"HEY, SYDNEY-BRITNEY! Wait a minute!" 

Reflexively, I run faster to escape. The only stupid thing is that the corridors of the University of New Haven are far too long and straight, so Kolin has caught up with me in no time.

He puts a hand on my shoulder and whirls me around to face him, whereupon the backpack strap slips off my left shoulder and the bag falls to the floor. 

At this point, Kolin and I have attracted everyone's attention. 

Hastily I pick up the backpack and am about to turn around again when Kolin's deep laughing voice stops me."Why are you in such a hurry? Let me guess ... you want to see Walker?" 

"Leave me alone." That's all I say, then I quickly keep walking. 

"Dean won't be able to wait for you, I'm afraid." 

What's he talking about? I frown and search Kolin's expression for any clue, however, all I find is his cocky smile and mischievous twinkling eyes as he runs his fingers through his blonde hair. I simply decide not to listen to him at all from now on. 

He's just trying to make me feel uncomfortable, isn't he? 

"I'm serious, Syd. Dean's not in his flat anymore." He glances at his non-existent wristwatch and grins. "Since two hours ago, to be exact."

My mouth is so wide open that Kolin lets out a laugh at the sight of me, but I'm not fazed. I quickly walk toward him and without really thinking, I give him a push. He stumbles a few steps backward in surprise and the grin is wiped off his face. 

"What did you just say?", I want to know. 

I'm pretty sure I see a little fear in Kolin's gaze, but he covers it up with a clearing of his throat. "Dean was arrested two hours ago. His evidence was so clear that he's being taken to New York immediately." 

"Evidence? New York?" I'm aware that I'm shouting, but I can't stop myself either.

I saw Dean just this morning in one of our lectures together. We exchanged glances ─ practically undressing each other ─ and he cracked jokes on the campus lawn afterward that made Bronwyn laugh so hard that the water she drank came out of her nose again. 

Kolin is lying. 

He just has to lie. 

"I left my phone in my flat," Dean proudly told me two hours ago. He got the phone as a gift from Peter and has been guarding it like a baby ever since. 

I rolled my eyes laughing in response. "Then go and get it if it's so important to you. But don't you dare forget we have a date later. You and me, we're going to run down the campus." 

"And you're not embarrassed?" He seemed to have been confused. "I mean, everyone will be staring at us, Sydney." 

"It doesn't bother me. You?" 

"No. I haven't had anyone stare at me for months, so this is actually a welcome change." 

With that, it was a done deal. 

I was just on my way to Dean's flat so we could put into action what we had planned. And now Kolin wants to tell me that Dean is no longer there at all? I am confused and somehow also angry as I look at Kolin. "What kind of sick game are you playing with Dean anyway?" 

He merely shrugs. "He didn't go along with what Gavin told him to do." 

"That wasn't his fault," I say quickly. "I didn't want to date you, and unlike you, he respects me enough to accept my decision." Well, it was something like that, anyway.

Besides, I know Dean would never force me to do anything and if I'm completely honest, I wouldn't have met up with Kolin unless it helped Dean. 

"Why are you so upset?" asks Kolin mockingly. 

"Why am I getting so upset? Are you fucking serious?" 

"Dean is getting exactly what he deserves, Syd." 

"WHAT THE FUCK DID HE DO TO YOU?", I exclaim, completely beside myself. "God, you make me so angry, you know that?"

He laughs. He's actually laughing at me! "I literally just said nine words." 

"And yet here I am seething with rage." My cheeks feel hot, my hair is certainly sticking out in all directions because I keep running my fingers through it, and my knees are shaking a little. I have to do something to calm myself down. 

Kolin doesn't budge and now raises an eyebrow waitingly. "I warned you, Syd, I specifically told you that you would be the reason for Dean's arrest. This is your fault. For once in your life, if you wouldn't be so stubborn and meet with me ─" 

I raise my hand and slap Kolin's face with full force. 

I admit: I am surprised myself by what I have done. Never in my life have I hit anyone, but apart from the burning pain in my palm, it feels incredibly good. Liberating. And somehow exciting. 

I would love to do it again, but Kolin's face is suddenly so red and angry that I take a few steps back. I suddenly notice the many students around us, eagerly following what is going on. As if I hadn't given them enough to talk about during the last months ... 

"Why are you making his life hell?" My voice is barely more than a whisper. 

Kolin's face comes close to me, uncomfortably close. "Because he made my life hell first." 

"How?", I want to know. I simply have to know. 

Something changes about Kolin. He suddenly reminds me more of the boy I was friends with in high school and eventually ended up with. He reminds me of the boy who never got to do what he wanted to do because his parents always pushed him down a path he didn't really want to take. 

"It's just always been him." Kolin's voice breaks. "To my parents, he was always the better of the two of us. He got good grades even though he hardly ever studied. He wanted to study psychology, just like they wanted for me. He always said the right things, unlike me." His eyes bore into mine almost angrily. "I could never make them proud. Because of him." 

"That doesn't give you the right to ruin his entire life," I fire back. "Kolin, this has gone too far. You have to realize that. Please tell me he's still here in New Haven, that this can be undone." A small part of me clings to the hope that Kolin was just bluffing earlier. 

But Kolin never bluffs, so even now he shakes his head. "He's on his way to New York. He's being transferred to Rikers Island prison." 

"The island?", I ask, stunned. "How did you manage that?" I just can't imagine. Tears form in my eyes as I think of Dean sitting on a train, all alone and utterly hopeless. 

"I made good friends," Kolin points to Gavin and Hunter behind him, "who hate Dean as much as I do and will do anything to finally get him out of the picture. Besides ..." His mouth is now millimeters from mine and I feel sick. "Besides, I have another friend who happens to be housed in the same prison as Dean." 

"Xander," I whisper with tears in my eyes. I just can't believe it. After the last few weeks, I've spent with Dean, which have been so wonderful, he's just gone. And unlike last time, I didn't even get to say goodbye. 

I tear myself away from Kolin and get angry again. Without further ado, I look around the crowd of students and see a guy holding a milkshake.

I can tell by the color that it's a strawberry milkshake, the very kind that Kolin hates so much. I walk up to him, snatch the cup from under his nose and ignore his protesting words.

I meet Kolin's nervous look with a fake smile, then rip off the plastic lid and throw the open cup and the liquid directly at Kolin's blond hair. 

He gasps and angrily wipes the shake from his eyes as the students' laughter fills the silence. 

Kolin looks like he feels at least a little remorse. "Syd ─"

"Go to hell, asshole," I shout, running backward away from him and not seeing who is behind me. I ram a few people but pay no attention and then run away. I don't even know where I'm running until I realize I'm standing just outside Dean's flat.

My tears are so thick by now that I can barely see as I make Dean's and my made-up knock. Seven times. 

At one point I slide down the door, sobbing until I'm crouched on the floor, tightening my knees and resting my head on them. If I thought it had been painful when Dean was arrested at the party, I was neatly mistaken. This is what hurts the most.

Dean is over a hundred kilometers away from me and I'm sitting here in front of his empty flat sobbing so hard my whole body is shaking from it. 

I wish I could tell how much time has passed, but I don't know. All I know is that my throat is strangely scratchy and my eyes feel red and dry when Candice suddenly stands in front of me, frowning. "Okay, you look like shit." 

I laugh hoarsely. "Get out of here, Candice." 

"No. You're crying so loud everyone in the dorm can hear you and I'd be a bitch to leave you alone right now." Sighing, she pushes her long black hair out of her perfectly made-up face, then sits down against the wall opposite me. "So? Do you want to tell me what happened or should I guess?" 

"Don't you already know?" 

She swallows and tightens her knees as well. "I've heard rumors, but didn't think anything of it." 

"Well, it's true. Dean is on his way to Rikers Island prison in New York."

"New York?" she almost shouts. "Don't fuck with me, Sydney." 

I wish I was kidding. I wish Dean would come right around the corner and laugh and give me a hug because then everything would be okay. But I know he would never joke about it and Kolin looked way too serious for that earlier.  Again the tears come up and I contort my face a little. I'm so tired of crying, but I just can't stop. Shouldn't my tear ducts have been used up by now? 

"Why?" asks Candice suddenly. Her dark eyes show fear and curiosity. "Why is Dean gone?" 

"Because I didn't do what Kolin asked me to do. Ever since I've been a student here, he's wanted a date. He keeps asking almost every day, insisting so much that he's made a deal. If I date him, Dean won't go away." Sniffling, I pluck at my hair. "Dean was also supposed to call his parents, but he couldn't. And that made Kolin mad." 

Candice and I are silent for a few seconds, then at some point, she pulls out her phone with a sigh. Does she do this all the time during serious conversations? Just pull out her phone and text with friends? I eye her suspiciously, which she seems to notice because she raises her head at some point. "I'm just texting Peter to get him and Bronwyn to come here. You need your friends. Besides, you wouldn't listen to me anyway." 

"What would you have to say?" I ask quietly.

Candice runs the back of her hand over her caramel skin on her cheeks and then looks at me with her big dark eyes. It seems to have surprised her that I ask her for advice. It surprises me too.

Just a few months ago, what stood between us was that I had taken her place in Bronwyn's flat and that, in her opinion, I was pretending to be innocent but was secretly a fake snake. Her words.

But lately, I keep catching myself thinking if there's more behind Candice's façade. She's always pretending to be tough when she's actually more vulnerable than anyone else. Moreover, her mind often seems to be somewhere else, but I don't dare ask her if she's all right.

Unfortunately, we're not at that point yet. 

"If you ask me," she stands up and pats the imaginary dust off her jeans, "there is a very clear solution to this problem." 

"Oh yeah?" 

She nods and holds out her hand. "Give me your phone." 

I'm so exhausted from crying that I don't even argue with her. I pull the old thing out of my backpack and press it into her hand. She smiles contentedly, taps it a little, and then hands it back to me. "What did you do?", I ask suspiciously. 

"I texted Kolin to see if Saturday night was okay for him." 

As if stung by a tarantula, I jump up. "You what?" 

"Think about it." She thrusts her hands on her hips and takes a few steps closer to me. "All Kolin wants is this one date. And I'm sure he'll confide a lot in you on Saturday. About him, Hunter, Gavin, Xander ... and about Hollyn's killer. You say yourself all the time that you're sure Kolin knows who did it. If you make a little effort and pretend you've forgiven him, he'll tell you everything you want to know." She smiles slyly. "And you'll record every single word, hand it over to the police, and within a few days Dean will be back here and you can finally stop whining so obnoxiously." 

Sighing, I shake my head. "I just punched Kolin in front of everyone." 

"And here I thought you'd never do it," she gives a groan. "If I were you, I would have punched him ten times already." 

"He'll never fall for the scam that I've forgiven him for everything, Candice, that's what I'm saying. Besides ..." I don't want to admit it, but I just have to get it off my chest. "Besides, I'm scared of him, okay?" 

She smiles, looking almost sympathetic. "No problem. Peter, Bronwyn, and I will just secretly accompany you. I hardly think he would hurt you, but if you feel more comfortable that way ..." She lets the sentence hang meaningfully in the air. 

I'm being honest. I feel a bit like I'm betraying Dean with this. We never said we were together, but it always felt like it. Besides, if he were here, the last thing he would want is for me to go out with Kolin. I know Candice is right.

If Kolin really does trust me with something important and I record it, then Dean will finally be free. Really free, without this weird band on his foot. And I want nothing more than that. That's the only reason I finally say, "Okay, I'll do it. I ... I'll meet with Kolin. But first I'll talk to Dean about it." 

Candice purses her lips. "You don't think he'll be okay with it, do you?" 

"No, but I need this for my conscience. Besides, it's four days until Saturday, so I have plenty of time." 

"You miss him already, don't you?" If I'm not mistaken, Candice smiles a little. 

I nod with a sigh. "Like hell I do."

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