Page 18 of See You in Your Dreams

Goosebumps prickle my skin. I can see the direction this conversation is heading, and it’s not one I intend to ever pursue, let alone with a virtual stranger in a crowded hallway.

Best to shut this down now.

I whirl on him, and Dylan jerks to a halt, his eyes widening.

“Look,” I snap. “Just what the hell is it you think you’re doing here?”

He blinks. “Um…talking.”

“Why?”

His face takes on a stubborn cast as he sets his jaw. “Because I’ve decided to be your friend.” It sounds like he’s trying to speak confidently, though the way his voice wobbles at the end sort of ruins the effect, turning it into an uncertain question.

“I don’t have any friends.”

I hate the way Dylan winces, but I refuse to back down. People I let get close inevitably end up hurt. Just look at Harvey. Look at my mom and dad. This is for Dylan’s own good as much as it is for mine.

I turn to depart, thinking the conversation’s over, but Dylan’s next words bring me up short. “Doesn’t it ever get lonely, acting like this?”

Heat radiates through me as he steps in closer, my pulse pounding as he holds my gaze. My voice comes out hoarse. “Why doyoucare?”

He shifts another step closer, the two of us practically pressed together now. We must be drawing stares from passing students, but I can’t tear my eyes away from his to check.

“Because,” he says. “I don’t think you’re the colossal asshole you pretend to be. I think there’s so much more to you that you keep buried beneath the surface. And the glimpses I’ve gotten ofthatguy make me really want to get to know him better.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if there’s nothing deeper worth knowing? What if the real me is just as fucked up as meets the eye?”

He shrugs, a small grin tugging at his lips despite the serious glint in his hazel eyes. “Then, I guess I’m not as smart as you seem to think I am.”

He shifts, and for one terrifying, exhilarating moment, I think he might be about to lean in and kiss me. Then, he brushes past, adjusting his backpack as he continues down the hall.

I stand where I am for several beats, feeling shell-shocked.What the hell just happened?

Dylan pauses a few feet ahead of me, glancing back. “I’m meeting my friends for lunch. Want to join?”

“Nope.” Recovering some of my lost wits, I try to breeze past him, but of course, he doesn’t take the hint.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” He grins, my heart pattering in a way I do my best to ignore. “Don’t you want to see the inside of that room you were lurking outside your first week?”

I don’t respond, lengthening my strides as I weave past other students. I have the advantage of longer legs, but apparently I underestimated Dylan’s stubbornness.

“Seriously?” he huffs, struggling to keep pace through the crowd of students. “Are you really back to ignoring me now?”

No response.

He rolls his eyes. “Isn’t that a little childish?”

No response. He wants to be stubborn? I’ll show him stubborn. I lived with the Ellingtons for five years. I learned the art of the cold shoulder from the best of them.

“Fine,” he sighs, slowing his gait and falling back. “Be that way. Catch you later.”

I release a relieved breath as he fades behind me even as I shove down a pang in my chest. This is the only way this can go if I want to keep myself and everyone else around me safe. No strong emotional ties. No slip-ups. No more Harveys. It’s for the best.

…Right?

The rest of the day passes Dylan-free, or at least as much as it can be when we’ve still got AP Chem together. To my relief, however, he doesn’t try to make small talk again. Gradually, I start to relax. Guess he took the hint after all.

And if I’m a smidge disappointed he’d given up so easily, well, too bad. I’d told him to leave me alone, and he’d listened. What more can I ask for?