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Confused, I turned around to see a blur of blond running toward me.

“Landon.” Katy waved a hand. “Wait for me.”

My feet thinned the distance between us, and with a huff I caught her. Her hands pressed on my chest as I held a loose arm around her.

“Landon,” she breathed, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.

And all the air left my lungs.

Her green eyes gleamed in the moonless night.

The golden light from the lone streetlamp cast a radiating glow on her beautiful face.

The first thing I noticed was that she was different, much different from the last time I saw her. The softness in her round face was replaced by a sharp edginess, her hair intentionally styled and her makeup carefully done to bring out the red of her lips. The line of her jaw smoothed to her delicate, long neck, and her prominent collarbones peeked out from her tight black cami. She wore a layered, checkered skirt, ankle-high boots, and a stylish leather jacket.

So unlike the soft girl who wore a pretty sundress and looked at me shyly.

Either way, she looked beautiful.

And I must say seeing her was the best fucking surprise ever.

“Katy, I haven’t seen you all summer,” I blurted, leaning closer to get more of her beautiful rose scent. She still smelled the same.

“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “I was a bit busy.”

I nodded and before I could say anything else, she asked, “Are you going to the party?”

“Yes.”

“That’s where I was going too,” she said. “Why don’t we both walk together?”

“What about Matty?”

“He said he’s not really in the mood and wants to sleep before school tomorrow.” She rolled her eyes. “My typical brother. So shall we go?”

I agreed with a little too much enthusiasm and laced my fingers with hers before she could protest. And instead of blushing like I had hoped, she slid me a sure smile as we made our way to the party.

And I felt like a guy who had just won the fucking jackpot.

KATY

I was fighting every cell in my body to keep my cheeks from turning red like a silly girl. I matched his steps with confidence, keeping my head held high and my back straight.

Something I naturally wouldn’t do.

Instead, I would’ve just clung on to his arms with a giddy smile plastered on my face, but I fought against it.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that being or becoming a cool, popular person wasn’t easy.

The planning and research were probably the easiest parts. The execution, on the other hand, was making me shake in my new leather boots. I thought I was prepared. After two months of rigorous training, I thought I could handle this.

And till now, I was doing a pretty great job, but I wasn’t used to faking a persona.

Deep down, I hated that I had to stoop to manipulation to make a guy like me.

I made my plan as simple as it could get.

The first was losing all my extra weight, which made me almost cry to sleep from hunger. But I soon figured running for an hour before the crack of dawn, skipping dinner, and sticking to just one milkshake per day worked wonders. My milkshake was my treat because nothing could ever make me give up Louie’s chocolate milkshake. They were world-class.