{75}✔️

Dahlia's POV

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One thing after a fucking 'nother.

"That's my seat." I stated, my face blank.

"Oh, is it?" Luna questioned. I narrowed my eyes at her and crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at her smug face. "Well, my stuff is on it, so...I guess it's mine now?" She tilted her head and let out a high pitched giggle. I looked over at Billie who looked absolutely miserable and then looked back at her.

I held a hand up slowly, stared Luna right in the eyes and then shoved her books off of the desk with all the force I could.

"Okay, well, now your books are all the way over there, on the floor, so I guess...That's your seat now?" I smiled sweetly at her and watched as she stared in shock at the now clear desk in front of her. I grabbed her arm and yanked her up roughly, shoving her over to where her books had landed and rolled my eyes as she tripped and face planted the hard floor. I took my seat as people started to laugh.

"Damn, baby. I did not expect that shit, but that was sexy as fuck! You wanna go fuck in the bathroom real quick?" Billie laughed.

"Ms. Doe, that was unacceptable! I wouldn't expect that from you!" Mrs. Bledgin shouted as she scurried over to help Luna, who started pretending to cry the moment she saw Mrs. Bledgin in front of her.

"So sorry." I grumbled before slamming my book bag onto my desk. It's the first day back and I'm already over this shit.

I'm over this stupid school and all the stupid idiots in it. I'm over all the bullshit I've had to deal with the past couple...My whole fucking life. I'm over it all.

"I'm gonna have to write a referral for that." Mrs. Bledgin shook her head as she helped Luna over to an empty desk.

"God, for me not to have a dick, bitches sure do fucking stay on it." I muttered, running my fingers through my hair.

"What was that?" She called, placing her hands on her hips.

"I SAID—"

"She said she's sorry!" Billie quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me up from my seat. "I'll walk her to the office."

"You don't have—"

"Yeah, I do!" Billie pulled me out of the classroom as quickly as she could and closed the door behind us. "Baby, you need to cool down." She said quickly. "I know you've had a rough couple of days, but I need you to stay out of trouble for me, okay? Just be your usual, quiet self and you'll be okay." She rubbed my arms comfortingly and I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Billie." I shook my head. "I'm really sorry about everything."

"What are you talking about?"

"I keep getting into all this fucking shit. First it was all the shit with Kai, then it was all the shit with Luna, and you've had to deal with all my fucking family drama and now this shit and it's all so fucking much and I keep causing all these problems and I feel so guilty because it just feels like I'm stressing you out constantly with all this and I—"

"Dahlia! Dahlia, calm down!" Billie said calmly. I feel like I look like I'm just a few seconds away from passing out. I probably am. "Listen to me, angel, okay? You need to stop thinking like that. You can't help that all this shit is happening to you. It's not your fault it's just—it's just circumstance." She shrugged.

"But—"

"But nothing. None of this is your fault. I know it's been a rough few months for you, but I promise it's going to get better. You're not stressing me out at all. I've had the most amazing few months with you. You make all the bad shit so worth it. It doesn't compare to how much good shit I get to experience with you." She smiled. "Things should be a little calmer now. Luna's our only issue, really, and I think we can deal with her. You sure handled her in there." She smirked.

I looked down and let out a small laugh. "I'm turning into you. You're a bad influence."

"I know, I love it." She laughed.

"I think I should apologize to her." I sighed.

"No, she deserved it! Come on, let's go to the office."

***

"Prom isn't until April." I furrowed my brows.

"Yeah, but the tickets are always cheaper when they first start selling them." Billie shrugged as she handed one to me. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually really excited for it! The Sadie Hawkins dance was really fun and I bet prom will be even better." She grinned.

"You're too cute," I smirked as I pinched her cheek and then put my ticket in my purse. "Thanks for this. I'll pay you back for it."

"Shut up, you know you don't have to."  She shoved my head to the side and I flipped her off and stuck out my tongue.

"Alright kids, are we all ready to go?" Denver asked after getting into the car and putting his seatbelt on.

Even though I have a car now, I told him I still wanted to ride to and from school with him and Cora for the rest of the year. This is his last year here. Next year it's just gonna be me and Cora, and I'll miss this. I'll miss it being the three of us. I might as well enjoy the time I have left with him!

Damn, that sounded dramatic as fuck.

"We're ready." Cora said as she closed her door. Denver pulled out of the school's parking lot and we started to head home. Billie is coming over to study with me since we've already got a math test next week.

The ride home was pretty quiet, everyone worn out from our first day back. At least there are only five months left of school. Then we finally get to go on Summer Vacation.

Wow, it feels like just yesterday we were starting this school year. Now it's already halfway over. I'm not complaining, though. I can't wait to graduate.

When we pulled into the driveway, Cora and Billie got out and raced each other to the front door while Denver and I got out like normal people. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Denver asked quietly as we followed Billie and Cora into the house. I nodded quickly.

"You can head to my room, Bil. I'll be up in a few minutes. Don't go rambling in my underwear drawer!" I told her before heading toward the kitchen.

"No promises." She grinned before chasing Cora up the stairs.

When Denver and I got into the kitchen, I grabbed a fruit cup and a water from the fridge before sitting at the kitchen table, across from him. "What's up?" I asked curiously.

"I need help. With a lot of shit." He chuckled nervously. "See, it's time for me to get serious now...About school and life and shit. I mean...I probably should've been serious, but I mean—" He sighed and scratched his head, his long hair flopping all over the place as he did. "It's the second semester of my senior year. I've got five months to get my shit together. Five months to figure out what the fuck I'm gonna do and how I'm gonna do it, and I feel ashamed that I have to sit here and ask my baby sister for help with this, but I just thought...You know, you've pretty much got your shit together so maybe you could help me with mine? I know I should be the one giving you advice but—"

"Denver, you don't have to feel ashamed about asking me for help," I grinned. "I don't have my shit together in any way, but I'll help however I can."

"Thanks," He chuckled. "I think I'd like to go to college. Let's start there?" I nodded and he continued. "I don't know what I wanna go for or where I wanna go or how to go about getting into a college. I guess I could play football to get me through it, but I don't know if I want to do that."

I nodded and picked up my phone, opening my notes app. "I'm gonna write all this shit down." I mumbled.

He laughed before continuing. "Then there's the whole needing to move out thing...I don't know how I'm gonna get enough money to do that, but I definitely need to."

"You don't have to rush that. Dad would never rush you out of the house." I frowned. I hate to think of him moving out. Why the hell are we growing up so fast? This is disgusting!

"No, I know, but I want to. I wanna be completely independent, you know? But I don't know how or when I'm gonna do that. I mean, I don't even have my own savings account yet. I haven't saved a damn dime."

"Savings account." I muttered, typing it into my notes.

"Then there's a job...I work at the music lounge, but that isn't enough. It's just a little over minimum wage. I need to figure out how to get more money, and fast! I don't wanna quit working at the lounge, though. It's a really chill, fun job that I genuinely enjoy...I just need to find something else to do too."

"How are things with you and Finneas?" I asked quickly.

"What?"

"You know, you haven't really said anything about him since Thanksgiving..." I shrugged.

"Dude, this isn't about Finneas! This is about my future!"

"I was just wondering." I rolled my eyes. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "We don't talk as much as we used to, and that's definitely my fault. We talk at work and that's just about it...I'm gonna ask him if he wants to keep giving me guitar lessons. I'm gonna talk to him soon."

"Good," I smiled. "Do you still like him?"

"He's a hard guy to get over," he mumbled, his cheeks flushing. "But we're not gonna get together so I'm gonna have to get over it. I don't like him as much as I used to...I guess."

I hummed in response and smiled sadly at him.

"Ugh, so I was just gonna ask...Do you think you could help me do some college applications one day?" He changed the subject quickly.

"Of course!" I clapped. "I'd be more than happy to do that! How about this weekend?"

"This weekend? You wanna spend your weekend filling out college applications?" He crinkled his nose.

"Some people go to parties for fun, some people fill out college applications for fun. To each their own." I smirked. "So, it's a date?"

"It's a date." He shrugged.

***

"What the fuck is 4 times 9?" Billie groaned as she threw her pencil down. "And why the hell are we studying? I thought when you said we were gonna study you were just joking. I thought that's what we were gonna tell your siblings so that they wouldn't barge in on us making out."

"Thirty-four." I mumbled, distracted.

Billie was silent for a moment before she disagreed. "Nu-Uh."

"What?" I lifted my head up and rubbed my eyes before allowing them to focus on her. "What do you mean 'nu-uh'?"

"Four times nine is not thirty-four, baby."

"Well, what is it?"

"It's thirty-five."

"Why would it be thirty-five? Five times seven is thirty-five...Right?"

"I did the math in my head, Dahlia. It's thirty-five."

"Well, why'd you ask me if you already knew?" I grumbled. I picked up my calculator and punched in the numbers quickly. I let out a small hum as I looked at the number on the screen and then typed '4x9' in again just to confirm.

"Well, I'll be damned." I mumbled as I scratched my head with my pencil.

"What?" Billie leaned over, trying to see.

"It's thirty-six."

She was silent for a moment as she stared at me and then began counting on her fingers. I thought she just wasn't going to reply after two minutes went by, so I started working on my own work once again, but a few minutes later she was talking again.

"Are you sure it's thirty-six?"

"No, but my calculator is...I'm such a fucking burden, Billie, I can't do this." I shook my head as I slammed my book closed and covered my face with my hands.

"Baby, it's okay! If you think the answer is thirty-six then the answer is thirty-six. It's no big dea—"

"Not the stupid math, Billie." I huffed as I scooted away from her and off of the bed. "I mean the stuff with my mom. What'd you do? What'd you say to make sure she wouldn't tell on me?"

"Do you still think you're gonna get in trouble? Do you think she's gonna go to the cops? Do you not trust me?" She questioned sadly.

I shook my head quickly and let out a shaky breath. "I trust you completely! I just—How in the hell could you possibly get her to agree to not snitch? It had to be something big...And it had to be a lot of work."

"Dahlia, we talked about this earlier. It was no big deal and I don't mind—"

"I mind! You shouldn't have to deal with any of this, especially not because of me," I pouted. "Things in your life were not this complicated until you met me."

She raised her brows as she stood up as well. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I not tell you about how I was expelled from my old school? Did I not mention the Luna drama to you?" She rolled her eyes. "My life has been a shit show since way before you came along."

"But—"

"Dahlia, I promise you, you're no trouble at all. The shit you've been going through has been a lot, I know, but it's not as bad as it seems and I don't mind going through it with you. Not one bit. You don't have to feel guilty for anything. You don't have to feel guilty for 'dragging me into it'. You know why?" She questioned. I just stared at her. "Because you didn't drag me into anything. I'm here because I wanna be here. With you. If I didn't wanna be a part of all this shit, I would've dipped a long time ago. But I do want to be a part of it. You're a part of me and I want to be a part of you. Your shit is my shit and my shit is your shit. That's how this works. That's how I want it to work."

She walked closer to me and grabbed my hand, lifting it up. "You know what this means?" She pointed to the ring she gave me. "It means we're together. It means we're gonna be together for a long, long time. Forever, hopefully." She blushed and looked down. "In sickness and in health. In drama and in peace. Til death do us part. That's what this means."

"I thought I told you I wasn't gonna marry you any time soon," I smirked. "I thought you said this wasn't a wedding ring."

"I lied," She shrugged. "And even though I tricked you into this marriage, I'm sure it'll still be a great one."

I studied the ring and let out a small sigh. "I wonder if my second wife's ring will look as good on my finger as this one."

"I thought I told you it was illegal to divorce Billie in Billie land." She growled.

"Well, yeah, but if Billie's wife poisons her and steals her riches, she'll have to get remarried eventually." I smirked.

"You'd be a pretty widow, but that's not gonna happen, bitch."