Chapter 1

My little sister Lily wanted everything I had, including my man.

But the guy I'd been chasing for three years, the academic star Evan, was a block of ice. He never once looked my way.

I figured Lily would fail just like everyone else.

Then I walked in on it.

Fresh off the football field, Evan had Lily pinned against the locker room wall, kissing her like the world was ending.

His arms were wrapped tight around her, her shirt half-open, the two of them completely lost in each other.

"Evan, slow down... if you like me, why are you still leading my sister on?"

"Didn't you say you loved watching her beg for my attention?"

My eyes went red in an instant.

Three years of chasing him. And it had all been a performance. A one-woman show staged for their entertainment.

This pathetic love of mine. It was time to end it.

I finally decided to let go.

So why did he come running after me, saying he liked me?

Summer's POV

Everyone at school noticed something was off with me lately. The old me had zero self-awareness. I spent every single day running after Evan.

While other people sat through morning assembly, I was hand-making Evan a heart-shaped sandwich. While they took notes in class, I was folding little paper stars for him. While they did homework, I was writing him love letters.

But recently, I hadn't shown up outside the Advanced Honors classroom in days. Instead, I'd been living in the library. First one in every morning, last one out every night.

Then, on the day finals ended, I ran straight into Evan.

I froze. I turned to walk away.

But his tall frame stepped right into my path.

"Summer." The evening sun caught the cool lines of his face. "Are you avoiding me?"

My arms tightened around the books I was holding.

I first met Evan at the start of junior year.

Word got around that a new transfer student had arrived. Insanely good-looking, insanely smart. At his old school he'd been famously untouchable. Not even the most popular cheerleader had managed to get close to him.

So naturally, I went to find out for myself.

I walked into the Advanced Honors hallway, looked up, and saw him standing by the window.

I completely lost my train of thought.

From that day on, I started chasing Evan.

I'd intercept him on his way to school. I'd scream from the sidelines at his football games. I'd stand in the snow in the school parking lot and serenade him.

I was loud, shameless, and very, very public about it. Everyone knew. And honestly? Like every crush before this, it was more game than genuine feeling. I just wanted to win.

Until that one winter.

I was in the parking lot in a short skirt, using my foot to draw a heart in the snow.

Evan happened to be walking out with some friends. I ran up, beaming.

"Evan! Look! I made you a heart! Do you like it?"

But his eyes went to my bare legs, purple from the cold.

The next second, he crouched down. He unwound the scarf from his neck and wrapped it around my legs.

"Don't wear skirts in weather like this." His voice was calm, flat. "You'll damage your knees and your circulation."

The warmth of it reached my frozen skin. Distant, restrained, not quite touching.

I stood there, completely still, watching snowflakes settle on his long lashes.

And that was when it hit me.

I was actually falling for him.

I'd already made up my mind to apply to the same college as Evan.

Then, the night before finals, I accidentally overheard a Yale admissions officer meeting with him. She told him his math competition scores qualified him for early admission.

Evan's response stopped me cold.

"You can admit me. But I have one condition. I want you to admit Lily from my class as well."

I stood there, frozen, as the Yale officer walked away. A few of Evan's friends clapped him on the shoulder.

"Didn't see that coming. So it was Lily the whole time? Summer's been chasing you forever and we actually thought it was her!"

"But if you like Lily, why not just be with her? Why keep Summer on the hook?"

Evan's expression didn't flicker.

"I didn't want to distract Lily before finals." A pause. "As for Summer, she was just a cover. Useful for keeping people from noticing what was going on between me and Lily."

Standing in the doorway, I felt the color drain from my face.

Everyone said Evan was cold to the whole world, except me.

He'd warned me icily to stop following him, then wrapped my frozen legs in his scarf. He'd refused the Valentine's Day chocolates I'd stayed up all night to make, but kept only my card.

That's all it took. Those small crumbs of hope. And I'd sunk deeper and deeper.

But it was all a setup. A way to keep everyone from noticing him and Lily.