you're making this too easy, sugarpie."

I looked at him wide-eyed, suddenly not so sure if this had been a good idea. But of course it was Hunter I was talking too; he would've gladly agreed to the most silly, dangerous bet and probably won it.

"You're not going to do anything illegal, are you?" I whispered.

He raised a brow at me. "Jules, evacuating this entire building won't work just by nicely asking the principal."

I groaned quietly. "Oh my god. This was the worst idea ever."

"Hey, evacuating the school was your idea, not mine."

As if he had planned it like that, the bell rung just in that moment and Hunter swiftly got up and pulled me out of my seat. "Come on, we gotta be quick."

"We?" I asked, my voice at least an octave higher because of the nervousness that made my hair stand on end.

Hunter sighed exasperatedly and dragged me with him, still holding onto my sleeve. "Yes, we. Now come on!"

I looked over my shoulder one last time before I reluctantly jogged through the corridors next to him. Students were pouring out of the class rooms, so everything was crowded and it was hard to hear Hunter as he said: "I'm going to pull the fire alarm."

"Are you kidding me? We can't do that!"

"Yeah, we can. There's one in the principal's office."

I froze in my tracks and held onto his shirt so that he wouldn't walk off. "Seriously? We're going to get in so much trouble if he finds out!"

Hunter looked completely calm as he pried my fingers off his shirt. "I know. But he won't find out. I don't think he's in his office right now, so now's our best chance."

I wondered how he had turned a boring school morning into this hectic, exciting chaos so quickly, then I sighed resignedly.

Hunter smiled somewhat reassuringly and started walking again. Since he was still holding onto my hand, I had to keep up with him, which was difficult because of all the students blocking my way.

Eventually, we reached a less crowded corridor and on its end was the principal's office. Hunter looked around carefully before putting a hand to the door knob and twisting it slowly. To my surprise, the door opened. Hunter gave me a nod and slipped into the room, pulling me after him. As soon as I was inside, he shut the door behind us.

I had never been to the principal's office before. It was a rather small room with thick carpet that swallowed the noise of our footsteps, which I was grateful for, and dark red wallpaper on the walls. In the middle of the room there was a massive desk, upon were piles of documents. There also was a large locker and book shelves along the walls. Everything seemed kind of old and dusty in the light that was falling in through the large window behind the desk.

Hunter didn't care for such details and headed straight for the fire alarm that was on the wall next to the locker.

"Have you been here before?"

He glanced at me for a second before turning back to inspecting the fire alarm. "A couple times. Had some nice, long conversations about how another violation of the school rules could get me expelled." He laughed quietly.

Before I could do anything to stop him, he lifted a hand to the cover of the pull station. Then, without much hesitation, he lifted it and pulled down the lever.

For a split second, nothing happened. Then the shrill ringing of the alarm cut through the silence, followed by the sound of yelling and rushing footsteps outside on the corridor.

A satisfied smile flickered across Hunter's face as he looked at me, but it quickly vanished as the doorknob suddenly began to move.

Hunter swore quietly under his breath. Then, without missing a beat, he opened the door of the locker and disappeared inside.

For a moment, I stood frozen in shock before I fortunately had the presence of mind to follow Hunter inside and shut the door behind me just as heavy steps entered the room.

The locker was relatively big. For a locker, but definitely not for a hiding spot. And definitely not for two relatively tall persons. It was basically impossible not to touch Hunter, on the contrary: I was leaning against him, my head resting against his shoulder, my back pressing against his chest, and I could feel his heart beating fast through the fabric of our shirts.

I was barely breathing, scared to make any kind of sound that could give us away. Through the little slits in the door, I could see the silhouette of the principal walking around the room, searching for something.

My heart skipped a beat as he looked in our direction and then once more, as I suddenly felt both of Hunter's hands reaching for mine. His fingers were cold as they intertwined with mine. And yet again, like he had done it before the party on Friday, his thumbs laid on my wrists, as if feeling for my pulse, and lightly caressed the sensitive skin. My heart started to beat even faster as he rested his forehead against my neck.

It was a position I wasn't familiar with, but after a few seconds, I decided that it didn't feel too bad. It was quite nice, actually. If it hadn't been for our principal who was still looking around his office, of course.

Luckily, after a few more minutes, he decided he should probably get the hell out of the building too, in case it was actually burning.

Hunter and I stayed like that for a moment after he was gone. Then, when we were sure he wouldn't return, I broke away from Hunter and opened the door. As I stepped outside, I felt weak-kneed and had to steady myself on the door frame.

"You did that thing again," I said, still in a daze, and touched the skin were Hunter's thumb had rested seconds before.

Hunter shot me a surprised look. "What thing?"

"Every time you..." I swallowed nervously and brought myself to keep talking. "Every time you hold my hand, you...you put your thumb on my wrist and kind of caress it." It sounded more like a question than a statement.

Hunter looked down, seeming almost uncomfortable himself. "I don't know, that's kind of a habit, I guess." He cleared his throat before he continued. "Sounds really sappy, but my mom used to do that when I was little. To reassure me, I think."

"Oh," I said.

It made sense: every time Hunter had held my hand, it had been when I had been nervous or scared. It was always a gesture that was meant to calm me down. And embarrassingly, it did.

"We should probably get out of here now," Hunter said and pointed at the door.

I nodded and followed him outside. No one was inside the building anymore, everyone had left minutes ago and it'd probably only be a matter of time until the fire department arrived.

Hunter and I sneaked out of the back door, then walked around the building until we ended up on the parking lot, where everyone else was gathering.

I was the first one to spot our friends, and seconds later we reached them.

Emily looked me over with a suspicious look, but it was Alexis who spoke up first. "Guys... where were you?"

Hunter and I exchanged a quick glance.

"It took us a while to find you," Hunter said.

Alexis didn't look convinced, but as Hunter stared intently at her, she seemed to understand and didn't ask any more questions.

"Do you know what caused the alarm?" Emily asked me.

"No," I lied. "Do you guys think we can go home now?"

Liam nodded. "The principal just announced that there'll be no more lessons today and that we can leave. He doesn't think there really is a fire, but he said that talking to the fire department will surely take too long to have regular lessons afterwards. Most people are already gone."

I looked around and saw that he was right; the parking lot was getting less crowded by the minute. "Alright. Should we get going?"

"Yeah," Hunter said.

We parted soon after that, each going our separate ways. I only noticed that Hunter was following me, when I unlocked my car and saw him standing behind me.

"I won the bet," he stated with a wide grin.

"I noticed."

"So I get to make a wish."

I looked at him, waiting for him to spill what kind of undoubtedly cruel and humiliating thing he wanted me to do.

He stepped even closer and braced his elbow on the roof of my car. "I want you to go out with me."

For a moment all I could do was stare at him. Then I choked out: "You evacuated an entire school just to go on a date with me?"

Hunter shrugged with an amused grin. "Well, if you put it like that..." Then he added, more carefully: "Of course you don't have to call it a date, if you don't want to. You could also just see it as partying together."

I thought about it for a minute. "I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

"Well, you lost the bet, so..."

"Alright." I took a deep breath. "I'll do it. But I have to talk to Emily first."

Hunter's eyes widened with genuine astonishment. "Are you going to break up?"

"Yes," I quietly said. "Everything I'm doing at the moment is hurting her. I can't keep on doing this, it's just not fair. She has to know the truth. Otherwise every step I make will be like cheating on her. Which I already feel like I'm doing."

Hunter nodded thoughtfully. "I get that. Emily doesn't deserve this." He fell silent before he said, with a seriousness that left me startled: "I'm sorry if this is my fault, Jules. I never meant to ruin your relationship."

I shook my head. Suddenly, I had the overwhelming urge to reassure him. "Hey, it's not your fault, none of this is. It's mine. It's because I didn't realize earlier that a relationship with her won't lead to anything. And because I don't know the difference between love and friendship."

At first, it looked like Hunter was going to reach out, but then he seemed to change his mind and slipped his hand into his pocket instead. "You will learn the difference."

I swallowed and nodded silently.

"Alright. When are you free to go to that club?" Hunter asked.

"Er...Wednesday night maybe?"

"Okay," Hunter said with a small smile that gave away his delight. "Get home safely."

"You too," I said before climbing into my car.

Only when I was already driving home I remembered that I had forgotten to ask if he remembered Friday night.