Her words made me come to a dead stop. People were already filing into the class, so I grabbed her arm and pulled her outside the class. "What the hell do you mean?" I demanded. Cheated? How did she know that? "Listen, I'm not trying to start anything, but I know Jacob isn't going to tell you anything and I didn't think you'd want to hear it as talk in the halls," she explained, her expression pained. "I was at a party on Friday and I saw him talking to Lauren all night. I didn't think anything of it until I saw him go into a room with her. It didn't look good when they came out thirty minutes later." My heart was thumping rapidly in my chest and tears threatened to spill on my cheeks. Could I trust her? Was she telling the truth? Part of me didn't want to believe her, but the other part of me felt she wasn't lying. She didn't have a reason to. "I'm so sorry, Lacey. I—" she didn't finish. She turned around and practically ran down the hallway. In that moment, it felt like everyone in the entire city of Readfield knew what Jacob had done. It felt as if everyone's eyes were on me and they were waiting for me to react. I ran to the nearest bathroom and tried to calm myself down. My chest was heavy and my head felt like it would explode. Thoughts of Jacob and Lauren together flashed in my mind and nothing made sense. Once I let some tears fall out, I walked out and dried my eyes. I headed to class and walked in just as the bell rang. Everyone's eyes seemed to be burning into me and I avoided every one of them. I got a text from Jacob then. He apologized for oversleeping and not taking me to school. Ignoring his text, I shoved my phone into my backpack. I would deal with him after school. My last class ended and I was dreading what would happen. After avoiding him throughout the day, I decided I needed to end things. A girl in my last class had no shame whatsoever and discussed the whole ordeal openly with another girl in class. She said Jacob seemed unapologetic and so did Lauren. Hearing them talk about what he did only made me angrier and I almost snapped at them to shut up. I held my tongue and decided to take my anger out on the person who deserved it the most. On my way to the parking lot, I came across Lauren in the hallway. As much as I wanted to call her every horrible name I could think of, I didn't. It wouldn't make me feel any better. Her black hair was pulled up into a ponytail and it swung behind her as she walked up to me. I spoke before she could. "I don't have the energy to deal with you right now." "Lacey, just listen—" "Don't talk to me," I held my hand up as I said it. "Just leave me the hell alone and we won't have a problem." Jacob was the one I was in a relationship with. It was his fault. I wanted to hate Lauren, but I needed to focus my hatred and anger on Jacob. I waited for him at his truck, ignoring call after call from him. He was soon walking towards me and his truck and I mentally prepared myself. I wasn't going to let him smooth talk his way around it like he always did when we argued. I wasn't going to let him change my mind. He made me look like an idiot and there was no way in hell I was going to let him get away with it. "What the hell? Why haven't you answered me?" he asked as he walked up to me. I stared at him and tried to see if he even looked the slightest bit guilty. He didn't. "Do you want to tell me what happened at that party, or do you want me to tell you what I heard?" His face changed, but he quickly recovered. He was going to try to lie. "What are you talking about?" I stepped closer and pointed at him. "I know you slept with Lauren at that party." I was trying to keep my voice low to prevent causing a scene. I had been embarrassed enough. "Where did you hear that?" "It's all over the fucking school, Jacob," I snapped. "Everyone is talking about it." He opened his mouth, but shut it. We were both becoming aware of the people around us. "Listen, can we get in the truck and talk about it?" His voice was level, but frustrated. "Hell no," I shook my head. "You made it everybody's business when you slept with her at that party, so we're gonna talk about it now. Now admit it." "Why do you want to hear it? To make things worse?" "I want to hear it so I can believe that you really are a piece of shit," I yelled, my anger boiling over. "Say it." He threw his arms out to the side. "Okay, I slept with her." People started to draw in closer to us after Jacob said it. They probably wanted to hear the whole story. Hearing the words as they came out of his mouth was a lot harder than I thought. The tears wanted to come out, but I wouldn't let them. "Why?" "I don't know why. I was drunk. I wasn't thinking." His eyes refused to meet mine, which meant he was lying. "You weren't thinking about me? Your girlfriend?" The tears started to come out and I couldn't stop them. "My parents just died, Jacob. You were supposed to be there for me." I was becoming a blubbering mess. His hand reached out for mine. "Baby, please. Let's just get in the truck and talk about it." "No." His lips formed a tight line and he looked around. People were still watching, forming a circle around us. If there was going to be a scene, I wanted everyone to know it was all his fault. I couldn't stand to look at him any longer. He wasn't the same person I fell for. Only images of Lauren all over him entered my mind. "Please, don't do this." He was getting closer to me and I knew he wanted me to forget all of this. He was trying to smooth-talk me. "I don't trust you anymore. I can't trust you." I wiped the tears from my cheeks. "I needed you the most right now." Casey came into view and she stood by, waiting for me. I was surprised she didn't try to kill Jacob. He was running his hands through his hair. "It was one mistake. I promise it will never happen again. Just please get in the truck with me." "It shouldn't have happened in the first place." I crossed my arms and angled my body away from him. I needed to get out of there and fast. "We're done." I couldn't look at him. Casey put her arms around me and we started walking to her car. There was a ringing in my ears that wouldn't stop. The tears made it difficult to see. The only things I could see were Lauren and Jacob and my parents faces. When Casey and I were alone in her car, I lost it.