After

On the car ride back to campus, Tessa fights feelings of jealousy after Hardin answers a phone call from Molly, and Tessa and Hardin argue, leaving Tessa in tears once again. He follows her to her dorm, where Noah is waiting, worried sick because Tessa hasn’t been answering his calls or texts. Hardin admits he deleted Noah’s messages from Tessa’s phone, and another screaming match ensues among all three of them. Hardin refuses to leave the room, and he tells Tessa he wants more with her: “You make me want to date, you make me want to be better” (269). These words from Hardin compel Tessa to send Noah away, despite his pleas and warnings that Hardin is using her. Even though Tessa has just ended a two-year relationship with Noah, whom she’s known since childhood, she feels at peace in this moment, knowing that Hardin cares for her.

Hardin’s friends come in, and hearing Hardin make an offhand comment about having seen Molly naked before, Tessa fills with worry. Tessa was the only girl Noah had ever kissed, so knowing that Hardin has had sexual experiences with several girls is hard to swallow.