Kiss Me Katie (Complete)

Prologue

Katie

There really should be some kind of early warning system that goes off when you wake up on what turns out to be the worst day of your life! I mean, how could my world go from DEFCON five to one in the blink of an eye? But then, maybe it was just that my level of stupidity was so high I failed to see the warning signs.

So... the end of my life as I knew it happened on a Wednesday. I had just delivered a message from my English teacher to the office and decided to swing past the music room on my way back to class. My boyfriend, the gorgeous Mark Barnes, was the lead singer in an as-yet-undiscovered boyband, and I knew they'd be rehearsing. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have detoured, but I just loved watching him perform.

I reached the music room and hovered outside the open door, surprised by the lack of sound coming from the room. My heart skipped a beat as I caught sight of Mark on the other side of the room. Damn he was hot! And he was mine.

Wearing my favourite low-riding, faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt moulded to his perfect abs, Mark's baby blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he stood in a huddle with his buddies, laughing over something on his phone. I totally had to fight the urge to run over, throw myself into his arms, and kiss his luscious lips.

I shivered as memories of making out in his room the previous night flooded in, tingles invading my nether regions. Why hadn't I let him go all the way? He loved me, and I loved him. After almost six months of dating, I should have been ready. So what was the problem? I was almost seventeen for God's sake. Most of the girls I knew had lost their V card ages ago.

Then something one of the guys was saying penetrated my happiness bubble.

"Holy shit Barnes, this is awesome. Having those ginormous puppies to play with has gotta make up for the uglies everywhere else. Hey, does she still not know why everyone calls her Furby?"

Mark barked out a laugh and slapped his friend's shoulder. "Nope... hasn't got a clue. Coming up with that name was total genius, if I do say so myself genius. Fat Ugly Rich Bitch Yuppy. And she still seriously believes I'm into her. God, if it wasn't for the fame and fortune her Daddy's gonna bring us, I could get myself a real girlfriend. Anyway, she finally offered to ask her dad if he'd listen to our demo last night. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself saying 'about bloody time.'"

OMG! What the hell were they talking about? My heart now felt like it would jump out of my chest for an entirely different reason. Swallowing down the bile rising in my throat, I grabbed hold of the door frame before my trembling knees gave out. This couldn't be happening. Mark was talking about me? But... he'd said he loved me.

Even though my heart was breaking, and my blood boiling, I forced my reeling brain to process the reality of the situation.

Mark had been using me to get to my famous record-producing father all this time.

And I'd never even suspected a thing. No wonder he'd said he wasn't into PDA's. What he meant was, he wasn't into PDA's with me! Maybe he should give up on his shitty boyband and try his luck as an actor. The creep was an Academy Award winner in the making.

Unable to hold back the tears pouring down my face, I stepped back out of the doorway. No way I'd give him the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart. I'd dump the jerk at lunchtime, and he'd never even know how he'd stuffed up.

Wait... so what were they looking at on his phone? My previously boiling blood turned to ice so fast it made my head spin. Something about ginormous puppies?

Oh please no, he wouldn't...

Surely no-one would be that cruel?

Well... only one way to find out!

Wiping away the tears and sucking in a deep breath, I stormed across the room and snatched the phone out of Mark's hand before he knew what was happening.

Oh. My. God.

I almost vomited as I stared in horror at the video of Mark's hands fondling my breasts, with me whimpering beneath him. Without a word, I threw the phone against the wall as hard as I could, planted my size ten boot into Mark's family jewels, and stalked toward the girls' toilets with my head held high.

I found out later it had taken my best friend Annie over an hour to find me, still crumpled in a heap on the bathroom floor. Unable to make sense of anything I was saying, Annie called my mum and asked her to come pick me up. She, of course, was way too busy and sent her assistant, Pamela, to get me. By the Pamela arrived, I'd lapsed into an almost catatonic state, and all Annie knew was that something had happened with Mark.

And that was the last time I ever set foot inside Northside Grammar School. I'd spent the rest of Year Ten studying online and hiding away from the world. Until the letter came from the Crescendo Academy of Performing Arts, announcing I'd been accepted into the prestigious inner-city boarding school for Years Eleven and Twelve.

This was my chance to start over, and it would be on my terms. No more Katie Simpson, daughter of millionaire record producer Reece Simpson. Meet the new and improved, plain old Katie Sims (at least that took care of the Rich Bitch Yuppie part). Pity the Fat Ugly part couldn't be erased so easily. But hey, this new Katie Sims was a lot tougher than that girl in the video.

No way would she ever fall for another hot guy.

What's that old saying?

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... yeah, let's not go there.