"Whoa! Hey!" Rick blurted out as I slammed into him from behind, knocking him forward into the pool table. Balls scattered everywhere as he caught himself against the green felt and twisted around to look at me. He looked ridiculously stunned.

"Sadie! Come on, I didn't even do anything!"

"Oh please, shove it. You're the least of my problems."

I tried to squeeze around him when suddenly something yanked hard at the back of my head. The crazy girlfriend had grabbed a fistful of my crimped hair. I yelped as she jerked me backwards and I stumbled into her, completely panicked. My first thought was literally, what the fuck?

I spun around and she looked furious. Absolutely furious. Her friends looked horrified, like they couldn't believe she was actually doing this here, of all places. A second ago they'd all been standing around in their tight little outfits, hanging off each other and giggling. Now this psycho had both hands in my hair.

"Jesus! Michelle, would you fucking stop!" Dylan shoved through the crowd, a little fucking slow if you ask me. When he finally reached us, he grabbed his girlfriend's arm to pull her off me. Yeah, great idea. Instead, her fist tightened and my head snapped back as a chunk of hair ripped free.

I screamed and clutched the back of my head. "Oh my god!"

What a fucking idiot.

Rick rushed over to me. "Holy shit, Sade, are you okay?"

He bent down beside me and put an arm around my shoulder. I could smell the cologne he always wore, and for a second it smelled so much like home that I wanted to lean against him and cry.

But fuck him. He fucked Tammy.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nudged him away.

Even though I wanted nothing to do with him, I was weirdly glad he was there. Not that he'd actually done anything useful yet, except keep some space between me and Michelle.

"I wanna know why this girl here is inviting my man to the bar. Dylan, you better explain yourself before I beat her ass down."

Her finger stabbed in my direction, her arm swinging wildly like some daytime talk show ringleader. I looked at Dylan and couldn't help wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into. What had I  gotten myself into?

Why did I think inviting Dylan there was a good idea? Especially after he told me he was with someone. What did I think would happen? Some fairytale reconciliation? We catch up and fall in love all over again? 

This wasn't that. This was a freak show.

"Shut up, Michelle." Dylan groaned. "She's a friend, that's it. We're leaving." Dylan grabbed her arm again, trying to steer her around us.

"No. Fuck that." She jerked free, spinning  out of his grip. "You wanted to come here without me. Why? Because of her? Who is she to you?"

I couldn't believe this was happening. I was getting into a fight at a bar. It felt like I'd stepped into some Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Dylan grabbed both her arms, stopping her from rushing me again.

"Don't do this, Michelle. Don't do this, please." Dylan slowly pulled her back. "She's no one. Just some girl I knew when I was a kid, that's it. Please, Miche, not tonight." She seemed to settle down as Dylan kept his eyes on her and her alone. "Please, let it go. She's no one."

"This is ghetto," I interjected, turning on my heel and walking away. I shot Dylan a glare as I made my way toward the exit.

Rick, Parker, and Min were right beside me, along with Brewster, who rarely is seen anywhere without Rick.

"I'm sorry, Dylan," was the last thing I heard before I pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped outside.

The cooler night air hit me like a bucket of ice water. I tipped my head back and dragged in a deep breath. 

"Holy shit, what the fuck just happened?" Parker said. 

"Oh my god, Sadie. Are you alright?" Min started checking me over like I'd just been mauled by a tiger.

I wasn't bleeding anywhere. My hair was fine. Just a raw, stinging spot that ached, not anything horrific.

Min looked more horrified than I felt. "Maybe we should call the police?"

"What? No, I'm fine. It was nothing."

It had been a pretty pathetic bar fight, if you could even call it that. More like a cat fight. What was I going to do, start punching and slapping her? Over what? Dylan?

No fucking way.

I stood there, still in shock, adrenaline buzzing under my skin. Rick and Brewster had given us space, lighting up cigarettes by the doorway.

Fuck me. I wasn't prepared for how intense this would feel.

Rick, the asshole, was right there in front of me, and I felt this strange rush of relief just seeing him. Like something had finally resolved. I'd avoided it all summer, and now it was done. I'd made it through seeing him again since school let out. And yet my heart still raced, because at some point we were going to have to talk. I had no idea what I would even say.

He kept glancing over at me while the girls fussed. Min was telling Parker what had happened. I just stared at him. When he looked at me, I looked away.

Did I still feel something for him? I couldn't tell. I felt pissed. Embarrassed. And I was freaked that Dylan and/or his girlfriend would come storming out the door at any second to find me.

Then I thought about Mark and the boys, and how we'd missed the second half of their set. That pissed me off all over again.

What the fuck am I doing? Why do I care about Dylan? Why did I want to see him so badly?

It felt good to have that connection again, to feel like he wanted me, but it didn't even come close to what I felt standing near Rick. He was so James Dean it was ridiculous. He drew me in with those sideways glances, that sorry little pout. The way he acted like he didn't give a shit, like nothing touched him, like he was playing my own games better than I ever did.

"Hello, Earth to Sadie?" Parker shook my shoulder. "Holy, where'd you go? You don't want to go back in, do you?"

For a second, I thought I might say yes. I pictured Dylan inside with his girlfriend all over him, and something in me sparked, like I wanted to go back in and tell Michelle that I'd French-kissed her boyfriend in grade nine.

"No... not really. Sorry, guys. I have no idea where that came from."

"Oh, I know where it came from," Parker joked. "She's Crazytown."

Brewster walked over to us. "Hey ladies, we're headed back to my place for some after-dinner mints, if you'd like to join."

We'd been to Brewster's at least a hundred times total the last couple years. His mom worked nights on weekends and his dad wasn't around. He had an older sister, Brie, who kept an eye on him. As long as he kept things small, she let us hang out there. We'd get away with smoking and sneaking the occasional drink while playing video games or watching the guys jam. Rick played guitar. Brewster could play just about anything you put in his hands. They'd jam with whoever showed up, but they never really formed a band.

We used to try to convince Brie to let us throw a huge party. We wanted to get real bands in, make it a whole thing. We almost had her one night. She said maybe in a couple of years, but Brewster's place was never really big enough for anything like that anyway.

She was sort of straight-edge, more into sports than anything else. Still, she was nice enough, not stuck-up like some of the older girls at school.

I could tell Min and Parker were kind of waiting on me to decide, so I said "Sure, we'll meet you there."

Brewster put both thumbs up. "Excellent."

Min whipped her head around to face me. "Sadie, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, did you and Rick even talk yet?" She sort of whispered. 

"Nothing at Brewster's is gonna be worse than what just happened in there," I said. "And I'd like to smoke a big fat one now, please, if you don't mind."

"There's my girl!" Parker squeezed past Min and pulled me into a big hug. She hated seeing me this down. Plus, she liked smoking, so she liked it when I liked smoking.

We took a few moments to let Min and Rick finish their cigarettes before we left.

I was still a bit shaky from the altercation with Crazy, and now my nerves shifted to Rick. I knew it would be better than waiting until we were back in school, stuck in classes together. It would be awkward either way. At least this way, I could get some of the tension out of my system before then.

The guys had left and we were walking toward Min's dad's car when I heard Dylan call my name. I turned. He was coming out of Rumrunner's alone, jogging toward us. I raised my eyebrows at the girls. They just looked at me in pity. 

"We'll be in the car," Min said.

Dylan slowed to a stop when he got close enough that only a few more strides would've brought him right to me.

"Hey, listen, I just wanted to apologize for what happened. Are you okay? Did she hurt you? I'm sorry... I think she just felt threatened, or something."

"Threatened? By me? She was the one ready to attack me. I was just trying to get away from her."

"No, not like that," he said quickly. "You know... just because you're you. You're gorgeous, you're smart. You're a handful, but you're a catch."

"She wouldn't know that about me."

"Yeah... I guess not." He just smiled and kept looking at me like he was waiting for something I wasn't going to give him.

"So she let you come out here, did she?"

"Yeah she... no, it's not like that. I explained everything. Listen, I'm sorry this happened. I just wanted to see you again. I didn't think it would drive her crazy, you know? I'm so sorry, Sadie."

"Whatever, Dylan. I don't care."

"Don't say that. Come on, Sadie. You know we had something special. You wanted to see me tonight, admit it."

"Shut up."

"Admit it. You couldn't wait to see me tonight. Look at you, all dolled up," he teased, and I felt my cheeks go hot.

"Don't be an ass. You're going to get me killed." I glanced over his shoulder, half-pretending to check if she was coming.

"For real, Sadie. I just wanted to say sorry, and that I was glad to see you tonight. That's all."

"Okay, you said it. You should probably get back inside before she decides to slit my throat in my sleep."

"Come on, don't be like that, Sadie. Can I call you at least?"

Ha. I must have a death wish. Because I should've told him to get real or go fuck himself.

But nope.

What did I say instead, after smiling and letting out a soft little chuckle like I had any sense left in my body?

"Sure, why not."