A.N.: Hello Everyone! It's been a while, but I've been busy with schoolwork and still will be for a couple more months. I'm on Spring Break right now, which is how I have some time to put this up. This will have one more part to it. This is part of my series, so reading at least the one before it will definitely be helpful! Thanks for R&R! –Erika

It had been a week since the Halloween party, and though Kat wasn't technically avoiding him, Patrick knew she was cutting short all their meetings and conversations. Yeah, some of the excuses made sense (like driving her popularity-starved sister home), but others were just ridiculous (like been the only one volunteering at the animal shelter that afternoon, and no, male humans were not allowed to help out, thanks for asking). So he decided to take desperate measures, not that he was ever desperate for female company. Being a Friday, he knew that little Stratford would want to go out, which most likely meant that Kat would be driving her somewhere. The question was where, which was why he was slouching behind a column right outside the girl's locker room. He would have shocked himself if he realized he didn't really care that each time a girl opened the door to leave, he could see a few half dressed cheerleaders inside, but he was too focused on finding his prey to really notice. Finally the right blonde cheerleader (or was it still mascot?), headed out of the locker room, blessedly alone. Once she walked past him and toward a semi-private alcove, he called her name.

"Hey, Stratford."

"Patrick! Um, what can I do for you? And if the answer is cook myself or one of my friends, then I'm going to have to regrettably decline."

Unbelievable. She still thought he might be a cannibal.

"Delicious as that sounds, I wanted to know if you planned on dragging Kat anywhere, tonight?"

Bianca looked up at him in shock. She knew Patrick Verona had come to her sister's rescue at the party, but she couldn't make herself believe that her scary enough sister had decided to befriend the even scarier bad boy. Or that said bad boy was actually asking her about Kat's plans. Then again, he definitely looks like Kat's type. Hopefully this one doesn't end up like the last.

"Dragging will not be necessary. Kat agreed to go to the mall with me. I need a new outfit for Thanksgiving, and it's never too early to shop. Kat's been wanting to pick up some books at the bookstore, so she plans to head there and then meet back up with me when I'm done."

"When's this happening?"

"Cameron's mom is giving me a ride home. I'm going to change, and then we'll head over. I've got plans later on tonight, so we had to make it early."

"Alright, thanks."

"Your welcome."

"Don't tell your sister we spoke."

Bianca gave him a big smile, which kinda freaked him out.

"Oh, I won't. Kat's been in a weird mood all week. Maybe a surprise is just the thing she needs." And with that, she turned and walked towards the parking lot. Patrick took a different route in order to get to his motorcycle. Being seen with the perky girl was not on his list of things to do. Besides, he had some time to waste before heading to Padua Mall.

Kat Stratford couldn't believe her good luck. She was able to get a parking spot right in front of her sister's favorite clothing store, which happened to be only two stores down from the bookstore. Once inside the store, she immediately caught sight of one of the books she was there to buy. Picking up the last copy of Desert Flower, she continued to the back of the store, where all the empty notebooks were displayed. She needed three new ones: one for her sketches, one for her prose, and one for her poetry and lyrics. She was about to pick up a promising looking second notebook, when she heard a way-too-loud-cough-to-be-real from right behind her. Turning around, she held her books in front of her like a shield, before looking up into Patrick's eyes.

She had been spending as little time as possible near him for the last week, not wanting to talk about what had happened at the party. She was embarrassed enough as it was, she didn't need him wanting to discuss it. She hadn't wanted to lie to him, so she had made plans ever afternoon of the week. She had only fibbed a couple times (though telling him no males could volunteer at one of the places was a little past fibbing), so she didn't feel too guilty. Seeing the look in his eyes though, her luck had changed.

"Fancy meeting you here, Katerina."

Enjoying her light blush, but not the wary look in her eyes, Patrick kept his smirk small. He had only been in the store a few minutes before Kat had arrived, so he was just able to sneak to the back where she wouldn't notice him. Realizing she looked too cute with a serious look on her face while trying to choose notebooks, he decided to confront her sooner rather than later. Looking at the cover of the book she had just picked out, he came to two conclusions. One, she had good taste in cover art. The black background went well with the dark colors of the musically notes lined up across whole front cover. Two, they could probably compare their work for hours, if he ever admitted to such a creative hobby, and if she ever let him see some of her work. Deciding he'd work on that later, he finally spoke up. She did not look too happy to see him, but he could care less at this point. He was going to figure out what the hell was wrong with her.

"Stalking me, Verona? Shame on you."

"Ah, we know that I am not the stalker in the room. That would be you."

"If I remember correctly, which I always do, you were the one that followed me to a dance, a party, and now a bookstore." The moment the words left her mouth, Kat decided that her luck had just officially ended. Being surprised by his appearance and angered by his accusation, she had blurted out the first thing on her mind, which was the exact topic she didn't want to discuss. Looking at Patrick's face, she knew not talking was no longer an option.

"What a perfect opening, Kat. I couldn't have done it better myself. Actually, who am I kidding, of course I could have. But, since you brought up the topic already, let's talk about the party, and why you have been avoiding me since it."

"I need to pick out a third notebook."

"You can do that after we talk. Come on, pay for what you have now and I'll buy you some tea at the organic place a few stores down."

Deciding to pick her battles (and knowing talking about it was inevitable if she wanted to have any guiltless free time), Kat walked over to pay, but not before giving a final shot.

"The fact that you know about TeaPot totally ruins you image. I wonder what our classmates would think if they knew Patrick Verona was a lover of tea."