Thanks so much for the reviews, guys. :) Now, to answer a few questions! This will be a multi-chapter story and, yes, the title does refer to how many secrets Kat will tell… but that's giving too much away! Another thing- the story will switch back and forth between points of view. Last chapter was Patrick, this one Kat, and so on.

And I really appreciate all the feedback I got on Patrick. It wasn't my intention to make him 'evil', but I did want him to earn the unruly status that he's got on the show.

Oh, before I forget- looking for the disclaimer? Check chapter one, por favor. It'll be that way for the remainder of the chapters. I don't want to keep putting it in.

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"No, no, no, no!" I threw myself on my bed, burying my head in a pillow.

Patrick Verona knew. He knew. He knew about cheerleading and Katie.

Worst of all, he knew about Jake. Well, maybe he didn't know his name, let alone all the gory details, but the fact that he knew that there had been a Jake was enough.

And Patrick wanted to blackmail me now? Great, so he had that bad boy reputation for a reason. Did he really think he could bully me into telling him my secrets? Doubtful.

If only he hadn't looked so damn good doing it…

"No!" I repeated, burying my head further into the pillow. That was beside the point. He had gone to all sorts of trouble to get a hold of that picture, which was probably the last in existence, and proceeded to try and use it against me.

Instead of plotting revenge like normal, all I could to was wonder why he'd done it. Why had he bothered? Could Patrick be so bored that the only way he could think to entertain himself was to make my life miserable?

That stupid high school girl inside of me thought different though. I couldn't squash the notion that maybe he was doing it for another reason…

Whatever, I didn't care why he was doing it. He still had the picture and the ability to ruin my reputation. Not that I was concerned about what the rest of Padua thought about me- I just wanted to avoid the perky requests to join the squad.

Because, let's face it, when it came to cheerleading, I was no slouch, as much as I hated to admit it. Being one hell of a flyer, although embarrassing, was one of my talents.

"KAT!" Bianca charged into my room, slamming the door shut behind her. "We need to talk and we need to talk now!"

I rolled over, glaring at her. "This isn't a war zone- you don't have to scream."

She sat down on my bed with a huff and crossed her arms. "You're impossible, you know that, right?"

I smirked. "Oh, do tell."

"Why can't you just go out with Patrick so I can date?" I stared at her. This was what she was referring to? I thought that I had at least done something of importance. But this was Bianca. Her world consisted of two things: cheerleading and dating a football player.

Huh, maybe it ran in the family.
At least I knew she'd grow out of it.

"…if you would just stop being so stubborn! He obviously likes you!" Oops, she had been talking the entire time. I tried paying attention, but her whole speech only proved how self-centered she was.

"Bianca, do you really want your dearest sister to go out with a rumored cannibal just so you can go on a date? That's horrible." She rolled her eyes.

"Can't you be normal for once?!"

"Dating an escaped murderer isn't normal."

She threw her arms in the air. "Please, Kat! Just for one night. And you know the rumors aren't true! I know you like him too."

"No."

"Why?! Can't you do this one tiny thing for me?" Did I mention that persistence also ran in the family?

"I'm sorry, Bianca, no." She shrieked, before standing up and squaring off to face me.

"Okay, Kat, I know that you two are in a fight right now…" I quirked an eyebrow. My little sister had become quite perceptive. I gave her a look, which according to the universal sister code meant an explanation was needed.

"Well, you two were obviously going at it when I came over to the car. Why else would you be blasting NPR and pointedly ignoring him?"

I sighed. The only way I was getting out of this was to just say it.

"Uggg! Kat, why can't you just forgive him for whatever he did?"

"Because he…" I sighed again. "He knows."

"… knows about..?" Her face had confusion written all over it, but that was quickly replaced with shock. "Wait… HE KNOWS YOU AREN'T A VIRGIN!?!"

I jumped up and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shhh! Dad's going to hear you!" She nodded slowly. "And, no, he doesn't know about that."

She shook me off, sitting back down on the edge of my bed. "Then, what are you talking about?"

"He knows… he knows about Ohio."

"He knows that it's a state? Wow, Kat, he's a real keeper." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms again. "Big deal. I don't see why you care…"

"No, he knows about Ohio, as in Katie."

Bianca stared at me, her eyes practically the size of the vinyl records I had stacked in the corner.

"No way."

"Yeah, he even knows about... the cheerleading and Jake."

"O-M-G, Kat! How did he find..." She stopped, thrusting her hands out at me, like she was trying to defend herself. "I swear, I didn't tell him! You have to believe me! I value my face too much to consider something that drastic!"

I rolled me eyes. "No, he found out from someone back in Ohio. He even has a picture!"

"Oh… that's just spooky! What now? Does he want something from you now?"

"He wants me to tell him my secrets." Never in my life had I been so forthcoming with Bianca. It was weird, talking to her like this, but weird in a good way. We never talked and definitely not about this.

I'm just going to chalk it up to a bad day.

"Ahhh! Patrick wants you!"

I stared at her like she was crazy, which she was.

"Kat, for someone who used to be so popular with the boys, you know nothing about them."

I shot her a look. Just because Patrick had brought up the past didn't mean that she could.

"Okay, okay, no more about Ohio. But, think! Why else would Patrick try to get to know your past?"

"Well, blackmail for one."

"Nooo. Guys don't do stuff like this to be mean."

"Oh?"

"Yes! This is a romantic peace offering. Patrick's trying to tell you that he's tired of provoking you and he wants to be serious!"

I couldn't help rolling my eyes again. Once she started on her romantic teen movie rant, Bianca wouldn't (and probably couldn't) stop.

"Seriously! Patrick is trying to show you that, even though he loves teasing you, he wants it to be more than that! This is your moment, Kat!"

"How so?"

She groaned. "Can you be any dumber? You have to make the next move. Show him how you feel, since he has already shown you how he feels."

"Sweet Jesus, Bianca, did you slip in the shower and bump you head again?"

"Kaaat! This is his way of showing you affection. You better do something about it… I really want to go out some time." She got up and walked toward the door. "Oh!" She spun around, glaring at me. "For the record, I only slipped once and Daddy said there was no brain damage!"

I laughed as she stormed out and laid back down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"She's right, Stratford. You've gotta do something about it."

I could have sworn my head hit the ceiling I jumped so quickly. Sitting casually on my window sill was none other than the man of the hour, Patrick Verona. He smirked as I gaped at him.

"How long have you been there?"

"Well, I was outside when your sister made the virgin comment." He pushed off the window and sauntered over to my bed, plopping down near me, too close for comfort. "I'm impressed, by the way."

I glared at him. "You didn't think you should have made your presence known?"

"I thought about it, but decided against it."

"Really, how'd you come up with that?"

He smirked. "Just coming in and announcing myself wouldn't have been very gentlemanly like, now would it? What if you had been indecent?" He grinned and then chuckled. "Not that I would have minded though."

"And you decided to be a perfect gentleman by listening in on our conversation?"

"I tried not to listen, but your voices were awfully loud." He smirked again and I resisted the urge to slap him.

"You can add eavesdropping and home invasion to your list of offenses now."

"The list's getting pretty long."

I nodded. "Yeah, as in epic poem long." He laid back on my bed, propping himself up on his elbows. "Is this the part where you tell me why you snuck in through my bedroom window?"

"Nope, this is the part where you tell me what you're gonna do."

"About what?" I asked innocently.

"According to your sister, I've declared my love for you and that it's your move. What's your plan?"

"Hmm, I was thinking about seducing you into giving me the picture."

He leered at me, amusement dancing in his eyes. "I like that idea… the seduction part, I mean."

"I was joking."

"Sure you were."

I ignored him, partly because a response would do nothing, but mostly because he was right. "I answered your question, now answer mine."

"What was that again? I've forgotten."

"Why are you here?"

"To talk to you, obviously."

The urge to smack him was stronger than before. "It couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"It could have."

I growled. "Is there an actual point to your visit?"

"Yes," he drawled out, deliberately slow.

"And?"

He smiled, his hands now behind his head as he lounged across the bed.

"Patrick…"

He chuckled. "Alright, alright. I've come to renew my offer."

"Your offer?"

"The one with you telling me your secrets and me not distributing the picture."

"No." I got up from the bed and went for my laptop, under the pretense of getting work done. He followed me, leaning against the wall next to my desk.

"Come on, let's be reasonable. I won't tell anyone."

"Again, the answer is no, Verona. Tomorrow and the day after, it will still be no."

"Anything that'll change your mind? I really don't want to be behind the sudden rise in the ranks of popularity. Plus, I don't want to share you with the football players." He winked.

This time, I couldn't resist the desire to punch him and I knocked him right in the shoulder.

He chuckled. "You sure have a temper."

"And a nice right hook, don't you think?"

"Really, what can I do to get you to accept the offer?" He was serious now, all jokes and games aside. I sighed.

"Just destroy the picture."

"I can't. It's the only leverage I have on you."

I sat down in my desk chair. I had two options, neither involving the picture being disposed of.

One, I could continue to refuse to offer. He would only show it around school, making my life a living hell.
Or two, I could go along with his plan and do as he wanted.

I hung my head. "Fine, Patrick, I accept your offer." He grinned, but it faltered as I said, "On one condition."

"Shoot."

"That this'll be a two way street."

"Meaning?"

"If you want to know about the skeletons in my closet, I want to known about yours too."

He frowned, crossing his arms as he contemplated my proposal.

"Alright."

"Alright?"

"You've got a deal. A secret for a secret, starting tomorrow." I nodded, as he made his way over to the window. "See you then." He smirked as he climbed through the window. I turned back toward my desk, realizing how much homework I had.

"Oh, and Kat?" I looked around to face.

"Yeah?" He had that annoying 'I'm so good' look on his face.

"I'm looking forward to it." And with that, he was gone.

fin.

The secrets start coming out next chapter!

I start school next Monday (nooo!) so I'll try to write as much as I can before then. After that though, updates won't be as frequent.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review.