I stiffened, and turned to face her. She met my gaze blandly, her exotic face impossible to read. She had on black jeans; a pink top that showed every line of her sleek body. I could see her AK tattoo peeking out from under her shirtsleeve, and suddenly hated it fiercely. It was Alex’s – it didn’t belong to her.

“No,” I said. “Seb is just my friend.” Just my friend – when, except for Alex, he was the most important person in my life. Language is so stupid sometimes.

“Okay,” said Kara, glancing down at her nails. “I was just wondering. ’Cause Alex seems to think so. And, you know...Seb was just up here in the room with you for over an hour, the two of you alone together. Kind of easy to get the wrong impression.”

I tried to ignore what she’d said about Alex, even though it made my heart fall off a cliff. “You may find this difficult to believe, but it’s actually possible for friends to be in the same room and not do anything,” I said.

She gave an elaborate shrug. “Look, I don’t care what you do. But I’ll tell you one thing – Alex doesn’t need this kind of stress right now. So if you wouldn’t mind figuring out which one of them you want, that would be a good thing.”

“I have figured it out,” I snapped. Angrily, I yanked off my top, childishly glad that I’d been working out for the last few weeks and was looking more toned myself now. “Look, do you think I don’t know you’ve got a thing for Alex? I noticed it the very first day.”

She nodded slowly, watching me. “And do you know he’s got a thing for me?”

For a split second, ice froze my veins, and then I caught myself and laughed out loud. “That is a total lie. I’m psychic, remember?”

“Okay. So what do your psychic powers tell you about his first crush? Or his first kiss, actually?”

I just stood there in my bra and jeans, staring stupidly at her.