Chapter 2

Liam held up a brand-new official college admissions guide and smiled warmly. "Aster, have you been waiting long?"

He smelled faintly of the peach perfume Summer always wore. It was a little too sweet.

The perfume mixed with the citrus scent of his usual laundry detergent, and the smell of it made my stomach turn.

I pretended not to notice and stepped aside to let him in.

I took the guide from him. "No. I was just looking through last year's guide, and there was so much I didn't understand. It's a good thing you came."

As he changed his shoes, he glanced toward my desk and spotted the notebook covered in his name. Liam's smile deepened.

He walked over and casually ruffled my hair. "I knew you'd have trouble with this. That's why I came to help."

I handed him a cold drink. When he took it, his fingers brushed mine. His skin felt a little warmer than usual.

I quietly pulled my hand back and sat in the chair beside him as he looked over my list of colleges.

"Harvorton University, the top school in the country?" He tapped the list I had written. His voice gave nothing away. "Aster, that's too far from home. What are you going to do all the way out there by yourself?"

I deliberately lowered my head and twisted the hem of my shirt between my fingers, pretending to struggle with the decision.

"But my scores are good enough, and Ms. Bale said I'd have a great shot at Harvorton University. I've been thinking about it for a long time," I said.

"Why push yourself so hard? You don't have to." He pushed the list aside, sounding as if he really had my best interests in mind. "Creston University, the local college here, is pretty good too. I applied there.

"I can be with you every day, and we can come home for dinner on weekends. Isn't that better than you being all alone so far from home?"

I looked up at him. "You really applied there?"

He nodded without even thinking. "Of course. Would I lie to you? If you went that far away, I'd worry about you."

"That idiot Aster fell for it again! The jerk applied to the computer science program at Creston University. He'll be in the same program as Summer!"

"Oh my God! I just found backup messages in his cloud storage. Summer said she didn't have enough money to spend, so she told Liam to sweet-talk Aster into using her scholarship money to buy her a bag!"

Rows of comments highlighted in red flashed before my eyes until they started to sting.

I clenched my fingers around my pant leg, my nails digging painfully into my palm.

But I still put on a shy smile. "Liam, you're so kind to me."

He was about to say something when his phone on the desk buzzed. The screen lit up with a message from Summer. "How's it going? Did you get it?"

He quickly turned his phone face down and casually explained, "It's just some spam. Don't worry about it."

I pretended not to see it, so I nodded and got up to head for the kitchen. "Oh, right. I boiled some water. You just came in from outside, so have something warm to drink instead."

I walked slowly on purpose. From the corner of my eye, I saw him sitting stiffly in the chair.

Liam didn't relax until I was in the kitchen and out of sight of the desk.

I leaned against the kitchen doorframe and waited for the sounds from outside.

"He took out the flash drive! Damn, it really is the matching one with the little sun on it."

"He's entering the password. Oh my God! He actually got in!"

I heard a click from outside. It was the sound of the computer locking him out.

Then came Liam's panicked mutter. "What the hell? What's going on?"

I picked up the hot water I had just poured and headed for the desk.

The show was about to begin.

By the time I reached the desk with the hot water, Liam was frantically hitting the keyboard.

A lockout message was flashing right in the middle of the computer screen.