The next morning, in the bagel shop parking lot Lyla slipped into the passenger seat of Jack's car. Freshly bathed and wearing makeup, she was a sharp contrast to the bedraggled girl who sat beside him on the drive home from yesterday's cadaver hunt.

He shoved the last chunk of bagel into his mouth. "I got you a coffee. Sure you don't want something to eat?"

"I'm good." She accepted the coffee with a smile.

He sniffed, then leaned closer. "You smell-" He caught himself. "You look really... nice."

"Thanks." She blushed while he eyed her.

"And look at me in these old jeans and T-shirt," he said. "Why'd you get so dressed up?"

"I'm not dressed up. Just jeans and a shirt. And these old boots."

"Okay." He smiled.

She adored the attention but was at a loss for a response.

He looked toward the bagel shop. "Sure you don't want something? A bagel or a muffin or what do they call those things? Sconces?"

"Scones," she smiled.

"Right. You want one?"

"No really. I'm good."

He was in a surprisingly upbeat mood considering the task at hand. She watched him brush sesame seeds from his shirt.

"Do I have seeds stuck in my teeth?" He checked his perfect teeth in the mirror. She fixated on his mouth, imagining the taste of those sesame seed-flavored lips. "Sure you're not hungry?"

Not for a bagel.

She shook her head.

"Okay, let's do this." Jack looked over his shoulder and shifted into reverse, glancing into the rearview mirror when a car pulled behind, blocking him.

She nearly spilled her coffee when Darcy appeared at her window.

"What the hell?!" shouted Darcy.

Lyla froze.

"Doctor's appointment?" Darcy shot her friend an angry look. "You gonna stick with that?"

Lyla's eyes went to the floor. "It's not what it looks like."

Jack leaned across the seat. "Ya mind moving your car?"

"As soon as I get an answer," Darcy hissed.

Lyla's mind raced, Darcy read her like a book.

"You know he's still seeing Carissa," Darcy fumed.

"And how is that your business?" He became agitated.

Darcy shot back, "This is my best friend. And I don't like a-holes taking advantage of my best friend. That's how it's my business!"

He held his tongue.

"Can we tone down the anger?" Lyla pleaded.

Darcy stared a hole in the side of her friend's face. Lyla couldn't even look at her.

"You know," said Darcy. "Not telling me something is the same as lying."

Lyla looked at the floor.

"Well, I guess I'd better get to school." Darcy bit off her words. "At least one of us is planning to graduate this year." She stomped to her car and drove off, tires squealing.

"What a pleasant way to start the day," Jack said sarcastically, steering his car out of the parking space and onto the road.

"She didn't mean to call you that. She thought—"

"I know."

He refused to acknowledge it, but Darcy's "Carissa comment" became the proverbial elephant in the room. Lyla never doubted Jack's sincerity or his determination. He stated in no uncertain terms that he would do anything to win Carissa back but God, how she hoped that he would fail.

She had conjured up a scenario in which Carissa had fallen madly in love with her new college guy and that she had become immune to Jack's powers of persuasion. Wounded by a broken heart, he would seek consolation from Lyla, and she would be all too happy to oblige him. In time, he would forget about Carissa and gradually accept that Lyla was the girl he was meant to be with. No one could love Jack as much as she did and she would spend her life proving that to him, each and every glorious day.

But the cold, harsh reality was that he had no intention of giving up on Carissa. As much as Lyla preferred her version of his romantic future, she understood that it was pure fantasy. What was she thinking, anyway? How could she possibly compete with Carissa? This was further evidence of how delusional she'd become.