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Dakota's P.O.V.

Silvia's looked frightened at the mere sight of me. I had never seen her so terrified before. Her brows shut up toward her hairline and her eyes were larger than ever. Before she spoke, a slight shade of red took over her cheeks. "You're...you're here."

"You did invite me, remember?" I handed her the pie, trying my best to come off calm. I was dying inside. "Am I late?"

"You came right on time. It's about an hour before the dinner will start." Her father found his way to the front door, taking the space beside Silvia. "I'm glad you were able to make it today, Dakota."

I forced a grin in his direction.

Don't curse him out.

Don't.

I inhaled, holding back so many 'fuck you's to this inadequate excuse of a father. "I didn't want miss my girlfriend's first Thanksgiving in California."

Silvia blushed.

Maven made a gagging sound.

Her father nodded, pleased with my response. "How's your family?"

I swallowed my rude comeback. Like he fucking cared about my family. That was almost laughable. He cared more about his six figure income or his shiny BMW. He cared about his new family more than his real one. The Price twins had brand new cars to drive around in whereas his real daughter had to rely on Evelyn for a ride.

Silvia was waiting for my response. I decided it was far too early to start a fight. She wanted me to be here to make amends, not to open old wounds. It wasn't like he was the cause of that fire that nearly took my mother's life. It was my very own father who had lit the flame eleven years ago. He caused those burns on my mother. My father, more or less, engraved to me that it was Johan who made him do it.

"Everyone's fine," I retorted. "Mom's not big on Thanksgiving dinners so it's pretty quiet around now. Dion's over at the Giller's with his girlfriend."

I was even more sorry for Dion than I was for myself. I felt like if I got into any argument with the boneheads that resided in this house, Silvia would defend me. But it was different for Dion. I knew Olivia would side with her family first.

Maven shifted in his seat on the couch. "I bet she had to pay him in order to come."

"Maven," Evelyn hissed at her son.

"What?" He shrugged. "That's how all poor people like him are bribed. With money."

She will be repaying me. But not in cash.

I was a heartbeat away from saying it. If it wasn't for the stern expression Silvia was giving me now, then maybe I would've.

Why was I even here? By driving here, I had set myself up for an evening of misfortunes. Every single person in this room-minus Silvia-hated my guts. I was sure Evelyn had her own reasons to dislike me for beating up her precious little boy, Maven, last semester.

"Just be thankful I'm not in the mood to slap you upside your head for saying that," Hunter sighed and changed the channel. I didn't like how he was taking my side. I didn't need him defending me.

Evelyn and Jonah stepped out of the room and to the main dining room. It was just the four of us.

"Thank you for bringing a pie," Silvia mumbled, guiding me into her house. She set the pie on the coffee table, then walked further through the house and stopped in front of the backyard door. "We need to talk."

"Oooh. Trouble in paradise. Already?" Maven pouted.

"You wish," Hunter laughed to himself like he had a secret joke.

"I don't need you to butt in," Maven hissed. "Stay out of this."

"God, you're so rude." Silvia sighed. "Can't you at least try to be nice? Pretend?"

"He's good at pretending," Hunter snickered. "Just ask Faye."

Hunter left it at that. He didn't go on to say what I thought he would. It was the holidays, after all. No need to bring up history. I wasn't too sure how his mother would feel about her son trying to hit on me during our sophomore year. It was the fall of our friendship.

I had a few rules on how someone could avoid a physical fight with me. Trying to make a move on me is one of those rules, knowing damn well what's my sexual orientation. In my defense, it was out of pure shock. He had stumbled back afterwards, a bit surprised that I had taken a violent route. He took an oath that day to ruin my life, spreading false rumors about me that I was a lunatic and stealing Carmen away from me. After that, he slowly started to disconnect me from the group. He had crossed the line when he got my sister involved in his petty games...

I was more than positive that the attack on Erick was the last part to Maven's plan to ruin my life. He had framed it on me on purpose. That entire night was a set up. It was the last thing he needed to do to annex me from the community.

I could feel the new world I had built around me start to crumble all over again. Heath had cornered me the other week with supposed footage of me getting out of Xander's car. It wasn't me. The person was too short and way stockier than I was. He had on something identical to what I was wearing earlier on that day though and I could see where the confusion came from.

Heath went on to tell me that he knew about Xander placing a bet on a prank against Silvia and that I also had taken part of this bidding. It wasn't a lie. I had placed a bet against Silvia, but it wasn't what everyone thought it was. Either I took the place, or someone who actually hated her would take that spot and try and destroy her. Finn had found out what I was doing early on and was infuriated with me, saying how much of 'a fucking softie' I was for trying to protect my girlfriend. He had sold the space to the next highest bidder. I had a feeling that it was a female. If anything, it had to be Beth.

Most of the Segg members were previous Lacrosse members. The only way a person on the outside could join Segg was if they were related to a current member or dating one. The head maestro was not included in this rule because of what happened with Jonah when he was the head maestro back in the 80s. The maestro's job was to keep everyone in Segg safe. It was best if their girlfriend didn't know about their job.

From how Finn exploded at me, I knew that he wouldn't stop at anything to set some prank against me. He couldn't though. Because of one of the pre-written Segg rules, you couldn't hold a prank against a member. Finn was notorious for bending rules in his favor. I wouldn't be surprised if he did something against me.

Silvia and I stepped over the threshold and toward the backyard. They had a large pool outback and a flowerbed of vibrant flowers that looped around the house. "I wanted to talk to you about something. There's a few more people coming that you should know about."

I shut the door behind me. "Like who? As long as it's not Betty, then I don't mind."

She shook her head. "It's Pierson."

I chuckled. "No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. His mom is coming, too."

"He's not even American! What is he doing at a Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Whoa, now. No need to get angry at me. I didn't invite him. My step-mom did. She thought it would be a great idea to have him over so I could have a friend here."

"He's not your friend, Silvia. Ronnie is your friend. Pierson wants to screw you. There's a difference."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Pierson is just a friend."

"I remember when I was your friend. Even as a friend I still thought of fucking you."

She chuckled loudly. "We were never friends, Kota. We went from hating each other to hating each other just a little less. There was no friend stage."

I rolled my eyes. "There was definitely a friend stage. Remember when I was nice for forty-eight hours? That was a true token of my friendship."

"And don't you remember how you still managed to annoy me when you were trying to be nice to me?"

"You're always looking for a problem to fight about," I mumbled and walked her away from the transparent backyard door. She skirted around the pool and toward the large oak tree. I pressed my back against the hard bark. There was no way anyone inside the house could see us. "I was trying though. That's the important part."

A laugh froze on her lips, taking a hold of the collar of my shirt. "You should try harder." She drew me into a long awaited kiss, smiling the entire time. There wasn't any hesitation in the way I slid my arms around her body. Her family was in the house only a few feet away, but that didn't stop her from deepening the kiss. By tilting her head to the left and opening her mouth, she gave me more access. My eyes fluttered open when her hand swept over the front of my jeans, groping me through my pants. She had a good hold on me. With the way I was reacting to her palming me, she knew she had a lot of control over me.

"Silvia..." I panted with each stroke she sent. "Your dad and..."

"Shhh," she hushed at me. I couldn't contain myself when she pulled down the zipper and reached for my length. The feel of her fingers coiling around my member was enough to shut-up any of my doubts that this wasn't a good idea. My head knocked back against the bark, letting the rush of heat overcome me when she pumped me even faster. "I want you right now."

Okay, I'm lying.

That never happened.

Not even a little.

We did kiss behind that Oak tree though. That part is very much true. The second half of that moment was completely created by my overactive imagination. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw her open the front door. Silvia wasn't hormone crazed enough to give me a hand-job with her family in hearing range. A boy can only dream though.

Silvia's P.O.V.

Dakota's eyes were a bit spaced out after I asked him if he wanted to go back inside. His mind was somewhere else when I asked for a second time. Snapping my fingers in front of his face, he was jarred out of his thoughts.

"Anyone home there?" I chuckled. "What was it you were thinking of?"

Dakota shook his head and brought a hand up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. He laughed into his hand. Bright sapphire irises hit me, looking at me a little differently than he was before. "It's nothing. Just spacing out. Let's get back inside."

He curled his arm around my body, leaning me into him with each step to the house. I wondered what it was he was thinking of right after we'd kissed. "I didn't tell you about this one other guest we're having over."

"Like I said, as long as it's not Betty, I'm okay with whoever it is."

"My dad invited the Iverson's and Evelyn invited Maven's girlfriend."

Dakota flashed a look down at a watch that wasn't there. "Wow, time flies. Looks like it's already time to leave."

He walked ahead of me, but I grabbed on to his arm and stopped him. "You're not leaving. You can't just leave me with the wolves. Dealing with Maven is hard enough. Having to deal with Maven, Faye, and Xander is bad enough."

"I'll stay. But once the food part is over, I'm out." He declared. "Why didn't you invite Ronnie? You could've had more people on your side."

My head dipped. "We're not really friends anymore."

"Since when?" He took my chin and lifted my head up. "I thought you guys were close."

"We were until I started to accuse of being a part of Segg."

Dakota shook his head. "She couldn't be a part of Segg."

"She was dating Finn though. He's the head maestro."

"Back in the 80s, your dad involved your mother in Segg. He was the maestro. He knew way too much. Adding your mom into the mix made things backfire. She involved outside politics to the entire thing and made the game a little more vicious, targeting people she hated the most. Maestro's haven't been allowed to involve their girlfriends ever since. Even if Finn wanted to, he couldn't tell Ronnie. He'd be stripped of his position and wouldn't be able to conduct the second semester pranks. Finn loves power too much to put that at risk."

I wondered how he knew so much about Segg. I didn't bother to ask him though.

"There's another semester I need to be cautious about?" I groaned. "Great. I thought everything was done this semester."

After learning this, there was a lot of apologizing I needed to do to Ronnie. I was an awful friend for jumping to conclusions so quickly. I had been betrayed by a best friend in the past. It was a feeling I was used to and was expecting.

Dakota pulled the back door open and I walked inside, already thinking of ways I can apology to Ronnie. I knew I needed to do it as soon as possible. The sooner the better.

The front door was wide open. My father was letting someone in but I couldn't see who it was because of his large, bulky form. "I wasn't told that you wanted to stay for dinner. I would've set an extra plate if I knew you were coming."

"Oh, I'm not staying for dinner. I just came to drop by and say hello." My father sidestepped, revealing who was at the door. Finn appeared on the doorstep, grinning up at my father, and then looking at me. "There she is. The girl I wanted to talk to."

"Silvia?" Dad turned around. "A friend of yours is here to speak with you."

Words could not describe how taken aback I was. What was with all of these unwanted guests? My feet were bolted to the floor when I saw who it was.

"I'm here for you." Dakota whispered into my ear and eased me forward. "I'll be there."

"I was hoping for a private conversation with her." Finn informed, knitting his hands in front of him. "If you don't mind."

There was a stare down between the two boys. Dakota leaned in a little closer into my backside, glaring daggers into Finn. "I think it would be best if she had someone with her."

"I won't be long," Finn promised. "It's quite important. I'll be quick."

Dakota held his stance, but not for long. Finn stretched out his hand for me, but I slapped it away. I hated Dakota for not putting up more of a fight. I hated my father for letting the Devil himself walk into our home. Above it all, I hated how I wanted to step outside that door, walking to my own funeral.

Funny enough, Finn was actually dressed in two different shades of red.

How fitting.

I only took a few steps away from the front door for Finn to start to speak. He cut the crap and didn't ask me how I was doing or if I was having a nice holiday break. He really was planning on making this as quick as possible.

"I've been hearing you have some questions regarding Senior Gag Group."

"I don't want to join."

"There aren't any spots open for you to take up," he informed "But I do know that you have been asking a hell of a lot of questions when you know you shouldn't. I don't exactly know what you have discovered, but I will warn you that if you have desires to tell the truth to any outside source, then you'll be facing some ugly consequences."

I huffed. "If you're trying to black mail me with that video you sent and that photo, then you honestly must not be as smart as Ronnie said you were to be. Dakota and I are under the age of eighteen. That would be considered child pornography. Which is illegal. You'd be arrested for filming and distributing child pornography. You're already eighteen so the law won't be all that kind to you. You honestly think my dad wouldn't sue you for everything you've got? He's a lawyer, Finn."

"You think that's the prank?" He hooted a laugh. "That's not a prank. That's a crime. I'm not a criminal. That message you received was only a warning. It wasn't a hint to what they have in store for you." He wiped the corner of his eye from laughing so hard. "I didn't come here to be amused at your cluelessness though. I'm here to make a deal."

"I'm not interested."

"You haven't even heard what it is yet."

"It involves you. I definitely don't want to be a part of it."

He lifted his hands up in front of me, seeing that he wasn't winning with me. "Hear me out first. It's clear that Ronnie doesn't want to get off of this break. She's officially made it a real break up."

I pointed under my eye and drew down the path a tear would've fallen if I gave two shits about his failed attempts. "Aw, poor baby. Get to the point, Finn."

"I know your close friends with her. You're closer with her than anyone else I know. She'll listen to you if you tell her that I want her back.All I need you to do is convince her enough to take me back. If you can get her back with me, then I'll make sure to remove you off the pranking list. First and second semester pranks."

"That's all?"

Finn drew in a long, strained breath. "I'll also answer one of your questions. One. I hear you have way too many of them."

"No. Answer one of my questions now. Who's behind my prank?"

He chortled. "I can't release that kind of information to just anyone. I will give you a hint though. They are someone who once cared about you or still cares about you. They were once your friend or are your friend now."

"That's the stupidest hint ever. You listed so many people with those two sentences."

My eyes racked up Finn. Something didn't feel right about this. I would never set Ronnie back up with someone who was this hungry for power over the weak. "How do I know I can trust that you find someone to prank me?"

"You can't trust me." He stated, sighing with a frown. "But you know how much I love Ronnie. I will do whatever it takes to get her back. She won't even speak to me anymore. I thought I had her back for a second, but she was gone before I knew it."

He must been talking about the time she was texting him in the hopes of getting information out of him.

"Please, Silvia. I wouldn't ask for help if I couldn't do it myself."

His voice wavered, losing its authority and strength behind his words. Saying her name alone caused him to frown. He buried his head in hands when I remained silent.

I cleared my throat. "No."

Finn's eyes shot up to mine. "What?"

"I said no. I'm not helping you."

Finn stepped back, looking at me from head to toe. "You're making a big mistake, Silvia. I'll give you until December 10th to get me back with her."

"That's two days before school ends."

"I'm aware of that. I'm sure that's enough time for you to convince her back to me." He walked down the front steps and toward the driveway where his car was parked. "I hope you don't disappoint me, Silvia."

......

Song for the chapter: No Role Modelz by J. Cole

Lyrics:

❝Don't save her. She don't wanna be saved.❞

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