After the Ink [PUBLISHED]

Chapter Sixteen

Time moves by slowly after that day. September ends and so does summer. Casey moans and groans about hating fall and winter outfits, but her mood turns around when we discuss our Halloween plans.

She doesn't say it explicitly, but I know her and Carlos are seeing each other more regularly. If I don't see her at lunch, I know she's with him. She probably doesn't want things to be awkward between us because things have died down between me and Dylan, but have only heated up for her and Carlos.

Anthony has invited us to his birthday party at Raven's on Friday, which is also his birthday. I'm anxious about seeing Dylan because we haven't really talked a whole lot the past two weeks since we had our conversation about me not wanting a relationship. It's not even that I don't want a relationship. It's leaning more on the side of me recognizing that it's not a good idea right now.

At Anthony's party I feel terrible for not getting him a present, but he assures me it's fine. Derrick and Jared are performing, of course. Casey and I sit at the table with the guys, and Carlos immediately sits between me and her. I wonder if she notices that he's wedging himself between us. I mean, I probably did that to her while I was dating Jacob, and now I know how it feels.

Dylan doesn't say much. He's sitting next to me and his only words come out when Anthony or Reece talk to him directly.

After a while, I miss my bed. I'm not up for partying. That's when Dylan's legs swing toward me and he leans on his elbow to look at me.

"Have you finished the project for English?" he asks.

A wave of relief washes over me. I really don't want things to be weird between us. "I finished it in class today."

He scratches the back of his neck. "I'm barely finishing the book."

Our project is on the book Crime and Punishment, which is a fairly large book. "Dylan, the project is due on Monday."

"That's why I'm going to work on it on Sunday," he chuckles.

Anthony suddenly appears between us and slings his arm around Dylan. "Are you guys having fun?" he asks us.

Dylan and I both nod.

"I'm losing interest in this place. You guys wanna go catch the rest of the football game?"

The football game? "I didn't know you were into football," I tell Anthony.

He smirks. "I'm into one of the cheerleaders at the football game."

Makes sense. I've never seen Anthony around any other girls. I wonder if he's had a girlfriend before.

Carlos drives me and Casey to the game, while Anthony drives Dylan and Reece. Once we make it into the stadium, we find spots in the stands where the student section is.

"Fuck, we're actually winning," Anthony says, squinting at the scoreboard.

"You want anything from the concession stand?" Dylan asks as he stands next to me on the bleachers.