Once again, Iolaus was sneaking toward Fiducius's office to try and get a peek at test answers. It was close to dawn, meaning there were only a couple more hours for him to get his goal. He was being very careful not to make any noises. He was almost there when he heard a noise in the classroom. Panicking for a second, the sneak moved behind a pillar. He strained his ears, but he didn't hear another sound. Inching around the pillar, he tiptoed over to the door and opened it a crack. He sighed in relief as he spotted Nerissa sitting on a desk.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked her, walking into the room.

Nerissa flipped her hair over one shoulder and leaned back a little in a stretch.

"I saw that you had snuck out so I dressed, went around the other side of the building, and got here before you."

Iolaus sighed and rubbed his shoulder.

"Look, I just don't want to fail and get kicked ou-"

He went silent as his friend put a finger to her lips before motioning him over to her. He frowned, but went over, worried she heard something. She prompted him with her finger to lean a little closer to her. When he did, he shivered as she whispered in his ear.

"I don't actually care about that. I followed you for another reason."

"O-oh? What's that?"

"I actually like you, Iolaus."

Iolaus was speechless as her arms snaked around his neck and her lips pressed themselves against his eagerly. His eyes shot wide open before they slowly closed as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She was pressing herself closer to him just as the classroom door opened. The two stopped and looked over at the door to see an astonished Hercules standing there. Iolaus pulled away from Nerissa and looked sheepishly at his friend.

"H-Herc! Hey, did you come after me, too?"

The shocked teenager looked between two of his best friends, trying to believe what he had seen.

"Yeah, uh...are you two...?"

"No! It just...kind of happened. Apparently, Nerissa likes me..."

Hercules looked at the girl, who was smirking at him. She nodded in agreement.

"He's adorable."

Iolaus giggled before clearing his throat and looking ashamed. He went over to his friend, both of them turning away from the female in the room.

"Are you mad, Herc? I wasn't sure if you started liking her, too. I wouldn't-"

Putting his hands up, Hercules shook his head.

"I just thought she didn't want to date anyone, so I'm lost. Nerissa, didn't you-"

They both turned, but they found the classroom completely empty. They shared a confused expression before looking around one more time. She was obviously not there. Iolaus made a move to talk again, but Hercules just put his hand up.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow. For now, you need to get back to bed before you get in trouble. Forget stealing test answers. And...let's not mention this to Jason. Lucky for Lilith she is visiting her home this week..."

Iolaus grumbled, but was feeling like the night had been awarded well enough without test answers. After reaching the bed chambers, the boys were stunned to find Nerissa fast asleep already. Without saying anything at all, they moved to their separate bedrolls.

In the afternoon during training, Hercules took Nerissa aside. The entire day she had acted as if nothing happened. Iolaus felt awkward, but was keeping close to the girl. She kept moving away from him and trying to figure out why Hercules was looking at her weird, but he had told her that he wanted to focus on their classes. Now that those were over and training was going on, he figured talking would be okay.

"About last night..." Hercules began," I think it is great that you like Iolaus, but...sneaking out in the middle of the night is a little too much. And I thought you were here to train only."

Nerissa's eyebrows raised.

"Who likes Iolaus?"

Hercules narrowed his eyes at her.

"You. I saw the two of you kissing in the classroom last night and-"

He stopped because her face was surprisingly shocked. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay? I was sleeping all last night. And, so you know, I have stuck to my desire of only being a warrior with no dates. Iolaus would not be my first pick if I decided to change my plans, anyway. Are you sure the two of you saw me? Not a trick of the light? Or maybe you saw a goddess? Something..."

"And what goddess would make out with Iolaus?"

"What girl would make out with Iolaus?"

"It was you."

That statement came from neither of them. They hadn't noticed that Iolaus had been eavesdropping. They both turned to him. He smiled at her.

"Come on, you can't deny it now! It happened. Maybe you thought you were dreaming. I'll remind you."

Iolaus leaned in to kiss her only to get a smack to the face. Nerissa looked between the two boys in disgust.

"I don't know what the two of you are doing or if this is some kind of sick joke, but quit now."

She then stormed off to work with Jason. Iolaus rubbed his jaw while they both stared at her in confusion.

"I don't get it," Iolaus complained, before grabbing a rope and beginning to climb," You saw her, too."

Hercules stood still, thinking to himself. He was sure it was her. The fact that she was denying the whole thing made no sense to him. Choosing not to let it bother him, he grabbed a ladder and began climbing.

The boys let it go and decided not to question anything, but that night Hercules was walking back from the stables where he had been brushing down the Academy horse to hear a sound from the training hall. Peeking in, he was once again taken aback. Jason was pressed up against the wall while Nerissa kissed him. While he stood not saying a word, Jason pushed the girl away.

"No, this can't happen. We're just friends."

"But I really like you, Jason...we've been friends for so long..."

Hercules cleared his throat loudly as Nerissa leaned in to kiss his friend. He raised his shoulders in a frozen shrug at them.

"What is going on?"

Just then Iolaus came in humming happily from the other side of the room. He stood stock still, taking in the position of Jason and Nerissa before looking only at Nerissa.

"How could you? You said you liked me!"

The girl moved away from Jason and disappeared by running past Hercules. He turned to chase after her. Reaching the first corner, he found her gone. Soon, Jason and Iolaus were right behind him.

"She probably went back to the bed chambers," Jason said.

"I want some answers," Iolaus added.

The three boys dashed into the bed chambers to find Nerissa reading in her bedroll. She looked up and smiled at the three of them.

"Hey, guys...You all look angry, what happened?"

Iolaus pointed at her.

"That's not nice. Stop acting like nothing happened. First you say you like me, then you go and kiss Jason. Last night you kissed me and then about an hour ago you cornered me in the courtyard the same way!"

Jason shook his head and folded his arms.

"Nerissa, I never expected you to do something like this. At least own up to what you've done. You can't just screw around with guys. We have feelings. You've apparently kissed Iolaus twice and now you went after me. Who else have you gone after? Is Hercules your next target?"

The girls face clouded over. She set down her book and stood up, calmly.

"I'm being honest with you when I say I have no idea about this. I was reading in here since training let out. Let me just figure out what is going on and you'll see-"

"See that you're a liar?"

Everyone turned to Hercules in surprise. Nerissa gaped at him.

"I swear I-"

"You said you didn't want to focus on any guys and now you're lying to us. We all saw what you've done! And I thought we were all friends here."

The girl looked ready to punch him.

"YOU ARE! Unless you actually believe I would do something like this! I would never ruin my time here over doing something so...so disgusting. If I liked any one of you, I would pick one and stick to it. I would never twist you guys around like this. Don't punish me for something I didn't do!"

She suddenly froze and looked away. She mumbled to herself a little. Turning, she grabbed a pen and a piece of paper that she had near her. The boys all looked at each other. Jason and Iolaus scoffed and let her go, but Hercules stayed. Finishing her short note, she began walking out of the room after grabbing a bag of hers and shoving the paper in Hercules's hand. Crushing the note in his hand without looking at it, the male followed her out to the courtyard, .

"You keep running away from your mistakes, Nerissa. You're acting like a completely different person! I never knew you were so...promiscuous."

The girl suddenly turned on her heels and glared at Hercules. Her eyes glinted with anger. Her fists shook from restrained rage.

"What did you just say?"

"Look, I just think-"

"No, you are not even thinking about how I feel about this. You're not listening, Hercules. I'm trying to tell you that something fishy is going on, okay? A friend would listen to me."

"I am your friend! And I'm trying to help!"

Nerissa groaned and looked up at him. She stared straight into his eyes.

"As my friend, you seriously believe that I would want to date both Jason and Iolaus, not just ever, but at the same time. Not only that, but doing it so obviously that they found out within a day that I was interested in someone else?"

Hercules couldn't say anything. Nerissa looked down at the dirt underneath their feet. When she looked back up at him, the hurt in her eyes made his chest tighten.

"A friend would trust me. I guess we're not friends, Hercules. I can't stand to look at you anymore. Just read the stupid note."

Turning away, he watched as her hand brushed something off her cheek.

"You're not as nice of a guy as you think," her choked voice reached him before she moved off.

He could only watch as she stormed away and disappeared out of the Academy gates. He did not know where she was going or what she was doing. Hercules felt horrible. Something in his gut told him there was a problem. Looking down at the paper, he read it quickly before tearing it up and dropping it in the wind. Now he felt even worse.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before trudging inside.