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ten times the guy any other boy at school was.
    And I didn’t just mean his insane looks. He also had manners under his bad boy exterior. “I’m glad you still draw,” I said, picking up another fry.
    He shrugged. “It passes the time.”
    “You’re really good. Are you thinking about going to an art school next year?” I thought it might be totally creepy if I mentioned I still had a few of his drawings he had given me in fifth grade. I couldn’t seem to stop staring at his face, like I was trying to memorize every detail.
    “Look, Kats,” he said, pulling me out of my drool-fest. “I don’t know what you are trying to pull here, but I don’t have time for games.”
    My back stiffened, and I dropped the fry that had been in my hand, taken aback. Jerk. “I’m not playing any games. Forgive me for trying to be nice and thank you.”
    “Since when is Katia Montgomery nice.”
    Ouch. That stung. I take back any thoughts of Seth being a decent guy. He was an asshole. But in reality what he said wasn’t any less true, at least for the old Katia. I didn’t want to be that girl anymore, especially with Seth. I looked down at my plate. “Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf.”
    “Yeah right, and the grass is pink,” he said gruffly.
    My head snapped up.
    “You haven’t spoken more than two words to me at a time since sixth grade and you suddenly want to be my best friend. Let’s be real here. You and I don’t run in the same circle. Not anymore.” There was anger in his voice.
    I slumped in the booth like he had slapped me. “Rot in hell, Seth. I can’t believe we were ever friends.” I did the most mature thing I could think of. Actually at this point, I wasn’t thinking at all. I just grabbed the first thing in front of me and dumped the contents all over Seth’s lap. It just so happened to be my chocolate mint milkshake. Then I marched my pissed-off butt right out of the restaurant, leaving him alone at the table to finish his cheeseburger, soaking wet.

 

     
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Seth
    I sat at the table covered in minty glop and watched her storm out of the restaurant. Chunks of chocolate were on my shirt. Sitting plastered in goo, I ignored all the curious glances and snickers from the other patrons. They could all screw themselves.
    Damn .
    That hadn’t gone according to plan. The only thing that had come out of it was maybe it would keep her away, which had been why I acted so harshly. It was for Kat’s own good. I hated the look that had sprung into her eyes. Hurt. Pain. The fact that I had caused it sliced at my heart.
    Damn it .
    Why had she come into the shop today?
    Why now?
    We had successfully avoided each all through high school, now in our last year before we went our separate ways, she wanted to be my friend? One year. That was all that was left before I put continents between us.
    She had been right about one thing. Art school. I had applied at a foreign art academy in Europe. It was both pleasant and alarming that Kat knew me. Really knew me, even after all these years. She had known how drawing was my escape, just like I knew that the real Kat wasn’t shallow and heartless. She never could be.
    But that was not what I had implied. What I said hadn’t been entirely true. There was still very much the old Kat in there. She had proven it. I wanted to kick my own ass. There was this overwhelming urge to run after her and beg her to forgive me. I clutched the edges of the table, wrestling with the need. Kat needed to keep her distance from me. I needed her to keep her distance. It was the only way.
    I could still see the flames spitting from her eyes. Kat was a hellfire when she got mad. There was a fire crackling behind those incandescent eyes that had always been there. It was part of why I loved her.
    I grabbed my heart and gritted my teeth.
    Blast it .
    Pangs shot in my chest. Admitting how I felt hurt like a mother trucker, knowing that I could never have her.
    Fate was the