At lunch, I run into Jacob on the way to the cafeteria. He's striding down the hallway like he's in a rush. We haven't talked much after the fiasco at the ice cream shop. After thinking over it, Jacob had no right to act the way he did. He isn't my boyfriend, and I don't need him to do things like that for me. Granted, Dylan overreacted too, but that is a whole other situation that needs to be dealt with. "Hey," Jacob says to me when we are close enough to each other. I need him to understand why it wasn't cool of him to fight Dylan. "We need to talk." "Why does it sound like you're breaking up with me?" he asks. The look on his face shows that he's joking, but only partly. I hope he doesn't think we're back together in any way. "That's exactly it," I huff. "You shouldn't have started anything with Dylan. We're not together, me and you." The frown on his face deepens. "I know we're not together—" "Do you?" I ask. "I can fight my own battles, you know. I don't need you to step in." "Well maybe I just wanted to make up for being an asshole to you," he says, clearly frustrated. Is he still trying to redeem himself? "You don't have to prove anything anymore, Jacob. Don't be an asshole now and we'll be okay." "You're just going to take Dylan's shit?" "Me and Dylan aren't even together," I find myself almost yelling it at him. "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." Jacob's eyes travel behind me and I turn to see who he is looking at. Dylan is standing by the cafeteria doors, watching me and Jacob and clearly trying to eavesdrop. I'm not sure how much he's heard, but I don't care. I meet Jacob's gaze again. "Look, I can handle things on my own," I say to him. "I appreciate your effort, but I got this." He nods. "Fine." He pushes himself off the wall and continues toward the cafeteria. When he's passing Dylan, they share a cold stare before Jacob walks through the doors. With Jacob, there is always fighting. It wasn't like that when we were together. I think we were lost in our own little bubble, and after we broke up reality set in. Seeing clearly only came when Dylan was around. My plan is to ignore Dylan and head into the cafeteria, but he speaks up as I'm about to pass him. "Don't tell me you two are back together." He sounds more annoyed than hurt, and that's like a knife to the heart. "We're not. Not that it's any of your business." His smirk, once flirty and casual, is menacing. He's looking to irritate me. "If you're waiting to settle with me, don't bother." "I'm not," I shoot back. His smug appearance only makes me angrier. He can dish it out, but I want to see if he can take it too. Two can play this game. "But I see you're settling nicely with Xavier. Didn't have the balls to stand up to him?" The smirk disappears and I know I got him. "I don't have to explain anything to you." Confident Lacey is finally making an appearance and it feels good. "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." "That why you were talking to him this morning? Trying to get into my cousins pants now, or what?" What he says only proves my point. It's laughable, but I almost let the words hurt me. I'll never be interested in Anthony. He's a great friend and that's it. "You're trying to make me into someone I'm not and I know it's because you know I'm right." Before he can say anything else, I say, "I'm not the enemy here, Dylan. I thought you'd be stronger than this." The words he said to me about Jacob are my only defense against him. I should be more upset by the person he's turning into, but I know the Dylan I care about is in there somewhere. He's suppressing him and I can tell by the look on his face when I say those words to him. He doesn't have me fooled. At the end of lunch, I text Kay and ask her if she wants to meet me at Raven's after school. She doesn't respond during class and I start to wonder if Anthony gave me the wrong number. Finally, after third period, she responds. 4:30. You're late and I'm leaving. A wave of relief washes over me and soon a nervous feeling sticks in my stomach. The last time I met with Kay she slapped me. Hopefully it will go better this time. After school, I race to the parking lot so I can beat everyone's questions, especially Anthony. He didn't look so happy about me talking to Kay, but I need to do it. Driving to Raven's only makes me more anxious. When I pull into the parking lot, Kay's red car is already parked. The time reads four twenty-eight. Two minutes to spare. I walk in and pray none of the boys will be here. It isn't the smartest idea to meet her at Raven's, but I don't know where else to go. It also isn't smart to go by myself, considering what happened last time. Kay is sitting at a table in the back. Her attention is focused on her phone. I slide into the seat in front of her, which brings her attention to me. Her hair is long and straight, framing her eyes that are almost black. "What do you want to talk about?" she asks immediately, setting her phone down. "Did you get Dylan back and want to throw it in my face?" Just like she did to me when they were dating? As appealing as that sounds, it won't happen. And that answers my first question. They aren't together anymore. "Dating Dylan shouldn't be a contest," I say to her. "And no, we're not together. He's with someone else." Her eyes turn to slits. "Someone else?" "Some blonde girl at school. I've seen them around lately," I say. She's trying to come off as cool, but I know it bothers her that he's with someone else already. "When he broke up with me, I figured he would go back to you." "I told him I didn't want him." "You're stupid," she lets out a dark laugh. "Who doesn't want Dylan Parker?"