as it was.
"That's all well and good, but could you please get off of me," I huffed.
He smiled deeper and got up in one fluid motion. I, on the other hand, had to push myself into a sitting position, roll onto my knees, stumble to my feet, and stagger up. I felt pathetically clumsy just standing next to the guy. Even his voice was smooth. I don't have a cute nickname like you, so whatever you think up is welcome... He'd only known me for about a minute and he was already complimenting me. Cute. He thinks my nickname is cute. That's so... Wait a minute...
"How did you know that Katy isn't my real name," I asked suspiciously.
He had his back turned to me, so I couldn't judge his expression. But he had an excuse.
"In my experience, no girl's real name is Katy. It's always like, Katherine or something. Is that your name?"
As he said it, he turned and looked at me with one dark eyebrow raised. He had his arms crossed over his chest. It looked too cute to be true. I shook my head, half to compose myself, half to answer his question.
"It's Katrina," I offered.
He smiled. "Katrina," he repeated.
A surge of electricity coursed through my veins. Coming from his lips, it sounded like the name of royalty, rather than just a stupid teenager's.
"Such a pretty name. It suits you."
Oh my God, did he just call me pretty?! Not that it matters... I reached up to run my fingers through my hair, something I always did when I didn't know what to say, and pain shot through my arm and down my spine. My arm froze in mid air. My mouth fell open and I could feel the scream inching its way up my throat.
"Katy, are you okay," Tristan demanded.
Eye contact is a must when you tell someone you think you're dying. I was surprised when I found that I had to look up to meet his eyes. Even more surprised when I saw that they had already changed from the bright green to a smokey black with flecks of a dark wine color inside.
"Katy," he repeated.
My vision blurred for a moment. His image became distorted, and, for some strange reason, I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. I started laughing, but it didn't sound like me. First of all, it was shrill and grating, and I prided myself in having a very calm, easygoing laugh. Second, it seemed so far away, as if my voice had separated from my body and
