"Rose is tough. She would have gotten over it."
"You didn't see her," she replied obstinately. "She was crying."
"So? People cry. You're crying."
"Not Rose."
He turned back to her, a dark smile curling his lips. "I've never seen anything like you two. Always so worried about each other. I get her thing - some kind of weird guardian hang-up - but you're just the same."
"She's my friend."
"I guess it's that simple. I wouldn't know." He sighed, momentarily thoughtful, then snapped back to sarcastic mode. "Anyway. Mia. So you got back at her over what she did to Rose. But you're missing the point. Why did she do it?"
Lissa frowned. "Because she was jealous about me and Aaron - "
"More to it than that, Princess. What did she have to be jealous about? She already had him. She didn't need to attack you to drive that home. She could have just made a big show of being all over him. Sort of like you are now," he added wryly.
"Okay. What else is there, then? Why did she want to ruin my life? I never did anything to her - before all this, I mean."
He leaned forward, crystal-blue eyes boring into hers.
"You're right. You didn't - but your brother did."
Lissa pulled away from him. "You don't know anything about my brother."
"I know he screwed Mia over. Literally."
"Stop it, stop lying."
"I'm not. Swear to God or whoever else you want to believe in. I used to talk to Mia now and then, back when she was a freshman. She wasn't very popular, but she was smart. Still is. She used to work on a lot of committees with royals - dances and stuff. I don't know all of it. But she got to know your brother on one of those, and they sort of got together."
"They did not. I would have known. Andre would have told me."
"Nope. He didn't tell anyone. He told her not to either. He convinced her it should be some kind of romantic secret when really, he just didn't want any of his friends to find out he was getting na**d with a non-royal freshman."
"If Mia told you that, she was making it up," exclaimed Lissa.
"Yeah, well, I don't think she was making it up when I saw her crying. He got tired of her after a few weeks and dumped her. Told her she was too young and that he couldn't really get serious with someone who wasn't from a good family. From what I understand, he wasn't even nice about it either - didn't even bother with the 'let's be friends' stuff."
Lissa pushed herself into Christian's face. "You didn't even know Andre! He would never have done that."
"You didn't know him. I'm sure he was nice to his baby sister; I'm sure he loved you. But in school, with his friends, he was just as much of a jerk as the rest of the royals. I saw him because I see everything. Easy when no one notices you."
She held back a sob, unsure whether to believe him or not. "So this is why Mia hates me?"
"Yup. She hates you because of him. That, and because you're royal and she's insecure around all royals, which is why she worked so hard to claw up the ranks and be their friend. I think it's a coincidence that she ended up with your ex-boyfriend, but now that you're back, that probably made it worse. Between stealing him and spreading those stories about her parents, you guys really picked the best ways to make her suffer. Nice work."
The smallest pang of guilt lurched inside of her. "I still think you're lying."
"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a liar. That's your department. And Rose's."
"We don't - "
"Exaggerate stories about people's families? Say that you hate me? Pretend to be friends with people you think are stupid? Date a guy you don't like?"
"I like him."
"Like or like?"
"Oh, there's a difference?"
"Yes. Like is when you date a big, blond moron and laugh at his stupid jokes."
Then, out of nowhere, he leaned forward and kissed her. It was hot and fast and furious, an outpouring of the rage and passion and longing that Christian always kept locked inside of him. Lissa had never been kissed like that, and I felt her respond to it, respond to him - how he made her feel so much more alive than Aaron or anyone else could.
Christian pulled back from the kiss but still kept his face next to hers.
"That's what you do with someone you like."
Lissa's heart pounded with both anger and desire. "Well, I don't like or like you. And I think you and Mia are both lying about Andre. Aaron would never make up anything like that."
"That's because Aaron doesn't say anything that requires words of more than one syllable."
She pulled away. "Get out. Get away from me."
He looked around comically. "You can't throw me out. We both signed the lease."
"Get. Out!" she yelled. "I hate you!"