One thing that irritates me is her constant advice-seeking from Anthony. He's always the person she goes to and I try not to feel jealous. I push it to the back of my mind until lunch. I run into Anthony in the hallway and I pull him aside. "What's up?" he asks like everything is fine. "What did Lacey want this morning?" He smirks, which bothers me. "Is Zoey not interesting enough to keep you busy?" "Just tell me." The need in my voice is obvious, and I hate it. I don't want to sound hung up on her, but dammit, it's hard. He shakes his head. "No can do. You told me not to bring her up in any conversation, and I'm keeping my word." Shit. I forgot I told him that after Reece's birthday trip. "Anthony, c'mon." "The pizza in the cafeteria is calling my name, so I'm gonna go," he says, pushing past me and heading down the hall. I let out a frustrated sigh and throw my head back onto the wall behind me. Why can't anything go my way? My stomach growls and I figure Zoey is probably in the cafeteria already. Anthony doesn't really like her, so he usually doesn't eat with us. She's not Lacey, so of course he doesn't like her. On my way to the cafeteria, I notice Lacey's figure standing near the doors. I go to avoid her until I see her talking to Jacob animatedly with her hands going all over the place, as if to emphasize something. I creep near enough so I can hear what they're talking about. Jacob is clearly mad, as he says, "You're just going to take Dylan's shit?" I scoff. My shit is nothing compared to his. "Me and Dylan aren't even together," she says loudly. "What he does is his business. If he wants to rub it in my face, then I'm going to have to put on my big girl panties and get over it. I did enough moping over you, and I don't want to mope over him." She's definitely picked up on the fact that I want to show her how much I'm trying to move on. She says she needs to get over it, which means that she's still trying to move on. It also confirms that she's serious about moving on from me. I don't like the sound of that. Then I feel eyes on me. I stare at Jacob before Lacey turns and meets my eyes. She quickly turns back to Jacob and says, "Look, I can handle things on my own. I appreciate your effort, but I got this." Jacob gets the hint from her and walks in my direction. For a second, I think he's ready to really fight, but he only glares at me before going into the cafeteria. The way they talk to each other sounds as if they're together again. I wonder if that's why she doesn't want to be with me anymore. Is she in denial and still hung up on him? She obviously tries to avoid me, but I can't let that happen. I say, "Don't tell me you two are back together." If they are back together, I really need to move on. "We're not," she says crossing her arms. "Not that it's any of your business." She's trying really hard to appear like she doesn't care. Like she said, she's putting on her big girl panties. To piss her off I say, "If you're waiting to settle with me, don't bother." "I'm not." Messing with her reminds me of the first time I met her. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed her around school. Probably because she was with Jacob at the time and I tend not to go after girls in relationships. Having English with her, I couldn't help but like her. I was surprised by how much she interested me, even as I was messing around with Kay. "But I see you're settling nicely with Xavier. Didn't have the balls to stand up to him?" That snaps me out of my thoughts. "I don't have to explain anything to you," I say automatically. That's pretty bold for Lacey. It sorta throws me off. "You do realize he drove everyone away, right? Anthony is going to duck out just like everyone else and all you're going to have left is Xavier." She's treading in dangerous territory. I need to get Xavier off her mind. "That why you were talking to him this morning? Trying to get into my cousins pants now, or what?" It's crossed my mind that she could be interested in Anthony, or even Derrick. I didn't like how close she seemed to get to them, but I didn't dive deeper into those thoughts. No matter how much my mind wanted to trick me into thinking she'd ever date either of them, I know in my heart she wouldn't. As soon as those words escape my mouth, I regret saying them. Her face changes and I can tell I touched a nerve. "You're trying to make me into someone I'm not and I know it's because you know I'm right." Admitting it is the last thing I'll do. "I'm not the enemy here, Dylan. I thought you'd be stronger than this," she says, equaling a slap to the face. She pushes past me and walks into the cafeteria. Using my own words against me is one thing. Calling me out on the bullshit that comes out of my mouth is another thing. The fact that I couldn't come up with something to say back kills me. Even though it seems like I hurt her, she know I'm only trying to deflect the truth. And hurting her makes me feel like shit. As much as I want to move on, it's going to be hard getting away from her. If I can't move on, and I can't get her back, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm not sure if I'm losing my touch, or if I'm falling more in love with her.