A thousand thoughts ran through her head and she felt him close the small distance between them. His eyes were already closed and as soon as she felt his lips on hers, her eyes closed automatically too. Without thinking, she kissed him back, with a little more pressure. She felt one of his hand wrap around her waist and brought her closer to him. She wound her fingers in his dark hair, lost in the head of the moment. Suddenly, an image of Jason popped up in her mind. Immediately she stopped kissing him and pulled back, breaking off the kiss abruptly. She opened her eyes to see Hunter staring at her, looking confused. “I-I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” She told him softly, backing away from him as she looked at the floor. Her lips still tingled from the kiss, and it made her feel guilty. She wasn’t even supposed to like it. After all, she had a boyfriend who cared about her. How could I cheat on him with someone I barely know?! 

“Why not? Because of your boyfriend?” He retorted, sounding angry.

Diandra jerked her head to look up at him at the mention of her boyfriend. “Yes!  That’s exactly why I can’t kiss you! I don’t even know you Hunter.” She explained, looking straight at him.

He chuckled without humor and looked at her. “Are you sure about that? Maybe your memory is not at its best then.” He said with a little of sarcasm and hostility.

“What do you mean, ‘not at its best’? She demanded, getting angry. Things just took time to come back. His name did sound familiar, yes that was true. But she still couldn’t remember, it wasn’t really her fault.

“Let me give you a hint. I’ve known you longer than your boyfriend and all your friends at Graves and Roses.” He said, his tone sounding final, indicating that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

She was stunned at his answer, never expecting it. He could have been a friend from the Academy, but from her past? That was a little illogical and impossible. Her past wasn’t that great, and she didn’t make a lot of friends. She felt her anger simmer down, but it wasn’t completely gone yet. She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt her pocket vibrating. She took a let out a breath of frustration and took out her phone, pressing ‘talk’.

“Hello?” she answered, wondering who was calling her.

“Diandra Jenny Davidson! Where in the world are you?!” shouted her mother.

She cursed herself silently for forgetting about her mother. “Sorry mom. I..uh…Spent the night at Jessica’s house.” She lied, hoping her mother would fall for it.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I went over after dinner at school.” She lied again, wincing a little. She didn’t like to lie, but if she didn’t, her mother would probably ground her until she was thirty if she knew where Diandra was now.

“Honey, don’t lie to me.”

“Mom! I’m not alright! Look, it was a Friday yesterday and I wanted to spend some time with her. No harm. Don’t I sound fine?” She asked. Once the words were out of her mouth, she immediately regretted it. Of course she didn’t sound fine. More like panicked.

“Okay, okay sweetheart. Just making sure you’re safe. Call me if you’re coming home for dinner. I love you.” Her mother said, back to being her jolly self.

She breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile. “Aw, that’s sweet mom. And I’m sorry. I’m definitely coming back for dinner. Love ya and see you then!” she said chirpily, clicking the ‘end’ button after she finished. She clutched her phone in her hand and looked up at Hunter. Surprisingly, there was a trace of hurt in his eyes. “Um… I’ll…I’ll go now. See you in school.” She said, as she walked towards the door. She really hoped that she wouldn’t see him in school. It would make it awkward, especially if Jason were with her.

“Wait.” He said, running after her, then blocking the door. “At least, let me drive you home” He said, the hurt in his eyes already gone as if it was never there. Diandra held her breath, thinking for a second before she answered him. He didn’t have to drop her right in front of the house. A few blocks away was enough. “Okay.” She said, after a long pause. That seemed to brighten him up. “Great. I’ll get my keys then we can go.” He said, shooting her lopsided grin as he dashed to get his keys.