Chapter One - Caught

Astrid’s POV

"Come on, Astrid. Can't you do it just for tonight?"

Lexi's voice continues to flood me as we make our way back to her house. My sister Anastasia is driving, and we're together in the backseat.

Ever since we got back from Ridgeway High to get our yearbooks signed by our friends, she's been pestering me to come back with her so we can have a little farewell party at her house.

We're both leaving for college. The same college, in fact, which is New York University. We're both very excited, considering we're just two ordinary girls from Virginia, now about to live our dreams in the city.

But still, the actual day we'd be leaving is nearly two months from now.

I let out a laugh as I shake my head. "Don't you think it's a little too soon to throw a farewell party?"

"Well, I would be busy for the next weeks," Lexi says, pouting. "Just please come? What kind of best friend are you if you don't come to my party?"

She makes a huge show of batting her lashes and jutting her lower lip. I just laugh and playfully slap her arm. "Lexi, stop. We can just hang out some other time. Besides, only our friends would be there, and we did see them earlier."

She's about to say something when Anastasia looks at us from the driver's seat. "I had my farewell party pretty early too. I think we should both go to it."

"See?" Lexi says, nudging me. "Besides, my dad will be there. And you know how cool he is. He would let us do whatever now that we're eighteen."

My face heats up immediately at the mention of her dad.

I know I will sound weird, and I know for sure that Lexi will kill me if she knew, but... I have the biggest, fattest crush on her dad.

And Anastasia has always suspected, so she winks and says, "Good. Now I know you're going for sure."

Klaus Slater is possibly the hottest man I have ever seen in my life. While everyone at school was chasing after the football and lacrosse guys, I was busy keeping my eyes peeled whenever Lexi needed to get picked up from school.

I don't know what it is about him. Perhaps it's his modelesque face and his even more modelesque body. Perhaps it's the fact that he's a dedicated doctorate student. Perhaps it's because he's been nothing but a wonderful dad to Lexi.

Either way, he's seventeen years my senior. Apparently, he had her at a very young age, and Lexi's mother's identity will forever remain a mystery. I shouldn't even be attracted to him, because on top of all of that, he's the father of my best friend for ten years.

It's just not right, and I know that it's not.

But every time I see Klaus, every time he talks to me, every time he shows some sliver of affection that's most likely fatherly... I just lose it. It's like he has his own gravitational pull toward me, and I'm just powerless against it.

And this pull is the exact reason why I face Lexi with a renewed smile, saying, "Okay, I'll come to your party."

* * *

Lexi lied, and that is very typical of her. It's not just a small celebration between friends like she promised me it would be. There are other people here, people from our school that I'm pretty sure we never even talked to before.

But I can't back out now. I'm here wearing a simple sleeveless blue dress and cute loafers, with my face all made up and my hair done. I have already prepared, and it's way too late to go home.

I leave Lexi's bedroom as she goes into the backyard with her crush named Connor.

I head down the stairs, sighing to myself, but then I run into someone down the hall.

It's Klaus.

My heart creeps up to my throat. "Mr. Slater."

He regards me with his beautiful green eyes, crinkled at the sides with good humor. His wavy black hair is swept up over his handsome face. His scent is invading my senses, and I'm tempted to inhale deeply to take it all in.

But of course, I put on a smile. Klaus stops, his crisp shirt clinging to his muscular lean body. "So you're calling me Mr. Slater now? You always called me by my first name."

"Yeah, sorry," I say breathlessly. My tongue feels thick inside my mouth. All I can look at is his lips. "It's good of you to be doing this for Lexi."

He smiles and looks around. "I'm happy to do it too. By the way, you look great tonight."

A genuine smile spreads over my face. Suddenly I feel like I'm floating. Our eyes meet and I don't know, but I see something else in his gaze. Like he's really seeing me. Not as the best friend, but as a woman....

My chest is tight. I want him to say something more. I want him to really see me.

But then he just pats me on the head like I'm a kid. "See you around, Astrid."

My heart snaps. Just like that.

He doesn't see me as a woman after all. He sees me as a child like his daughter.

I don't know why I'm even trying. I don't know why I even thought of it.

I head straight to the living room, grabbing a bottle of beer as I go. Now I'm just hanging out in the living room, watching the so-called popular crowd in our school playing a round of truth or dare. Lexi and Anastasia are nowhere to be found, so here I am, slowly getting more and more drunk.

I've been living off of my interaction with Klaus for what feels like hours now, thinking of him and wishing he was next to me.

I hate that I'm feeling this way, and I'm just doing my best to drown it in alcohol.

The room is starting to sway before me and I'm getting a little nauseous, but I just drink the beer in my hand and watch the events before me.

One of the popular girls named Krissy spins the beer bottle on the carpet, watching it stop to the school jock Luke. Everyone cheers, their voices almost as loud as the music.

"Truth or dare?" she asks.

He pretends to think for a moment, but he easily answers, "Dare."

Krissy looks around, looking for something for him to do. Finally, her gaze stops on me. She slowly turns back to Jason.

"I dare you to kiss Astrid."

My heart stops. I jolt upright on the couch. I wasn't even truly paying attention but now I feel like I just got electrocuted. The crowd of friends is looking at me expectantly, and I can almost feel myself getting smaller and smaller in front of them.

"Um, I'm not a part of this game," I mutter, prepared to leave. "Excuse me--"

But Krissy gets up and stops me. "Hey! You're a part of this now. Come and play."

Before I can tell her no, she's already pulling me down to the floor to play with the rest of them. My face is scorching hot. I have no choice but to sit next to her, and just when I'm starting to feel a little calm, Jason gets up and tries to crawl toward me.

Right. I forgot that he was dared to kiss me.

I brace myself as everyone cheers around me. I want to leave but at the same time, I have nowhere else to go. Plus, this is the most positive experience I have ever had with the popular crowd. I shouldn't even be complaining right now.

"Go, Jason!" they all cheer. "Go, Astrid!"

They don't sound malicious at all. Also, Jason is not bad looking at all. In fact, he's a very handsome boy. I should be happy right now. I should be anticipating his kiss, especially now that he's right in front of me, leaning in to capture my lips....

But as I look into his eyes, all I can think about is Klaus.

I stagger back, completely avoiding him. "No, I can't do this...."

The shock that echoes in the circle is enough to make me wither. Jason is looking at me like I'm insane, and Krissy's mouth is so wide open that I can see her uvula.

"I'm sorry," I mutter, not even looking around at any of them. "I don't want to do this."

Jason gets up, clearly insulted. "Are you a lesbian?"

"No," I say quickly. "It's just... I don't like you."

That comes off as more insulting, apparently, because he advances toward me like he's going to attack. I jump to my feet, and before any of them could say anything, I head out of the living room and land in the hallway, trying to catch my breath.

I can't keep this any longer. I don't want to spend my whole life hiding these feelings. It's starting to bleed into so many things in my life, including my ability to give other experiences a chance.

If Klaus really doesn't like me, if I really don't have a chance, then I deserve to know that. So I can move on.

I don't know if it's just the alcohol talking, but I find myself looking through every room to find Klaus. I reach the kitchen, and that's when I see him, standing by the corner with a drink in hand.

I open my mouth to call his name, but that's when I see that he's not alone.

He's kissing someone.

And that someone is none other than Anastasia.

They're locked in an embrace, her arms wrapped around her waist. She has her hands behind his neck, pulling him in to deepen the kiss.

My chest tightens. My breath leaves my body. Suddenly I feel like my soul is leaving my body. The next events happen in a blur. Tears are blocking my eyes, but I find my way out of there, with the image of their lips pressed together burned in my head.

Anastasia and I have been alone for most of our lives. Our parents got divorced ten years ago, and since then, they lived separate lives and only sent us money monthly. Our aunt used to live with us, but when Anastasia turned eighteen, she left. And Anastasia left for college then too. I was only sixteen. I was alone since then, but Ana and I remained pretty close. So close that I look forward to her breaks from college.

But all of that seems so unimportant now.

She knew what I felt about Klaus. Or at least, she had an idea.

I just find myself running back home with tears in my eyes, locking myself in my bedroom and curling up into a ball on the bed.

How long I lay there and cried, I don't know.

But the moment I'm done, I immediately get up to write a farewell letter to Lexi, telling her that I'll be leaving early.

However, the truth is I will be going to a different college and moving away.

And this will be the last time she will ever see me.