Chapter 1

The End was nearing Corrine Bouyes. She could sense it as she skimmed absently through a Vogue magazine. It was looming over a rack of halter tops not too far away.

"Corrine " It called.

Corrine lifted her head and swatted away a few ringlets of black curls to see 'The End' had finally torn itself away from the clothing and was glaring accusingly at its younger sister.

"You promised." 'The End' protested, seeing Corrine's isolation at the back corner of Le Chateau for what it really was, an escape.

"Nicky come on…I tried" Corrine replied.

'The End', also known as Nicky, Corrine's older and more eccentric sister, ran a finely manicured finger through her ginger coloured hair and made a soft 'tsking' sound with her tongue.

"Curling into a ball at the back of the shop does not count as trying"

"But I'm reading a fashion magazine! That must count for something!"

"Yes. It counts as proof you heard me coming and tried to look innocent. It also counts for five more penalty shops"

Nicky had proved to be an expert in reading Corrine over the past 17 years; which was very annoying for a girl who liked her privacy. But Corrine was set on taking even the slimmest chance of escaping this shopping trip, take it and run for her dear life.

It wasn't that she didn't like shopping. She did, on occasion. She could get through a one hour or two of fashion hunting on a good day. It was just the purpose of this particular shopping splurge that had her peeved. A party. Apparently it was for that very same reason Nicky had felt the need to consult BMC (a journal she kept of all the things she could use as blackmail against Corrine. BMC stood for Black Mail Corrine) for material strong enough to persuade her into said shopping trip. This time it turned out to be the belly button piercing and tattoo Corrine had gotten on her lower back for her 17th birthday. It was only after Nicky dragged her into the fifth clothing store that she realized she would have been better off if her parents found out about the tattoo. She would have been grounded, allowing for quiet reading time. Not this, this cruel and unusual torture.

"I refuse."

"You promised me, Cory. And I happen to know that you don't believe in backing out on a promise."

The smile on Nicky's lips turned into a full out grin.

"You blackmailed me!" Corrine pointed out accusingly. She could feel the weight of oncoming defeat, but she decided to fight.

"So? Like, I've done it a catrillion times before and you never complained."

"it's hard to complain when someone is holding photos of your misdeeds in front of you. It's hard to do anything in fact, other than stare and wonder when your sister became the paparazzi. And besides… people change!" She replied, this time able to keep her voice strong and sure.

"Mmhmm. People change, but not you. Not sweet innocent little Cory, everybody's favourite" Nicky said with a saccharine smile.

"And what is that supposed to me-" she began, but the sudden appearance of a dress dancing in front of her face cut her sentence short.

She raised a brow in confusion. It was short, poppy red, with a plunging v neckline and thick straps, simple and to the point; fuck me. But, she knew the dress was too conservative for Nicky's usual party style, which meant...

" What's that?" Corrine asked, groaning inwardly. If she knew Nicky as well as she thought she did, then that short, revealing dress, was one Nicky had picked out for her. But still, Corrine hoped her sister hadn't truly lost her brain somewhere in the pile of clothing she'd just been looking through.

" It's your dress silly!" Nicky squealed with a bright smile.

…apparently, she had.

Corrine let out an audible groan this time. School was supposed to be over for the year. And school being over was supposed to mean that the parties would end and she could finally finish a book without interruption. It was supposed to mean she was free of the superficial clones of Crestmount high. And even though Nicky had promised this would be the last one, Corrine had the feeling that by making the mistake of agreeing to go this time, she'd unknowingly signed over her life as a free student to Nicky. That thought alone was enough to make her shudder in fear.

It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with Nicky. Truthfully, she enjoyed her sister's company. It was everyone else in that school save her one best friend and a few others that bothered her.

"Why are you looking at the clothing racks like that? Is it a dress? Saw something you like?" Nicky asked excitedly.

"I think you dropped your brain."

"My what?"

"Your brain...flakes—"Cory began quietly before looking up to see the murderous glint in Nicky's light brown eyes. One of the down sides to having such a perky and bubbly sister was that she could be the exact opposite in two seconds flat. It's actually quite frightening if you aren't used to it. " …bran flakes. I'm hungry" she finished.

Nicky arched a brow and put her hand on her hips. Experience had taught Corrine that that was the only warning she would get.

"Corrine " Nicky began flatly, her tone almost an exact replica of their mothers when she was angry. Cory flinched.

"The dress is awesome" she began in the peppiest voice she could muster. "But its way too short for me Nicky. I don't want people looking at my ass all day. "As her shoulders drooped in defeat, Nicky's lips curled into a grin.

"I know that. Silly Cory, that's why this, goes with these!"

On cue, Nicky held up a pair of black caprice jeans, one's that would be tight and low on Cory's hips. Looking at the ensemble, Cory scowled.

Damn it, I actually like this.

Fergi's "My humps " was blasting on the stereo when they arrived at the party.

They're always the same

That's the first thing Cory thought when she walked into the house party. It was hot, loud and full of people Cory wanted nothing to do with. The outfit Nicky picked out for her fit perfectly. Even Cory had to admit she looked great in it. But that didn't change the fact that she didn't even want to be there. On top of everything and despite the fact that Nicky had promised not to leave her side, Cory found she was alone only two minutes after arriving. Jake, the only person in Nicky's crowd (i.e., the petty and popular) that Cory could stand to be around for more than two minutes, had not turned up as Nicky had promised and Cory had forgotten to bring a book to read. Just great!

Making a mental note to savagely murder her older sister, Cory pushed through the crowd. She muttered obscenities under her breath at the disgustingly sweaty bodies which pushed and pressed against her. All she wanted was to find a quiet room where she could sit and wait until Nicky called to say they were leaving. At the glimpse of what she thought could be a bedroom door, she almost sighed with relief. Not too far away, just a little bit further. She eased her way through the mass of bodies and held her breath most of the way. She was almost there when- Hell no, he didn't just ...- but she didn't have to wait for him to do it again to know that some guy had in fact, just grabbed her ass.

Long ago, her father taught her how to count to ten to cool down when she was really angry. He said it would help save her from acting irrationally and having to regret her actions afterwards. But when Cory spun around, she forgot how to count. When she found the brown haired jock looking at her with that idiotic grin, she saw red. He was so generic, so much like the rest of them that it made her sick. It would have been impossible for her to pick him out of the crowd if he hadn't touched her. Her teeth clenched.

If she were in an action movie, this would be the part where Cory jump-kicked the jock so hard that his head went spinning through the air. She'd be clad in a silk kimono or maybe leather pants and he would have been some drug lord or evil villain. And when she headed out of the room afterwards, the crowd would have parted to make way for her.

Unfortunately, life wasn't that cool. Instead, the fabulous reality was that she was just standing in front of a sweaty guy in a football jacket, with messy, dark hair, who could barely keep his eyes open.

"Hey baby." he drawled, breath heavy with the smell of beer. Cory cringed. "Why don't you come with me and I'll show you what a real man can do "

Self-assured prick.

She looked him up and down. There was really no need to pay too much attention to what he looked like because she'd seen the same face and body a thousand times before. The room was full of them. And by that logic, she already knew he was an asshole. All of Cresmount's jocks were made of muscle, wealth and more muscle. This guy was no exception. Pretty much the only thing significant about him was the fact that he'd made the unfortunate mistake of touching her.

Still, she put on her sweetest smile and pressed her body lightly against the six-foot something jock. He stumbled back in surprise, knocking into a few people dancing behind him and drew the attention of a small crowd. When he finally caught himself, his grin widened. Cory didn't even want to think about what was going through his head; surely they were thoughts that would warrant her to kill him where he stood. Instead, she kept to her plan took a step towards him. Trying not to shudder with revolt, she let her fingers thread through his hair and then brought her face close to his, hearing a few whistles and cat calls in the crowd. Her lips moved teasingly close to his. She had to hold her breath so the smell of his cologne fused with beer…and maybe a little bit of vomit didn't make her hurl. "Sure baby " she whispered in a hoarse and seductive voice. Then she swiftly and quickly ...brought her knee up to meet his groin.

Jock-face let out a strangled cry of pain before doubling over. She never did understand how her sister could stand these people, or how she considered them her friends. All the guys were disgustingly shallow, all they thought about was sex, beer and sports...and the girls, well, Cory could summarize them in just one word; blonde. That's why she couldn't wait to get to university, to finally be away from all of them, to finally meet people who utilized their brains instead of ridiculing those who actually had them.

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she eyed the jock.

"Don't you ever put your hands on me again! " She sneered before finally breaking through the crowd- It was easier now because a few people had stopped to watch- and pushed into the room. Once inside, she closed the door behind her and let her back rest against it so that the loud blast of music died down a little

"Finally." she whispered, as she slid down the door and onto the floor, oblivious to the sound of running water not too far away.

As far as Jason was concerned, the party was turning out to be a bust.

Four hours after arriving, Nancy (his ex-girlfriend) had spotted him and immediately fell back into her habit of giggling and clinging to his arm. He'd realized how annoying that was only a short while before she broke up with him. Her drinking didn't help her calm down much either. Nancy always was an emotional drunk and after she insulted the host of the party, Jason tried to calm her down and even offered to take her home. Despite the break up, they were still friends. So, he'd been in the process of ushering her to his car when she snapped, mistaking him for her current boyfriend ...and then it came...

The vomit ...

His shirt was still damp though clean after a thorough hand wash and now hung from the bathroom window to dry. Thankfully most of the vomit ended up on just his shirt.

In the mirror, bored emerald eyes gazed back at him. Since his shirt was still drying, his op half was covered only by the white wife beater he'd decided to throw on last minute.

It was a small miracle that he'd found the empty guest room through the tight crowd. And to be honest, he'd wanted to leave but he knew Aaron would be livid if he were to even suggest it. This was supposed to be the party to end all parties and Aaron had made it very clear that he planned to 'drink and fuck as much as humanly possible'. Jason had learned a long time ago, not to stand in the way of that man and sex...he still cringed at that memory.

It had been just towards the end of this school year that he'd found himself withdrawing from the whole social scene more and more...he'd just forgotten why. If it weren't for his best friend, Jason would have avoided them entirely.

So, while Aaron was off doing God knew what with God knew who, Jason was trying to air out the smell of vomit from his shirt and was quite literally, sick of it.

"Two more hours and I'm out 'a here." he whispered to himself as he strode out of the bathroom and started for the olive green bed. He stopped when his eyes skimmed over the girl seated in front of the bedroom door.

At first Cory had been afraid. She'd watched enough horror films to know what hearing strange footsteps from inside an empty room meant.

She prepared herself for a confrontation.

But, when she saw the brown haired boy step out, free of a knife or ski mask, it was only a small relief. There were other shades of villainy to worry about.

As it stood, she was a single female, unarmed and unwelcome. Outside the bedroom door, music was being played loud enough to break the eardrums of a baby; in other words, nobody would hear her scream.

Usually, Cory was a reasonable and logical young woman. She aced her classes, arrived home before curfew (usually) and while she did have a wild side (the tattoo being the only physical proof of that), she was pretty much a level-headed person. She was not one of those girls who overreacted and let their imagination run wild; usually she hushed whispers of horror-movie-like-attacks. However, she would not put anything past a Crestmount boy. They were unstable and sports crazed.

She froze, her eyes traveling over the boy's figure carefully. He couldn't have been any shorter than 6 feet and while he wasn't grossly over buffed, the hint of relaxed muscles under the tanned skin of his bare arms was unmistakable.

The both of them stood silent, stupidly staring at each other, much like deer's caught in headlights. Jason, though familiar with the English language, (it was the only one he spoke) found himself trying desperately to remember how to speak and Cory was waiting for the appearance of the blonde she figured he must have been making out with in the bathroom. If he wasn't a killer, surely he had to be some sort of Crestmount player. The blonde was to step out, wearing nothing but skimpy underwear, then swing her arms around him and say something like

"I've been buying a new brand of birth control. Like, it's called tic tac. But like, it's made me put on weight and it like makes me sick in the morning. So, like, we totally don't have to use anything if you don't want to. "

Slightly irritated by the thought alone, Cory waited...and waited...and waited and...waited. Why the hell wasn't he speaking?

Jason watched with mild amusement as an annoyed glare melted her surprised expression away.

"I'll leave if you're busy, I didn't know anyone was in here" She said, finally breaking the silence though already wary of the idea itself; pushing through a crowd of horny drunk teenagers to find an empty room once was bad enough.

His voice found it's way back to him as she stood and turned to leave.

"No, no it's ok." he reassured quickly" I was just ...cleaning my shirt." He waved towards the shirt in the bathroom before realizing she was standing at the wrong angle to be able to see the shirt or even see that there was a bathroom.

"I had a little accident." Then rolling his eyes he added "Actually, my ex-girlfriend had a little accident…on me."

"gross "Corrine muttered, wondering why he was sharing the nasty tid bits of his sex life.

"Not everyone can hold their beer apparently."

"oh…beer"

He watched as she hesitantly slid down to her original spot on the floor, the silver pleated slippers on her feet tucked neatly underneath her. Standing, she was shorter than him (most girls were) by a little more than a foot. He guessed she was about 5'6 with a slim, hourglass figure and caramel skin. He sat across from her and gave her a smile most girls seemed to find attractive. It was a party, wasn't it the point of these things to mingle and meet new and interesting people? And this girl was definitely that, interesting. When she grimaced, seemingly in response to his smile he turned to conversation.

"So, are you hiding from your boyfriend or something?" He asked

She rolled her eyes, reliving the horror of being groped by Jock face.

"No. I'm just allergic to drunk people. "

He laughed; it was a husky but light sound, much like his voice– Cory was surprised by how soothing it was.

"If I'd thought of that excuse, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble."

"I'm sure you would have…" Then much lower, underneath her breath she added "Unfortunately for you, you have two of the stupid chromosomes"

Jason scoffed "excuse me?"

"mmm?" she asked looking up at him.

"I have two of the stupid chromosomes?"

"Oh…did I say that out loud?"

"Now who has two of the stupid chromosomes?"

"Oh please…Girls only have one stupid chromosome so we are entitled to a few screw ups and now and then. You guys, on the other hand, live breath and sleep stupid"

Jason smiled. His green eyes were lit with laughter. "You just shot and stomped on my ego. "

She smiled "Another reason why life would be better for you as a girl. No more worries about inflated egos and testosterone"

He smirked, glancing over at the door. "Won't your boyfriend be wondering where you are?"

Corrine rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"'Why do you keep asking me if my boyfriend is looking for me, as if I'm some pet"

"Oh…sorry I just—

"Don't bother…I know what you were doing. You were just being a man. A man who thinks all women should be kept on leashes when in public and in lingerie when in the kitchen. I know your kind, I've read books about your kind and I will not be made an article of. I am not a piece of meat or an object to be ogled at. How dare you suggest I was. It is the twenty first century and women have rights. I am an independent female and……dude, I am just pulling your leg"

Corrine burst out laughing at the look on Jason's face. He looked stuck between being truly apologetic and wondering wanting to jump out the window.

" Oh…oh, you were kidding." He rolled his eyes, laughing himself now " Thank God! For a second there I thought you were" he made circles at his temple with his finger.

"You should have seen your face!" Corrine blurted, near tears now. Infected by her laugher, Jason burst into another fit. Then when the pain in his gut began to grow he held up a hand, fighting off the last bit of laughter.

"Stop." he said finally, clutching his side "Really, I'm wounded."

"Just your ego." She amended

"Yeah, the little that was left of it."

"Ok, Ok fine. I'm done. "

When she looked up again, with the full weight of his green eyes on her, she was forced to swallow back the 'insult' at her lips. With his chiselled features and perfect jaw, he would have seemed too statue-like if it not for the boyish flare his messy black hair and soft eyes added.

Corrine didn't believe in love at all. Attraction maybe, she was all kinds of attracted to the green eyed boy in front of her – but not love, not romantic love. Obviously she loved her parents, her family, her friends but she most certainly was not in love with them. What people called 'romantic love', 'true love', always faded; she'd witnessed it happen in her parents marriage, her sisters relationships etc and that was all the proof she needed.

There was a knock on the door and Jason pulled back suddenly. Only then did Cory realize how close they'd moved towards each other. In fact, just about an inch closer and their lips would have –

She stood up quickly, Jason slowly followed after.

"Cory?"

Nicky's voice was faint from behind the closed door but not so much so that Cory didn't know who it was. She was relieved for the interruption.

She looked over at Jason in time to see him mouthing 'Cory ' with a wistful smile and arched a brow.

"Yea Nicky, I'm in here "

Nicky's head poked through the door. The music began flooded the room once again as her light brown eyes swept the room before finding Cory. " Cory, I've been looking for you everywhere. I - Jason?"

"Jason?" a deeper voice echoed from behind the door. Even before it opened completely, Cory thought the voice sounded familiar. When the figure finally stumbled into the room, she scowled. It was the jerk who'd groped her.

" Jashon man, where -a- fuck ha you been" He slurred, pulling Jason into one of those guy handshakes that Cory didn't understand.

Jason laughed nervously " I've been here man. Simon you're smashed."

So the beast had a name; Simon.

Cory looked between Jason and Simon, her resolve hardening as the daunting truth sunk in – Jason was one of them. That's when Simon chose to notice her standing there and paled, reaching to shield his 'jewels'

"You .." he croaked.

Jason shot her a confused look; probably looking for the explanation Cory was not about to give. She only glared before turning to Nicky, stating firmly.

" Lets go "

She already felt stupid for having spent more than two seconds in his company, talking to him, laughing with him even– he was one of them – he probably thought she was going to sleep with him or something. Her being so relaxed around him, that must have all been a part of his game, some new pheromone guys had started putting in their cologne around here to seduce innocent girls.

Jason opened his mouth to say something, his expression somewhere between confusion and worry, he didn't quite like the accusing glare she was giving him - Cory cut off whatever he was about to say.

"Nicky lets go" she repeated. Thankfully Nicky complied, following (stumbling rather) behind her.

As she turned to head out of the room, Cory heard Simon's unmistakable slur.

"Dude, she's danesherous "