Chapter Three : Sophomore Year

I watched from the bleachers as Dakota practiced the assigned football drills with a large number 8 facing towards me on the back of his red and black jersey. Practice was over ten minutes ago but he insisted on staying. As soon as we entered sophomore year, we tried out for the junior varsity team. Dakota was immediately put on as quarterback, which came to no surprise to me.

I took off my helmet and took a gulp of my water, staring at Dakota across the field. No word was ever spoken about the kiss we shared during freshman year. I was glad he didn't remember, but I felt like a burden was on my shoulders, being the only one that couldn't forget. I tried to erase that night from my memory through out freshman year, occupying my mind with other distractions.

"Hi Luka." A pretty little brunette sat down by the name of Gemma sat down beside me. Her long dark hair flowed down the sides of her pale porcelain face. I guess you could say we were friends. We shared a class together and she seemed great, unfortunately my new friend kept making unwanted advances on me.

"Hey." I replied, flashing her a smile.

"How's practice?" She set her books down on the bleachers.

"I've already finished, I'm just waiting on Dakota." I replied without looking at her.

"You two are pretty close huh?" My heart dropped at the words she'd said and I arched my brow at her in fear that she somehow might know about that night.

"Yeah.. why?" I asked, hiding the suspicion in my voice.

"You two are always together." She chuckled, moving closer to me.

"Oh, yeah, of course." I nodded, uncertain of what else to say. I needed to calm down. There was no reason for me to be so nervous about anyone finding our. The only way that anyone else would've known about that night is if they were there at my house and seen the two of us.

"Anyway, I was thinking we should hang out after you're done here." She said as she bit her lip as she placed her hand on my thigh.

"Whoa, no." I shot up in a flash, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry Gemma but-"

"Hey, I'm done." Kota came up from behind me. His ash brown hair was drenched with sweat and his cheeks were rosy. My heart felt like it had skipped a beat at the sight of him. I noticed it'd been doing that a lot lately and I didn't think there was anything I could do about it.

"Well, I'll see you around Gemma." I said with a tight-lipped smile as I grabbed my duffel bag, thankful that Dakota interrupted us when he did. She pouted and let out a sigh as we walked away. Gemma was only a friend to me, and I wanted to keep it that way. I wanted it to be possible for a boy and a girl to be just friends.

The sun was beginning to set on our way home. The wind blew through my sweat drenched hair and I couldn't wait to get home to have a hot shower. Downside of sports, you extra sweat, you extra smell, meaning more showers.

"Who was that by the way? That girl earlier?" Dakota asked with an arched brow.

"Just a girl that I met in class." I replied, kicking at some small rocks on the ground.

"Are you dating her?" He asked with a grin.

"No, we're just.. friends? I guess." I chuckled and swung my duffel bag over my shoulder with my helmet in the other hand.

"Alright, keep your secrets." He smiled and nudged my arm.

"Whatever." I nudged him back. It wasn't like I didn't already have enough secrets to keep.

"So there's a party tonight and we're going." Dakota said with a huge grin.

"Because the last party you went to went so well." I mumbled.

"Come on, it'll be fun. It'll be different this time, I promise." He pleaded with his puppy dog look, both hands clutched together.

"Fine." I reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you! I'll tell my mom I'm staying over at your house tonight." He said and swung his arm over my shoulder. I only nodded. I desperately didn't want to go to the party but there was no denying Dakota. It was like his word his absolute. That or I was a huge pushover. I was beginning to think maybe I wasn't a party person. I wasn't as social as Dakota, I was more of a stay at home and play video games kind of person. But it was the social norm in this town for every teenager. I just didn't fit in in that aspect.

"I'll be over in a sec. I just need to shower." Dakota said as we neared my house and his, which was right across from mine. We parted ways for the time being and I walked into the house, waiting to be bombarded with questions from my mom about Dakota. It was the sole reason she spoke to me, to find out how he was doing, if he was eating. She was already waiting for me in the dining room with a plastic smile on her face.

"How was school? She asked.

"It was great." I replied in a monotone voice as I kicked off my sneakers.

"And how's Dakota?"

"He's actually coming-" The door bell rang, cutting me off mid sentence.

"That must be him!" She hurriedly walked over to the door to welcome him. I groaned internally. I should've told him to go through my bedroom window. It wasn't that I was jealous, I could never be jealous of Dakota especially when it came to my parents but rather it was my mother who got on my nerves. The way she acted towards me and Dakota was vastly different.

"Dakota, how nice to see you! My, my it's like you're growing everyday." She pulled him into a hug.

"Hi Mrs.De Angelis." He smiled and walked into the house with his duffel bag full of clothes.

"How's football? Did you make quarterback yet? I bet you did." She pinched his cheeks with a huge smile. But I spoke up before he could answer.

"Let's go." I nodded towards him and walked to my bedroom, slamming the door closed behind us.

"Don't sweat it, Luka." He nudged my arm and gave me a comforting smile.

My mother had more hopes for Dakota than she did for me, even if she didn't admit it. It was obvious, anyone could tell. Most of the time I didn't let it get to me because it was the norm. Dakota knew my mom liked him better than me but there wasn't anything he could do without disrespecting her. I didn't even blame her for liking him more, after all he was the golden child that any parent would want. Everyone fell for his charm instantly, he was just that kind of a person.

It had always been that way.

"I'm going to shower." I grabbed a towel and scurried to the bathroom. I turned on the water and put it as hot as my body could stand. The downside when Dakota came over was having to feel this way after seeing how she treated him compared to me. I shook my head and tried to shake it off. It was best if I didn't let myself get caught up into it.

I finished my shower and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my waist.  Dakota threw a pair of clothes at me as I walked out the bathroom.

"What the-" I grabbed them off my face.

"Wear those, trust me. You'll look good in them." He smirked at me. His cheeky smile made my heart race as I retreated back into the washroom to change. If I wanted to forget that night, I needed to stop going goo goo ga ga every time he looked at me a certain way. But after that night, with every look he gave me, it made me feel tingly inside.

"Since when did you get shy about changing in front of me?" Dakota asked as I came out of the bathroom.

"What do you mean?" I replied with a chuckle, pretending not to know. Maybe it was since you stuck your tongue in my mouth.

"Never mind, lets hit the road." He said as he got up from my bed.

"But it's only 6." I said looking at my clock that sat on my night stand.

"Yeah.. about that, the party is up in Garden Hills." He gave me a half smile and scratched his head.

"Garden Hills!? That's almost an hour and a half away from here. You're joking right? How will we get there? Matter of fact, how will we get back?" I said with a fuming red face.

"Luka, you're overthinking this. We can bus it there and catch a ride with someone on the way back." He put his hands on my shoulders and smiled as if he had just come up with the most brilliant plan in the world.

"Fine." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, giving in once again.

"But if my mom finds out, it's on you." I continued as I opened my window.

"Fine with me." He replied as he climbed out first.

"And I sure as hell won't be dragging your ass back to the house for a second time, so if you pass out, you're screwed." I chuckled and climbed out after him.

"This night is going to be great!" Dakota said as we walked towards the bus stop.

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