It isn't fair. I gave Jacob everything I had to offer and he crushed it all to hell once he decided to hurt me. I was ready to move along in our relationship and have the best senior year with him full of new adventures. Now I'm trying to get him out of my head and out of my life. Trying to completely get over him is harder than I thought. Not seeing him over the summer made it easier not to think about him, but in school it's damn near impossible. I can't even avoid him at parties. Seeing him with Lauren was gut-wrenching. I thought he would at least feel guilty about cheating, but it doesn't seem like it. The person who used to make me laugh and smile the most is now the person I dread seeing. Part of me wishes I could move past the cheating and be with him again, but the other part of me knows he would cheat again down the road somewhere. It's like an endless cycle of hurt, no matter which path I choose life is viciously laughing at me. I wish my mom was here so I can talk to her about everything. She was the one person I could talk to about anything, besides Casey. I know I can talk to my aunt Jade, but it isn't the same. I hate to think it, but she isn't my mom. I need my mom's advice and no one else's. Monday morning, it's like the weight that had been lifted off my shoulders is back on and is substantially crushing my will to do anything. I don't want to sit in class with people I don't want to be around anymore, and I don't want to study things that I have no interest in. School is getting tedious and I just want to get the hell out of here. For lunch, Casey tells me she has to talk to one of her teachers about a paper. I want to have lunch by myself anyway, so I'm not upset over it. While walking to the parking lot, I notice Dylan walking near me. Our gazes catch and he starts making his way towards me. "We're seeing a lot of each other lately," he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I nod, agreeing. I feel bad, but I'm not in the mood for people today. My car isn't too far away so I hope I can escape soon. He gives me a strange look. "You don't look as chipper as you usually do." I usually look chipper to Dylan? "It's been a long day." It's been a long few months, but I don't want to get into it. "Hmm," he muses as he taps his chin. "You know what cures a long day?" "What?" "Ice cream." "It's lunch though." He stops walking and stares at me like I've just grown a third eye. "Don't tell me you're one of those people who only eats ice cream for dessert." I laugh at his response. He must be serious about ice cream. "Because it is dessert." He scoffs, seeming offended. "Well, that's a habit we have to break." He starts walking again. "C'mon." What is he planning? "Where?" "You know, you'll live a much happier life if you stop asking questions," he smirks. "We're having lunch together. Now let's go before we run out of time." Half of my instincts are telling me not to go, but the other half are saying yes. I want to say no, but I remember what I told myself and Casey before the first day. This is the year of confident Lacey. I know if I eat by myself, I'll get too much in my head and it won't be good. I follow Dylan and he approaches an older, black motorcycle. My eyes widen, realizing this is our mode of transportation if I don't speak up. "No way. There's no way I'm getting on that thing. I'm driving." "I'm selling it in a couple days. I have to spend as much time with it before I say goodbye," he says, handing me a helmet. "Look, you even get your own helmet." Confident Lacey. I need to be confident Lacey. I force myself to take the helmet and hook it on around my chin. I probably look ridiculous, but Dylan gives me what I think is an assuring smile. He hops on the bike with ease and starts it up. "C'mon." I hesitantly swing my leg over and sit behind him, feeling awkward and not knowing where to put my arms and legs. "You'll have to put your arms around me, you know." His smirk almost makes me not put my arms around him, but when the motorcycle jerks forward, I do it out of instinct. He laughs at me as we drive off campus. He weaves between cars and speeds up at yellow lights instead of slowing down. There's only one moment where I don't find myself dying from anxiety. We pass by the bank where my dad worked and for a split second I feel like I'm flying. My heart rate calms down once we pull into the parking lot of a local ice cream shop. I'd driven past the shop numerous times, but have never actually been inside. Dylan parks and I unhook the helmet. My legs are shaking slightly when I step off the bike and I laugh at myself. "You're a terrible driver," I tell him. He appears unbothered, only shrugging while flashing his usual smile. "I highly doubt you're a better driver than me." We walk to the front and Dylan holds the door open for me. Upon entering, I see the front counter has endless tubs of ice cream in different flavors. I told Dylan ice cream was only for dessert, but my mouth starts watering when I see how many flavors there are. "Which one are you getting?" I ask him. "I usually get cookies and cream." Cookies and cream isn't my favorite, so that's a no. I glance over the tubs and my eyes immediately stuck on the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Once Dylan orders his cone, I order mine in a cup. We then find a spot at a small table and I dig into my ice cream. "I knew you couldn't resist ice cream," Dylan laughs at me. "You're right," I say, laughing along with him. The ice cream is definitely lifting my spirits. "Thanks for bringing me here." "No problem. You looked like you have a case of the Monday blues." It isn't actually the Monday blues, but I don't want to get into it. It's too much to explain and there's not enough time to talk about it all. Besides, I don't want to dump my life story on Dylan yet. Who knows if we'll even get to that point. We might stop talking for whatever reason in class and we'll go on with our semesters as strangers. It's weird not knowing what will happen, if hanging out with him will turn out to be a regular thing or not. I'll admit it is weird talking to him in the first place. I had no idea I'd be getting ice cream with Dylan Parker last year. "Yeah, the Monday blues," I agree anyway. "What about you? No lunch plans with your friends?" "They skipped class and went for an early lunch." "They didn't invite you?" "Oh, they did. I just didn't feel like skipping," he says as he takes another bite off his cone. "I save my skip days for when it's necessary." I don't think I'll ever skip a class. There's too much work to be done to skip. "When is it necessary to skip?" He squints his eyes at me, but teasingly. "Are you judging me? I thought you were better than that." "I genuinely want to know when a necessary time to skip is," I say, covering my mouth while I laugh. "Maybe you'll figure that out by the end of the semester," he muses. "Oh, and can you tell your ex not to stare me down in the hallway unless he wants to get punched?"