They turned around and saw Angelina, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes stormy with fury. "What did you hear?" Lily asked.

  "Enough to know Katherine was freaking out over a guy who cheated on her." She took a threatening step forward. "You didn't even react this way when scumbag ex of yours cheated on you."

  Katherine exchanged a glance with Lily. The latter shook her head, giving up and asking Kitty to fend for herself.

  There was no point hiding anything from Angelina anymore, especially now that her heart was shattered and they were on the same boat. They could be partners in misery.

  "Will you talk or not?" she asked.

  Kitty blew out a breath, wanting to flee to her room and hide there. "I started talking to this guy before you started talking to Damon," she confessed after a long silence.

  "And you didn't think it was important to tell me?" Angelina's eyes narrowed into slits. "You met someone online just like I did and you had the gall to act all high and mighty. You were making fun of me behind my back!"

  "I wasn't making fun of you and you know that!" Katherine replied angrily. "I just let you know that you were not talking to Cage and that it was a child." Katherine knew that this conversation wouldn't go down well.

  "Ah, and you got exactly what you thought you were getting?" The sarcasm in Angelina's voice was evident.

  "Yes, at least the person I was talking to wasn't a literal child."

  "Oh? What's his name?" Angelina asked. Katherine simpered in rage.

  "I spoke to him on the phone for months, we had actual conversations. I know him……" When she said it, she knew she was trying to convince herself. Lily, on the other hand, was watching the two of them warily, ready to intervene if things went out of the hand.

  "And what a gigantic fool you must have thought I was, talking to someone who I had no 'real' conversation with!" She was shouting by then.

  "You were too occupied in your own little world to notice that I was different," Katherine defended.

  "And you had so many chances to tell me that you were talking to someone. I fixed you up with someone and you still didn't say anything. You had every opportunity to come clean. Then, why didn't you?"

  Katherine didn't know how to answer. "I… I don't know. You were so……" she sighed. "I didn't want to ruin your excitement… and I never thought it would get this serious."

  "That is not an excuse, Katherine. It's not like I would have been unhappy that you were happy! Just admit it, you were making fun of me the whole time and thought that I would be jealous if I found out you were talking to someone……"

  Lily moved forward, placing herself between the two of them.

  "Neither of us were laughing." Angelina scoffed. "And if you really wouldn't be mad about it, why aren't you being a little more reasonable right now?" Lily was just as exasperated.

  "Because I am pissed. I have been duped by a child and now my friends. Where does this leave me?" Angelina replied fiercely. "And I love how you are taking her side. I am mad because we are supposed to be friends… friends who talk about everything. You have been talking to this guy for months and you didn't even have the decency to come up to me and tell me?" Her eyes shifted from Lily, looking past her, at Katherine. "Do you know what pisses me off the most? That I was the last person to find out."

  "You have every right to be mad, but consider what Katherine is going through right now……" Lily trailed off.

  "Oh and I am not going through the same thing?" her voice was low and angry.

  "I wouldn't have told Lily, either… she… I needed to talk to someone about it," Katherine sighed.

  "Oh? I've been your friend for a long time… you didn't think I had the same right?"

  "Please……"

  "Oh, please!" Angelina held her hand up to stop Katherine in her tracks. "Why don't you cry in front of your best friend? I'll go see if I can find the real Cage Cavanaugh……" She laughed suddenly. "But poor Katherine. You got dumped by the new guy just like the last one."

  Katherine gasped.

  "Hey. You need to stop and think about what you are saying. You can't bring that shit up. She really needs support right now," Lily said.

  "Oh, fuck you. You're just doing this because you think you came before me so you deserve more attention."

  Katherine's eyes widened comically. She saw Lily take another step forward.

  "You self-centered piece of shit. You were the one who didn't notice Katherine was up to something. She was talking about this guy all the time, and you didn't notice one bit. You need some sense knocked into your ass."

  There was silence. Angelina turned back, hurried into her room and slammed the door shut.

  "You shouldn't have said that," Katherine whispered. "Hell, I shouldn't have hidden so much from her." She sighed. "It was all for nothing."

  "You don't know that. I saw how you two spoke. There is a real connection between the two of you. Those words are in black and white!"

  "No, Lily. His words were all lies. He just wanted to play with someone, get some excitement out of it while he had someone waiting at home." She felt another round of tears come to her eyes. She suppressed them and blinked.

  "Don't just dismiss him. Let him explain. There are always two sides to a story."

  Yes, she knew that. That is why she had sent that text. But she knew what she heard. She nodded, knowing that there was very little hope.

  When she closed the door behind her, she felt the tears flow. She didn't know what it was, her fight with Angelina or Ray's betrayal, but she cried. She buried her face in her pillow and cried the hours away.

  It was stupid of her to think that he would settle for her. That he would wait at home until they met and figured out what was going on between them. Even the guy who had committed to her hadn't bothered to be faithful to her, so what could she expect from a stranger on the internet.