“Liliana, what are you doing here?” he asked in his low, calm voice. He brought his hand back to his side as he waited for my response, but I only looked at him, not trusting my voice yet.

Wait. Not Veggie girl? Not Evans? How did he know my first name?

Let’s rephrase: How did Mr. Popular know Ms. Nobody’s name?

“What's wrong?” His voice as laced with concern. He checked my temperature and tested it against his. His hand on my forehead was soothingly warm. Please do it again.

“J-Just f-fine,” I replied as I pulled away, unless I wish to hyperventilate. He simply watched me curiously, as if he didn’t understand my reaction.

Dawned upon with a sudden realization, he took his jacket off and placed it around my shoulders. It wasn’t particularly cold, but he might have thought it was because of my stuttering.

It was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done to me.

“Thank you,” I smiled. His jacket smelled strongly of his cologne. I inhaled it as much as I could, enjoying his tempting scent. "How about you? Aren't you cold?"

His answering grin was as radiant as the sun. Perhaps, he was my personal sun. “What are you doing here?”

That gave me a pause.

“I, I,” How was I to start? “I am –“

“Are you headed for the party?” He pointed with his thumb the dancing lights quite a distance away.

“No,” I shook my head, hugging myself. It was an outrageous concept. “I don’t think I’m invited.”

Here I am in front of him. Check. What was I to say next? This was pretty awkward. I had never sincerely apologized before. How do people normally do it?

Aethan suddenly pulled my hand and started dragging me. “Not invited? Says who?”

“Please, I don’t want to go,” I pleaded as he practically towed me. I couldn’t get a footing on the sand so he was meeting no opposition from me.

“Sheesh, come on. It’s fun.”

My eyes widened. “No! Really, I mean –“

“Stop being a baby,” he grinned as he stooped down. Suddenly, I was draped on his strong shoulders, flailing like a child, screaming. I hit him continuously with balled fists, but I wasn't doing any good. He carried me like I was weightless, his arms around my small waist, and despite the sparks that my body experienced at his touch, I was alarmed.

“Put me down! Put me down! Put me –!”

“Stop that –!”

“Put me down!”

I kicked my legs the wrong way, and as I forcefully yanked myself off, he lost his balance. Both of us fell backwards, a cloud of sand making us cough our lungs out. I groaned, rubbing the sand off my face while shaking the rest from my hair.

Aethan laughed good-naturedly, saying a fragmented “I told you so” in between coughs.

“Shut the hell up,” I hissed as I tried to stand, only to fall on my butt again. That only made him laugh harder. He fluidly went on his feet and without any effort pulled me up with him.

“I didn’t know you are this funny,” he commented as he helped me removed the dust from my tangled hair. Fortunately, the shadows helped me hide my blush.

“Am not,” I snapped.

“Sure, sure,” he laughed merrily. I couldn’t help but smile back at his enthusiasm. Aethan’s really something, a complete contrast of me. Why couldn’t I be like him? So happy and carefree?

“You can go back now. I’m sure everybody’s looking for you,” I said quietly after a while. “Just forget you saw me.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” He brushed his hair off his eyes, a giant smirk on his face. “Why do you think I’m here?”

“Uh, to get some fresh air?”

Aethan scratched his head, ineffectively hiding another round of laughter. “Hello? Where in California can you get unpolluted air?”

Huh. Should I get offended or what?

I ignored the jibe. After a minute, he sighed uncomfortably. "Can you keep a secret?"

I shrugged.

Aethan flexed his arms, probably deliberating what to say. "Actually, I'm so tired of all those people. I wish I could simply duplicate myself and leave my clone with them. So annoying."

"Whoa," I laughed timidly, "Mr. Popular is telling me whoa."

"Surprised?" He grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at me. "Not everyone enjoys the spotlight."

“You seem to be enjoying it.”

“Yeah, I am,” he replied in his usual husky voice. “Most of the time."

"Huh," I snorted.

"You’re don't?”

I gave him my best shot at glaring. Wasn't the answer painstakingly obvious?

He kept on throwing grains of sand on me, a smug smirk on his face which I wanted to totally wipe off. Despite my protests, he continued, ignoring me. When I fought with a pathetic comeback, he tried to tackle me into the water. Laughing, I pushed a handful of sand on his face, smearing a coat of grime thoroughly on his handsome face... that was when I noticed his smell.

“Are you drunk?”

It was faint, but fairly noticeable.

“You tell me.”

Unexpectedly, he closed the distance between us until our noses were almost touching. The warmth of his breath against my face made me woozy. The gravity of his eyes caused my mouth to hang agape, sending a shock through my body that made my knees weak.

All of a sudden, he was on the ground nursing his jaw.

Oops. What did I just do?

“Oww,” he howled.

“I’m so sorry!” I went on my knees to check on his face. It was then that I realized my palm stung.

He let out an uneasy chuckle. “Uh-huh. It’s okay. That was pretty low of me.”

“I didn’t mean to slap you.”

“Was that a slap? I thought it was a punch.”

“Sorry!”

“Other girls would’ve attacked me by now…” He shook his head, clearing it. “I was a little tipsy, but I think you just brought me back to reality. Thanks.”

“Is it painful?” I asked in total humiliation. I didn’t know I was that strong. Then, I realized I was holding my car keys. I had a rather large key chain, note that.

“Nothing a big boy like me can’t handle.” He tested his jaws, found it still intact and let out a relieved sigh. Standing up, he appeared to be unhurt, but I felt like he was merely humoring me.

I sniffed. “Can I –?”

“You seem to be in a hurry. I'm sorry for taking so much of your time…”

It was a subtle dismissal, but I couldn’t leave yet. I still had many things to say, many unspoken words caged inside my chest. Delaying things any longer wouldn’t make matters better. I had to try.

“Uh, Aethan,” I frowned. “Can we talk?”

He smiled at the mention of his name but my sober mood stopped him from giving me half-hearted response. Although confused, he gave me one curt nod. “Go ahead.”

I gulped. “Can we sit?”

“Sure.”

He flopped down on the ground, sending another cloud of sand. I sat beside him, a little farther than normal, but still I felt nervous by our close proximity. Gathering my courage, I peeked at his expression through my eyelashes.

He was staring at me.

My thoughts scattered, it took me a while to collect them. What was my question again?

“W-Why did you do that?”

“Huh?” he asked, startled, obviously snatched away from his reverie.

I cleared my throat. “I mean, why did you destroy Derek’s car?”

He scowled, his expression ten shades of black. It was a frightening transition. “Who told you that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I murmured, curling my body into a tight ball. “I know it was you who told everyone to avoid me. It was you who threatened everyone into silence about the incident… Honestly, it doesn’t make any sense for you to get that far.”

Aethan only cursed under his breath, the furious lines on his face fading.

I watched him through my lashes, but his expression was serene as he watched the moon, not giving away what he was thinking. He looked like he had no intention of answering me, which slightly offended me.

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

“I understand.” Reluctantly, I dusted my pants and stood up. “You don’t have to tell me.”

It took him forever to say, “Sorry.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to snap at you like I did earlier. You’re a nice person… really, really nice person.”

My fingers ran through my wind-swept hair, my soft gaze studying his perfect features. I wish he was mine, but I could only dream. A guy as great as him wasn’t worthy of someone like me. He deserved someone better. Someone perfect.

"See you next time."

I took a careful step away when a force tugged on me.

"Wait."

I stared in disbelief at his hand around my thin wrist. Surprise was evident in his eyes too, as if he did it unconsciously. He quickly let go of me.

"Can we... be friends?"

Friends?

My smile felt so artificial on my face. "You have a lot of friends. Why need me?"

"You're different." He dropped his gaze, looking so forlorn it reminded me of his younger version, the child Aethan I've met.

"Sorry, but we can't. I am not friend material."

I could never be as confident as Vanessa, or as loud as Bethany. I could never be as beautiful as Cassandra, or as lively as Derek. Being with me would cause him nothing but misery, because that was all my life was composed of, all I could offer to anyone.

"Sorry," I repeated as I strode away.

Before I completely lost sight of him, I had the urge to turn around. He was watching me go, his loneliness evident in his eyes… exactly like seven years ago, the night when I first came here in this beach, the last night of my unhappy summer vacation.

That was our first meeting, a precious memory that only I remembered.

I ran back to my car and sped away, willing myself not to return back to him. My feelings were in turmoil, and I couldn’t pull myself together. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to tell him how I truly feel. The worse thing was the fact I only liked him more the longer I stay by his side.

But I shouldn’t. If my death was fixed, it would only hurt me if I would have any lingering feelings for anyone. I had to cut myself off from the world. I couldn’t make bonds with people when I knew that I would be leaving them soon.

I passed by my favorite café, but I ignored it.

I had lost my appetite.