The following Monday, Tom came to school with a bandage on his nose.

I felt incredibly smug about it. I had put my heart into that punch.

Though I'd been regretting my decision to punch him during the weekend; my knuckles were the size of walnuts, my right hand was pretty much useless. Seeing the bandage on his nose made it totally worth it.

Lia had stayed the weekend with me. We stayed holed up in my room on Saturday. Then on Sunday, I made her take a shower and we took a long walk around town. She was no longer crying, at least not as much, but the bright lights in her eyes was dimmed by a brokenness I hated.

"You punched him, didn't you?" Liza asked as soon as I sat down behind her. I must look like a thug, with the remainder of my black eye and my swollen knuckles.

"Yep, she did," Jason was happy to tell her. He sat next to me in History class.

"He totally deserved it." Liza grinned. "Half the girls in school have a crush on you, the other half wish they could punch him again in the nose. So don't feel bad about it."

"Oh, I'm not." I laughed. "I just wish we could move on."

I wanted Lia to moved on. It wasn't going to happen fast enough if all the school talked about was her and Tom.

"Yeah, unless someone screwed a teacher or Principal Dawson's wig fell off in the hallway, that's not going to happen anytime soon," Jason said. "It's prime gossip"

I sighed. I expected as much. Jason and Liza spoke, which mostly consisted of them flirting. Liza was shy around guys. But she was opening up more around Jason, fortunately for him.

I pulled out my notebook and a small bag of salted peanuts. The class fell uncharacteristically quiet. I glanced up.

Hunter walked in like he belonged. He looked around.

I waved and pointed to the empty seat next to Jason. His long legs ate up the distance and he sat down, almost lounging in the chair. I leaned forward to look at him past Jason. "Do you even have this class?"

Liza looked at me with wide eyes. Hunter nodded. So chatty. The teacher came in and we stopped our fruitful one way conversation.

I made Jason take notes. In the middle of class, Mr. White looked at me. "Miss Milton, you're not taking notes. That's unusual."

I held up my right hand. My knuckles were red and swollen. "It hurts to write," I said. "But Jason is taking them."

Mr. White's bushy eyebrows raised. "That's even more unusual."

Jason groaned next to me. Laughter rang out in the classroom.

Mr. White adjusted his glassed. "Is your hand alright?"

"She punched a guy!" One of the boys said. I gave him a look. He winked at me.

Mr. White eyebrows hiked further up. "Ah, I see. Since you're not arrested or worse, suspended, I assume he deserved it. Moving on. The group project I told you about last session-"

The class groaned in unison.

"Yes, I know you're all very excited," Mr. White said, lowering himself on the desk. "But I'm going to need groups and project titles by the end of class. I'm sure you're all adults who can figure things out on your own. Groups of two, no more."

A hand went up in front. "The number of students isn't even."

"Then one group of three. No more."

Heads swiveled around.

"Group of three here!" Someone called.

The girl next to Liza paired up with the one in front of her. Liza was still new, and she was shy. I glanced at Jason and nodded my head towards her. Wide eyed, he shook his head furiously.

"I'm helping you out here!" I hissed.

"But-"

Before he could make an excuse, I poked Liza with a pen. She turned around, her smile hesitant.

"Are you with someone?" I asked. She shook her head.

I pulled Jason's arm, dragging him halfway from his seat. He smiled at Liza. I could see the effect of that charming smile.

"Jason is all on his own. Take pity on him," I told her.

She frowned. "But what about you?"

"I..." looking around, I spotted Hunter dozing off, his arms crossed and his chin on his chest, halfway under the desk. "I'm with Jamison. No one will pair up with him, you know. Everybody is scared."

Liza's eyes flickered to Hunter, and she leaned towards me. "Are you sure?"

"Yep. We're friends."

I made Jason change places with me. Liza turned her chair around. I bet they would forget all about the class project in a few minutes.

I settled down in Jason's spot and pushed the desk closer to Hunter's. A few students glanced our way, whispering and pointing. Yep. I dared sit close to the boogeyman.

"Using me as an excuse again?" He asked, his eyes still closed. So he was pretending to be asleep?

"You're awake. Good," I said. "Let's settle on a subject. You'll have to do the writing."

I pulled out my phone and opened the search engine. I had no idea how students in the past got any of their homework done without internet.

With a quiet sigh, Hunter straightened up and opened a new page on his notebook.

"What's the project supposed to be about?" Hunter asked, hunched over the notebook. He looked so big, like he didn't belong behind a desk.

"Wars," I said, scrolling through my phone. "But World War One and Two are right out, a lot of people will be doing those."

"The Civil War, too," he mumbled. I glanced at him in surprise. He was actually taking this seriously. He noticed my look and raised his eyebrow. "You expected to be doing all the work?"

No use in lying. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Anyone ever told you you're rude?" He asked.

I blinked. "Other than my brothers, no. But that doesn't mean they're not thinking it."

"They probably are."

I chuckled. "Rude."

His lips twitched up. He stole my phone and scrolled through. I leaned closer and we looked together at the list of wars I'd pulled out.

We eliminated anything too obvious, like the Vietnam war or the civil war; everybody would be doing those.

Hunter's handwriting was unexpectedly neat. He wrote in a beautiful cursive hand. I leaned over his arm to take a closer look. The straight lines were firm and bold, but the curves flowed softly, almost like a caress.

"Your writing is so pretty," I mumbled.

A breath on my face. I glanced at him. Our faces were inches apart. His eyes were a brown so dark, it was almost black. I was suddenly aware of every inch of my body touching his, of his warmth and smell, of his breath wafting over my chin. The noise of the class melted away. Electricity zipped right to my toes.

I was basically leaning against his arm. I didn't pull my face back. I didn't look away. I didn't want to look away. Something pulled me right into those dark, dark eyes. My heart beat in my ears.

"Careful," he mumbled, his voice low and rough. "You'll get burned."

I blinked. Shivers rolled down my spine. My throat turned dry. Get your shit together, Sapphire! I shook my head.

"Because I'm playing with fire? That's a very cheesy line. I expected better from you," I said.

He smiled. His eyes flickered to my lips for a second that made all blood rush to my face. Then he looked down at the phone. "What about the Hundred Years' war?"

Back to business, it seemed.

But what the heck was that?

*** **** ***

"You're the best wingman I could ask for. You know that, right?" Jason said, throwing his arm around my shoulders.

"You're heavy, in case you don't know." I grunted, adjusting my backpack. He shifted his weight a little and we walked comfortably like that for a while. Students rushed to their next class, dodging each other in the hallway. "And you're welcome. For someone who didn't want my help at first, you're awfully grateful."

He chuckled. "Hey, that's why we have you around, Sapph. You make us realize the importance of a feminine touch in our lives."

"That's pretty deep for you," I told him.

"My dad says it to Ma a lot. I stole it."

I grinned. Jason's parents were so fun to be around. I should visit them again soon.

"By the way," Jason said. "What's going on between you and Hunter?"

My grin vanished. I groaned. "Oh, come on. Why is everyone so curious about the two of us! We're just friends. Can't we be friends?"

Jason looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize he doesn't really talk to other people-"

"Maybe other people don't talk to him."

"For good reason," Jason said.

I shook my head. "You're all so dramatic."

"Even Liza asked me about it, you know. Everyone thinks you're dating."

"We're not," I said. "And he probably has a girlfriend, anyway."

"He does?"

"I guess? I saw him with someone at the party. Anyway! It doesn't matter. We're not dating."

We stopped where the hallway branched off. Jason looked at me for a long time. I knew him long enough to know he was considering something.

"What's with the look?" I asked.

Jason dropped his arm from my shoulders and slapped my back. "I'll see you later."

He jogged away. I looked at his board back, disappearing between the students.

At lunch, I picked up Lia from her class and we went to the cafeteria together. She didn't look like she cried this morning. Her hair was down in silky waves around her face. Her white sweatshirt set off her slight tan, and her cheeks even looked a little rosy. She looked better. Much better.

"Stop staring. I'm fine," she said without looking at me.

"Great." I cleared my throat. I needed a subject to distract her, and I knew just the one. "Say, Lia, does everyone think Hunter and I are dating?"

Her eyes brightened and she smiled, linking her arm through mine. "Why? Did someone say something? Are you two actually going out?"

"Jeez. No. Jason said Liza asked him if we were," I told her as we filed into the cafeteria. The loud voices, the clatter of cutlery and plates were all familiar background noise. The smells of different foods, teenager sweat and hormones melted together into a scent you could only smell in a school cafeteria. We joined the long line.

It moved at a snail's pace, but I knew it would move quicker when it was our turn. Magic.

"Well, you are pretty much the only girl who speaks to him," she said. "Actually, scratch that. You're the only person who does."

"That's silly." I took a half-finished pretzel bag from my backpack and threw one in my mouth. "And I saw him. With a girl."

"Really?"

I nodded. Feeling the tightness in my guts again, I ate another pretzel. "Yep, and they seemed quite chummy."

"Oh." She frowned, actually looking disappointed. "That's too bad."

It was our turn. I shoved my pretzel bag into my backpack and picked up a tray. "Are you actually disappointed we're not a thing?"

"Kind of?" She looked sheepish.

I shook my head. As we filled our trays, I scanned the cafeteria. Tom was nowhere to be seen. I hoped he stayed that way. Scott, Stefan and Jason were sitting in a table with someone else. I narrowed my eyes at that dark head. Hunter. I almost tripped on my feet. Well, that was surprising. He actually sat there on his own without me having to drag him.

"Fried tofu. It's your favorite, today," I told Lia. Her answering smile was radiant. Food could make everything better.

We joined the others. Lia sat next to Jason and I took the empty spot beside Hunter.

"Here's my girl," Jason said, pointing at me.

"Why? What did she do?" Scott asked.

"She set me up with Liza," Jason replied, grinning.

"I didn't set you up. I just helped you be in the same group project," I said.

"Who did you have to threaten to do that?" Stefan asked. Smartass.

"I don't go around threatening people," I said. I swear, they all snorted as one, except for Hunter.

"Hey Jamison, do you know what Sapphire's hobby is?" Jason asked.

I frowned. "It's Boxing-"

"Gathering blackmail material," Jason said, speaking over me. "So you better watch yourself around her."

Hunter raised his brows.

"Hey, you're making me feel like I'm the bad guy, here. I never blackmail others. I just-"

"Threaten them to ensure their cooperation," Lia said. I was glad she was joking around, even if it was on my expense.

"When you put it that way... But I never ask for impossible things..." I grumbled. It did make me seem like a criminal.

Stefan took his fried tofu and put it on Lia's tray. Lia scowled between the tofu and Stefan. "Why are you being nice?"

"What?" Stefan frowned. "You love Fried tofu."

"Stop being nice to me. It's creepy."

Jason whistled the tone of Old West movies' standoff. We looked between Stefan and Lia, waiting for the show to begin.

Returning her glare, Stefan swiped all the pieces of tofu from Lia's tray.

"Hey, that one is mine!" Lia said, reaching for it. But they were already in Stefan's mouth. He chewed, his cheeks bloated.

"You prick!" Lia said, hitting her fist on the table. Her tray rattled.

He shrugged.

Scott, who hated tofu, seized his chance. "Exchange?"

"Deal," Lia said. She gave him her chocolate milk and he gave her his fried tofu. Stefan didn't look very pleased with himself even though he was the one who ended up with the tofu.

Hunter leaned close to me and whispered. "How long have they been flirting like this?"

"They're not-" I looked between the two of them. My best friend and my brother. Wait a second...

Oh my God. How come I never even suspected it? But they didn't seem like they were aware of the sizzling tension between them. At least, Lia wasn't. Stefan, on the other hand, was cunning enough to pretend it didn't exist.

"You know," I slowly whispered, narrowing my eyes at my best friend, who was too busy shoveling tofu in her mouth to pay attention to Stefan's glances. Oh my God, I couldn't believe I'd been so blind. "You know Hunter, I think you might be onto something here."

We all got up at the same time. As we walked through the tables, other students threw us glances and whispered. whether it was because of the incident on Friday night where I got to punch Tom, or because of the weird rumor about me and Hunter, I didn't know.

Depositing my tray, I spotted Tom coming down the hallway. It was teeming with students, so Lia didn't see him yet. Jason and Scott veered to the left. I threw my arm around Lia's shoulders and grabbed Stefan's arm. "You guys have the same class next, right?"

They both nodded. Stefan glanced around, and he understood. When people say twins, or triplets in our case, are telepathic, they're not totally far off. Sometimes my brothers and I could understand each other with one look.

And sometimes I had to beat their heads up with a stick in order to get them to do something, but that was irrelevant. I liked the telepathy thing better. It sounded cooler.

"Good," I said, pushing Lia against Stefan. She frowned at me.

"Let's go," Stefan said, snatching Lia's bag and heading to the other hallway.

"Hey!" She jogged up after him. Phew.

"Nice save," Hunter said next to me.

"Anyone ever told you you're perceptive?"

"No. But I know I am."

I scoffed. "Cocky."

We walked past a group of students. Yep. They were talking about us. "If you're so perceptive, then you should've noticed we're the subject of gossip these days."

"I've noticed."

He had? "It doesn't bother you?" I asked, reaching in my backpack for a snack. My hand crunched for a moment, then came back up with a chocolate bar. Good enough. I ripped it open with my teeth and took a bite.

He stopped walking and looked at me. God, those eyes were intense. "Why should it?"

"I don't know," I spoke around my chocolate. Very elegant. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Where the hell did that come from?"

I shifted on my feet and took another bite. "I don't know. I thought I saw you with someone at the party on Friday."

He shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. And I don't have a girlfriend," he said. He hefted his backpack and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Why? Interested?"

I almost choked on my chocolate. "What?"

People around us might as well have disappeared. Hunter's dark eyes looked completely serious. I blinked, squeezing the chocolate bar. I felt the thing melt underneath the wrapper.

"Um..."

He waited for me to get my thoughts together. What the heck was this? Was he asking me out? Was he waiting for me to ask him out? What was this?! Someone help!!!

"Looks like trash found other trash."

The words didn't register until Hunter looked away from me to whoever had spoken them. I glanced aside. Tom was walking nearby with a couple of his friends, the white bandage on his nose glaring under the fluorescent lights of the hallway.

Hunter took a step towards him. Tom walked past us slowly and looked us over.

I held Hunter's wrist. "Let it go. He's just sour I ruined his pretty nose."

Students stopped and stared now. We needed to get out of here. I was getting into too much trouble these days, it was no longer funny.

Hunter's eyes gained a haunting look. His face lost all expression, and he looked at Tom like he was his next meal. Uh-Oh.

"I bet he's fucking her," Tom said, walking backwards to look at us. One of his friends tugged on his arm, looking at Hunter worriedly. Tom wasn't as smart as his friend, because he continued, "That's why he ratted me out-"

Hunter's backpack hit the ground with a thud. It echoed with the ominous sound of a boxing bell in the subdued noise. Then he was in front of Tom.

Damn he was fast!

Hunter shoved him with one of his grizzly paws. "What did you say?"

Tom staggered, almost toppling to the ground. His face lost some of its smugness, no doubt realizing Hunter could fold him in half without breaking a sweat. But he was too committed now. His eyes flickered around, noting the students starting to flock around us.

An ugly sneer claimed his face. "I asked if you're enjoying that piece of ass so much that you turned into a snitching bitch."

Someone gasped. I picked up Hunter's backpack and stepped forward. I was too slow. I didn't even see Hunter pull his arm back. The punch landed on Tom's jaw with a sickening sound. He slammed into the locker behind him, his eyes unfocused. The loud rattle of the lockers brought more spectators.

Crap. One more of those punches and we'd be scraping Tom off the ground. One of Tom's friends charged from the side. Taking Hunter by surprise, he actually managed to sock Hunter in the face.

"Sapph! Teacher's coming!" Liza said from across the crowd, posting behind me. Crap.

"Hunter!" I called, standing on my tiptoes and glancing over my shoulder. I could see zip, but someone was trying to push through the crowd of students. Damn it.

Hunter was trying to fight off Tom and his friend at once. And he was winning, knocking them around like bowling pins.

As I stepped forward, he pulled his arm back for a punch. I almost got a mouthful of his elbow. I ducked and pulled at his arm. "Leave it, Hunter! The teacher is coming!"

He ripped his arm from my hold and punched Tom's friend, sending flying right into Tom. The two landed on the ground. Hunter moved forward for more.

Alright, that was about enough!

I pinched his butt.

He jumped and whirled around, his eyes comically wide. "Did you just-?"

I shoved his backpack at him and grabbed his wrist, tugging him along. "Move!" I hissed, looking at the crowd parting for the teacher.

Fortunately, Hunter willingly came along. Liza pushed me through and dragged her friend to close the gap and hide us from view. A few girls did the same.

"Go! Tom deserves it," one of them said. I didn't even know the girl.

"Thanks," I told her and pulled Hunter along. "Put your head down, you're sticking out like damn pole!"

He scowled but did as told. If we weren't sprinting in the hallway, I would've found his suddenly expressive face endearing. Our shoes squeaked against the floor. My ponytail whipped behind me.

A guy we ran by whistled, I vaguely recognized him as one of Scott's team buddies. "Yeah, Sapph!"

My heart raced in my ears by the time we pushed through a side door. It opened to the back of the school, in a pathway between the school building and the library, which was an independent structure. I collapsed against the wall, breathing in through my mouth. Steve would make fun of my cardio if he saw me right now. Surprisingly, Hunter's breathing was worse than mine.

"Your breathing sucks," I said, between breaths, sliding against the wall to the floor. "Must be all the smoking."

He was still crouching, hands on knees. With a grunt, he dropped to the ground as well. Stretching his long legs next to mine.

Hunter's hand was on his knee. His knuckles were red. I glanced at his face. His bottom lip was busted. Looking at my own knuckles, I laughed.

"What's funny?" he grumbled.

"Look at us," I said. "I have a black eye, your lip is busted and our knuckles are bruised. What a pair."

He smiled. A full smile that creased his cheeks. "I can't believe you pinched my ass."

I laughed harder. "I can't believe it either."

He shook his head and looked down at his knuckles.

"You know, you shouldn't make it a habit to punch people around just because you don't like what they're saying," I said.

"You punched him on Friday."

"It was one punch!" I said. "Besides, I probably hurt my hand more than his nose."

"Yeah, well. Not all of us have blackmail material handy when we need it."

I gaped at him. Right. Now he developed a sense of humor. An idea struck. I looked Hunter over. He had great physique. Tall and broad-shouldered. Remembering the force of his punches, I asked, "you should come with me to my gym."

He frowned. "Why?"

"It's a boxing gym. Well, more specifically, it's an MMA specialized gym."

"Mixed Martial Arts?"

"Yep. But all I do is boxing. The coach is pretty good. I think you'll do well," I said. "And it's going to be a good way to tire out all that energy you have."

Still frowning, he shrugged. "Maybe."

"You should." I pulled out the chocolate bar from earlier. It was a melted mess. I ate it anyway. No need letting good chocolate go to waste. Hunter stared at me. I was sure licking gooey chocolate off the wrapper was very sexy. Not.

"You should cut down on snacks. It's unhealthy," he said.

"You should cut down on smoking. It's unhealthier."

We lapsed into silence. The bell rang. I shot to my feet and looked at Hunter. He didn't move.

"You're not going to class?"

He shrugged. Back to being chatty, I guess. I sighed and crunched the empty wrapper in my hand. No trash bin in sight.

"So, tomorrow after school?" I said, hefting my backpack.

He looked up at me. We were in the shade. His eyelashes looked so black, it was ridiculous. What would a boy need eyelashes that long? Life was unfair.

"Is that a date?" he asked.

I scowled. "If you don't want to go, just say no."

He stared at me for a long minute, then blew a deep breath and nodded. "Tomorrow after school."

--- ---- ---

Hey guys! Hope you liked the update!

Next chapter, things are going to get a little bit interesting *wink*

Don't forget to vote and comment. 

Much love <3 <3 <3

M.B.