"I need you back with me, Lace, and judging by that kiss earlier you want that too." His hand presses against my cheek and his thumb traces over my lips. I'm breathing heavily before his lips connect with mine. I almost push him away, fearing that my morals will be shot to hell, but the way his lips move with mine reminds me of every kiss we had during our relationship. His hands slide down to my waist, pinning me to the wall, and my hands instinctively wrap around his neck. I'm taken back to the old days of us and I can't be bothered. Screw it. Our mouths move in sync like nothing has changed. His hands lift my shirt a bit and brush the exposed skin. They slide down further to my thighs and he picks me up effortlessly. My heart is going crazy in my chest as his mouth leaves mine and trails kisses down my jawline. He nuzzles into the soft spot in the crook of my neck and slowly sucks on the skin. I let out another moan just as my phone buzzes in my back pocket. The buzzing scares me and I hastily let go of Jacob and he allows my feet to touch the ground again. We are both breathing heavily as I reach behind me to grab my phone. "Hello?" I answer breathlessly without looking to see who it is. "Where are you?" Casey asks. I gulp, trying to catch my breath. "Um, walking down the hall. Why?" "Are you okay? You sound like you've been running around," she says. "I'm fine." She sighs. "Well, at least you're not dead. I'm at the table alone and Dylan and his friends came over. Dylan asked where you are, but I told him I don't know. He left a while ago to go look for you." Oh no. "I'll be there in a sec," I tell her then hang up. "Sorry," Jacob quickly says. "I can't help myself." "It's fine," I tell him, reaching out and finding my bag. I don't know if it's fine. I don't know what's fine anymore. I swing the door open and walk out. As I step out into the hallway, I see Dylan coming in my direction. He gives me a small smile as he approaches me. "There you are. Casey is convinced you got kidnapped." I try to laugh. "Not kidnapped. I was—" A door closes behind me and dread washes over me. I can't help but turn around to look at Jacob, who's exiting the room we were in as he fixes his jacket. His hair is disheveled and his lips look swollen. I cringe when I think about what I look like. Dylan is glaring at Jacob as he walks in the opposite direction. Then he locks eyes with me. They widen a little before going back to normal. "Did you even realize he left a hickey on your neck?" His words cut into me and I instinctively cover my neck. Rolling his eyes he says, "It's on the other side." "It's not what it looks like." I hate the way those words come out of my mouth. It is as bad as it looks and I want to kick myself for using such a shitty line with Dylan. "You're telling me you didn't just make out with your douchebag ex?" he asks as he crosses his arms. The disappointment on his face kills me. "Please don't tell Casey," I practically beg. She would murder me if she found out. "Things are really confusing for me right now." He scoffs. "You obviously know what you want." "You're the one who put it in my head," I shoot back. "You're the one who told me to get back together with him." "Don't put the blame on me. I only told you what you wanted to hear." The expression on his face scares me as he takes a step closer. "Why do you still want him anyway? He doesn't care about you, Lace. He made that pretty clear by cheating on you." The words are coming at me from all directions and they're stinging as they hit hard. In my mind I can only see the disappointment on my mom's face. She'd be less than happy with me for what I've done with Jacob in the past two days. "He's feeding you lies and you're buying into all of his bullshit," Dylan's voice brings me back to reality. What does he want from me? He tells me he'll help me get over Jacob, then he turns around and says I'm miserable without him. "You're not helping me like you said you would, Dylan. If anything, you've made things even more confusing for me. Maybe I should've never asked for you help." "Maybe you shouldn't have," he says, raising his voice. There's hurt in it, and that stings more than anything else. "But God forbid I care about you, Lace. You know, if it's really that impossible for you to get over him, then go crawling back to him. He's going to treat you like shit again, and I don't want to stand by and watch it happen." "You don't understand," my voice cracks. I try to calm myself, but my eyes are stinging. Why am I getting so upset? "I guess I don't," he holds his hands up. He almost walks away, but he stops. "When I told you to go back to him, I wanted you to realize how shitty he actually is. But you did the exact opposite." He shakes his head, almost in disbelief. "Thought you would be stronger than this." And just like that, he's striding down the hallway while I try to b the tears away. ~ Lunch with Casey on Thursday is slow. I love Casey, but there are some days where I want to eat alone. I can't tell her about the incident with Jacob, which means I can't give her all the details why Dylan isn't speaking to me. "I just think my dad is overreacting," she continues her story. "Right," I nod, even though I have no idea what she's been talking about. She gives me a deadpan look. "Are you even listening?" I'm caught. "I'm sorry, Case. I just have a lot on my mind right now." Instead of going into it I say, "What were you saying?" "My dad thinks Carlos is my boyfriend and that we're trying to sneak around behind their backs," she rolls her eyes. "I mean, can you even imagine me and Carlos dating?" I had that impression at homecoming, but I wonder if there really isn't anything going on. "No way," I say, almost too sarcastically.