We sit with Casey and Lauren. Lauren starts to talk about this guy and how he's supposed to be different and nice. "I honestly think he just wants to get in my pants," she says. "That's all guys care about," Casey slams her hand on the table. "Not our feelings or anything. They just want sex." Jacob clears his throat. "That's not true." "Sorry, Jacob, but I don't think you have a say in this conversation," Lauren tells him, digging deeper into her ice cream. She isn't wrong, but I keep my mouth shut. I tell myself not to argue with Jacob over the past anymore. It isn't worth it, especially if I want to move on. Plus, it's exhausting at this point. "Oh, shit," Casey says suddenly. We follow her eyes to the door, where Dylan is walking in with the blonde girl. It's like déjà vu. I instantly recall the day Casey and I had seen Jacob for the first time after I broke up with him and had tried to avoid him like the plague. Dylan has his hand on the small of her back and he whispers something in her ear that makes her giggle. The memory of him taking me to the ice cream shop to cure my Monday blues flashes in my mind. Maybe this is the usual place for him to bring girls and I feel stupid for thinking things would ever work out with him. I should've known better. "It's fine," I say, even though it isn't. "What an asshole," Casey says then she tilts her head. "What about Kay?" "Just forget it and ignore him, please," I beg them. If I try to leave now, it'll show weakness. I need to show Dylan that it doesn't bother me. I can't help but steal another glance at them. Dylan is smiling at her until his eyes travel to me. His smile drops and I look away before the hurt becomes unbearable. It was bad enough to go through the whole ordeal with Jacob. It's worse seeing Dylan move on to someone else when I thought there could be a chance. Casey, Lauren, and Jacob do as I ask and don't bring him up again, though the conversations are awkward and forced after that. When it gets late, we decide to leave. I walk behind everyone and with my luck, we have to walk past Dylan's table to get to the door. Jacob walks too close to their table, and he ends up kicking Dylan's chair quite purposely. Dylan has a deadly look on his face. "What the fuck?" he says, standing up and getting in Jacob's face. Jacob holds up his hands, but smirks probably because he got a reaction out of Dylan. "It was an accident, dude. Chill." It was no accident. Things will only go downhill from here, so I step between them and push Jacob away. "Let's go," I say to him. He stares Dylan down, before nodding. "Fine." We're about to leave when Dylan mutters something that sounds like "Bitch," which makes Jacob lunge at him. They fall to the ground, knocking over some chairs. Jacob ends up on top of Dylan, his arms swinging back and forth at him. I frantically look at the blonde girl, who gives me a panicked but confused expression. She has no idea what the hell is going on. Casey is yelling at Dylan and Lauren is yelling at Jacob, making the scene more chaotic. When the boys got to their feet, I launch myself between them again, with my back against Jacob and my eyes on Dylan. He's staring at me with the most unreadable expression and I hate it. "Get the hell out of my store, all of you, before I call the police" the manager yells at us. Once we're outside, I shove Jacob who has a bruise forming on his jaw. "I told you to leave it alone, dammit." "I'm trying to do the right thing," he motions to Dylan, still frustrated and flustered. "Come get your ass kicked then," Dylan shouts at him. He has a bruise on his cheek already. I'm not sure where the rage from Dylan is coming from, but I'm annoyed by it. He isn't like this. This isn't Dylan. "Will you stop?" I snap at him. "I don't know what your problem is, but this is not you." He smirks. "Hanging out with Xavier does that to you." Dylan's been hanging around Xavier? His smirks say it all. It's like the funny, sweet, caring Dylan I knew is gone. His eyes aren't warm anymore. He wraps his arm around the blonde and waves before walking off into the dark parking lot. It's a lot to process. Dylan has followed the saying 'if you can't beat them, join them.' I wonder if that's why he isn't with Kay anymore. Or more importantly, who broke up with who? I know it's a horrible idea, but I need to talk to Kay. She probably won't tell me the whole story, but I can try to get it out of her. The issue is getting in touch with her. Monday morning, I drive myself to school. I hope I'll catch the right person to put me in touch with Kay. When I park, I see Anthony's car sitting in the lot with him in it. I pull my scarf tighter around my neck and get out of my car. He sees me through the windshield and rolls his window down. "Long time no see," he says. His eyes seem sunken into his face somehow, like he's aged a lot in the past month. "What's up?" "I need a favor." "Jump in," he says, motioning to the passenger's side. I run over and hop in with him to find the car nicely warmed. "Your favors often have something to do with Dylan," he gives me a deadpan look. I bite my lip. "Please?" "What is it?" "I just need to get in touch with Kay." He frowns. "Why?" "I need to talk to her." "I don't know, Lacey," he shakes his head. "I thought you are done with all of this." He has a point. I told him over the break that I didn't think it was worth trying with Dylan. He was upset, but he understood where I was coming from. Part of me wants to stay as far away as possible from this and move on, but there's another part of me that wants to keep checking in on Dylan. Seeing him Friday night only makes that part much more relevant. He's not himself anymore. "I am," I say. "I want to ask her something. It's harmless." Knowing Anthony he won't give me a way to contact Kay. It was worth a shot though. "Fine," he says to my surprise. He pulls out his phone and proceeds to write a number down on a ripped piece of paper. "This is her number." At the same time he's handing me the paper, Dylan pulls into the spot next to him. I grab the paper and say, "Thanks, Anthony. Please, don't tell Dylan." After he nods, I jump out of the car and stalk off towards the main building. The piece of paper feels like it's burning in my hand and I'm itching to call her already.