Kitty gives a nasty look to the boy I am talking to.

I don't blame her. He danced with her for the sole purpose of getting closer to me.

He's not the first boy to do that to her. He won't be the last. Even Kitty has admitted to me that she doesn't blame them for it. I'm just that gorgeous. It's even happened to Dani a couple of times.

I shoot Kitty a wink, and a momentary smile crosses her face. She knows how I can twist men around my finger and leave them thoroughly embarrassed. Content with the knowledge that this particular boy will pay for insulting her she does not need to see it. She leaves, probably to sulk in her loneliness.

I'm the life of the party, but I am no less alone than my best friend.

That things with this boy wouldn't go anywhere was not a decision I made for Kitty's benefit, although the method by which the conversation would end was. It is a decision I made a long time ago.

I will stay alone.

I'm a demon sorceress and the mistress of a hellish dimension where I spent the majority of my childhood, corrupted and trained by the Dark Lord Belasco.

Even after all the trauma of literally living through Hell, I'm still capable of being in a relationship; at least I think I am. I probably have Kitty to thank for that, for teaching the social skills I never had a chance to learn on my own.

I have chosen to never pursue a relationship.

There are benefits to being in one: stability, love, strength. But the risks are too great.

I know Belasco's history. What he did to Beatrice. What her children were. His evil is so ingrained in me that its effects cannot be predicted. For all I know I am only capable of producing demon offspring. And even if not, my mere presence would be sure to corrupt any small children. The evil magic of Belasco is that powerful, and it feasts on the innocence of the very young. Scott and Madelyn's baby is proof enough of that. He would start to wail whenever he got close to me.

So while I flirt, while I joke, it is all an act. I will remain alone.

I deliver the knockout blow to the boy, and some of his friends go "ooooh" at the burn. Several of them are even more attracted by my feistiness.

Beyond them I see Roberto. He had a sour look on his face while I was talking to the boy, but it is gone now.

There's always been a spark between myself and Roberto. We're both young and attractive. But I have taken pains to be sure that he stays terrified of me, of my powers.

That way, what exists between us will remain just tension.

I am startled to see Kitty not far away. She hadn't left after all. She was dancing up a storm with another boy, though I wonder if she isn't feeling desperate, because he has "LOSER" written all over him.

Kitty, bless her, is insistent that I just haven't met the right guy and keeps trying to set me up people. She knows that I'm not looking for a relationship, but she doesn't realize how permanent that decision is.

I have decided that I will die alone.