Before I could do just that, a pretty blonde girl attached herself to his side and gave me a once-over. She might’ve been smiling, but with the way she was leaning against him and clutching his arm, she might as well have peed on him. He was clearly marked territory.

“Who’s your friend, Dylan?” she said, tightening her grip.

Dylan looked at her blankly, and it took him a moment before he wrapped his arm around her. “Uh, Kate. She’s new.”

Her fake smile grew, and she stuck out her hand. “Kate! I’m Ava. I’ve heard so much about you. My father, he’s a real estate agent, told me all about you and your mom.”

At least now I had someone to blame for the leak in my room. “Hi, Ava,” I said, biting the bullet and taking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Everything about the way she looked at me screamed she wanted nothing more than to take me out into the woods and bury me alive. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

“What’s your first class?” said Dylan, craning his neck to look at my schedule. “Calculus. I—we can show you where that is, if you’d like.”

I opened my mouth to object, figuring there was no reason to tempt fate more than I already was by continuing the conversation now that Ava was here, but before I could say a word, he took me by the elbow and paraded me down the hall. I looked at Ava, about to apologize for hijacking her boyfriend, but when I saw the flush of red on her cheeks and the clench of her delicate jaw, the words died on the tip of my tongue.

Maybe my mother would outlive me after all.

CHAPTER 2

AVA

I wasn’t spectacularly pretty. I wished I was, but I was just me. I’d never modeled, never had guys drooling over me, and never looked like much of anything next to the genetically blessed socialites that attended my preparatory school back home.

Which was why I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Dylan was still staring at me.

He stared at me all through History, all through Chemistry, and all through lunch. I ate alone at the empty end of a table, my nose buried in a book, not wanting to bother with making friends. I wasn’t going to be here for very long anyhow, so there wasn’t much of a point. Once this was over, I had every intention of going back to New York City and picking up what few pieces of my former life I’d be able to find.

Besides, I was used to eating lunch alone. I hadn’t had many friends back home either, since my mother had gotten sick at the beginning of my freshman year, and I’d spent all my time outside of school camped out next to her hospital bed as she went through round after round of chemo and radiation. It hadn’t left much time for sleepovers and dating and hanging out with people who couldn’t possibly understand what we were going through.

“Is this seat taken?”

Startled, I looked up, half expecting to see Dylan standing there. Instead, carrying a cafeteria tray full of french fries and wearing a huge pair of headphones that hid his elephant ears, James stared back at me, a jaunty grin on his face. I didn’t know whether to be horrified or relieved.

Silently I shook my head, but it didn’t matter anyway. He was already sitting. I stared at my book, trying my best to avoid looking at him in hopes he would go away. But the words blurred in front of me, and I read the same sentence four times, too aware of James to concentrate.

“Technically, you’re in my seat,” he said conversationally. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a full-size bottle of ketchup, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I abandoned all pretense of reading. Who carried around a bottle of ketchup?

He must’ve seen my look, because as he squirted it all over the massive pile of fries, he nudged the tray closer to me. “Want some?”

I shook my head. I had an apple and a sandwich, but the arrival of James made me a little queasy. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he might be a sweet kid—I just wanted to be left alone. As an excuse to avoid talking to him, I took a bite of my apple, taking my time as I chewed. James started to dive into his fries, and for a few brief seconds, I hoped the conversation was over.

“Dylan’s staring at you,” he said, and before I could swallow and make it clear I wanted nothing to do with Dylan, James nodded to something behind me. “Incoming.”

I frowned and twisted around, but Dylan was still sitting across the cafeteria. It didn’t take long for me to see what he was talking about though. Ava was heading straight toward us.

“Great,” I muttered, dropping my apple onto a napkin. Was it really too much to ask that I get through my senior year unscathed? And if that really was so impossible, couldn’t I at least have a day to settle before all of the drama started?

“Kate?” Ava’s high-pitched voice was unmistakable. I sighed inwardly and forced myself to turn around, plastering an innocent smile on my face.

“Oh, hi—Ava, right?”

The corner of her lips twitched. I bet no one had ever asked for her name twice before.

“Right!” she said, her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm. “I’m so glad you remembered. Listen, I wanted to ask—do you have plans for tomorrow night?”

Other than scrub bedpans, change my mother’s sheets, and measure out her medication for the following week? “I’ve got a few things going on. Why?”

She sniffed haughtily, but then seemed to remember that she was trying to play nice. “We’re all having a bonfire in the woods—it’s a pep rally, sort of, except it’s not…well, you know. School-sponsored.” She giggled and tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear. “Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come. I thought it might be a nice way for you to meet everyone.” Glancing over her shoulder at a long table full of jocks, she grinned. “I know a few of them are really eager to meet you.”