"Well, he's here." His mouth forms an 'o' and he peeks around. "Is he out here?" Before I can respond, I hear my name. "Lacey?" Jacob's voice rings in my ears and I'm dreading facing at him. I finally turn my body and force myself to look at him. There's no sign of Lauren around him. "Jacob," I acknowledge him. I angle myself so I'm not facing him anymore and I pray he'll go away. "I didn't know you were going to be here. This isn't your scene," Jacob says, getting closer and looking me up and down. I used to love how he looked at me. "I invited her," Dylan interjects. He gives me a knowing look to play along. Jacob's face changes immediately. Dylan grins at him and puts his arm around me suddenly. "I thought Lacey could use a night out." Jacob had already questioned me about Dylan so Dylan's little lie will only add fuel to the fire. Why Jacob even cares about what I do bothers me. If he's still hanging around Lauren, there's no need for him to bother me. "Guess some things have changed in the past couple months, huh?" Jacob asks me. "Clearly not you and Lauren," I say without thinking. He opens his mouth, but I'm on a roll. "If you don't mind, we'd like to get back to Dylan's party." Jacob doesn't have time to say anything because Dylan, with his arm still around me, steers us away from him. We end up inside again. When I feel we've walked far enough away, I pull myself from Dylan's grip and take a deep breath. "I think you handled that well. Mr. Soccer Player wasn't expecting that," Dylan says as he holds up his hand. "High five." I give him a high five and let out a sigh. "Thanks. You didn't have to do that." "You can pay me back later." "I didn't know I had to pay for your services," I laugh. It sounds a little flirty and I want to hit myself. "Oh, sweetheart, these services never come for free," he winks, causing me to blush. When I don't say anything, he spoke up. "Actually, I know how you can pay me back." Uh oh. "How?" "Next Wednesday, I want to take you somewhere with me. Not a date or some shit, but just to hang out," he says. "The boys'll be there too, but I'll keep them in check." "Where do you want to go?" I ask curiously. The thought of hanging out with Dylan outside of school makes me a little giddy. I only calm myself when I think about other girls he must have taken places. Even if there is something to look forward to with Dylan, I don't think I'm ready to be in another relationship anyway. If Jacob still affects me the way he has, then it's going to be a long process. "It'll be a surprise, if you trust me enough." Dylan's voice breaks my string of thoughts. I stare at him and contemplate what he says. Dylan hasn't given me a reason not to trust him. A relationship with Dylan is out of the question, but this is a new year. I need to do something different. "I trust you." He grins. "Great." "There you are, Lacey," I hear Casey's voice. She's walking up to me and I see her look suspiciously between me and Dylan. He turns to me and says, "I'll be over here." Casey and I watch him walk off and she looks at me expectantly. "What?" I ask her. "What's up with you two?" I can tell she's trying to hide her smile. I can also tell she has been drinking a little more by that lazy smile. I shrug. "Nothing is up. Where's Tyler?" "I told him I was coming to look for you. He's playing beer pong right now," she says. "Have you run into Jacob?" "Yup. Dylan helped me handle him, strangely enough." I know she isn't going to let me off the hook about Dylan. I have to make it clear that there isn't, and never would be, a thing between us. She smiles. "Well, Dylan just sounds like a swell guy." I ignore her comment and pull out my phone. It's just past eleven. "What time are you wanting to leave?" I ask her. She looks in Tyler's direction. "Um..." I sense that she doesn't want to leave right away. "Listen, just find me when you want to go. I'll be around." Her arms are around me and she squeezes me in a tight hug. "Thank you," she says. She walks off back towards Tyler. I wave and Dylan steps in front of me, almost like he's been waiting for Casey to leave. "You want a drink? I'll let you try my specialty." Specialty? "I'm nervous to see what your specialty actually is." He laughs. "Follow me," he tilts his head. We go into the kitchen and he pulls out an unlabeled jar from the cabinet under the sink. "That doesn't look sketchy at all," I say. The liquid is a light brown, so it could be anything. He opens the top and takes a long sip. When he finishes, he wipes his mouth and holds it out to me. "Try it." "What's in it?" "I can't tell you," he chuckles. "It's a secret recipe." "Yeah, okay, Mr. Krabs." He laughs again, clearly getting my reference, but I shake my head. Rolling his eyes, he tries to hand it to me again. "Smell it at least." I'm skeptical, but I grasp it and take a whiff. "It smells like tea." He shrugs. "Guess you'll never know what it is." It doesn't smell too strong, so I decide to take a sip. The liquid slides down my throat easily and I'm surprised at how well it tastes. "That's definitely something with tea." "It's my secret." He closes the jar and puts it back in its original spot. He suddenly reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. Frowning at the screen, he puts it back in his pocket. He runs a hand through his hair and blows out a puff of air. "Let's go outside again." We walk back to the patio chairs I was sitting in earlier. Dylan seems stressed about something, but I don't ask about it. I hope Casey doesn't want to leave soon. I'm actually having fun with the help of Dylan. I wonder if he throws parties often.