~1 Month Later~

"Pencils down, everyone."

The cacophony of groans filled the classroom around me as the rest of the students rushed to fill in the final test bubbles while I sat back and cracked my knuckles, stretching my stiff body as the test had forced me to sit in the same spot for hours.

The SAT's were finally finished, and considering the fact that I had studied for the damn thing for almost an entire month straight told me that I was going to get an amazing score on it, which would hopefully help my chances when it came to getting away from my family and getting into a school far far away.

My dad had returned from California and moved back in to my mother's house with his child bride and their spawn steadily growing in her belly, making things more than awkward for my mom but she allowed it anyway because, what else could she do considering it wasn't even really her house to begin with.

I had barely spoken three words to any of my authority figures since he returned, and none of them had tried to rectify that so there really was no point in fighting considering it got me nowhere.

It had been complete and utter radio silence from my birth father, and for a moment it was like he'd gotten into a car wreck not dissimilar to what had happened to Ian and he had died.  One could only hope.

One of the side effects of this silence, however, was not knowing where I stood when it came to him and my friends, so I kept away from them and Sloane, my head buried in the books to catch up with school and studying for the biggest test of my life, avoiding my old friend group at all costs to keep them safe.

They'd tried to get me to give it up, and it was almost comical at how hard they'd tried to get me to talk to them, but I'd even gone so far as to moving back into the dorm with Jenna to show them how serious I was about this shut out.

It wasn't hard to ignore Lachlan, though, especially because it was almost like a sixth sense when he was near, and I just knew that he was close, so I high tailed it out of wherever the hell I was to keep my distance.

I hadn't returned to the koi pond since I came back to the school.

I took my punishment diligently, both from the school and from my father.  The school learned their lesson and made sure detentions were all supervised the entire time, but it wasn't like I ever wanted to ditch with my old friends ever again.

Vera had shown up at Jenna's dorm room every night, begging me to answer the door and talk to her, but I kept my head under the covers with my eyes on the digital textbook on my phone, refusing to let in the emotions that came with talking to my best friend about what had happened.

The plane ride back to New York was awkward and sad, Blythe tearfully recounting the horrors her family had seen since her father had started his abusive streak.  Apparently it didn't matter what he had promised Lachlan, his father had already taken his pound of flesh from his youngest child, using the threats of beating his other children to control them all under the guise of protecting their siblings from the monster.

And he was the man I'd compared to being exactly the same as Lachlan.

I cringed as I recalled the hurtful words I'd hurled at him in my anger, but I couldn't find it myself to apologize to him or talk to him, not after everything that had transpired between us.

I still felt used and betrayed, no matter the fact that he was doing it for his sister.  He still could have told me the truth after what I'd told him about my own dangerous birth father. 

But he didn't. He didn't respect me or trust me enough after I'd spilled my guts to him and given him almost everything I had to return the favor and confide in me.

"Place the answer sheet within the outer packet and stand up from your desks, leaving your work on your desk to be collected."

I did as our teacher instructed and stood, taking in the anxious faces in the room and landing my eyes upon Lachlan's form, noting that he was already staring at me from his desk a few rows ahead of mine.

I didn't give him another thought as I reached the front of the room that held our bags and strode out of the room, noticing that he was hot on my tail, closer than I'd ever allowed him in the entire month that I'd been back.

"Are you really going to keep this up?  It's been a month, you can't keep avoiding me forever, Kat," he shouted out the door, causing the rest of the students in the room to whip their heads around in our direction, keenly interested in how this was going to unfold, especially considering most of them were girls who wanted Lachlan for themselves.

"Watch me," I said, echoing the same words he'd spoken to his brother that day in the hotel hallway.

His brown eyes cast down to the ground, a five o'clock shadow brushing over his cheekbones and dusting over his mouth, making him seem older than he was.  There were dark shadows coating under his eyes ad his skin held a sickly pallor, almost like he hadn't seen the sun in years instead of the gorgeous, tanned color it normally held.

Darkness took over his features as I soaked him in one last time, letting my weakness get the better of me as my eyes trailed up and down his uniform clad body, the clothing outlining his hard muscles and slim body, his tall figure almost towering over me as I gave him one final sidelong glance, and then walked away from him and the rest of the gawking student body.

***

"Look, you've been great this past month but you're seriously depressing, and now you're turning down Lachlan in front of everyone?  Are you clinical or something, like do I need to get you some professional help or something?"

I ignored Jenna's comments as I finished up my last major school assignment of the year, early.  The English essay had me stumped for days, and when I finally figured out the last source I wanted to use for it, it had been smooth sailing since.  We still had a few months left of school, but I had managed to get the majority of my big assignments early like projects and essays.

"Hello?  Are you listening to me? Lachlan freaking Brooks wants to be with you, and I know you guys had a thing a little while ago but he hasn't even looked at another girl since you guys came back from your little trip to California.  I even tried talking to him and he just keeps looking like his puppy died or something."

"Yeah, well, just because he might want something doesn't mean that I have to give it to him," I said, reading over my essay intermittently on my laptop while checking my phone for any new messages, a compulsion that I hadn't lost just because there hadn't been any new threats from my birth father.

"Girl, he looks at you like he never wants to take his eyes off you.  I don't care what happened in the past, I'd get on that before he's gone for good.  I know you want him, too, it's written all over your face."

Her words stirred something inside of me that I didn't want to acknowledge.  Just because he had done wrong by me didn't mean that I lost all of my feelings towards him, the opposite, actually.

I still cared about him, and I hated the fact that I did.  I still felt that aching pull to be near him, even though every time he was in my vicinity I ran the other way.

I was still so mad at him that sometimes I saw red just by seeing his face.  I had blocked his number as soon as his apology texts and calls started flooding in, and I had noticed him sitting out at the pond on the bench, watching me as I traversed from class to class, his eyes never leaving my form while I pretended like I didn't notice him.

I had worked through the majority of my issues alone, using new breathing techniques and finding and writing new music that helped me to process some of the trauma when it came to Ian and being betrayed by Lachlan.

It would have happened a lot easier and faster had I had a support system beside me, but that was out of the question.  I had no one to lean on but myself, and it was time that I learned that sooner rather than later.

"Lachlan lied to me about something pretty major and I'm still not over it.  It doesn't matter what I feel for him or what he feels for me, not if I can't get over it."

She rolled her eyes and I found myself wondering when I'd started confiding in Jenna of all people.

"What'd he do, cheat or something?"

I laughed a little, the sound coming out bitter.

"No, it was nothing like that.  It was family stuff, and I'm not over it."

"Why are you not over it?"

I sighed, turning my full attention to her.

"Because it was a slap in the face, and a shock to know that the one person I had put all my trust in was just like everyone else, just using me and laughing behind my back that they got away with it.  I will not let anyone ever use me like that again, and I will not forgive Lachlan for what he did to me, no matter how much groveling he's done, which in retrospect, hasn't been much."

"Maybe he's just giving you space before he starts really groveling, you know, so you're not like overwhelmed or anything."

There was a gleam of hope in her eyes while I raised my brows at her.

"Why do you look like you're up to something?"

"No reason," she said in a singsong voice.  I rolled my eyes at her antics and ignored her as I answered a few texts from my dad.

"Hey, are you going to the annual masquerade charity gala?"

"Which one?  There's like a million."

"The one this Saturday," she informed me and I wracked my brain for any knowledge I had on that event, recalling my dad telling me that I needed to be there.

"Yeah, I think I am.  Why?"

"Well, I don't have a dress.  Want to go shopping for one?"

I thought it over in my mind, before agreeing.  Never in my entire life did I assume that I'd be going shopping with Jenna, but considering the fact that this would all be over soon anyway, being seen with Jenna wouldn't put her in harms way.

I only hoped that I could stay away from Lachlan and Brandon the entire time at the gala, considering the function was being put on by none other than the Brooks family themselves. 

Seemed like a night of playing dodge-a-brother was in the works for me, I only hoped that I wouldn't lose.