I had learned a very important lesson the night I kissed Hunter; and that was to never underestimate my special ability to make stupid decisions.

I didn't know what bad spirit possessed me to do that R-18 scene and I suspected it had something to do with the paracetamol Hunter gave me. It might had messed with my brain and made me think about things I shouldn't have.

Or maybe it had something to do with Hunter himself. As much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't deny that he was one hell of a gorgeous male specimen. According to scientific studies, it was just natural for us to feel attracted to the opposite sex especially if they were fit as the devil himself; I guessed it had something to do with the survival of genes.

It meant that what I was feeling right now was just purely scientific.

I took a deep breath.

Right. These feeling were completely normal. I wasn't falling in love with Hunter. It was just the damned pheromones clouding my sane thinking.

I decided to forget that blasted kiss and just pretend that nothing happened. I swore to myself that I would keep that secret to my grave.

My resolved was quickly put to test when Hunter finally woke up and gave me the sexiest barely-there smile in the history of barely-there smiles.

I was just kissing those glorious lips earlier! Shouted my hormone induced subconscious.

Shut up, you whore! Said the other, smarter part of me.

I turned my back on Hunter and buried my face in the pages of my Philosophy notebook. Good thing I was already a few feet away from him. I couldn't imagine what I would do if he woke up and found me kissing him. I'd probably just volunteer for a live demonstration of death by guillotine.

"Sky..." I heard him called in a hoarse voice so sexy I wanted to cry.

I inhaled deeply, trying to steady my breathing which proved to be a challenge since I could feel his eyes on me, sending shivers down my spine and making the hair at the back of my neck stood in waves.

"Yes?" I said, not daring to look at him for the fear that my face would give away my recent crime. If our gender had been reversed, Hunter could sue me for harassment.

"Join me here."

"Why?"

"I have something to tell you."

I braved a look at him and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at me with a strange expression on his face; a mixture of confusion, awe, and something I couldn't identify. I stood up and found myself walking towards him like he had some kind of a magnetic pull on me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, a little worried.

I was taken aback when he reached out and grabbed my hand. He pulled me towards him, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face on my stomach. For a moment, I just stood there like a statue, frozen from my shock.

"Sky..." he breathed deeply.

I gulped, torn between my pride that was telling me to push him away and my heart that was telling me to do the opposite.

Hands shaking, I reached out to touch his hair.

"A-are you okay?" I asked him.

"Okay is an understatement."

He looked up and his amethyst eyes met my brown ones.

"Sorry if I fell asleep." He said.

My toes curled at the deep octave of his voice.

"S'okay." I answered, faking nonchalance even though my breaths were stalling in my lungs.

His hands dropped to my hips, pulling me down until I was almost sitting on his lap. He leaned closer, his lips almost grazing the skin of my ear, making me shiver.

"I wonder what happened." His voice lowered to a deep, sexy whisper. "I'm usually more active in the bedroom than this."

Bloody hell.

I immediately pushed him away from me and stood up.

"You're such a pervert!" I accused, throwing him sharp looks.

He laughed at the expression on my face.

"I meant I haven't been sleeping soundly these past few weeks so I'm obviously much more active in my bed." The smug stretch of his lips spread. "What were you thinking, anyway?"

Hunter's voice sounded playful and light but I caught something about what he said that bothered me.

"Why weren't you sleeping?" I asked, deeply concerned.

Hunter's smile quickly vanished from his face. He ran his fingers over his hair, clearly uncomfortable with my question. He didn't speak for a long time so I felt the need to repeat my question.

"Hunter, what's wrong? Why weren't you sleeping?"

Hunter let out a rough sigh, looking so vulnerable for the first time.

"Because my dreams are always full of demons and blood and gore." He said, voice filled with raw emotions he was desperately trying to hide.

I felt my heart break a little for him. It was the first I'd seen Hunter Cole in his most vulnerable. It was like I was finally given a chance to get a glimpse of the real him: not the prankster who always made everyone laugh, not the hacker who was always so badass and smart, but the Hunter who was also struggling with his own demons and trying his hardest to hide his fears just like everyone of us.

Throwing away all of my inhibitions, I sat down next to him and hugged him as tight as I could. I might be confused about my feelings for him, but one thing was for sure, I wanted to be his friend right now, in this moment when he was feeling weak.

I felt him froze for an instant before he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me.

"Hey, buddy, I'm okay." He whispered reassuringly, tapping my back gently. It was so ironic because I should be the one doing that.

"You should be. Those demons got nothing on you. You can easily annoy the shit out of them. You're Hunter Cole, after all." I told him.

I felt his body shook from laughter. His fingers brushed the curls of my hair.

"Aah, you really are something." He murmured, almost to himself.

"It's like we're really BFFs now, don't you think?" he teased.

I shrugged, my face still buried on his chest, savoring his body's warmth and inhaling his clean minty scent. And for a while, it felt absolutely right.

Of course, he wouldn't be Hunter if this night wouldn't end up with me wanting to murder him.

"I'm pretty sure you're now head over heels in love with my sensitive side." he said in a joking voice that instantly made me realize that we were closer than what was considered appropriate.

I quickly pushed him away and gave him a deadly look.

"You wish!"

He smirked, making it obvious that he was already back on his usual, annoying self.

"Sky, you have to understand that I'm not just some easy-to-get guy. If you like me, which you obviously do, then you have to work for it." He said, cocking his head to the side and watching me with a crooked smile playing on his lips.

I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Hunter, you seriously need help. My dad's a neurologist, he can help you." I made my voice sound worried for good effect. I wouldn't let him win this banter this time.

"Better get me a cardiologist then because my heart always beats a little faster whenever I'm with you." He winked, making me blush.

The moment was ruined when he decided to stand up and sing Nicki Minaj's Super Bass in a voice that should be made illegal. He had the most horrible singing voice I've ever had the misfortune to hear.

I covered my ears with my hands to block out the wailing noise.

"Hunter, stop!" I complained.

He just continued to sing with matching dance steps, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

And while I was laughing, I realized one thing: Hunter didn't like being a burden to other people. He didn't like long, serious conversations because he didn't want people to worry about him. He wasn't afraid to make fun of himself to get rid of the tension. He was like a one way mirror, he could see through people's emotions, he knew how to make them feel without giving away any of his own.

Who would've guessed that selflessness was also one of Hunter's traits?

He suddenly stopped dancing.

"I can go home now that I've already seen you laugh." He said, smiling at me from ear to ear.

I smiled back at him. And for a while, we stayed like that, staring at each other's eyes, strengthening our always-had-been fragile friendship. It was like we've crossed an invisible bridge and took our relationship to another level. It felt absolutely good.

"Friends?" I asked him.

He walked towards me and swept a hand through my hair, messing it up.

"Bffs." He confirmed, making my smile wider.

I walked him to his car when he was about to leave.

"Make sure to lock the door and turn on the security system before you go to sleep." He reminded me for the third time. He seemed apprehensive about leaving me and I secretly felt pleased to know that he cared.

"Okay."

"And call me if you see or hear anything suspicious."

"Right."

"You can fantasize about me but stop it after ten; you need to sleep."

"Shut up."

"Yeah, I'll miss you too. See you tomorrow."

He climbed up his car and started the engine. He gave me one last smile before he drove away.

I went back to my room smiling like a loony.

This has been one hell of a long day.

I was about to go to sleep when I felt my phone vibrated.

I grabbed it under my pillow to check. I had one message received.

I tapped the read icon.

Sky,

Sometimes, you are so beautiful... and you are most beautiful when you're being kind.

Your crush,

Hunter

I looked at the time. It was five past ten.

That jerk! His text just made it sure I wouldn't get a goodnight sleep anytime soon.

***

"I don't trust him." Sophie said eyeing Hunter suspiciously.

We were in the music room again and I just finished telling her about my plan which involved some dirty, if not illegal, tactics. To say that she was unconvinced was an understatement, and it was not even because she did not approve of the plan. It has something to do with the person central to it. Apparently, there had been bad blood between her and Hunter over the past few years and she couldn't stand the thought of him helping her.

Hunter, looking really hurt about what Sophie said, pouted.

"Is it because of what happened back in sixth grade? Come on, Soph, you need to finally forgive me for that, I told you I had an emergency." Hunter said, dropping the guitar that he was curiously strumming earlier.

Sophie gave him a dark look.

"You ditched me on our date to play street fighter at the game center. That was not an emergency!"

Hunter grimaced at the reminder.

"You made me wait three freaking hours at McDonalds, of all places! That was the single most horrifying experience I've ever had in my life prior to this freaking video." Sophie continued in a voice full of spite.

I looked at Hunter in disbelief. Who in his right mind would think of having his first date with a girl at McDonalds?

Answer: Hunter Cole.

Go figure.

"But it was the championship battle!" Hunter complained, looking like he couldn't figure out what Sophie was so mad about. "And McDonalds has the best nuggets."

I had an urge to have another one of my facepalm moment, which I noticed happened so frequently ever since I became friends with this idiot.

God, this guy really doesn't have a single clue.

Sophie stomped one foot on the floor.

"I don't care! That was not a valid excuse!"

I decided that now was the right time to intervene. I stepped between the two of them before they wring each other's necks.

"You two dated?" I asked, amused by that knowledge. Who would have thought these two had a past? Hunter had been with Heather for as long as I could remember; it was hard to imagine him with some other girl.

Hunter's eyes widened upon hearing my question. He then looked at Sophie accusingly.

"Great, now you made Sky jealous." He stepped forward and held my hand.

"Sky, you have nothing to be jealous of, Sophie here just had a big crush on me back in sixth grade so she invited me on a date. It was just puppy love on her part. She's over me now, right, Soph?" He said throwing Sophie a hopeful look.

Sophie gave him the finger as an answer.

"I didn't have a crush on you, you moron!" She denied vehemently, but I noticed that her cheeks turned pink.

I pulled my hand from Hunter's grip, embarrassed by his assumptions.

"And I'm not jealous, fyi." I said, amazed by his ability to jump to conclusions.

Before he could open his mouth again to spew another round of his delusions, I turned to face Sophie.

"I apologize in behalf of him. Hunter may have some screws lose but he's a gifted hacker. He can delete that video in thirty seconds top." I convinced her.

I saw Hunter nodding in my peripheral vision.

"Make it twenty." He said, raising his eyebrows suggestively at Sophie.

Sophie rolled his eyes.

"And how are you going to do that?" she asked.

Hunter's eyes brightened. I could tell he had been itching to tell us all about his plan the moment we stepped inside the room. He grabbed a chair and sat, trying to project a professional aura. I had to admit he looked really cute, especially when he adjusted the baseball cap he was wearing so he was wearing it in reversed.

"I was awake all night creating this virus that could erase all video files as soon as it enters a computer system. I named this virus Sofia Sky in honor of the girls who seem so eager to see me rotting in jail." He gave us an innocent smile, as if to make us feel guilty for making him do illegal things like hacking.

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Creating a badass virus like that overnight was what you called skills. This guy never failed to amaze me.

"Hunter, you're a genius!" I exclaimed. I looked at Sophie and saw that she, too, was impressed. Who wouldn't be? There he was, making badass virus and other amazing stuff in his computer while most of us didn't even know what html means.

"I-I admit that's impressive." Sophie conceded. "But how are you going to put that in Rachel's PC?"

"I already did. I sent her an e-mail earlier. Once she opened that e-mail, the virus will enter her computer's system, and boom!" he gestured an explosion using his hands. "Goodbye videos, be gone, so long, ta-ta."

"But what if she opened her e-mail using her cellphone?" Sophie challenged.

"I already thought about that, so I texted her beforehand to open her computer and read my e-mail. I told her that she could only read the e-mail if she opened it in her own laptop.

As soon as he said that, his phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket to read something on the screen.

He smiled and then looked at us.

"It worked. Rachel just texted me, she said she's going to murder me." He said, looking really happy about it.

"That's great!" I exclaimed, and was immediately embarrassed when I realized what I just said.

"I mean, not the killing you part, but the part where the virus worked!"

I never should've doubted his ability to scheme grand plans like this; he should change his middle name to Kutcher because the guy sure as hell knew how to punk people.

I was so impressed that I wanted to run and give him a bear hug. He was amazing. I glanced at Sophie and saw that she was also feeling the same way I did.

"Oh my God, Hunter." She slumped on the nearest chair, looking so close to tears. "Thank you so much. You don't know what it means to me."

Hunter smiled at her.

"Consider that as my apology."

Sophie let out a breathy laugh, wiping the tears that she wasn't able to stop from falling.

"Apology accepted." She said before giving me a look full of gratitude.

"Sky, thank you." She ran and gave me a hug.

At first, I wasn't able to move because of my shock but I quickly recovered and hugged her back. It was funny to think that just last week, I was shaking from fear just by the thought of her finding out about my crush for her boyfriend, and now we were hugging as if we're best of friends. Life really has a funny way of turning things upside down.

I wondered how many friendships I missed by choosing to become invisible?

"It's okay." I said, tapping her at the back awkwardly.

One moment, Sophie and I were hugging, and the next thing I knew, Hunter was tugging my hand, pulling me towards him. My face bumped onto his hard chest, making me clutch his shirt to support myself.

Surprised, I glanced up at him and was assaulted by his sculpted jaw and a heart-melting smile that was playing on his lips... lips that I was able to taste last night.

Stop thinking about that, you disgusting wench! I castigated myself.

I was having a hard time breathing because my heart once again felt like it was on steroids. I've had butterflies before but when it came to Hunter, it felt like the whole animal kingdom had already built an ecosystem inside my stomach.

"Now, now, Soph, don't just go around hugging my buddy like that. You're making me feel jealous."

He put his arms around me possessively making every inch of my skin tingled.

I was torn between savoring this glorious feeling of being this close to him or giving him a nice kick on the shin.

I settled for the latter.

"Ouch!" Hunter complained, touching his hurt leg.

"Serves you right for being such a perv." I said, not feeling an ounce of guilt.

"As if you didn't enjoy it." He mumbled.

I was about to say something when I heard Sophie chuckling merrily.

"Hunter, you're such an idiot. Don't tell me you still haven't told her?"

I frowned.

"Tell me what?"

I saw Hunter put his index finger on his lips, telling Sophie to be quiet.

Sophie shrugged.

"It's not my secret to tell, anyway." She said, and then she grabbed her bag on the floor and swung it on her shoulder.

"I better get going. My next class will start in five minutes." She announced.

"You two, thank you so much. Out of all the people I know, I never thought that you'll be the ones helping me when I needed it the most. I'll be forever grateful."

She gave us one last smile and waved before she exited the room.

I faced Hunter. He has some explaining to do.

***

"What secret was she talking about?" I demanded.

Hunter picked up the guitar he dropped earlier and played with its strings.

"If I tell you, it won't be a secret anymore." He said in a voice devoid of any emotion.

The room's temperature suddenly dropped. I could feel the palpable tension in the air like it was a physical thing.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew he was hiding something from me. I wasn't stupid, I felt it the first time when we went on a drive. My suspicions grew when he introduced me to his friends and it was like they already know me. It seemed like everyone knew about this secret except me.

"Why did you hit me with a tennis ball back in seventh grade?" I blurted out, finally voicing my curiosity for the first time. "I never did anything to you for me to deserve that."