dakota's pov +

just like every other lunch at school, jonah, kelsey and i were sat on the bleachers watching the football practice.

i'm just glad that i now have a legitimate excuse to be here and watch jack, rather than feeling like i'm just stalking my crush.

"hello great people, what did i miss?" liam appeared, jumping down from to sit beside me.

"nothing much. but hey, i'm still sorry about ditching connor's place on friday" i apologised. "i had to help jack out after that fight".

"no, it's fine. i still had fun with you at prom" he responded with a smile.

"oh. helping jack out, huh?" jonah snickered.

"stop" i warned him, holding back a laugh.

"so you just cleaned his injuries and let him go home then?" kelsey joined in with jonah's childish game, causing me to roll my eyes.

liam glanced at us all with obvious confusion, "what's going on?".

"dakota and jack are dating" jonah blurted out.

"we're not dating" i quickly corrected. "well, not officially any ways".

"when did this happen?" liam questioned.

"seriously liam, where have you been?" kelsey said. "everyone's talking about it".

i sighed, "they're being delusional".

"jack confessed his love for dakota, they kissed and he spent the night in her bed" jonah explained to him.

"i'm sorry, were you there?" i chuckled.

"no, but the way you went on about it made it seem like i was" he retorted, making me hit him harmlessly.

"oh and liam, my mom wanted to know if your mom wanted copies of the prom pictures" i asked him.

he was staring blankly at nothing, so i knitted my eyebrows together when he didn't respond.

"liam?...hey" i nudged him.

he snapped out of his daydream and turned to me, "yeah? sorry".

"you good?" i inquired, looking at him concernedly. he nodded and gave me a brief smile.

"yeah, i'm fine" liam replied although by just looking at him, i wasn't fully convinced.

jonah suddenly threw his arm over my shoulder, taking my attention away from liam and onto him.

"we're both dating football players now. it's great, right?" he eagerly spoke.

"we're not dating" i corrected him again.

"kelsey could join the club too" jonah suggested. we glanced at her as she refused to look up from her phone.

"mention sam and you'll regret it" she muttered.

"maybe liam should hook up with a cheerleader then, so we'll all be on a jocks' radar" i said.

liam shrugged his shoulders, "maybe".

grabbing my attention again, jonah repeatedly hit my arm, directing my sight to the football field.

"speaking of your potential hubby" he whispered.

i looked ahead and saw jack jogging off the field and towards the bleachers in his incredibly attractive football uniform. he stopped at the barrier and waved at me.

"hey! dakota!" jack called out and gestured for me to come down to him. i smiled, biting on my lip.

"i'll be right back" i told my friends without hesitating to get up from my seat.

once i reached the bottom of the steps, i stood face to face with jack and rested my arms on the barrier - grinning at his presence.

"what's up?" i asked him.

"are you busy this friday?".

"probably not. why?".

jack brushed his fingers along my arm and smirked, "well, i was thinking that we could go out. somewhere nice".

"are you asking me out on a date, jack gilinsky?" i questioned, bringing my face closer to his.

"i am, dakota richards".

i smiled at him, "i'd love to".

"gilinsky!" coach's voice loudly interrupted us. "what the hell are you doing? get back to practice!".

jack gave his coach a thumbs up to say he'd be right there then turned back to me.

"i have homework to do today but when i'm done, i'll come over to your place" he informed.

"okay" i agreed, before jack leant in and kissed me. my hands cupped his face, then he hummed in appreciation when i pulled away and flicked his sight from my eyes then to my lips.

"gilinsky!" coach screamed again.

"go" i said him.

he shook his head, "wait, once more".

his lips quickly found mine again and even though i told him to get back to practice, i let myself savour those few seconds before pulling back.

"you're gonna get in trouble" i giggled. "now, go".

i turned his shoulders around, but he cheekily came in to peck one last kiss on my cheek. i laughed at his action as i watched him jog back onto the field.

"where did liam go?" i inquired once i reached my friends again, since i couldn't see him anywhere.

kelsey shrugged, "he kind of rushed off, said he had something to do".

"oh. he said that we'd study together next period" i informed, picking up my backpack. "i'm gonna go find him, maybe he went to the library early".

i said my goodbyes then re-entered the building to make my way to the school library. up ahead, i saw crystal walking this way with her eyes on her phone in one hand whilst the other held a starbucks frappuccino.

i held my head high and tried my best to ignore her because i knew that she'd have something to say.

"so how does it feel?" she spoke up once i passed her.

i was about to continue walking, but i had this sudden urge to stop and find out what she was talking about now.

"dating jack" crystal added for me.

"we're not dating...yet any ways." i explained, but soon scoffed at my own words. "you know what? why am i even explaining myself to you?".

"well" she said, swirling her drink with her straw. "enjoy it while it lasts".

"and what's that supposed to mean?".

"we may not be friends or even acquaintances, but you can do so much better".

"you're right, we're not friends. so how the hell would you know what i deserve?" i folded my arms tightly.

crystal rolled her eyes, "okay, let me break it down for you. i dated jack from the ninth grade but we were always on and off because i used to hook up with different guys".

"so?" i questioned, considering her unfaithful history wasn't something that i cared about.

"i only did that because jack never seemed to be satisfied with just me. he'd always be texting other girls and making out with them at parties".

i helplessly started laughing at what was coming out of her mouth. this girl doesn't really think that i'm going to fall for her games.

"am i supposed to believe this?" i snickered.

"in jack's eyes, a better offer always comes by. there will always be something that he prefers over what he's got. this won't last. you were clearly just an easy target" crystal continued.

i shook my head and took a few steps forward, "if you knew jack, you'd know that there's two sides to him. one that everyone in this school sees, then another that he shows just me. the jack i know wouldn't do that".

"please" she laughed and carelessly drank her drink. "i'm around him and his immature friends 24/7. i hear everything even when i don't mean to".

"you're just trying to mess with my head, crystal" i interfered, growing frustrated. "you like to see me miserable and you've been doing this since the day i met you".

"come on, that's not true" she mockingly pouted.

i shook my head and pulled my bag further up my shoulder, "i've had enough of this".

not wanting to hear anymore, i turned to continue to the library before the afternoon classes rush began.

"look, it's not secret that i'm the biggest bitch ever, but everyone knows that i'm not a liar" crystal mentioned loud enough behind me.

although, i carried on walking down the hallway and tried my best to forget all the bullshit that she just filled my head with.

+

i jogged down the stairs of my house to get a quick snack before jack arrives soon. i opened up the fridge and stared into it, trying to spot something i could eat. but nothing.

"there's, uh, rumours going around school" nate appeared in the kitchen. he faced me with his elbows resting on the counter.

i frowned over my shoulder, "rumours about what?".

"that you're dating jack gilinsky" he continued.

i resulted into taking a water bottle out of the fridge and sat down on the chair opposite nate.

"possibly" i answered.

he chuckled, "what happened to him telling crystal about your dad and the olivia issue?".

"he already explained how crystal found out and we're past that situation now" i shrugged.

"and apparently he spent the night here. did you two...?".

"what?! no, we just fell asleep. that's it".

"your mom would kill you if she found out" nate shook his head, finding the idea quite amusing.

"yeah, and she'd kill you if she found out that tara had to take the pill the morning after prom" i screwed open my water and took a sip.

nate looked at me in confusion, trying to understand how i knew he had unprotected sex with his prom date. i sighed and rolled my eyes at him.

"people talk about the head cheerleader at school too, you know" i responded.

"any ways" he changed the subject. "be smart with gilinsky, okay. please".

i gave him a questioning look just as the doorbell suddenly rang. i got up and headed straight to the door.

"hey" my smile grew as jack stood on my doorstep. i stepped aside to let him in. "finally finish that math homework then?".

"yes, but it was absolute torture" he groaned.

i shut the door behind him, "you should have told me. i could have helped you".

"no, that wouldn't have worked out. you would have just distracted me".

"distracted you?" i laughed.

"yeah or unless you had let me put a bag over your beauty and lips, then i would have been fine" he clarified.

"that bad, huh?".

jack sauntered closer and pulled me in by my waist, "of course. who could resist you?".

i giggled before his lips swiftly leant down to mine. i kissed him back, holding onto the front of his shirt to bring him nearer until a light cough instantly stopped me.

i glanced behind jack, catching nate standing at the kitchen entrance. jack did a double take and quickly turned around to face him whilst awkwardly touching his neck.

"hey nate" jack greeted. "how's it going? i didn't know you were here".

"well considering i live here, it shouldn't really be a surprise" my cousin retorted.

"okay, we're just going to head upstairs now" i said, taking jack's hand to the staircase before the situation could get any more tense.

for the past forty five minutes, i've been lying in jack's arms as we caught each other up on our minor eventful days. my head was on his chest and i could soothingly feel his heartbeat going against my ear.

i didn't tell him about what crystal said earlier because i was still trying to comprehend it myself. what she said was most likely a bunch of lies and she did it because she's an utter bitch, not because she cares.

stopping my next sentence, jack's phone buzzed with a text message. he looked at his screen to see who it was and my head immediately questioned the unknown name that was written in the middle.

"who's destiny?" i casually asked.

"just some girl. no one important" jack brushed off, placing his phone back on the nightstand.

as we fell back into our conversation, more and more texts continued to come through. this wasn't new to me though because when i used to tutor jack, his phone would always be like this.

but now things are different between us and i'm actually noticing who these texts are from. and i wish that i could say that they were just from sam or johnson or adrianna and seriyah.

"wow. more texts from more girls" i stated.

i chuckled a little to lighten my words as i faced him with my legs crossed. but really, my head was stupidly recalling every little detail that crystal told me.

jack laughed as he locked his phone again and settled it down, "are you already turning into the jealous girlfriend?".

"no, i'm just saying that girls at school text you a lot".

"is that a problem?" he raised his eyebrow at me.

"i mean, not now. but...but it could be" i lowly spoke since i was pretty embarrassed to say it loud enough.

"half of my friends are girls" jack sat up against the headboard. "you know that".

"okay, just forget i said anything" i shook my head. "it's stupid".

"you sure?".

"yeah. actually, i have to study for this english final now" i told. i just needed to be alone to grasp all of these thoughts.

"i have to do the same for world history. plus, i think dinner's probably ready" jack got up and explained.

i pulled my backpack onto the bed to take out a few of my books.

"so, tomorrow. i could pick you up for school?" he inquired whilst standing over me.

i glanced at him with a quick smile then back at my textbook, "sure".

jack came forward to try and plant a kiss on my lips, but instinctually, i moved to side, only allowing him to kiss me against my cheek.

-

i love you all, don't hate me. 😬
but it's a fanfic. what's a fanfic without heartbreaks and drama?

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