dakota +

after driving from connor's and dropping kelsey home, i decided to come over to jonah's place for a while.

"mom? dad? i'm home with dakota" jonah exclaimed as i shut the door behind me.

"son, when are you not home with dakota?" jonah's dad walked out from the study room as he settled on his glasses.

i chuckled, "hello, mike".

"hey kiddo" he lightly hugged me.

jonah and i have been best friends since pre-school. our families have always been super close, so ever since my dad walked out, mike has basically been like a second father to me.

"how was the big party?" mike eagerly asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"it wasn't a party, dad" jonah rolled his eyes and corrected.

"it was just a gathering at connor's" i added.

mike's lips slightly shifted into a smile, "oh, so who's connor then?".

jonah grabbed my arm and started to lead us to the stairs, "i am not getting into this with my own father".

"who's connor?" jonah's mom, natalie suddenly came in, interrupting my light laughter and staring at every one of us with a blunt face.

jonah kept quiet at his mother's presence, so i quickly jumped in, "he's just some guy in our grade at school".

"your friend?" she emphasised and i watched my best friend's shoulders defeatedly drop.

"yeah" he answered, almost inaudibly. "he's just my friend, mom".

jonah brushed past her to make his way upstairs. i immediately followed after him, before his dad broke the silence and began a heating conversation with his wife about their son.

i guess, you could say that mike has always been the most supportive and understanding towards jonah's sexuality. he was raised to be quite open-minded, whereas natalie has been the complete opposite due to her strict, religious background.

jonah came out to them when we were in the ninth grade and we're now seniors, yet she still struggles to accept that her son for who he is.

jonah instantly lay flat on his bed and i cautiously sat beside him with my legs neatly crossed. i didn't want to go into the one topic that he really hates to get into, so i thought of something new.

"so, last night i was texting jack as olivia and he said that he wanted to hear her voice" i mentioned, causing his eyes to suddenly widen.

"and what did you say?".

"that my speaker was still broken and he wouldn't be able to hear me".

"dee seriously, there's hardly any point continuing to be this girl" he told me. "look at the way jack acted today - he's clearly able to notice you without you having to pretend to be someone else".

i indecisively shrugged, "i guess".

he propped himself up on his elbow, "but i mean, what are you going to do when jack actually asks for your number?".

"i've already thought that far ahead" i said. "i'm supposed to be getting a new phone and number next week, so i'll give jack the new one then keep the old one for olivia".

jonah shook his head at my well-thought plan, "this is crazy, you definitely need to stop and we're gonna have to tell kelsey about it too".

"no way. you know how kels is, she'll freak out" i immediately denied, before shifting myself around and laying beside him. "any ways, how did things go with connor today? did you two, ya know...".

"no, we just made out," he huffed out then joined me by laying his head back on the pillow. "it was leading to that, but i guess we just weren't ready".

i glanced and knitted my brows at him, "hey, what's up? why don't you seem as happy about it?".

he pulled his hands down his face, "just my mom. like what if i eventually start dating connor and want to bring him home? will she just completely ignore that he's even there?".

"actually, i think it'll be a good thing. your mom could realise how happy connor could make you and she'll appreciate that".

"have you even met my mom?" he scoffed.

"yes and you just need to talk to her again" i advised. "you haven't really had a proper conversation about it all since the day you told her".

jonah hummed at my words, "i don't know...i'll see. but hey, are you staying over?".

"yeah, i might as well. but, let me text my mom first" i said, getting my phone out of my pocket.

usually when i stay at jonah's for one friday night, it unknowingly develops into being the whole weekend and you'd think that we lived together permanently.

"good, because i need you on monday to help me choose a post-make out outfit when i see connor".

i laughed, looking up at him, "a what?".

"something that makes him notice me and remember how fucking great tonight was" he settled his arms underneath his head.

"what about me? you said no more olivia, so i need to start stepping up my game for jack".

"you have a few clothes lying around my room somewhere, you stay here often enough".

i rose up from the bed after texting my mom and began looking around the large room, "well, let's see now incase we have to stop at my place".

"but, i'm tired dee" he groaned very loudly and i hit his foot that was dangling off the bed.

"jonah, please i'll buy you breakfast tomorrow morning if you do" i begged.

"fine" he huffed in annoyance, then finally sat up. "should have known you'd bribe me with food".

+

jack +

i paid for my lunch and took my tray to the table, where most of my friends sat in multiple conversations including crystal, who stared directly at me with furrowed brows and her leg crossed over the other.

"what's up with you?" i questioned her, sitting beside johnson.

she twisted in her seat to face me, "you know, i still can't believe you went running after dakota like that at connor's".

"what's the big deal, crystal?" i said.

"the deal is that you made it seem as though you liked her or something".

i took a bite of my apple, "i do like her, as a friend".

"why do you care any ways?" johnson mentioned. "you two aren't together anymore".

"so, what? i still care about all of our reputations and that could be ruined by affiliating with people like dakota, kelsey and jonas or whatever" she explained.

"it's jonah" connor spoke up and crystal grimaced at him.

"yeah, whatever".

"crystal, you honestly sound so stuck up right now" adrianna pointed out, chuckling to soften her words. "they're actually not bad people".

"yeah, jack would know since dakota's his tutor and we all know what happens at tutoring sessions" sam wriggled his eyebrows, laughing childishly with the rest of the guys.

"not everyone is you sam and thinks that tutoring means a private fuck session" i defended.

he scoffed at my correction, "yeah, right".

"no, seriously, she's cute and all but she's not my type" i finalised, taking a sip of my water. "i have olivia any ways".

crystal groaned and stood up, "here we go" she spoke merely underneath her breathe, before leaving the table with the girls.

"how's it going between you two?" johnson wondered.

i proudly nodded, "great as usual, but she always seems to be busy whenever i want to call her or face time. dude, can you ask your cousin what the deal is with olivia?".

i turned to sam, who was busy checking out the girls that would usually walk past our table and linger around to make sure that one of them caught our eye.

"i'll try, but i told you that me and my cousin aren't really that close" sam told me. "so we hardly talk but for you, i will" he patted my shoulder until his attention quickly went to dakota's friend, kelsey.

he waved his hand in the air and she paused with her lunch tray, looking around to see if sam was motioning to someone else.

"hey kelsey!" he exclaimed and she huffed, before making her way to our table.

"what, sam?" she inquired.

"so since your friend is tutoring my friend, how about you and i get into our own tutoring sessions?" sam suggested, pressing his teeth down on his bottom lip.

"what do you need tutoring for?" kelsey said.

"well baby, you're gonna have to come over to find out".

she rolled her eyes so far, that i was surprised  they even returned, before she left sam's desperate side and marched back to her friends.

johnson snickered, "dude, leave the poor girl alone. you have plenty of other girls that want you, you're wasting your time".

"nah, i'm not" sam shook his head. "she'll come around soon, you wait" he reassured until we engaged into a deep conversation about our upcoming football games.

+

after school, i came to dakota's place for another evening of maths tutition and
i was sat in her dining room as i waited for her to use the bathroom.

i tapped my pen against my cheek, mindlessly looking around the room until my phone rang with a call from sam.

"hey" i answered.

"so, how many times have you two done it today?" he questioned.

i pulled my hand down my face and stood up to pace around the room, "for the last time bro, she actually tutors me math. why is that so hard for you to understand?".

"because seriyah taught you chemistry once and we all know how that ended up".

"to be fair, we were drinking so something was bound to fucking happen".

"okay well, pop some beers open and get drunk with dakota then" sam pushed, laughing at the end.

"i am not going to have sex with dakota" i told, looking out of the window. "one, i doubt that she's like that; two, she's not my type whatsoever and three, i can hardly even imagine that happ—".

i halted my sentence as i whipped around and heard dakota's footsteps re-entering the room.

"sam, i have to go" i instantly told him then hung up without waiting for a response.

i looked at her worriedly until she read my expression and relaxed her shoulders.

"don't worry, i'm not offended" she told, then sat back down at table. i quietly joined her as she started flipping through the textbook.

"sam's been saying so much shit lately, so i was just getting him off my back" i tried to explain and she glanced up with a quick smile before continuing to focus on finding the right page. "...it's just that there's this girl, that i've been talking to".

dakota briefly paused and looked at me, "really?".

i nodded, "it's kind of stupid because we've never met or anything, but then i feel like i know her more than people that i have met in person".

"what's her name?" she wondered.

"olivia and i really like her, so that's why i was defensive over sam saying that i liked you or wanted to have sex with you".

"no, it's fine" she let out a warm smile. "i understand".

"you're a great person, don't get me wrong but we're like two completely different people any ways".

dakota lightly chuckled, "yeah, you're...you're right".

-

poor dakota but this chapter was so short compared to the last one, so i'll try to make the next longer

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