WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN, I started reading romance. Addicted to the happily-ever-afters, I thought that every girl would have her own when they grew up.

When I was fifteen, I gave up searching for the him, the guy who was supposed to be my Prince Charming after my boyfriend dumped me. After fifteen boxes of tissues, Christina, my new best friend, finally managed to know what happened.

When I was sixteen, I felt very lonely. I craved Peter's presence. Yes, he was my crush.

When I was seventeen, Peter noticed me. Words could not decribe the happiness I felt when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

Right now, we were lying on bed, cuddling while watching a movie. The same old happiness blossomed in my chest as Peter snuggled closer to me, muttering, "God, I missed this. We were just so distant lately."

"Yeah..." I whispered.

As I felt his hard rock near my legs, I suddenly remembered Christina's words.

When are you actually going to give him your V card? You've been together with him for ayear.

"I love you."

"Love you too." I replied with a dry throat.

What was the truth? I may like him a lot, but that was probably not to the extent of love. People say the word so loosely it's frightening sometimes.

But what was I? A coward for not wanting to hurt her boyfriend by lying to him that she loved him.

But my decision to do that with him during his birthday stayed unchanged.

I will do it. I trust him.

Peter's phone rang, interrupting the peaceful silence. "Sorry, gotta answer this." He looked at his phone, tilting it so I could not see who the caller was.

"Hey..."

I frowned.

Was he hiding something from me?

I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but Peter seemed suspicious. Pressing my ears on the door separating us, I listened.

"Yeah...Oh..."

"What's wrong?" He seemed worried.

"Oh...Alright I'll come along...baby..."

Baby?!

"Okay see you."

I quickly sprawl over my bed, making it seem like I was sleeping. I heard Peter come in and kiss my forehead but I pretended to be asleep, still processing what he just uttered.

-

"Bras? Lingerie?" I looked at Christina, confused.

"Yes, dear best friend. You need those to amaze your boyfriend." She replied, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly.

I gave Jace a glance to see that he too was looking like he was about to pull his hair off.

Boy, I want to ruffle that soft, amazing...

"God, stop with those thoughts!" I scolded myself to find out that I had screamed it out loud. Turning red at my friends' bewildered expressions, I muttered, "I was thinking of...um, strangling Christina because... she knows all of these."

Jace laughed while Christina was still processing what I just said.

"I'm sure you were thinking of something else, Kit Kat." He said the exact thing I was doing. I hit his arm playfully, ignoring how my skin burned when I touched him.

I took pleasure in listening to Jace's deep laugh, unconsciously comparing his to my boyfriend's.

What is my problem?

Christina interrupted my conversation in my head, saying slyly, "Jace shall be our dear driver and carrier for our bags today while we shop for everything!" Glancing at Jace's horrified expression, we laughed loudly. Everybody knew that shopping is every guy's worst nightmare.

"Um, I got to, um, go to Thomas' house for uh, some guy gathering..." He lied. He was so straightforward that he did not even master the art of lying.

"Stop fooling us, Jace. Come with us!" Christina tugged at his arm, giving me a look that said Help me! Tell him to come.

Jace didn't even budge, raising his eyebrows at my friend's attempt to get him out of his house. I sighed. If I was going to do it with Peter, I needed Christina's help.

"Please, Jacey?" I finally tried talking him into coming.

He looked at me in amusement and exasperation at the same time. "Don't even try, Kit Kat. I won't step into any female clothing store." He said.

That didn't stop me. "Just wait for us outside, Jacey. Treat you Twelve Cupcakes?" I fluttered my eyelashes at him. Jace used to take my cupcakes in middle school everyday.

I remembered.

He laughed, muttering, "Fine." Christina cheered and dragged us out of the house, motioning for Jace to drive the car.

"Do you both not know how to drive?" He asked curiously. I tensed a little.

"Yeah...um... I do, but Kate doesn't." Christina replied.

"Why not?"

"She's, uh, sca-" I glared at my best friend warningly.

"Lazy to learn." I forced out a smile. I could almost see Jace's analysing eyes looking into my soul but I ignored it and looked at my Nike shoes.

If he knew that I was lying, he didn't press it further. I silently thanked him as he switched to a lighter subject, but I had a feeling that he was going to interrogate me later.

After we reached the mall and Christina gave me some clothing excitedly (I was not going to describe the boring experience), we finally got some food and I treated Jace Twelve Cupcakes as promised.

-

"Bye Kate! Thank you driver!" My best friend smirked at Jace as he dropped her off at her house. I rolled my eyes at her usual attitude and waved at her.

"Your best friend seems to be a cheerful little girl." Jace drawled after she left. I grinned.

"Yeah she is. I known her since freshman year." I reminisced. Jace looked at me from the side.

"What happened with Annabeth and her minion, Ainsley?" He asked.

I couldn't stop myself from giggling. He shot me a confused look and I calmed myself down. Jace was always like that - He sent me to fits everytime from his ignorance to his jokes.

"It's Annabelle and Ashley, Jace." I explained. "And they decided to ditch me when..." I paused. Would he judge me for my decision?

"When?"

"I didn't want to dress up in high school." I muttered.

Please don't judge me. Please don't judge me.

To my surprise, Jace snorted. "Just like that?" He asked. Raising my eyelashes to look at him, I nodded.

"Fake friends." He replied simply. I nodded again. "Yeah, they are."

"Why did they even want to come near you, then?" I froze. Annabelle had not hid it from me when she told me blatantly that she liked Cam.

Just the mere thought of my brother will make me cry. But Jace wouldn't tell anyone, would he?

"My brother." I said softly.

"Huh? I couldn't hear you." He was too straightforward. We were discussing about Cam, for goodness sake!

"Nothing." I decided not to say anything anymore.

"Just say it, Kit Kat." He prodded me. I hated it when people just feel the need to know about Cam. He was my brother, why couldn't I just drown in his memories by myself?

I could feel my anger rising. Don't yell, I told myself. I couldn't control it, I couldn't not yell-

"I don't want to!" I shouted angrily.

What was with everybody wanting to know my business?

Jace looked taken aback by my outburst. His expression just cut into me, making me want to hug him and tell him how sorry I was to shout, and explain how I felt every day - Guilt, anger, sadness and everything bad.

But I couldn't form my thoughts into sentences. I was just so used to keeping all emotions inside me and masking an indifferent expression to the outside world.

I'm so sorry, Jace. I couldn't tell anyone about the real me. You'll just judge me for that.

My insecurities rolled down my cheeks in the form of tears. The car stopped in front of my house. I could tell that he wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.

I must look like a monster to him. Or maybe I am.

I muttered a thank you and rushed out of his sports car. Fishing out my keys, I sneaked a glance at him to find him looking at me from the inside of his car.

He didn't look angry, unlike some people I once shouted at. Instead I find him looking at me with some emotion I didn't see before.

And he was looking at me like he knew what was happening to me.

I couldn't stand the intensity of his gaze anymore. Slamming the door behind me, I waited for him to drive away before I cried for the millionth time in my life.

The Green-eyed lady's words rang in my ears as I closed my eyes.

"Depression."

Oooh a cliffhanger! What do you think about Kate's depression and do you think Jace knows something about her? Cam or... her condition? Or maybe even about Peter? Or none. Read on to find out.