"Please, Dylan could never get a girl like Lacey," Reece lets out a laugh as he says it, making the others laugh too. "You guys are going to be sorry when I get back," Dylan tells them. I can see a smile wanting to spread across his face. Not knowing this morning that I would eventually need a jacket, I pull my arms through my flannel and cover my head with it. Dylan and I dash out to Anthony's car and quickly slide inside. Dylan takes a look in the backseat after he shuts his door. "I'd give you a jacket of his, but it doesn't look like he has one." "It's fine. I'm not cold. I just feel like a wet dog." My flannel did nothing to protect me from the rain, so my hair is sticking to my face. I run my fingers through it to get it back to normal. Dylan starts driving towards the apartment and I find myself staring out the window and watching the traffic. "Your aunt seems pretty cool," Dylan says suddenly. "Yeah, she's great," I say. I have a feeling Dylan is wondering why I'm with my aunt and not my parents and I hope the conversation doesn't head in that direction. "How long are you staying with her?" he asks. And my instincts are right. "Until I move out, I guess." He stays quiet for a minute. "I'm not trying to be nosey, I promise." It might just be easier if I tell him the truth that way I don't have to dodge any more questions. "My parents died back in May. My aunt was the closest relative, so she took guardianship of me." The conversation takes an awkward turn for both of us when he doesn't say anything. I don't blame him for not knowing what to say. How do you respond to something like that? "You don't have to say you're sorry or anything. I've gotten enough of that since it happened." Hearing it from Dylan will probably drive me mad. "Fuck," he starts, "that has to be hard." I don't want anyone's pity, though I know that's hardly ever someone's intention. Talking about it will help, but sometimes I'd just rather not. It's different now with Dylan somehow. Part of me wants to tell him about my parents and how great they were, but the other part of me wants to shut down. "It is." It's hard to express how hard it really is, but I don't want others to know this pain. It's rough, it's not okay, and no one else should have to know how it feels to lose both parents. "I don't want to sound mean or anything, but can we talk about something else?" "Yeah, totally," he nods. "But listen, I know you have your friend to talk to and everything, and I know we haven't known each other long, but I just want to—you know I don't mind if you want to talk about it at some point." Dylan's softer side is coming out and I can't stop the smile from spreading on my face. "Thanks, Dylan. And thanks for inviting me tonight. I had a lot of fun." His mouth twists, like he wants to smile. "I'm glad you had fun. The guys can be a fucking trip sometimes." "I like them. Maybe I'll come to Raven's more often." I don't know if I actually will, but its nice to think about. "What makes you think I'm bringing you back?" he smirks as he asks. I decide to play along. "What makes you think I need to you to bring me?" He lets out a laugh. "Be my guest." "I don't need to be your guest, remember?" I say it just to be obnoxious and it makes him laugh louder, which makes me feel weirdly good. "Okay, okay. Just shut up," he laugh. "Does your friend ever get annoyed with you?" "Casey and I have been friends since elementary, of course she gets annoyed with me," I shrug. "That's the great thing about having her as a best friend. She's used to me already." When he doesn't say anything I ask, "What about you and the guys? How long have you all known each other?" He blows out a breath. "Well, Anthony I've known my whole life because we're cousins. We didn't meet Carlos and Reece until freshman year. When my brother formed his band, Jared would bring Reece around and we'd hang out. I think Carlos was Reece's friend in middle school so he hung out with us too." "Very exclusive." "It is. You have to go through initiation to get in," he winks at me. I let out a nervous laugh. "I don't think I want to know what the initiation is." The apartment complex comes into view and Dylan pulls in front of my building. "Thanks for driving me. I'll get out of your hair so you can catch the performance," I say. "Don't worry about it. I've seen plenty of their shows." The rain is steady outside the car. I take a deep breath and prepare myself to run. Hopefully I don't slip and fall and have Dylan laugh at me for it. "I'll see you tomorrow," I tell him as I put my flannel over my head again. Without falling, I manage to run up the stairs and get out of the rain. Dylan leaves in the car as I walk inside. Friday afternoon, all I can think about is the deadline to get a large portion of the newspaper done. I'm not in journalism yet, but it has been occupying my mind the whole day. Jacob had distracted me during class yesterday and instead of helping he decided he couldn't figure out how to format the articles with the photos. When the bell rings for fourth period, I quickly gather my things. Hopefully getting to journalism early will help so I can finish formatting the section couldn't finish. I didn't totally mind helping him, because I'm mostly a perfectionist and formatting makes me extra picky, but it set me behind. I sit at a computer as soon as I enter and log in. Mrs. Thomas walks over to me. "Everything okay?" she asks, sitting on the desk next to the computers. "I'm a little behind on formatting," I tell her. "Don't worry. Stay after school to finish if you need to." Hopefully I won't have to do that, but I'm grateful for her leniency. "Thank you so much."