"What about you Mr. Parker? Is something wrong?" She uses the same tone with him. "I don't know Mrs. Beattie. She just turned around and yelled at me," he says, trying to sound innocent. My jaw drops. There's no way he's pinning this on me. I sit up straight and try to explain myself. "He kept kicking my seat, which prevented me from concentrating, so I told him to stop." She narrows her eyes at me. "You could have ignored him." Before I can stop myself, I roll my eyes. "That would've worked well," I say sarcastically. There's a few snickers around me and I know I'm in trouble. "Way to go," Dylan's amused voice says behind me. "Ms. Reyes and Mr. Parker, may I see you out in the hallway?" Mrs. Beatie asks, standing up. More snickers follow as I stand up and follow Mrs. Beattie with Dylan right behind me. We step outside of the classroom and Mrs. Beattie shuts the door. She's clearly irritated and I know I'm in for it. "For disturbing my class, I'm giving you both detention today after school," she says, crossing her arms. Detention? "But Mrs. Beatt—" She holds up her hand and I stop. "No buts. For the remainder of class, I want you to sit out here. I advise you not to interrupt my class again." With that said, she goes back into the classroom. I glare at Dylan as soon as she's gone. He holds his hands up in defense. "Don't look at me." "You were the one shaking my desk," I point at him. "And I got detention." "Maybe you shouldn't give our teacher attitude," he shrugs before leaning against the wall. "What's your problem?" I demand. "I was just sitting there. You're the one who flipped your shit in front of everyone," he says, glancing down the hallway instead of looking at me. "You're impossible, you know that?" I ask him, putting my hands on my hips. "I've never had detention before." My aunt won't be too upset, but I hate knowing that it's Dylan's fault that I've ended up in this situation. Casey's voice echoes in my ears and I know I shouldn't blame him. I probably could've ignored him, but I let my anger get the best of me. "There's a first time for everything," he says. There is. This is the first time I've dug myself in such a deep hole that I don't know what to do. This is also the first time I can't talk to my mom about anything that's going on. I can't believe I've dug myself into such a deep grave that even Dylan doesn't want anything to do with me. A friendship I didn't think I would ever be a part of is now on the rocks when I don't want it to be. "What, no lame comeback?" Dylan asks me. Defeated, I lean against the wall and sink to the ground. "Can you sit for a second?" I ask. I need to apologize to him. For what, I'm not sure. He hesitates, but sits next to me. I can feel the warmth coming from his arm even though it's barely touching mine. Dylan and I have never been this close. "I'm sorry," I shake my head. "I shouldn't have kissed Jacob. When we talked about him, I let myself remember old memories with him and it got to me." I realize I haven't told him about Carlos catching me kissing Jacob, and I don't want him to hear it from Carlos. "I kissed Jacob twice the other day. I know you don't want to hear all the mushy stuff, but I miss him. I miss having someone around and when I talk to him, I can't stop myself. He pulled me into that room and it made things even worse." Dylan doesn't say anything. He is eerily silent and I make sure he hasn't fallen asleep or checked out. But he's staring at the ground. "This might be too personal and you don't have to answer, but have you ever been in a long relationship?" I ask for the hell of it. If he has, then he can try to relate to my situation. If not, then I don't know how to make him understand where I'm coming from. I don't expect him to answer, but he does. "No, I haven't." "What about wanting a person that know you shouldn't want? Has that ever happened to you?" Wanting Jacob is one thing. Wanting him knowing he'll hurt me again is another thing. Dylan stretches his legs out and picks his head up so he's looking straight ahead. "I guess so." "I know he would hurt me again if we got back together. I just don't know why he cheated in the first place, you know. And I still don't. Was I not good enough for him?" Not being enough for him kills me. What else could I have done to keep him happy? Dylan faces me instantly. "It isn't your fault he's a piece of shit. You just realized it too late." He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "I don't think we should talk about him. Once he's in your head, you're off dreaming about what could have happened if he didn't cheat." He's right, but I'm afraid of what will happen if we go back to plan A. What if no plan works? "Listen," he says. "Let's get through detention today and later on I'll take you to someone who I think will help." Who else can possibly try to help me? I'm a lost cause. "Who?" "It'll be a surprise," he says, letting a small smile peek through. "If he can't help you, then you're hopeless." My heart warms when I see his smile and I can't help but nudge his shoulder. "Thanks," I say sarcastically. "Are we friends again?" He rolls his eyes, but grins anyway. "I don't think we stopped being friends." Detention is torture. Especially since Mrs. Beattie doesn't let us have our phones or talk to other people. It's hard to grasp the concept of detention. The clock on the wall behind her reads four-thirty when she tears her gaze away from her computer and says, "Mr. Parker, you're free to go." I frown. Why is he being let go earlier than me? "What about Lacey?" he asks from his desk, which is five seats in front of mine.