"Hey!" Gemma said with a gummy smile and a small wave of the hand.
"What's up?" I asked her as I stepped out before closing the front door behind me.
"Homecoming, that's what."
"Okay." I said, wondering where she was going with the subject.
"And I just wanted to know.." She trailed off, averting her gaze from mine.
"Yeah?"
"If it would be okay if I went with Michael?"
I chuckled, more to myself, before patting her on the top of her head. "Gemma, you didn't even have to ask."
"I just didn't want things to be awkward if I showed up with him, you know?" She said as she looked up at me.
"Yeah, I get it." I said as I nodded.
"Great then!" She said with a smile and a turn of the heel.
"Wait, Gemma! You came all the way to my house to tell me that?"
"What kind of friend would I be if I hadn't?"
"Anyway, nice battle scar." She said with a grin motioning to my scratched nose before winking and turning to leave. I chuckled as I shook my head in disbelief. It had become more clear to me just how much Gemma had taken my feelings into account, part of me felt actually kind of bad for turning her down. Or maybe it was because it had always been Dakota and I, and I wasn't used to having other friends that cared so much about me the way Gemma did.
Did this mean that Gemma liked Michael?
By Monday morning, word had spread that the Titans showed up at the party, a fight broke out and I ended up getting my ass kicked along with Dakota and Michael. Small town, equals, word travels fast, was it the correct words? No, it never was.
But freshman year would eventually come to an end and that meant I wouldn't have to deal with the ridiculous gossip spread by brainless sheep until the next school year, it also meant that homecoming flyers were posted every where in the halls, there was no escaping them. I stared at one of the baby blue posters hung up near my locker, Enchantment Under The Sea written in cursive gold letters across the top of it. It was staring me straight in the face, mocking me, tempting me to go, knowing full and well that I wouldn't.
"Wanna be my date?" Dakota whispered in my ear as he snuck up behind me.
"I thought you'd never ask." I said with a smirk as I turned around.
"I'm serious." Dakota said, leaning against my locker, staring at my lips and making me nervous.
"I don't know." I shrugged as I grabbed my textbooks.
"It'll be fun." He said teasingly. I half smiled, shrugging again. I had no reason to be nervous about the dance, half the school knew that Dakota and I were together.. or something like that, but the very thought of dancing together made my decision that more clear, I would not be going.
"Stop that."
"Stop what?" I asked as I closed my locker.
"Over thinking." He said as I rolled my eyes.
"Come with me, please?" He pleaded, grabbing me by the hand and staring into my eyes, begging me the way he always did when he wanted something. I sighed, knowing I had no choice but to give in the second he pulled that face and he knew it too.
"Alright."
"You've just made me that happiest boy." He said before wrapping his arms around my neck and kissing the side of my face. I chuckled before squeezing him back, burying my face in the embrace of his arms.
What's the worst that can happen?
"Listen up, boys! So we lost a game, so what, right?" Coach said with a chuckle as the team and I stood on the sideline of the football field, squinting to hide my eyes from the suns bright rays.
"It wasn't important or anything, no. Brush it off, am I right?" His chuckle had turned into forced laughter- almost hysterical as he leaned over, grabbing his stomach as he did so. I turned to glance at Dakota, who had the same confused expression that I had, along with the rest of the team.
Coach's laughter came to a sudden halt as he stood up with a solemn expression.
"Wrong."
"That game was important boys." He brought a hand up to his eyes, wiping away the sudden streaks of tears running down his face.
"Uh, coach? Are you okay?" Dakota asked before coach could spiral deeper down into his breakdown.
"I'm fine, son. I'm fine." He sniffled, stopping himself from turning into a blubbering mess.
The whole team exchanged confused stares, most likely wondering the same thing I was- what the hell was going on?
"Start the lines." Coach said with a blow of his shiny silver whistle. The team groaned in unison before jogging off down to the end zone before lining up and running to the five yard line. Coach would use this exercise as a punishment, so to speak, because by the end of it, I wanted to curl into a ball on the field and never move from that position.
My lungs burned with each breath of air that pumped into them and my chest felt like it was on fire.
"Coach is insane." Dakota huffed beside me, resting for a breather. If I hadn't, I knew I would've thrown up from the burning inside my stomach.
"You're just realizing this now?" I said between pants of hot air as sweat trickled down the sides of my face, making me hair stick to my forehead.
After what felt like an eternity, football practice was over. How naive of me to think the drills before were hard. It was brutal, borderline torture but I knew and Dakota knew, that the team needed it.
As we sat drenched in sweat on the sidelines of the field, not wanting to move an inch, coach blew his whistle and it rang it my ears louder than ever.
"We're getting a second chance boys, so work hard until then." He said before blowing his whistle once more, ending practice.
I practically dragged myself to the benches where my water bottle sat. I wrapped my lips around it, letting the water flow down my throat and it felt like a rain fall in a dry desert as I swallowed, gasping for breath afterward.
"That was brutal." Dakota said, throwing himself down beside me, that usually rosy glow spread across his cheeks that made him irresistible to anyone.
"Definitely." Michael said as he walked towards us, sweating profusely. I only nodded, unable to speak.
"So homecoming, you two going?" Michael asking before chugging from his water bottle.
"You bet." Dakota said with a grin before swinging an arm over my shoulder and kissing the side of my face, making a loud smack with his lips as he did so.
I chuckled with a sheepish smile, taken back as I stared at the ground. I'd noticed he had becoming more public with affection at school, something that surprised me, perhaps it was because it was the only time we were able to see each other. After all, it was still unclear whether he was allowed over, my mother remained idle, never giving me a straight answer. But part of me knew she more than likely missed having him around.
"See you guys there." Michael said with a smile as he walked away.
"See ya." Dakota and I said in unison, waving him off.
"Lets hit the road." Dakota said, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder.
It seemed days were getting shorter now as the sun set on our walk home, our hands hand in hand with each other as they swung back and forth between us.
A slight cold breeze drifted in the air as we came to a stop on the side of my house, staying out of sight from our parents. Dakota looked at our interlocked hands before looking up at me, earnestly. I knew there was something he wanted to say as I searched his eyes.
"I'm right across the street." I said with a smile.
"I wish I hadn't thrown that stupid wine bottle in the first place, I'd still be allowed over." He mumbled as he looked down at his own feet.
"It'll all blow over soon, try apologizing." I suggested.
"Like that'll help."
"Hey, in her eyes, you're probably still a saint." I said with a chuckle as I cupped the side of his face. He shrugged before pulling me into an amorous hug, squeezing tightly as if scared he wouldn't see me again. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a reassuring hug, before kissing the side of his face.
"Now we're even."
"We're not at school, that doesn't count." He said with a smirk before walking away. I sighed as I walked back around to the front of my house, looking up at the front door and turning the knob.
It wasn't enough seeing each other at school but for now, it was all we could do.
A/N who do you think is more dominant? vote, comment and let me know! :)