cath

No", she said, "I know that you don't like me.""You don't know anything.

This is why I can't be with Levi. Because I'm the kind of girl who fantasizes about being trapped in a library overnight -- and Levi can't even read.

Cath liked Levi. A lot. She liked looking at him. She liked listening to him -- though sometimes she hated listening to him talk to other people. She hated the way he passed out smiles to everyone he met like it didn't cost him anything, like he'd never run out. He made everything look so easy.

You flirt with everything." She could tell that her eyes were popping-- her eyeballs actually felt cold around the edges. "You flirt with old people and babies and everybody in between.

Why did you tell me it was just a kiss?" she asked, waiting for her voice to break. "I don't even care about that other girl. I mean, I do, but not as much. Why was your first instinct to tell me that what happened between you and me didn't matter? And why should I believe you now when you say that it did? Why should I believe anything you say?

Well,_ she said. ____ frustrated.___on__ make me angry-kiss you.___ive me the laundry.___empers rising, faces flushed _ This is how it happens.

Maybe we should go on lots of double dates,_ Cath said, __nd then we can get married on the same day in a double ceremony, in matching dresses, and the four of us will light the unity candle all at the same time.___fft,_ Levi said, ____ picking out my own dress.

You don__ have any friends, your sister dumped you, you__e a freak eater..and you__e got some weird thing about Simon Snow.""I object to every single thing you just said."Reagan chewed. And frowned. She was wearing dark red lipstick."I have lots of friends," Cath said."I never see them.""I just got here. Most of my friends went to other schools. Or they__e online.""Internet friends don__ count.""Why not?"Reagan shrugged disdainfully."And I don__ have a weird thing with Simon Snow," Cath said. "I__ just really active in the fandom.""What the fuck is __he fandom_?

Are you okay?" she heard someone - Levi? - ask "Hey... are you crying?"Cath ran her fingers along the cover, over the raised gold type.Then someone else ran right into her, pushing the book into Cath's chest. Pushing two books into her chest. Cath looked up just as Wren threw an arm around her."They're both crying," Cath heard Reagan say. "I can't even watch."Cath freed an arm to wrap around her sister. "I can't believe it's really over," she whispered.Wren held her tight and shook her head. She really was crying, too. "Don't be so melodramatic, Cath," Wren laughed hoarsely. "It's never over... It's Simon.

There's nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing. Creating something from yourself." Professor Piper

So this is what you look like when you're keeping a giant secret from me - exactly the same as usual.

Cath exhaled. Then inhaled. Her chest was so tight, it hurt both ways. Levi shouldn't get to make her feel this way - he shouldn't even have access to her chest.

But hoping," he said, "is how the impossible can be possible after all.

A heart, once stolen, can never be taken back.