dakota's pov +

"so prom is coming up and connor and i were thinking that we should put money in to get a limo" jonah suggested, whilst we sat at lunch in the cafeteria.

"isn't he going with his friends?" kelsey asked.

"no, he says that everyone will want to be fashionably late, crystal will be a drama queen" he listed. "so he'll just come with us instead. you in?".

"oh yeah, sorry. i'm not going to that" kelsey bluntly mentioned, then focused back on the apple she was eating.

i raised my hand a little, "yeah, neither am i".

"what?!" jonah suddenly exclaimed. "why the fuck not? you have to go to prom".

"the whole preparation for it is so time consuming" kelsey groaned as she heavily rolled her eyes.

"so, what were you planning on using your time for instead?" jonah squinted his eyes, waiting for our excuses.

kelsey shrugged her shoulders, "i don't know, catch up on my tv shows".

"no, you're coming. stranger things can wait" he told her. "dakota, so are you".

"i don't know, i was up for it weeks ago but lately i've just not been feeling it" i explained.

"that's a shame because i was thinking that maybe you and i could go together" liam said, causing me to start rethinking my choice.

he nudged me arm to motivate me more as i continued to think.

"come on, it'll be fun" he added.

"wait, is that your promposal?" jonah inquired. "seriously, liam. i thought you would do better than this".

liam looked between us all in confusion, "what did i do wrong?".

"everything. connor set up this adorable hunt where i had to go to every member of the football team and recieve clues, before getting to him".

"it was very tiring" kelsey confirmed. "but, yours was pretty lame compared to that, liam".

"dakota doesn't think so" he gave me a smile, but it faded once he saw my reaction. "do you?".

i shrugged then awkwardly bit into my chocolate bar, "it was cute".

"see? just cute isn't good enough" jonah pointed out.

liam chuckled and shook his head at us, "alright fine. i am going to convince you to go to prom with me".

he got up from his seat and moved his lunch tray out of way, before standing up on our table.

"liam, what are you doing?" i tugged on his pants leg, but he hushed me then whistled loudly to get everyone's attention.

the noise in the cafeteria soon died down and everyone's eyes fell on the table, where liam proudly stood and waited for some quiet.

"hi everyone, thanks for giving me your attention" he cleared his throat. "dakota richards, you are my best friend and have been since diaper days, and prom would be a lot better if i had your amazing self by my side. so, will you do me the honour and be my date?".

he looked down at where i was seated and the rest of the cafeteria dauntingly did the same.

"if i say yes, will you sit down?" i questioned him.

"yes".

"then yes, i'll go to prom with you" i giggled, before the cafeteria abruptly filled with cheers and clapping.

liam bowed and thanked them all, then sat down to gave me a big hug until we all tried to convince kelsey to join us at prom now.

jack's pov +

i watched as liam stepped down from the lunch table and embraced dakota with a hug.

she had a huge smile on her face that was pretty hard to look away from, but i did anyways since liam's lack of ability to keep his arm off her shoulder was beginning to pester me.

"that was such a pathetic promposal" crystal scoffed as she got up from the table to go and grab some water.

"i thought it was pretty sweet" adrianna disagreed, following after her. "it was spontaneous".

"guys, i totally forgot that prom was coming up. i need to find myself a date" sam panicked. "who are you all going with?".

"i asked claudia" johnson answered.

"i'm going with seriyah" derek added.

"you're going with jonah, right?" sam questioned connor. "dude, you're gonna have to ask him to help me go with kelsey".

connor laughed at him, "yeah, i don't think that she'd go with you, man".

"why not?".

"are you oblivious to how many times she ignores you and rolls her eyes at you, and tells you to stop following her?" johnson said to them, causing laughter to erupt from us all.

"it's called playing hard to get, boys" sam calmed us down. "yo jack, how about you? who's your date?".

i shrugged my shoulders, "there's no one that i'm dying to ask".

"bro, you don't understand how many girls have come up to me asking if you've got a date yet or not" johnson mentioned. "you have so many options".

i gathered up my backpack and packed away my remaining lunch. "yeah, i'm gonna head to practice now".

sam glanced at his phone, "practice doesn't start until 1:15".

"i know, but i just want to get out there and train on my own for a while".

"alright, we'll see you out there" johnson gave me a fist bump and i got up from the table to leave the cafeteria.

i walked down the almost empty hallways to get to the boys locker room, as a familiar voice called out my name behind me. i turned around and suprisingly saw dakota jogging closer to me.

"hi" she said.

"hey" i replied, holding my hands in the pocket of my hoodie.

"um, i don't know if i should be telling you this or not but connor told me that you saw me crying and—".

"he did?" i recalled. "oh fuck, it's not like i was spying on you or anything, i was just—".

dakota interrupted me with a laugh, "i know. you saw me on saturday when you were with johnson and the girls outside your house?".

"oh yeah, right. you knew that already" i chuckled and nervously scratched the back of my neck.

"so, i just wanted to tell you that i'm fine and it was only because i got an text from my dad. but it's sweet that you were worried about me".

"of course and i'm glad that you're okay" i said, receiving a soft smile back from her.

"so, who are you going to prom with?" she wondered.

"no one".

"jack the quarterback doesn't have a prom date?" she said, almost in shock. "is it opposite day?".

i chuckled, "i haven't asked anyone yet, it hasn't been much of a priority. but you're going with liam, right?".

"just as friends though" she assured. "that promposal was pretty embarrassing but it was adorable of him".

"yeah" i nodded, "i saw".

"dakota" liam came up to us. "we've gotta head to taco bell now if we want to be back in time for last period".

"okay. i'll see you around, jack" she said with a small wave as she started backing away.

"bye" i called out.

once she turned around to join liam, i let out a holding breath and felt my heart rate return to it's normal pace.

i never usually feel like this whenever i talk to dakota, but now i'm all of sudden so nervous, i don't want to slip up and my words can hardly function in my head when i look at her.

i watched her walk down the hallway and i didn't realise that i was hoping she would look back until she did. she gave me a quick smile that i immediately returned, before going on to the boys locker room.

+

"so how did it go with destiny last night?" sam asked. we were currently getting through the twenty push ups on the football field that coach ordered the team to do.

"she's not my type" i replied between breaths.

sam suddenly paused mid-push up and stared at me, "hot and sexy isn't your type?".

"it is" i continued performing my reps. "as long as she isn't fucking horny 24/7".

"be grateful, bro" sam carried on with the exercise. "any guy would kill to have her number".

"really? then feel free to set her up with someone else then" i retorted, finally reaching twenty then stood up to go and grab some water.

i noticed connor laughing at our conversation beside me until he followed me to the bench.

"and you - you directly told dakota that i was worried about her?" i questioned as i handed him one of the other water bottles.

"isn't that what you wanted me to do?" he replied, taking a few sips.

"no, you were supposed to ask jonah".

"jonah didn't know what was wrong either" connor told me. "plus, it looks like i did you a favour".

i squirted some of the water on my sweat-drenched hair and ran my fingers through it.

"how?" i knitted my brows together.

"you and dakota didn't speak for two weeks," connor began.

"and?".

he rolled his eyes before elaborating, "did she talk to you?".

"yeah" i said.

"did you get to find out if she was okay?".

"yes".

"then there you go" he hit the shoulder pads on my football uniform. "problem fucking solved".

"hey reed, gilinsky!" coach loudly yelled across to us. "if you want to talk so much, you can do it whilst running three laps around the field".

connor and i both exchanged looks, letting out big groans then put down the water bottles to do as coach said.

-

connor is in this story much more than i expected

and this was such a filler chapter but everyone wanted me to update again so

{vote, comment and share}