"I invited Jeanine and Paul Washington over for dinner Friday." My dad says from across the dinner table.

"Friday?" My mom questions.

"Does that not work for you?" He asks. I hear the tone of annoyance in his voice, but I don't see his expression. My elbow is on the table with my head resting on my hand. With the fork in my left hand, I play with the pasta my mom made for dinner.

"I did have a meeting with the firm," she says. "But that's in the morning. It'll be fine. What time are they coming over?"

"Seven," he replies. "Jayda, I'm canceling your appointment that day; I'll be picking you up right after school." I don't respond. "Jayda?" he calls my name again, wanting my full and undivided attention.

I remove my head from my hand. "Yeah, okay." I swiftly answer.

"Are you okay, dear?" My mother questions my lack of enthusiasm and interest in their conversation.

"I'm fine." I snap.

"Did something happen?" she asks concerned, "When I picked you up from school, you looked a little upset,"

I drop my fork, and it slams against the white glass plate. "I said I'm fine." Their eyes widen, showing that they are clearly taken back at my tone.

She turns her head and says to my father, "Maybe we shouldn't cancel her session,"

"Hello!" I growl. "I'm right here; why are you talking about me in the third person?" I ask. "I'm here. How about you ask me if I do or don't want my session on Friday." My throat tightens as I yell.

My father scolds me, saying, "Do not yell at your mother! "Yet he is yelling also.

"You cannot tell me what to do!"

"Oh, I can't, can I?" he questions what I just said. "I am your father, and she is your mother. You show us respect."

I press my lips together and then say, "You get what you earn." I stand up, sliding my chair back from the dining room table. I run up the stairs to my room and shut the door behind me. I've never argued with my parents before. They were never here for me to even argue with them.

"I am your father, and she is your mother. You show us respect." Is what he said. How can I respect them when they don't respect me?

My mother addressed me as if I wasn't even there. "Maybe we shouldn't cancel her appointment."

HER!

She talked about me in the third person, which made me feel like she was talking about me, not with me. She could've asked me if I wanted to keep my appointment on Friday or cancel. But she didn't; she made the suggestion to my father without including me, though I was right there beside her, not even a feet away.

Any other day I would've overlooked it, as I always do. But I'm so angry. I'm still not over everything that went down with Ryder earlier. Usually, I'm able to forget about our encounters. But today, I think today was the worst. I should have never left school with him!

After I walked up the hill back to school, he pulled into the parking lot as if nothing happened. Ashely ran into his arms, and he kissed her right in front of me. It was a long kiss too.

She asked, "Where did you go?"

His eyes looked at me for a quick moment, then he responded, "I had to take care of things."

She didn't question him further. She wrapped her hands around his waist, and then they walked back into the building. He walked right past me as if I hadn't just called him out only a few minutes ago.

I'm done! I'm seriously done; I will never talk to him again.

This should be easy. I don't have to do that project with him anymore, so there is no reason I should be around. I'm pretty sure he'll never talk to me. I did call him a coward. I'm sure if I were a boy, he would've hit me, just like he hit James.

The crisp air hits my skin as I open my room window and climb out onto the roof. I unlock my phone and find Caleb's contact; I think back to what Ryder said at the park. He said that Caleb told him that I kissed him. I know he's lying, but I still want to ask. Just to be sure.

I click Caleb's name, and the phone rings.

He answers after the third ring. "Hello." He says breathlessly.

"I'm sorry. Are you busy? I can call back." I don't want to, but I will if I have to.

"No, it's fine. I'm at practice. But I can talk."

"Are you sure I --"

He cuts me off, "Jayda, it's fine." he says, assuring me.

"Okay." I smile even though he can't see me. "I just... I have a question.

"Okay.... what about?"

"About yesterday."

"Yesterday?" He repeats after me.

"It's about our kiss."

"Did you not like it?" He asks, and even though I can't see him, I know he is smiling.

"No, no, I did. It was nice." If he only could see me blushing right now.

"Okay, so what about it?"

I spit the question out. "Did you...Did you tell anyone?" I hold my breath and wait for an answer.

"No.," he answers. "Why?"

"Ryder said--

"Ryder?! " he cuts me off. "You believe him?"

"Well, how did he know we kissed?"

He sighs. "I did tell him we kissed," he admits. "But that's only because he asked me if I fucked you. I said no. Then he asked what the hell did we do if we didn't fuck," he explains. "Before I had a chance to tell him we kissed, he blurted out something about you not really liking me, and that why I said that you kissed me,"

So he told Ryder I kissed him to prove that I actually liked him. I guess that makes sense. "Why was he asking you that?" I ask him, still not understanding why Ryder was asking about what we did on our... date

"I don't know. I guess because I usually don't do that." He says the words low.

"Do what?" I ask, even though I know the answer. I think back to what James said at lunch.

"I don't go on dates really, and when I do. I don't just kiss girls. I sleep with them." he admits confirming what James said.

"Did you think more was going to happen?" Is that the only reason he went out with me? Because he thought I would sleep with him.

"No!" he says firmly. "You definitely didn't seem like the type of girl to have sex with a boy you just meet. I went out with you because I like you."

"Why?" I find myself asking the question every girl, in every romantic book, every romantic movie, every school asks. All-girls ask the boy, "Why do you like me?" You never hear a boy ask a girl, "Why do you like me?" It is always the other way around.

He lets out a slight laugh at my question. "I don't know why I like you." I stay silent at his response.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I ask myself.

"I'm still trying to figure out why I like a girl that I just met only a few days ago?" My heart softens at his answer. "Look, Jayda, you can't trust or believe anything Ryder says. He's a liar and a manipulator. You can't trust him."

His right. "I know," I say, agreeing with him.

"I don't want you around him," he states, "I know I can't tell you who to be around. But I do care about you, and I don't want to see you hurt. And trust me, nothing good can come from you being around him. He's a magnet for trouble. You don't have to listen--"

"I'll stay away from him," I say. "If you don't want me around him, I won't be around him, especially after today," I explain. "We had a big fight, and I'm pretty sure he won't ever talk to me again, and I won't either."

"A fight? About what?" he asks.

I spend the next twenty minutes explaining what happened. I'm now lying on my bed staring at the ceiling. I expected my parents to come and check on me, but they didn't. I heard them a few minutes ago walk into their bedroom.

"You're not a coward." He says.

"Caleb, it's a lot that goes on at school that you don't know about."

"Okay, but just because you don't respond to people's bullshit doesn't make you a coward. That makes you strong," he says intensely.

My heart warms at his words. "Well, I'm glad you think that." I hold the phone up to my ear with my shoulder. I pick the polish on my nails. "Are you ever going to go back to practice? We have been talking for almost an hour now."

"It's over now. I didn't go back."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in my car."

"Oh."

"Do you want me to hang up?" he asks.

"No," I say honestly. I like talking to him. I like this feeling. Talking to him is keeping me from cutting. If I weren't talking to him, I definitely would have cut by now.

We continue talking.