We thanked her and made our way down the hallway, my knees shaky and my stomach full of b.u.t.terflies. Finally we came to a stop at my door.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

We watched each other, soaking in each other's appearances and smells before he walked past me, his cologne wafting behind him.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I replied.

I entered my room and leaned up against the door. It was dark; the only light that illumined the room was the small study lamp on Mila's desk.

Why was I feeling so s.h.i.tty? My heart and soul wanted to be on cloud nine, but my mind wouldn't let me make the leap from cloud four.

I threw myself onto my bed. I hadn't realized how badly the ceiling needed to be re-painted. I followed cracks with my eyes as they ran a few inches away from the corner, veering off into various directions.

"Ruby?" Mila was sitting up in her bed, wiping her eyes with her hands.

How does someone who has just woken up still look so perfect?

"How was it?"

I groaned instead of talking.

"That bad, eh?"

"You have no idea."

I rolled over and faced the wall, Mila took the hint. I just wanted to sleep all the bad things about tonight away and relive all the good things in my dreams; the kisses, the talking, and the love. I didn't bother getting changed or showering, sleeping was my priority.

Don't Protect Me.

"Wakey, wakey!" Mila called, pulling me from my dreamless sleep.

A burst of sunlight hit my face; I scrunched my eyes up as tight as I could before pulling a pillow over my face.

"It's breakfast."

"I'm not going." My voice was m.u.f.fled through the pillow.

"You don't have to go anywhere. Mr De Luca helped me bring breakfast to you, with my uncle's approval, of course."

I lifted the pillow slightly, still managing to block the sun. The smell of toast and vegemite made my stomach growl with hunger, but the fruit was the most appealing.

"I thought we could have a private breakfast and you could tell me all about last night."

My mind fell on to the events that unfolded last night. Eli and I kissed twice. The first was pa.s.sionate and hungry, the second was kind and loving.

"I love Eli," I blurted absentmindedly.

I didn't look her in the face when I said it, but I wonder how low her mouth dropped. Slowly I forced my gaze to her face. Her mouth had formed a perfect 'O' shape.

"You look like you've never heard of a G.o.ddess falling in love with a guardian angel before." I chuckled.

"I, just, uh ... I didn't see this coming." She nervously popped a piece of watermelon into her mouth, buying herself some time to think about what to say next. "You decided this last night whilst on a date with Hunter?"

"No, I've felt this way for a while ... last night just confirmed it."

"What happened?" She pa.s.sed me the bowl of watermelon and sat down on the floor beside my bed.

I wasn't going to go into detail, but then I thought about Mila and how she opened up to me. If she told anyone my secret, hers would get out, too. We would both be screwed and so would the men we love.

"We kissed. Twice."

Her mouth dropped open and she began to giggle. "Oh my G.o.d! You're lying!" she squealed in a hushed tone.

When she saw my face was serious, she asked how it was.

"Exciting. Loving. Perfect," I replied, naming the first descriptive words that came to my mind, one by one.

"How did that happen? You were having dinner with Hunter; how did he not see?"

"That's a long story." I sighed.

"It's Sunday. We can relax in here until lunch time, so spill."

I sat up in bed and Mila handed me a piece of watermelon. I popped it into my mouth. It was so juicy and delicious. I explained all about Rylan and how he approached me at lunch, telling me everything.

"He's so hung up on you he'd do anything to spoil what you and Hunter have. You didn't believe him, did you?"

"I did, but at the same time, I didn't. Earlier that day, Eli told me not to put all my trust into Hunter, which tipped my scale to actually thinking it might be true."

"Ohhh."

I told her how I asked him straight out and he admitted to it.

"What? No. He wouldn't do that."

"I was hoping he didn't, but he said he filed a report and then withdrew it."

"Maybe he did."

"So what if he did? He still wanted to get rid of Eli." I told her I left Hunter at the restaurant and started walking, but Eli caught up to me. I explained the steamy kiss in the alleyway and again getting out of the car.

"I just can't believe it!" She gasped. "Why now? How come you guys never wanted each other before? Maybe Eli was jealous that you were with Hunter."

I didn't bother telling her about the kiss and the feelings we had for each other when I had first arrived.

"I don't know."

I didn't pick Eli for the jealous type. Maybe he just did a good job hiding it most of the time. She did have point, why did he kiss me last night? Why did he want me? Usually he was very closed off and serious. He never even looked at me wrong in case people got the wrong idea. Perhaps he was jealous of Hunter, but then why was he so eager for me to make up with him?

"It's all so confusing." I sighed.

"Something doesn't add up, though."

"How so?"

"So Raina convinced Hunter to file a report, which he did, but then he withdrew it. Everyone knows that the sealed envelope it's sent in doesn't get opened until it gets to wherever the higher power is."

"And?"

"Well, someone would have had to watch Hunter retrieve it from the outgoing box and take it from him, whether it was in a bin or in his room."

"Or he just changed his mind and decided to send it?"

"It's a possibility, but I can't see him doing it."

I couldn't see Hunter purposely hurting me, either, but what choice did I have? I wasn't going to go against hard evidence. Hunter was my main suspect, and until I figured it out, he'd be treated like one.

Mila and I hung out in our room the rest of the morning, talking and giggling about boys. It was nice to finally relax and have fun, it had been a long time since I've been able to really bond with another girl. Girls need girls; you can't talk about boys, shoes, make-up and dresses with boys, they don't understand.

After Mila and I finished giggling and gossiping, I headed for the shower. The hot water stream collided into my skin and I moaned it felt so good; it released tension that had unknowingly built up between my muscles. I closed my eyes and the hot steam enveloped my body.

Choosing an outfit wasn't hard. There was no way I was going to wear anything tight or short, and a pair of white joggers seemed the best kind of footwear on a day like today. They matched my cute black tracksuit perfectly.

The sun was high in the sky. It beamed upon my face and my gaze locked onto the cloudless sky, a shining blue. People forget how beautiful the world is, they don't appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. We're encircled by so many colors, so much life, and yet we spend most days inside, sulking about pointless material things, instead of making the most of a beautiful day. The air was warm, and the cool breeze that glided over my skin was refreshing. A clean sweat broke out along the bottom of my hair line, causing my hair to cling to my skin. I pulled it into a high ponytail and continued on my way to the dining hall. I had no purpose going there. Lunch wasn't for another hour, but I just wanted to walk and bask in my own company.

I should have known it wasn't as simple as that. A crowd was gathered by the front of the dining hall.

"Fight, fight, Fight!" they chanted.

I turned away from the commotion. The last thing I needed was to be a.s.sociated with some fight.

"You did this! I know you did," someone yelled.

"Don't blame me because Ruby found out how much of a snake you are," growled the other one.

Oh s.h.i.t. I sprinted over and pushed through the crowd.

"Move!" I shouted as I went.

Hunter and Rylan were in attack stance, maneuvering around the circle.

"Stop it!"

Rylan would never stand a chance against Hunter. They were two completely different builds. Hunter was tall, lean and muscular, and even though Rylan was tall and lean, his body didn't look like he worked out much. Hunter trained every day. I've seen him train, and it's brutal.

I leapt in front of Hunter, protecting Rylan.

"Don't blame other people for the mistakes you made!" I growled through clenched teeth.

Yet again I was angry at Hunter; you don't fight people who are obviously weaker than you.

"He did this to you, not me."

"You're doing this to me!"

"Ruby, I -"

"If you're going to say that you're just trying to help, don't. You're not helping, you're making things worse."

I wasn't aware the crowd was still around us. I looked at all the faces that burned with gossip, their ears stretched towards us as they waited for more. I grabbed Rylan by the arm and escorted him out of the circle, away from Hunter and his obsession to clear his name.

"I'm sorry you had to be dragged into this," I apologized.

"It's not your fault. Hunter is a mad man."

"No, he's not. He's just having a hard time. After last night, I'm surprised he hasn't tried to take down the whole school." I exhaled dramatically as I sat down on a bench along the path way. I glanced back where the gathering of students once stood. Everyone was gone.

"It was brave of you to ask him about it."

"I had no choice, I wanted answers ... unfortunately, I need more."

"What more do you need? He admitted it; you saw how he's acting."

"He admitted to writing a report, but he didn't send it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not. He could be acting up out of desperation to clear his name."

"If it wasn't him, who else would have done it?"

"Raina ... maybe, I don't know, and I have no idea where to start to find out."

Rylan placed his hand on mine; I couldn't decide whether it was a friendly gesture or if he meant more by it. Slowly I pulled my hand away, hoping I didn't offend him.

"Ruby!" Eli came jogging down the path towards us.

Sweat beaded his forehead as he came to a stop in front of us. Although his perspiration made me think he'd been running all over the place to find me, his lack of shortness in breath made me wonder if he had run at all.

"Oh thank G.o.d, I was looking all over for you."