Exploiting Realities

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO - THE WORST DAY EVER

Dillon turned to Lorelai. "If I find out that she broke up with me because of that asshole," he told her, "I'm gonna kill 'im." He turned to me. "Ya hear that Bovino? You better watch your back!" With that, he grabbed his stuff and started sprinting towards his house, leaving me with Lorelai.

I let his words sink in. Wait...had I missed something? Aria broke up with him? What? I was so lost.

"They...they broke up?" I said blankly.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," she said, "you didn't know?"

I shook my head. "I had no idea."

She shrugged. "It was just a few days ago," she said, leaning down and picking up a handful of snow. "Here," she instructed, "put this on you eye."

I did as she told me. The cold snow felt good on my face. I hadn't really noticed how much I actually hurt until just then. Dillon was far worse, though. I was kicking his ass. I picked up my bags and Lorelai and I started walking home.

"So do you care to explain what that little exchange was about?" she asked me.

"He, uh, he threw a snowball at me and then he got all in my face and started telling me to stay away from Aria because she didn't need me screwing with her mind. Then I told him that he was the one screwing with her mind because he was kissing her friends behind her back. Then he told me not to tell Aria about it, and I told him that she was the one who told me and that maybe he was the one that was bad for her. Then he punched me, and you know what happened from there."

"Man," she sighed, "that breakup's been really hard on him."

"Are you pitying him?" I asked her, appalled.

She shrugged. "Well, I mean, just think about it! I feel so bad for him. He lost his girlfriend of two whole years..."

"Because he was a douchebag and cheated on her," I finished.

"Well, that's one way of looking at it," she said, not completely agreeing with me.

"It's the only way that I'm looking at it," i told her. "He deserved what he got. He's a dick."

She nodded. "That he is."

We walked a while in silence. I couldn't believe that Aria and Dillon had broken up...and that Aria hadn't said anything to me about it! Why would she try and keep something like this from me? I glanced down at my watch. It was just past 3:00. Mr. and Mrs. Richter didn't get home from work until at least 5:00. I could easily talk to Aria about it without risk of anyone overhearing anything.

"I'm going to stop in at Aria's," I told Lorelai when we reached our houses.

"Uh, do you think that's such a good idea?" she asked me, motioning towards my eye. "You look like you were sent through a garbage disposal and got spit back up."