jack +

after leaving dakota's place, i unlocked the door to my house and tiredly threw my bag on the side.

"jack, honey. is that you?" my mom called out.

"yeah. it's me, mom" i replied, walking towards the staircase.

she came out of the kitchen with an apron wrapped around her and messy hands from baking god knows what.

"good. how was tutoring?".

i sighed, since she asks the same question every time i come home and all i wanted to do was lie down, "great".

"did you learn a lot?" eagerly, she inquired.

"of course".

"and remember, i want you to take this seriously. no trying to fool around with mrs richard's daughter".

i threw my head back and face-palmed, "mom, seriously. dakota and i are just friends and she's my tutor, i get it. can i go now?".

"yes, but dinner will be ready in soon" she reminded me.

"okay, okay" i said, marching up the steps and finally reaching my room to sprawl out on my bed.

i haven't managed to text olivia at all today, because at school, my friends constantly tease me about how much i like her and two, i had tutoring.

i took out my phone and replied to a few messages from my friends, then scrolled to find my texts with olivia and started typing.

me:

i haven't texted you all day

me:

i'm sorry ❤️

olivia:

it's okay i had tons of homework any ways ❤️

me:

oh well i missed you

olivia:

really? can't say the same 🤔

me:

i'm hurt but i'll let it slide bc you're cute ✨

olivia:

oh, so i'm cute now?

me:

don't act so surprised you've always been cute babe 😉

olivia:

honestly you're favourite thing is to make me blush jack 😌

me:

no my favourite thing is talking to you every night until 2am

olivia:

that's mine too 💖

me:

but i just wish i could hear your voice

olivia:

i want to hear your's too

olivia:

but the speaker on my phone is still messed up so you probably won't be able to hear me 😞

me:

it's okay i can wait

me:

just texting you is still as great x

olivia:

💚

+

dakota +

in home room, i sat up on the table opposite kelsey and jonah, talking about our weekend plans until jonah hastily took his phone out from his pocket.

"guys, how do i look?" he queried as he fixed his hair through the camera.

"why?" kelsey furrowed my brows.

"because connor is coming over here, with jack too" he nudged me and i turned my head to see them both actually heading this way.

quickly, i fixed my own hair until they reached us.

"dakota," jack began. "it's cool if i miss tutoring on friday, right? connor has this thing that day and—".

"actually, why don't you all come?" connor suggested as he evidently eyed up my best friend.

"come where?" kelsey asked.

"it's just a small gathering at my house - they'll be food, drinks, music. it's all going to be pretty chill" he managed to answer her question, but continued to keep his eyes secured on jonah.

"i-i don't know. i mean, we don't really know you're friends and—".

"what dakota is trying to say is that we'll be there" jonah cut me off and gave connor a flirtatious smile.

"great. so i'll see you there?" jack gave me a double thumbs up.

"looks like it" i briefly chuckled as he was about to leave, but he just about turned back.

"oh and if my mom ever asks, we were at your house studying all night" he added.

i nodded my head, "of course".

he flashed me a charming smile, then interrupted connor and jonah's eye-fucking by grabbing his arm and dragging him to their group of friends at the back.

"how did my friday go from sitting at home and watching netflix to going to a gathering with the jocks?" kelsey mentioned.

"ask jonah, but i think him and connor were too busy picturing each other naked" i nudged him and he rolled his eyes at my comment.

"oh, shut up just be happy that you're spending your friday night with jack" he replied.

"i already was spending my friday night with jack, alone which is much better than being surrounded by his friends and crystal".

he slouched in his seat, "oh yeah, i never thought of it like that".

the sound of the first bell took over our conversation, so we stood up and pulled our backpacks over our shoulders as we began leaving the classroom.

"don't worry, dakota" kelsey started. "while jonah's off flirting with connor, we can be bored as fuck at this gathering together".

"or you might go and hook up with sam again" i told, fixing my arm through the other bag strap.

she threw her head back, "that was a one time thing, i would never place my lips on sam wilkinson's face ever again".

"is that so?" sam suddenly appeared, putting his arm over kelsey's shoulder and walking along with us. "you've been avoiding me since then, babe. was i that bad of a kisser?".

"i haven't been avoiding you" she corrected. "i've just been busy. i do have a life, you know?".

"well, you should try and make some room for me because this isn't over" he began backing away in front of us. "i'll see you friday".

sam winked directly at kelsey, before finally turning the right way round to catch up with jack and others.

jonah and i stared at kelsey beside us until she took her eyes off sam and shrugged at our faces.

"what?" she inquired.

"he's already got you wrapped around his little finger, hasn't he?" jonah's jaw dropped with a smirk as her cheeks began to turn red.

"you're both being ridiculous. i do not like sam" she immediately denied, brushing off the statement.

"no one said that you liked him, kels" i pointed out. she rolled her eyes with jonah and i breaking into laughter and purposely walked ahead of us to get to first period.

+

i never really knew what to wear to small gatherings like this. i mean, it's not a party so i shouldn't dress up too much, but then it's also not a place where i can just turn up in sweatpants.

i ended up deciding on a simple hoodie and skirt, before the three of us had left my place and were now walking up to connor's door at 7pm. 

jonah rang the bell and the door was opened by one of jack's friend's. his name is john, but everyone has called him swazz since the beginning of high school for some weird reason that i'll never understand.

he took a sip of the cold beer in his hands and briefly examined us all.

"i don't know who you guys are, but i'm pretty sure that sam hooked up with you" swazz gestured his bottle at kelsey, who face-palmed her newfound reputation.

soon enough, connor arrived behind swazz and took over from answering the door.

"don't mind him, he's already pissed. but come in, i'm glad you guys could make it" he stepped aside.

although when he said that he was glad we made it, i was sure that he only meant jonah from the way his eyes wouldn't leave his.

connor led us to the living room, where about less than twenty people stood or sat with alcoholic beverages, pizza and indulging in their own conversations.

i feel it coming by the weeknd played in the background and everything was pretty chill just like connor had described.

"hey" two hands lightly touched my shoulders from behind until they were revealed as jack's as he came in front of me with a smile.

"hi" i briefly waved, smiling back as he soon joined the others.

my attention diverted away from jack and to crystal and her friends, who were practically staring us down and evidently whispering to one another about our presence.

"um, what are they doing here?" crystal raised her hand and spoke up.

"we do have names, you know" kelsey pointed out.

"i invited them" connor replied as if he stating the obvious.

crystal chuckled, looking back at her friends, "why?".

"because it's called making friends other than just you, crystal" he said to her.

"no," derek spoke up - his words slightly slurring from being wasted. "it's only...it's only because connor wants jonah's d—".

"okay!" connor quickly interrupted. "come on, i'll get you all some drinks".

after eating a few slices of pizza, drinking one beer and feeling as though kelsey and i were only invited for the sake of connor getting to spend time with jonah, the boys were in the middle of laying out a game of beer pong.

throughout this whole night i haven't even managed to say one proper word to jack, except for that hi earlier and wondering when his next tutoring session is going to be.

i guess, the only good thing about tonight was watching crystal try to get close to jack and him reject her multiple times, and also having a few conversations with some of jack's female friends, that don't follow crystal around like a minion.

once the game was ready, johnson was assigned as the captain of the first team and crystal voluntarily assigned herself as the captain of the other - surprise, surprise.

"okay, i choose swazz..." johnson began. "...jack, seriyah...eva and derek".

"i pick sam, gigi, tez, adrianna..." crystal announced. "...and dakota".

my eyes instantly widened at the mention of my name.

"me?" i inquired, sitting on the couch and feeling everyone's eyes on me.

"yeah, you" she clarified, folding her arms across her chest.

"oh, she's not playing" kelsey spoke up and lightly held my arm back.

crystal snickered, making a few of the others laugh too, "can't she speak for herself?".

i looked at kelsey beside me.

"dakota, you barely even drink" she whispered and i bit the inside of my cheek.

"i know, but—".

"so, are you playing or not?" crystal loudly cut off my whisper. "or can you not take a little alcohol?".

she tilted her head with an annoying smirk plastered on her lips, that i could easily slap right off her face if i had the guts to.

"no, i can. i'll play" i rose up from the couch and dusted off my skirt, joining everyone else around the game.

i glanced back at kelsey, who hopefully smiled at me and i hoped that was praying for me.

+

surprisingly enough, the game went on pretty swiftly and that was probably because i hadn't had my turn yet.

everyone on either team has somewhat tried to throw the ping pong ball and chugged down a cup of vodka, but me.

although i spoke too soon when swazz caught the ball in one of our cups and it was officially my turn to drink.

"dakota, you're up" crystal pointed out for everyone to acknowledge that it was my go - the girl who is an obvious outsider of their group and a non-regular drinker.

i picked up the red cup with the ball floating inside, and removed it before taking a small sniff of the drink.

i could easily sense how strong the vodka was, but i needed to get this over and done with. so, i attempted to down half until that failed into a big coughing fit.

the room fell into small smirks of laughter as i coughed one last time and cringed at the taste that hardly seemed like just vodka.

"all gone?" crystal questioned in between laughs.

"come on, she doesn't have to finish it if she doesn't want to" seriyah, one of the girls that i newly spoke to today, defended.

crystal huffed, "the rules are to drink the whole cup".

she stared directly at me, watching my every move along with everyone else. i looked back down at the remaining drink and refused to hesitate before chugging it again.

"great" she briefly clapped her hands and we then decided on who was next to throw the ping pong ball.

i could barely concentrate on the going conversation as my stomach began to feel as though it was doing cartwheels.

"dakota, are you okay?" kelsey came up to me, whilst i held onto my belly and could feel my head heating up.

"yeah, it's-it's just my stomach feels a bit weird" i tried to say.

"is it the vodka?" jack's voice caringly popped up.

"i don't know, i, uh—...oh, no" instantly, i gripped onto my stomach then my mouth with the other hand, before rushing away and vomiting into a nearby plant.

"dakota!" kelsey hurried over.

"ugh, gross" a male voice said after, though i was too busy backing it up in connor's plant to care and question who it was.

"nice going, crystal" jack sarcastically said as i stood up straight and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"what?!" she exclaimed, but jack frowned and brushed past her to hand me a water bottle that he picked up from the side.

"here, water will help a little" his face turned much softer and i managed to smile up at his tall height to say thanks.

"why are you babying her? it's not our fault she couldn't handle it" crystal scoffed.

"yes, but you selfishly pushed her into joining in and finishing it" jack argued back.

"she didn't actually have to" she spoke with a hint of a laugh.

"come on dee, let's get you cleaned up" kelsey told and walked along with me out of the living room, upstairs and to the bathroom.

as we switched on the light, i noticed that jack had followed behind us and even though, i was dreading this post-vomit mode of tasting it in my mouth and having some on my hoodie, it felt nice to know that he cared enough to come up here.

i rinsed my mouth then sat on the edge of the bathtub as kelsey got a wet cloth and helped me wipe my clothes.

jack leant against the door frame with his hands settled in his pants' pockets.

"not much of a drinker, huh?" he asked.

i could barely look him in the eye at the moment, so i focused on trying to remove as much vomit as possible.

"this is so embarrassing" i mentioned.

"no, it's not. i was the exact same at my first high school party in ninth grade" he told.

"wow, i've got the same alcohol tolerance as a 14 year old" i scoffed at myself and jack looked down at his feet with a laugh, letting me skip his eyes and admire his smile.

"that's not what i meant" he corrected. "i mean, crystal can be a bitch and it's not the worst thing if vodka isn't for you".

connor eventually appeared at the doorframe with jonah, resting his elbow on jack's shoulder.

"woah, what happened?" he questioned, looking at us all.

kelsey glanced at them both with a smirk, "we could ask you two the same question".

they both took a look at their clothes and hastily attempted to fix their messy hair, unbuckled belts and wrongly buttoned shirts.

"by the way, you may want to throw away that plant near the fire place" i informed connor and he exhaled, running his hand threw his hair.

"my parents are gonna kill me".

jack comfortingly patted his back, "why don't you go and fix up your shirt and then also grab something clean for dakota?".

i held my lips inside my mouth to suppress my growing smile. kelsey gave me a look and jonah did the same, yet he was much more exaggerated and obvious, that i had to subtly wave my hand for him to stop.

"yeah, my sister must have something" connor scratched his head. "you can come and take a look if you like".

i shook my head to decline, "that's sweet, but if i were your sister, i wouldn't want a strange girl going through my clothes. i've got a shirt underneath this any ways".

i looked in the mirror to check my hoodie one last time and it actually was pretty cleared up with the help of kelsey, and we managed to get most of the smell out too.

jack pushed himself off the door frame and was about to turn away.

"jack," i called him and he looked back at me. "thank you".

he smiled with his brows slightly creased since in his eyes, it probably seemed like he hardly did anything.

but to me, it was the complete opposite.

"no problem" he nodded, then left my friends and i alone for them to amusingly freak out about what just happened.

-

this chapter was probably the longest i've ever done for this book so you're welcome

but recap; jack wants to talk to olivia on the phone but obviously that can't happen and jack defended dakota which was the cutest thing ever

BTW I FINALLY ADDED A CHARACTER VISUAL SO CHECK THAT OUT

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