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night, our host families held a party for all of us.
    I remember watching Dylan at the party. All of the kids were drinking. Some, like me, kept it to a minimum, but some, like Rami, the host of the party, were really packing it away.
    Everyone except Dylan. He spent the night nursing a coke and relaxing in a corner. At one point he took out his guitar and played some songs, and had several of the drunken students singing along with him. I watched, and smiled, thinking to myself how beautiful his eyes were. When he played the guitar, his face went through exaggerated facial expressions, his lips pursing sometimes, his eyes closing. He kept looking at me.
    Later that night, he approached me and asked, “Can we talk for a minute?”
    I shifted a little. Oh. God. What was this? Was he going to ask me out? I wanted him to. So badly. We went to Rami’s room in the back of the apartment and sat next to each other on the bed.
    “Listen,” he said. “I know we’re only here for a few weeks. And that’s it. Nothing could ever work between us. But… I’m really, really attracted to you. And I’d like to know if you feel the same.”
    I was drawing in low, shallow breaths. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Finally, I nodded, quickly. “Yes. I do,” I replied.
    “Maybe… maybe we can just see what happens then?”
    I smiled. “Okay,” I said.
    The last two years would have been a lot less painful if I’d just told him, then and there, to go to hell. But maybe I was a little book-smart and not enough life-smart, because I fell for him. I fell off a cliff. And I still haven’t recovered.
    Two hours after Dylan walked away from me oh-so-casually at the coffee shop, Kelly gasped when I told her what he’d said.
    “He said what?”
    I sighed. “He told me he wanted to change my shampoo. Because the smell of strawberries was breaking his heart.”
    She looked at me, her eyes wide, and said, “That’s so romantic.”
    “Oh God, Kelly, that’s no help at all!”
    She nodded. “I know.”
    “I thought you hated him.”
    “Only because he hurt you. But it’s obvious you still have a huge thing for this guy. Maybe you should just jump his bones and get it out of your system.”
    “That is enough! The only thing I’m going to do with him is survive the year working for Forrester. He hurt me, Kelly. Worse than I could have imagined possible.”
    “I know,” she said, quietly. “But maybe there’s more to the story than you know. I mean… I’m just saying, it’s possible.”
    “No. It’s completely impossible. Me and Dylan? Never again.”
    She sighed, and leaned back in her bed.
    “What’s going on with Joel, anyway?” I said, trying to change the subject.
    She shrugged. “He’s still an asshole.”
    “There’s a shock,” I replied.
    “Was I too clingy? I don’t understand it.”
    “No,” I said. “There were times last year you couldn’t have separated you two with the Jaws of Life. Something else going on there.”
    “Oh, God. You don’t think he was cheating on me while we were dating, do you?”
    I shook my head. “I’d have given odds that couldn’t happen. Maybe he’s just … I don’t know. Scared?”
    Kelly frowned. “What does he have to be scared of?”
    I gave a sad, sort of bitter laugh. “Maybe he’s scared of getting his heart broken. It happens.”
    She looked me in the eyes. “Could be,” she said.

    Our job was to go out and draw fire (Dylan)

    Okay, so I shouldn’t have said what I said about the strawberry scent.
    Two days later, she showed up in Forrester’s office reeking of strawberries. She gave me a defiant look and sat down and started working.
    I didn’t know whether to fly into a rage or break down crying, so I did the next best thing. I laughed. Long and hard, until tears were nearly running down my face.
    “Are you all right?” she asked.
    That just set me off again, and she gave me a wry look. But finally, I settled down, started working, and