"So, where are your parents?" I wonder out loud to him. They must be out of town or something. "My dad is a travel advisor, so he's usually gone. My brothers are visiting our grandparents." He doesn't say anything about his mom and it doesn't seem like he wants to so I don't push it further. I'm going to ask why he isn't with his brothers, but I decide against that too. "What are your brother's names again? I know you mentioned them on the first day." "Derrick and Ethan." "It must be nice to have brothers." He shrugs, suddenly seeming like he doesn't want to talk and I wonder if it has to do with me. Maybe I'm not exciting enough. I bite my lip, not knowing what to say next. It's becoming increasingly awkward and I don't know what to do or say. So I apologize. "I'm sorry if I'm boring you. You don't have to be out here with me." He frowns and shakes his head. "You're definitely not boring me." Still not an explanation as to why he's being quiet. I want to say something, anything, when Carlos calls Dylan's name. Him, Reece, and Anthony are standing by the pool again. Dylan seems to think for a moment before standing up. "C'mon." I'm not sure why he wants me around his friends so much, but I follow anyway. I hope I don't come across as a lost puppy. That's the last thing I want. "Dylan, we gotta talk to you. Alone," Carlos' eyes flicker to me then back to Dylan. I take that as my cue. "I'll go over—" "No, it's fine," Dylan interrupts me as he looks at Carlos. "We can talk about it tomorrow." I, for one, have no idea what's going on. They are all so serious and I feel like I'm intruding. I pull my phone out so I can call Casey. "Actually, I should go find Casey now." Right when I say her name, I hear her yelling for me from the glass door. I quickly look over and see her crying face. Her mascara is running down her cheeks as she cries. She almost loses her balance and I can tell she's wasted. "What's wrong?" I ask as I try to hold her up. "Ty-Tyler says he doesn't like me," her words slur. "I w-wanna go now." She's leaning too much on me and I'm losing my balance. She tries to cry on my shoulder, but she loses her footing and falls on me, but instead she falls to the floor and my foot goes over the edge of the pool. Before anyone could reach out to me, I fall into the cool water. I come up from underwater and I can hear people calling my name as I cough out the liquid from my lungs. My hair is covering my face and I try to move it so I can see where to swim to get out. My cheeks burn with embarrassment when I clear the hair from my face and see people watching me. I wipe my eyes knowing I've probably smudged my makeup, but I just want out of the pool. Of all people, Jacob is standing at the edge of the pool where the stairs are, calling out my name and holding his hand out to me. No one else is offering, so I swim over and stand up when it gets shallow enough. I take his hand and he helps me out. Dylan, the boys, and a very unstable Casey rush over. "Lacey, I'm so sorry," Casey cries harder. Jacob reaches out and pushes some hair out of my face and suddenly it feels like old times. "I have a hoodie in my truck. Do you want me to grab it?" His nice gesture almost has me fooled until I see Lauren not too far behind him and she's just staring at me. It's a look of pity. "We have some towels inside," Dylan offers. "They aren't hoodies, but you know." "A towel is fine," I say, not looking at Jacob. The one night I want to show that I'm having fun without him I end up embarrassing myself in front of him and Lauren. I just want to leave and not turn back. Dylan looks at the boys. "Watch Casey while I take her inside." I cross my arms and put my head down as I walk inside with Dylan. God, how embarrassing. It isn't like Casey pushed me on purpose, but it still happened in front of a lot of people, especially people like Jacob and Lauren. Dylan directs me to their laundry room, away from everyone. He opens a cabinet, pulls out two towels, and hands them to me. "Thanks," I tell him. I feel awkward and lame in front of him. Here I am, dripping wet from falling into his pool in front of everyone. Picking up a towel, I start to wipe my face. My eyes are stinging from the tears that want to come out. Jacob is still hanging around Lauren, even though he just told me he wants me to be in his life again? "You okay?" Dylan asks, interrupting my thoughts. Without looking at him I say, "I just want to go home now." My voice is quivering and I hate it. "I would offer for you to dry your clothes in the dryer, and offer some dirty jokes, but I don't think we're at that stage in our friendship," he says, trying to smile. It's a nice gesture, but I'm in the mood to just go home and sleep. Or just lose some more sleep over Jacob. "It's fine." "Is it Mr. Soccer Player that's bothering you?" he asks. I take a deep breath and wipe down my arms and legs. "I really don't want to talk about it." "Fine," he says as he crosses his arms and leans against the washer behind him. When I look at him after wiping my legs, I notice his eyes are lingering too long on my butt. Anger builds up inside me and I throw the towel at him. "Keep your eyes to yourself, asshole." He visibly tries not to laugh, but it comes out as a full-on belly laugh. "Sorry, sorry," he holds up his hands. My anger get the best of me and I reach out and punch his shoulder. "Stop laughing." "Okay, sorry," he chuckles and covers his mouth. "I couldn't help it." I roll my eyes and turn to walk out of the room. His hand clasps around my arm and spins me around. We're closer than I want and I take a step back. His eyes flicker to my lips and I feel my cheeks getting warm. He lets go of my arm. "I'm sorry. That was the wrong moment to check you out." "And any other moment is fine?" He's unbelievable. He holds his hands up again and smirks. "I stare at the back of your head for an entire class period. I need something else to stare at." I scoff. "I need to go now." Casey is sitting with Reece, Carlos, and Anthony. She isn't crying anymore, but her makeup is a mess. I walk over to her and she stands up. "Let's get out of here," I say. I thank the boys for watching her and we start to head inside. Dylan comes up to us at the glass door and gives me a half smile. "Sorry about tonight." "Don't worry about it," I tell him. "I'll see you on Monday." We walk around him and go through the house. There's no sign of Jacob or Tyler, which is perfect. I get Casey into the car and drive back to her house, but when I get there, I decide I need time alone. I put her to bed and I gather my things and leave. With my windows rolled down, I feel the cool midnight air hitting my face as I drive home.