She says something to him, and everyone in Sweetie’s attention is now on the two of them. She’s shouting now, and even though I’m outside, I can tell she’s cursing his name up and down. She marches outside to me and Ryan follows.

“You can’t leave me, you stupid bitch!” He slams the door open after her. “Did you forget? I have all your pictures! I’ll send them out, you know I will. Get a billboard and everything.”

“Are you sure you have them?” I casually ask and hold up his phone so he notices me for the first time.

He pats his pockets, no doubt looking for the phone in my hands, and then takes a step closer to me, but I match his step with a backward one of my own.

“You’re disgusting,” I tell him. “If I somehow missed any pictures and you send them to anyone, I’ll have you arrested for distributing child pornography. That’s right, it’s a thing. Kaitlyn’s seventeen and will always be seventeen in those pictures. If you do anything other than delete them, you will be charged.”

He doesn’t need to know that there’s a chance Kaitlyn would be charged, too, but I’m sure I got them all anyway. He stares at me with disbelief as I toss him his phone and he catches it.

“Oh, by the way, your other girlfriend, Cece, knows about Kaitlyn,” I add.

Kaitlyn gasps. “I knew you were cheating on me!” She faces me. “I accused him of it in the car the other day and that fight is why he kicked me out!”

“I kicked you out because you’re a stupid bitch!” Ryan explodes, then turns to me. “And of course Parker’s bitch is involved in this. Does he not teach you how to behave?”

The people from inside are now all outside, watching the fight unfold, mumbling to themselves. Some parents cover their children’s ears and steer them away.

Before I can say anything, Kaitlyn beats me to it. Apparently, she’s been saving all the aggression I knew she was capable of for when he couldn’t blackmail her anymore.

“I’m a stupid bitch? You’re the asshole who’s probably going to have to repeat senior year! But good luck doing that when they expel you for domestic assault! That’s right, everyone! Ryan did all this to me and I’m not embarrassed to say it if it means fucking him over.” She gets into his space, not scared in the slightest. “You come near me again and I’ll shove your dick so far down your throat you’ll taste it until the day you die. Now stay the hell away from me.”

She marches off, then turns to look at me. “Are you going to drive me to my car or what?!”

I ignore the hostility directed at me, and instead lean toward Ryan. “If you come near me or Aiden or my friends again, I will destroy you.”

Before he can say anything, I turn away from him and follow Kaitlyn to my car.