Hera sipped the apple juice from the packed container with a bendy straw Eric bought for her. They were sitting on one of the wooden benches on the campus of their dormitory. Eric was messaging someone on his phone while Evelyn absent-mindedly played with the straw.
Hera's juice box made a funny noise when she sucked into the straw. She scrunched her nose, still slurping to check if she had already emptied the liquid content inside the box.
"Oops! I'm sorry," Hera said, sheepishly smiling when Eric snatched the empty juice box from her hand, annoyed at the weird sound she was making.
"So, is one of you going to open your mouth today, or are we going to wait here until tomorrow to speak?" Hera asked. Eric scowled at her in disapproval, irked by her sarcastic tone, while Hera giggled in response.
Evelyn fixed her with a glare, unimpressed by her attitude. Hera lifted her chin and shrugged her shoulders, "What?" she asked defensively. It wasn't every day that Evelyn got pissed at someone. Hera wasn't surprised by her grumpy mood, though. It was evident that team Bianca was upset because of Hera.
"I think we wasted enough time already, and I'm bored. Speak if you want to talk, or I'm leaving," Hera said indifferently. "Well then, let's get to the point straight away. Why are you not coming with us to New York?" Eric asked, anger dripping from his tone.
"Ace is sulking and moping around because you're ignoring him," Evelyn added, her tone and her eyes accusing Hera of upsetting her best friend.
"Here we go," Hera muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes in ridicule.
"When did that mastermind start needing mediators to speak to me?" Hera asked no one in particular, but she regretted her choice of words as soon as she saw the offended look on Eric and Evelyn's faces.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Hera quickly apologised. "I meant to say Hunter himself is a cunning master of manipulation and can persuade everyone to do his bidding. He doesn't need anyone to advocate for him," she offered in her defence. It didn't seem to accomplish any damage control, though.
"It's okay, Hera. Eric and I don't mind. But for the record, Ace didn't ask us to speak in favour of him to you," Evelyn said in a matter of fact tone. "But we're doing it anyway," she added, shrugging. Hera scowled with disinterest. She knew they would preach to her about not hurting their best friend.
Eric proved Hera's opinion right when he opened his mouth to speak.
"I don't care if you're upset about us beating that prick friend of yours, but your silent treatment is bothering Ace way too much for my liking, and I don't like when my best friend is hurting," Eric said. He paused to glare at two boys who lingered around only to ogle Evelyn's gorgeous figure.
Eric snapped his fingers, catching the boys' attention, and wiggled his index finger twice in a warning. The boys scampered away as soon as they met eyes with the aqua blue ones, glaring at them. Hera rolled her eyes while Evelyn didn't even bother to glance at the absurd hormonal teenagers. She was used to being everyone's crush in the school.
"You don't like it when your friends are hurting, but what about others, Eric? Why doesn't it bother you when he hurts other people?" Hera asked. "As his friend, shouldn't you stop him when he's doing something wrong? But you always encourage him instead," Hera said accusingly. She sounded frustrated.
Eric shook his head in disagreement while Evelyn scoffed, much to Hera's surprise.
"What makes you think Ace is at fault?" Evelyn asked, sounding too indignant for Hera's liking. She didn't expect Evelyn to use such a harsh tone with her.
Hera was ready to protest in disagreement, but Eric spoke before she could.
"I always stop him when and if he's wrong, but he's right most of the time. I admit that it's not easy to talk him out of it sometimes, and we don't have another choice but to join hands with him then," Eric said with a nonchalant shrug. Hera stared at him in disbelief.
"You always have a choice to say no, Eric. Why would you join him when you know he's wrong?" Hera asked incredulously.
"Because we're best friends, and we don't leave each other alone in difficult times no matter if it's right or wrong." It was Evelyn who answered Hera's question. "That's how friendship works in our rule book. We stand by each other at all costs. We would never let go of each other's hand just because one of us could be wrong," Evelyn admitted.
"You don't let down your best friend only because he's at fault. Right or wrong, good or bad, once you offer your friendship, you're together in this shit for life," Eric declared. Hera shook her head, disappointed and displeased with their way of thinking.
"Are you saying that if Hunter is killing someone in front of you, you would stand and watch instead of stopping him? And for what? Because he's your best friend?" Hera asked, raising her voice in anger. "Oh, God! You sound so ridiculously absurd right now, Eric," Hera let out a humourless laugh.
Evelyn got up from her seat and stood in front of Hera. Hands safely tucked inside the pockets of her sky-blue cardigan, a matching beany covering her head, Evelyn was beautiful. Her strawberry lips, the rosy blush tinted on her cheeks and the tip of her nose added more to her adorable personality.
If not for the anger that marred Evelyn's pretty face while she glared at Hera, the latter would've given her a tight bear hug and pecked her soft cheeks. Hera would've thought Evelyn looked cuter than a giggling baby had it been in any other situation.
"Ace is not killing anyone, Hera," Evelyn forced the words out through her gritted teeth. It was so unlike her. Hera was stunned by the intensity of anger burning in Evelyn's eyes.
"He hardly hurt that prick who deserved more than that for what he did," Eric spat the words, attracting attention as he raised his voice. The onlookers and eavesdroppers lurked around, curious to gather information about Ace's girl and his best friends. Their fight seemed to spike everyone's interest.
"What?" Eric barked, and immediately everyone averted their eyes, lowered their heads, pretending to mind their own business.
Hera watched as the two best friends sent death glares at the intruders. She had known them as the most sensible, calm and even-tempered among Hunter's team. It was unusual to see them lose their cool.
"Why are you snapping at everyone?" Hera asked. Scoffing at them both, Hera shook her head in displeasure. "All this drama just because your evil captain was striving for some attention," she muttered under her breath, irked at Bianca.
Resting his hands on his hips, Eric exhaled in frustration and shook his head as though he was disappointed in her. Hera fixed him with a dirty look. "What?" she asked, shrugging and unimpressed by their reactions. "Nothing would've happened in the first place if it wasn't for Bianca's amusement," Hera pointed out.
Evelyn returned to sit on the bench, and placing a hand on Hera's shoulder, gave a little shove forcing Hera to turn in her direction. "What does Bianca have anything to do with it, Hera?" Evelyn asked, her tone light and matter-of-fact, but Hera could detect the suppressed anger in her eyes and the displeased scowl on her pretty face.
"Don't you know your best friend, Evie? She loves creating scenes and making a fuss. It doesn't matter to her that she was having fun at someone's expense. And all of you listen to her false accusations and believe her lies without giving it a second thought," Hera stated, accusing and judgemental, adding more to Evelyn's resentment.
"It wasn't Bianca, Hera. It's me, and for the record, I didn't lie. I was speaking the truth when I said he molested me," Evelyn revealed, much to Hera's shock. The ever so sweet, collective, and calm Evelyn now snapped in anger. She was so furious her eyes watered while she forced the words out.
Evelyn was in the library that day. It was lunch break, and she decided to help the library staff with book arrangements as she had her next period free. If Evelyn hadn't offered her help, the librarian and others would've had to skip their lunch to get the job done on time. Appreciating her helping nature, the staff left to have lunch on her insistence.
Evelyn had asked all her friends to meet at the library after the class. They were all going to lend their helping hands in the task. She was the first to reach the library while others promised to join her in five or ten minutes. The boys went to the restrooms, and Samantha took Bianca with her to buy snacks for them.
She was in the library, arranging books in correct chronological order. Immersed at the ask in hand, Evelyn didn't notice when someone walked into the deepest part of the library. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and was startled when two hands wrapped themselves around her middle, holding her in a tight grip.
"I was alone at the far end of the library when that bastard groped me from behind, Hera. He touched my boobs with his filthy hands. I felt so dirty and disgusting," Evelyn disclosed.. She had slapped Noel right in the face, hard enough to leave her fingerprints.
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