Chapter 12: Hits Different

*Three Years Earlier*

Kate realized quickly that agreeing to a friendship with Theo Frost might've been a mistake. She had never been friends with a boy before let alone one she had spent most of her childhood crushing on. The more time she spent around Theo, the harder it was to hide her feelings for him that refused to die no matter what she did. It seemed to have more lives than a cat.

She had no idea when it started. The first time she met him he ruined her seventh birthday party by blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. Then she learned from his sister the following year that he was her soul mate. They had been circling each other and never quite meeting in the middle for over ten years.

How did Kate kill a feeling? It wasn't alive. It just lived inside of Kate like a parasite and made her life needlessly difficult. She just wanted to be friends with someone and not have it be complicated.