The drive to Dylan's apartment was not nearly long enough to pull myself back together, so I sat in the parking lot of the apartment complex, mopping at my wet cheeks and trying to straighten up my haggard appearance. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he had hurt me.
When I was at least a little more composed, I snatched a scrap of paper and pen from the center console, scrawling across the top:
Reasons why Dylan Olsen is the Absolute Worst:
1. He is dating Avery, even though he knows how awful she is to me.
2. He doesn't stand up for me when Avery is mean, even though he's supposed to be my best friend.
3. He sent Ben a picture of me and Will together to make Ben jealous, resulting in Ben breaking up with me.
4. He doesn't take me seriously when I talk to him. Whenever I open up to him, he says I'm being over dramatic.
5. His infuriating smirk and cocky charm whenever I try to confront him. The smug jerkface thinks I can't possibly stay mad at him.
6. He thinks that I'm secretly in love with him, even though all we've ever been is friends.
7. He stubbornly refuses to call me Lilly. I've never thought about it before, but it's weird that he calls me Faye, right?
8. He is shallow and blinded by attractive, mean girls like Avery.
9. He's dating Avery. Okay, I've already said that, but it's so terrible it merits being listed twice.
10. He promised my dad that he would look out for me. He lied.
With my list completed, I'd managed to push past my sorrow over my breakup with Ben, at least for now, and had summoned more rage for Dylan than I'd ever felt for a person in my entire life. I wasn't the kind of girl who got angry very often, but I wanted to punch Dylan in his smug, handsome face for getting Ben to break up with me. It might not fix my relationship with Ben, but it sure would make me feel a little better.
Actually, if Avery was there, I'd punch her too, just for the heck of it. Violence might not solve my problems, but words weren't doing such a great job right now either.
I got out of my car, slamming the door with more force than was strictly necessary and stomping up the stairs to Dylan's second floor apartment. I stood in front of his door and pounded, loudly.
A few minutes later, Dylan opened the door, looking confused. "Lilly?" he asked, holding the door half-shut so I couldn't step into his apartment. "What are you doing here."
"We need to talk," I said, my voice cold as ice as I repeated the very words that Ben had said to me earlier that day. The very same words Dylan had caused Ben to say.
"What's going on?" Dylan asked, glancing into the apartment behind him before stepping out into the hallway and pulling the door shut behind him.
"Unbelievable," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "She's in there with you right now, isn't she? But then, why should that surprise me? You and Avery are practically conjoined at the hip these days."
"Lilly, what's going on with you?" Dylan asked. "You're acting like a crazy person."
My eyes flashed wildly as I barked out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh I'm acting like a crazy person?" I snapped. "You are dating the craziest chick in the universe, but I come over here to talk to you, and now suddenly, I'm the crazy one?"
Dylan's eyes widened, and he held up his hands in an attempt to placate me. Well, it wasn't going to work. Not this time.
"How could you?" I asked. "Are you happy yet? You made Ben break up with me, and you're flaunting Avery in my face at every turn. Are you having a good laugh at my expense? Oh, poor, trusting Lilly, she isn't ready to grow up yet. She's so immature. Look at her, clinging to all of her old high school friends and acting pitiful because she doesn't want to go to parties every night. Well, news flash, Dylan, I don't need you. In fact, I don't even like you right now. You are so not the guy I thought you were."
"Lilly, what are you even talking about?" Dylan asked, grabbing my arm as I tried to pull away from him.
"Like you don't know," I sobbed, hating that I was so weak that I was crying in front of him. He didn't deserve the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt me. Besides, now that Dylan was dating Avery, anything I told him would be passed along to her.
"You're such an ass," I spat, and Dylan's eyes widened as the curse word slipped through my lips. I almost never swore, and Dylan knew that. In order for me to swear at him, he had to know that I was truly ticked off.
"Why?" he asked. "Because I have a girlfriend that's not you?"
I balled my hand up into a fist, punching him in the face so hard my knuckles ached. Dylan staggered back, probably more from shock than the force of my blow. I wasn't that strong, and he was a football player used to taking much harder hits than the one I'd thrown.
"No," I growled. "Because out of every girl in the world, you decided to shack up with my archnemisis. And don't pretend to be ignorant, because I know I told you, in detail, why she was a completely unstable and irrational human being. But instead of acting like a good friend and trusting me, who you've known for years, you decided to believe that I was the crazy one after knowing Avery for just a couple of weeks, just because she looks hot in lingerie. You betrayed years of friendship for a cheap hookup. And yes, she is a cheap hookup, because I happen to be friends with one of her many 'friends with benefits.' And what's worse, you don't even stand up for me when she's being a bitch right in front of you. You just stand there like a wuss because she's got you on such a tight leash that you apparently can't think for yourself anymore."
"I can't think for myself?" Dylan asked incredulously. "I don't stand up for you? Who do you think kept Avery from running to the RA and getting you in trouble for that stupid prank you pulled?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Oh yeah, I know it was you."
"And Madison," I said, smirking, even though that wasn't really relevant at the moment. "And Avery couldn't get us in trouble even if she had wanted to. She had no proof that we did anything. That's why she didn't go to the RA. It wasn't out of loyalty to you, whatever you might think."
"You got Madison involved? Madison, as in my ex-girlfriend, and the girl who tormented you most of the time you dated Luke?"
I shrugged. "She's a better friend than you are," I replied, my tone acidic. "At least she tormented me for good reason, considering I was trying to steal Luke from her. And we got past that. She's been a good friend. Unlike some people I could mention."
"But you dating Avery was not bad enough," I continued, really heating up in my rant now. "Oh no. Because for some unknown reason, you didn't like that I was making friends with other people on campus. You had to go and take the one new friend I'd made, Will and try to twist it into some awful thing that I had done wrong. You made Ben think I was cheating on him."
"I just don't get it. I don't understand why you would automatically assume that I was cheating on Ben, just because I was spending time with another guy in a completely platonic way. I mean, you and I have always been close friends, and we've never been romantically involved. You know I tend to make friends with guys more easily than I do with girls. And if you even suspected I was cheating on your friend, why the heck wouldn't you just say something to me about it? Seriously, Dylan, we've been friends for years. I thought we were closer than that. I thought you'd know that I would never cheat."
"Lilly, I don't know what you're talking about," Dylan said, his voice hard and sharp as steel.
"Cut the bullcrap, Dylan," I growled. "I know, okay? Ben told me all about the picture you sent him of me and Will watching a movie together on the couch. He told me I shouldn't even be mad at you about it, because it was all part of some twisted 'bro code' thing. But that's a pile of crap! You know me better than anyone. You should know I wouldn't cheat on Ben. So why did you do it? Why did you want Ben to break up with me?"
Dylan shook his head. "Why would you think that?" he asked. "Why do you think I wanted you and Ben to break up? Lilly, I'm serious. You sound crazy right now. Ben is one of my closest friends, and a good guy. And you're my best friend. I introduced you two."
"So that gives you the right to sabotage the relationship? It's okay, because we never would have met if it hadn't been for you? How egotistical can you be? And, just for the record, calling a girl crazy in the middle of a fight is never, ever a good idea," I said, punching him again, enjoying the way he winced as my fist connected with his nose.
Just then, the door to Dylan's apartment cracked open, and Avery peaked her head out. "Is everything okay, sweetheart?" she asked Dylan. "You guys are being pretty loud."
Her eyes widened in false innocence as she glanced at us. Seeing that Dylan's back was turned to her, she flashed me a triumphant grin, as though she were getting everything she'd wanted and more.
"Don't you trust me at all?" Dylan asked, sounding hurt. He ignored Avery, instead grabbing hold of my hand, squeezing it gently. "You really think I would ever deliberately hurt you?"
I tore my hand from his grasp, leveling him with my iciest glare. "I think you already have. You hurt me the moment you decided to go behind my back and date Avery. And don't even pretend like you didn't know you were stabbing me in the back. You knew. Otherwise, you would have told me when you started dating her. And I know for a fact that you sent a photo of me and Will to Ben. Unlike you, Ben has never lied to me. He told me about the photo, and since there is no way he would have known about Will unless you told him, I'm inclined to believe him. So spare me the lies. I'm sick of listening to them."
"Lilly, please," Dylan begged. "You have to believe me. I would never hurt you."
"Yes, you would," I said. "You did." I turned to walk back downstairs, but before I left, I glanced over my shoulder to Dylan, who stood looking pale and more than a little hurt. "You know, before we left for college, you promised my dad that you would look out for me. Turns out, you lied. You hurt me worse than anyone else ever could. Do me a favor, and lose my phone number, and keep your sexual exploits with Avery to your place. I never want to see you again, much less talk to you."
Taking a deep breath and holding it to prevent the sobs that were threatening to rack my body, I stormed down the stairs, stubbornly refusing to glance back to see if Dylan was still watching me, or if he had gone back inside to Avery. Part of me hoped he would rush after me, beg me to stay, explain that somehow, this was all a terrible misunderstanding. But he never did.
—
And then there was none. Dylan and Lilly's friendship is over. Do you blame her? What do you think of Dylan?
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