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Dakota's Point of View.

Breaking up with Carmen was easy. I didn't need to think about it twice. She cheated on me. She had messed up. Things were different when it came to Silvia, though. The only thing she had done was love me.

Where the fuck did that come from? I don't say shit like that. I shook my head, trying to clear the fog trapped in my mind. I had to be sleepy. Yup, that had to be the case for me to have said something like that.

I didn't want to make any direct eye contact with her. And it had everything to do with the fact that she was topless on my black satin sheets.

I knew she would hate me even more if we had sex and I ended up breaking up with her only a few days after. To most people, they would take whatever chance they could have to get laid.

Fuck, she looked so good. I could already see myself sliding between her thighs, pushing my body into hers and causing her to moan out my name. We weren't in my car this time so I'd definitely let her cry out my name as much as she wanted.

No. Focus, Dakota. Focus.

It was really hard to focus with all the blood rushing to other regions. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to pin her underneath me. It took every fiber of my being to not spread her legs apart, right then and there.

"Don't call them bases." She sighed and combed her fingers through her hair. I could see the start of a frown on her face. Silvia didn't need to tell me how she felt about what she learned. She saw it as a setback, as a flaw. "This changes everything."

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to go down the road and sleep with someone else, get good at the art of fucking, then come back to you?"

Her hands went up to mine and grabbed mine. The frown that was there before wasn't as visible, but it wasn't entirely gone either this time. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. It's just that I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of you being...." She tilted her head to the side and widened her gray eyes. "Well. Inexperienced."

"You can say the word. Just say it."

She pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile. I didn't like the frown on her face; I didn't like the smile even more. It was as if she found this situation amusing. What was so funny about this?

"You're a virgin," she muttered. "Just like Mary."

The sound of the front door opening stopped me from bickering back at her for comparing me to Jesus's mother. We both froze when a set of footsteps moved further into the apartment.

"Is that Dion?" She jumped off the bed and collected her clothing off the bedroom floor. She put them back on at lightning speed. "Why did you tell me he'd be home?"

I flashed a look at the alarm clock on my nightstand. It was about one hour until the final bell at school. "I lost the track of time. This is usually when he comes home."

She struggled to put on her tall black boots. I offered to help, but she dismissed me far too easily in her rush to get dressed. If we had been at her house, that would be a different story and far more understandable. I had caught Dion sneak out girls from his room ever since I decided to take one of the bedrooms in his apartment.

"Stop stressing out so much. He won't care," I said in a loud, clear voice so he could hear me. I walked up to my clothes and put them back on.

She didn't look too convinced, but she slowed down her pace.

"Dakota?" Dion called out from the living room.

We were fully clothed by the time I swung the door open, revealing that there was indeed a second person inside of the room with me.

"You're home early." Dion noted, dropping his coat on to the couch. The front door was left ajar. Footsteps echoed in through the door. Olivia came to view at the threshold, carrying some bags in her hands. At that sight, I already was put in a worse mood.

"And you brought a guest," I chimed in a faux happy tone. "You don't look half as terrible than the last time I saw you, Olivia."

She narrowed her brown eyes. "Hello to you too, Dakota. I see you haven't changed though. You're just as nice as you were when we spoke."

Olivia Giller was Dion's on again and off again girlfriend. I would prefer if he stopped involving himself with her. It had nothing to do with who she was and everything to do with her snobby parents and psychotic sister.

It was a bit hypocritical coming from me since I tried to not be looked down upon for the kind of parents I had. Olivia was different though. She went above and beyond to piss me off. Granted, her merely being in the same room as me was enough to rub me in the wrong way.

"Hey," Silvia hissed under her breath and placed a hand on my back. It unknowingly soothed the fire against Olivia. "That's not very nice."

"You wouldn't like her if I told you who her little sister is," I whispered low enough for only her to hear. "She's Beth's older sister."

"I don't care," she said frankly and stepped toward Olivia, sticking out her hand. "Hi. I'm Silvia."

Olivia hesitated. She slowly took her hand as if it had some disease. She still had on her white gloves before she shook Silvia's hand. It wasn't even cold outside. God, she was so posh. It was almost hysterical. "Silvia Ellington?"

Silvia nodded. "Yup. If you've heard anything about me, I'm hoping it's all been good things."

Olivia retracted from Silvia, drawing away from the handshake. "Well I've surely heard some... interesting things."

"Like what?" I dared to ask. I was intrigued by what she meant. "If it's something you heard from your sexually frustrated sister than its most likely a lie."

Olivia was taken aback at that statement and turned to Dion. "You're not allowed to talk about her like that. Are you going to just let him talk about my sister like that?"

"Don't talk about her sister like that." Dion said unconvincingly and walked over to the kitchen with Olivia's grocery bags. "What do you want to make for dinner, Dakota?"

"I can't believe you." Olivia began to take off her white gloves. "You're going to simply brush that off. You hardly lectured him."

"He's not my kid, babe." Dion sighed. There was a passive aggressive way he said his words of endearment. I had made fun of the way he did that in the past, but he denied it.

"I'm going to drop Silvia off at her house," I said. "I won't be gone for long."

"Come back soon." Dion responded when I went for the car keys. "I want to talk to you when you come back."

Silvia's Point of View

"Sorry," Dakota murmured when we got inside of his car.

Clicking on my seat belt, I faced him. "For what?"

"For everything up there. I really did lose track of time."

"Oh, it's okay." I mused. I was a big believer that things happened for a reason. The fact that Dion had walked in the house hadn't ruined the moment for me. It was clear that Dakota wasn't as confident about it as I was. If anything, Dion saved him from the awkwardness that would've ensued.

"Hey," I said after a long stretch of silence.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking about something lately and I want to know if you can tell me about something that happened here before I arrived in Crescent Heights."

"Depends on what it is. I'm not that into high school gossip. I'm out of the loop for the most part." He admitted. "But I'll do my best to help. What is it?"

"At Pierson's party, there was a fight that broke out between Ronnie and Xander."

"Alexander Iverson? Beth's best friend?"

"Yeah, him." I nodded. "He made a remake about Ronnie's former boyfriend, kind of hinting that he stole him from her. Who was her last boyfriend?"

His shoulders stiffened. "Xander didn't steal anyone from Ronnie. He's talking about Maven, but as you know, he's dating Faye. Xander is known for his tall tales so I'd say take everything he says with a grain of salt."

Maven? The Spawn of Satan dated Ronnie? I couldn't see how that could've worked out. I wasn't sure if I was close to a gasp or close to gagging at that news.

I kept to myself for the remained of the ride. When Dakota eventually pulled into my driveway, Evelyn was already outside and next to her car. I stepped out of Dakota's car and sauntered up to the house.

"I was just about to drive up to the school." Evelyn didn't appear to be angry from the looks of it when I got out of Dakota's car. "Did you have early dismissal today?"

"Uh, yeah. We did."

"That makes sense." She walked beside me to the house. "Your friend came over about fifteen minutes ago. The one that came over a few times for study sessions."

Ronnie? Why was she here? She hadn't told me that she was coming over.

Evelyn pushed open the door to the house. My eyes didn't waste any time to sweep over the living room, settling my gaze on Ronnie. She was sitting on the couch. The loud noise of the door slamming shut caused her to look at us.

There was a hostility in the way she greeted me. The fact that there was a pale tent over her skin had caused my brow to raise. I'd never seen this much concern in Ronnie's face...ever. She always tried to crack a joke or laugh about something inappropriate. Whatever news she had for me, it couldn't be good. Despite the sickening feeling washing over my entire body, I guided her up to my bedroom and told her we could talk there.

I took the edge of my bed and she sat at my desk, swiping around in the wheelie chair.

"I saw Dakota's car pull out of the driveway," she admitted and set her phone on the desk beside her. "You still trust him?"

"We talked a lot at this lake after we left school. He said he didn't go to the party."

"And you believe him?" She grumbled. "C'mon, Silvia. You can't just believe everything he tells you. He could be lying. Did he give you actual proof that he wasn't at the party?"

"I know he's not lying. I had a gut feeling."

"I'm sure you also had a 'gut feeling' about Beth when you let her into Dion's apartment," she muttered.

"I heard that."

"I'm sorry, Silvia. You're my best friend. I love you and all but you honestly have the worst judgment on people. You forgive so easily. I don't necessarily understand why, but it's getting a little annoying. I keep witnessing it again and again. I feel like you're letting these people walk all over you."

Her phone began to buzz. Finn's name flashed on the screen. It was a new text message.

I arched my brow. "I'm the one who forgives people too easily, huh ? How about you? That's Finn texting you right now, isn't it? I bet you've already taken him back."

She snatched up her phone and threw it into her bag. "I haven't taken him back. You know I wouldn't after what I found out. I can't trust him."

I brought my legs up on to my mattress and tucked my knees under my chin, watching her carefully from my spot on the mattress. A new thought occurred to me that I hadn't thought of before. "Should I trust you?"

She flinched at my words. "Why the hell shouldn't you trust me?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe because when I was at Dion's apartment, you and Heath were the only ones who knew where I was. If anyone were to snitch about our location, it would be you. You've been with Finn for how many years? Two years, right? And in all that time you're expecting me to believe that you've only recently learned about him being the leader of Segg?" I scoffed.

"I can't believe how easily you can throw me under a microscope for interrogation without batting an eyelash but you can't even fathom the idea of Dakota being behind this." She forced an airy laugh and got to her feet. "You try so hard to defend Dakota that you've become blind to what he's capable of."

"I know him, Ronnie." I said without any uncertainties. "He wouldn't hurt me."

"But you think I would." She huffed.

"You're the one that threw him under the bus."

"With evidence! We have actual footage of him entering that party with Xander."

"You have footage of someone you think is him because of the clothes they have on."

"God, you're so damn stubborn! I can't win with you Silvia." She threw her hands up into the air. "Do you want to know why I'm here in the first place? I came all the way here so I could tell you that I'm willing to pretend to be with Finn so you can get some information out of him. I've been texting him since third period to see if I can meet up with him this weekend and get some knowledge out of him. But after this conversation, it's clear that you wouldn't even trust the information I'd give you."

I rushed on to my feet and tried to stop her. "Ronnie, that's not what I s-"

"I don't want to hear it." She snapped, throwing her backpack over her shoulder. "You know, I've spent so many years not really ever having a friend in this town. And the second I get one, she turns on me for some guy."

Ronnie gave me one last glance over her shoulder, then shut the door. Just like that I had lost my best friend.

. . .

Dakota didn't show up to school on the last two days before Thanksgiving break. My father pestered me about Dakota, asking if he would show up and if I had informed him on what time he should show up at the house. It was about one hour before the dinner was supposed to start when I broke it to Evelyn and my dad that Dakota wasn't going to make it.

"Oh, that's okay." Evelyn said while setting the table. "I invited your friend Pierson and his mother over. At least you'll have them here."

"You what?" Maven coughed. He was zoned out on the couch for most of the day, watching football with Hunter. "Why would you do that, mom?"

"I thought he was your friend."

Maven snickered. "No friend of Silvia's is a friend of mine."

I twirled around, narrowing my eyes on the back of his buzz cut head. "Look, I don't know who pissed in your fruit loops this morning, but can you not be an jerk on this one holiday? It's a time to be thankful and all you can do is be bitter."

He rolled his eyes at me and ignored the fact that I had spoken. "Mom, who else did you invite?"

"I invited Faye and her father." She replied. Maven was surprisingly unhappy about this. I didn't understand why since that was his girlfriend. "And I believe your father invited a family over that only recently move into to Boulder Valley."

"Ah, right."Dad nodded. "I don't think they'll be able to come. They're still unpacking and figuring out the town. The family has got two kids. If you don't mind, I'd love for you to show them around, Silvia, since they will be attending Crescent High."

"Shouldn't Hunter and Maven do it instead. They know the town better than I do."

"He's already asked us, genius." Maven chimed in. "I have too much of a social life to be stuck with some new kids."

I sighed. "Fine. I won't mind showing them around for the second semester. Is there any one else you Invited, Evelyn?"

She paused to think. "Oh, right. I completely forgot. I invited the Iverson's over."

"Iverson's...as in Alexander Iverson?" I gulped.

"Yes, I believe that's one of the children," she nodded.

"Great." I met the heel of my palm to forehead. "This is going to be the worst Thanksgiving in history."

When the doorbell began to ring, I told everyone that I would get it. I was praying that it was Pierson so I could at least have someone that didn't hate me in the room. Twisting the doorknob, I began to yank it open. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

It was Dakota on my doorstep. He was dressed in a crisp button up shirt with a black sweater over it. He paired the outfit with black slacks and dress shoes. I could see the start of one of his tattoos peeking out around the shirt collar. Dakota had even gone as far as to slick his hair back. It was possibly the first time I had seen him without a leather or jean jacket. There was a pre-made pie in his hands and uncomfortable smile to match.

I stopped myself from smiling at him. As much as I was glad to have Dakota here, a stab of fear hit me when I realized who else would be attending the dinner. Pierson thought I was broken up with Dakota. If he saw him at the dinner, he would know that we were definitely still together.

- - - - -

Song for the chapter: This Is What Makes Us Girls by Lana Del Rey

Lyrics:

❝This is what makes us girls. We don't stick together 'cause we put our love first.❞

. . . . . .

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