''I take it Ryan told you about the party?''

''He did, but I'm curious as to why you didn't ask me yourself. We literally stay in the same room.''

His lips curve. ''If I asked you, would you have agreed?''

No, but he doesn't need to know that. ''Depends on how you asked, Jason.''

He moves from his bed with the duvet in tow and kneels in front of my bed where I'm plopped on. I give him a confused look but he just grins. ''What are you doing?'' I ask.

''I'm asking you nicely.''

''By kneeling? Is this some sort of proposal.''

He licks his lips and looks at me, making my insides sommersault. What is up with me today? Days ago, I swore I was going to pummel this boy to death, but now he's making my heart skip a beat. I need to reel this, whatever it is, in or else I'd be in serious hot water.

''Melody Jones,'' he says in a raspy tone, staring directly into my orbs with intensity. ''Would you do me the honour of attending my party at 9:00pm?''

''Um��you know this has been fun.'' I roll to the other side of the bed and land on the floor, my pillow and duvet cushioning my fall. With a semi-aching body, I stand up on my wobbly legs. ''I just realized that Paris and I had plans for the…you know....'' I point to the door and he gives me his signature smirk. ''I should…you know…yea.''

I was out the door faster than the speed of light and taking the elevator down to Room 500. The sooner I got out of there, the better for my heart and mind. I don't trust my body to not betray me when it comes to Jason, so it's best if I leave. It's still mind-boggling how I'm letting him affect me so much. Seriously, how did we go from wanting to kill each other to this? I bet he does this with all the high-school girls he encounters: flirting with them and acting all cool till he gets in their pants.

Well, I will not be another notch on his belt.

"Paris," I knock frantically on her room door. ''Open up.''

I hear shuffling from inside and footsteps coming closer. A key jiggles and then the door opens. "Hey, Mel.''

''Hey.'' I say with a sigh.

''Why do you looked flushed?'' she asks. I put my hand to my cheeks and sure enough they are warm. This is all his fault. ''I'm not flushed, definitely not flushed at all,'' I lie.

She folds her arms across her chest and raises a brow. ''Oh, really?''

''I'm not flushed at all. It's just the heat.''

''Melody Lianna Jones,'' she reprimands. ''Cut the crap because I know you better than you know yourself. We've literally been friends since the 8th grade, so what is it?''

Her knowledge of me is both a blessing and a curse, and she's right, we have known each other since 8th grade when I won the scholarship and transferred from Linkdale High to Adelaide. It was a huge adjustment for me, moving to an upper echelon school and leaving my friends at Linkdale, not to mention I no longer walked to school since Adelaide was a little bit farther from my house. Paris was the first person in Adelaide to ever talk to me. She saw me sitting alone at lunch since all the other kids thought I was too 'poor' to attend this school. Of course, it didn't help that Jason 'accidentally' made it known to everyone that I was a scholarship student, the first of its kind at Adelaide.

Anyways, Paris sat with me at lunch and the rest is history. I'm so grateful for our friendship and I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime.

''I hate it when you're right." She flips her hair dramatically and grins like a Cheshire cat. "I'm always right when it comes to you.''

''Besides the point, but it's Jason.''

''Come in.''

I step inside and look around. The room is identical to the room that Jason and I occupy, the only difference is our room does not look like a rats nest. ''Why are there clothes everywhere?"

''You do know the party is by 9 and it's 8, right?'' she pats a spot on her side of the bed. ''Shanna isn't here, so let's talk. What did he do this time?"

''It's not what he did exactly,'' I stress. ''It's what he's not doing.''

She looks at me confusedly. ''I'm not following?''

''He's not being the Jason I know and hate,'' I try to explain in a way that'll make sense to her…and to me. ''He's being nice-ish and hella flirtatious.''

And my body is responding to him in ways that are beyond me.

''And that's a bad thing?'' she drawls.

''Exactly,'' she shakes her head and hands me a Mars bar from her bedside table. I open it swiftly and take a bite. "It's a really bad thing.'' It's bad for my heart.

Her auburn hair is frizzed out as she looks at me like I'm crazy. ''Let me get this straight: you hate him when he's being mean to you and you hate it when he's tolerable?''

I nod again. ''That about sums it up.''

''Humans are so insatiable,'' she says. ''Have you ever considered the fact that maybe, just maybe, he's seeing you as more than the girl he banters with all the time?''

I've considered it alright, but it's not something that should be playing around in my head. I already have a boyfriend (which she doesn't know about) who actually cares about me and I'm not about to mess it up over a silly…infatuation.

''Jason and I have a dynamic, we hate each other and it's been like that since 8th grade. I'm not about to change that.''

''If you say so,'' she mocks. ''But, I feel like the only reason you're vehemently denying it is because you feel something too.''

Do I really feel something for Jason Blunt?

''Like Ariana Grande said: 'We can deny it as much as we want, but in time our feelings will show.''' she air quotes and I throw a pillow at her head. ''Don't hate me, hate the game. While you're at it, we need to get ready to party.''

''I'm not going.''

She points at the both of us. ''We are going, even if I have to drag your ass all the way downstairs.''she says, her tone daring me to contradict her.

''But, I don't like parties,'' I whine. ''And I certainly don't like dancing and stuff.'' The last time I was at a club, I ended up drinking and dancing with a stranger who ended up being my boss and now boyfriend. Thinking of that memory makes me laugh and cringe at the same time: what was I thinking going to a club at sixteen?

''You'll like this one since it's just our classmates.''

I try and come up with another excuse. ''But, I have nothing to wear.''

''You have jeans, don't you,'' I nod slowly. ''Well wear that and you can borrow one of my tops.''

''You're two sizes smaller than me.''

''We'll make it work.''

''But, I.''

''No more excuses, young lady,'' she chastises like my mum. ''We're going and that's final.''

She looks at the clock on the wall and gasps. ''It's 8:30 so we need to hurry.'' She kneels under her bed and drags her makeup bag. ''Grab your jeans from your room and meet me back here so we can get ready together.''

''Fine.''

She fist pumps the air in excitement and continues bringing out stuff from under her bed. What is she keeping there? A dead body? ''Just so you know, if we get in trouble, we are totally blaming Jason.'' I say.

''Definitely.''