FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM - HER FIRST LOVE

Bianca snorted a laugh and twisted in her place to face Hera directly. “I see that bastard won’t let me be in peace even after leaving the school,” Bianca grumbled, gritting her teeth. Hera wasn’t surprised when suddenly anger took over Bianca’s features. “You’re so dumb, Piggy. No wonder Ace had to rush to your rescue all the time,” Bianca taunted. Hera ignored the insult but couldn’t hide the flash of irritation in her eyes.

Hera didn’t want to give them another chance to accuse her of assuming and jumping to conclusions without knowing the whole story. So, she waited until Bianca finished her part of the narrative.

“You remember what a douchebag your best friend Andrew turned out to be, right?” Bianca asked. Hera furrowed her eyebrows, wondering where Bianca was going with the topic but didn’t interrupt. “You didn’t know what Noel did until Evie revealed it,” she added as an afterthought. Hera rolled her eyes, assuming Bianca was trying to degrade her like she usually would do. Eric had already expressed his resentment regarding her choice of friends.

It was Bianca’s turn to scold Hera, it seemed.

However, Bianca placed her hand on one of Hera’s and smiled with assurance as if she understood it wasn’t Hera’s fault that her friends were all scummy, obnoxious assholes.

“I’ll tell you what a disgrace of a friend Nate was,” Bianca continued. “When was the first time you kissed Nate?” she asked out of the blue, surprising Hera with the question. Hera looked away in embarrassment while Bianca waited. It seemed she wasn’t letting Hera off the hook until she answered. Hera sighed in frustration before revealing the detailed story about her first kiss with Nathan.

“And it happened because of the truth and dare game,” Hera said in her defence when Bianca looked at her suspiciously. She wasn’t judging Hera. Her reaction was more of a reflex action. She knew Hera was innocent. Bianca pitied her because she was too naive to detect the hidden purpose behind that kiss.

If everything was merely a game, then it was supposed to stay between them, but Hera didn’t know that the story of her kiss had spread like a fire in the whole school, tarnishing her reputation.

“Ace wasn’t the first one to know about it. We all knew it because Nate was boasting about the kiss with everyone. He was the one who spread it because he wanted Ace to know,” Bianca revealed. Taken aback by what she heard, Hera stared at Bianca in disbelief. “Our boys had beaten him up for that,” Bianca admitted proudly.

The information about Hunter and his friends fighting with Nathan didn’t shake Hera that much. She knew it was inevitable after pissing off Hunter. However, what Bianca announced after that shocked her more.

“Nate was plotting to overthrow Ace from his position by using you, Hera,” Bianca said.

Nathan was jealous of Hunter’s popularity in the school. He envied Hunter because he had always been their president and captain of the soccer team. Students and teachers, everyone in the school adored him. He aced everything he tried, be it studies or sports. Nathan couldn’t stomach Hunter’s success because he was smart, intelligent and handsome, and he was the heartthrob of their school.

Hunter was everyone’s hero, and they sang praises everywhere he walked. The dignity Hunter had earned from everyone started to sting in Nathan’s eyes.

Nathan attempted to befriend his group, and when he couldn’t succeed, he tried to approach them through Hera. She was Danny’s sister, and Nathan thought it would benefit him if Hera became his girlfriend. Then her brother would side with him for sure instead of Hunter. With Danny’s approval, he could enter their group. He had planned to create misunderstandings between Hunter and Danny to break their friendship.

However, Nathan’s plan backfired when the two best friends heard about him kissing Hera. Their warning for him to stay away from Hera only strengthened his determination to make her his.

“If your first kiss with him was just for the game, what was the second one about?” Bianca asked. This time, her tone sounded accusatory. Hera scoffed a laugh at that. “Don’t act like a jealous girlfriend, Bianca. It’s not like you were ever interested in him,” Hera couldn’t help but accuse. It was more like a default setting between them to bicker.

“What did I tell you about judging me?” Bianca scolded in disapproval. “Now answer my question,” she demanded. Hera groaned and clicked her tongue. She gave a dirty look to Bianca and scowled, but the latter only signalled her to spit out the details she needed. Hera kept glaring at her. It was awkward and humiliating to disclose the real reason why Hera agreed to kiss Nathan. She knew Bianca would mock her and laugh at her expense later.

“Nate wanted to confirm if his feelings for his girlfriend were certain,” Hera started unhurriedly. Bianca laughed in ridicule, much to Hera’s annoyance.

“And I’m guessing I’m the supposed girlfriend you assumed?” Bianca asked rhetorically. Hera shrugged, “I didn’t know it was you then,” she admitted.

“What was your reason?” Bianca probed for more. Hera bit her lip, eyeing the other girl through her peripheral view. She already knew her reason would sound ridiculous. “I wanted to please Hunter,” she revealed timidly.

“By kissing another boy?” Bianca asked incredulously, eyes widened to their fullest in disbelief.

“I wanted to be a good kisser, okay. It was supposed to be a practising kiss, and no, before you accuse Nate, I agreed to it willingly,” Hera reasoned. Bianca shook her head as disappointed parents would do with their misbehaving kids. “You silly girl, that was so stupid of you. It would’ve pleased Ace more if you practised kissing with him instead of other boys,” she pointed out the obvious, scolding Hera.

Hera recalled how Hunter had said the same thing Bianca said. She slumped more into the bed in her place and sighed in grief as she remembered that day. Her world had collapsed upside-down when Hunter caught her in that empty classroom alone with Nathan, almost kissing. She had died with shame and guilt for cheating on him.

“For the record, I was never in the picture when Nate made up that story. He was talking about his imaginary girlfriend. There was no one. It was all his plot to trap you,” Bianca clarified. Everyone in the school knew it was Hunter and his friends’ hangout place, and so did Nathan. He had intentionally chosen that space because he knew it was Hunter’s free period, and he would come there with his friends to smoke.

Hera was stunned at what Bianca revealed. She couldn’t believe Nathan could be so deceiving. All this while he was only using her for his selfish motives when Hera thought he was a trustworthy friend.

“He was never the angel you thought him to be, Piggy. That bastard was anything but innocent,” Bianca spat in anger.

“No wonder Eric is so pissed at me for befriending such jerks,” Hera mumbled.

“It was nothing, Piggy. There’s more about that filthy fucker. Do you know why Ace and I hate Nathan so much?” Bianca asked.