“I really, really don’t want to go to school today.” I groaned into my phone.

“I know,” Marnie sighed sympathetically for me on the other end. She wasn’t really sympathetic but she was pretending to be for my benefit, which was nice of her. “But you gotta go.”

“I know,” I whined. It was Monday, so the first day of school after that dumb party on Saturday night. I spent all day yesterday moping around Marnie’s house because of it. I wasn’t really hungover at all, but she was, so I played nurse for a little bit while beating myself up internally about letting what happened at the party happen. I feel so stupid for actually doing that, kissing Caleb. And it wasn’t just kissing, it was tongues and groping and all of that teenage stuff that makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it. “Do you think he’ll remember?”

“Caleb? Probably.” She sighed. “Which is a good thing because now you can get together with him.”

“No, that’s actually tragic.” I whined, throwing my bag over my shoulder and looking at myself through the mirror in my room. I was wearing jean shorts that were rather short, a loose vest top with an Aztec-like pattern on it and some black Toms.

“You’re over dramatic.” She laughed. “You’ll be fine.”

I fixed a stray hair and then left my room, trotting down the stairs and into the kitchen where Owen was already sitting at the table and finishing a bowl of cereal. “No, I actually won’t. I’ll see you at school.”

“Right, I’ll see you soon.” Marnie chirped, ending the call.

I sighed and slipped my phone into my jeans pocket before grabbing an apple and sitting across from Owen.

“That’s all you’re going to eat?” He wondered skeptically.

I nodded. “I like apples.”

“You’re seriously impossible.” Owen informed me, getting up from his seat and putting the bowl in the sink.

“Take what you can get, O.” I sighed. “Today’s going to suck and when I vomit from embarrassment, I don’t want anything in my stomach.”

This made my brother laugh as he walked out the door with me following behind him, munching on my apple. “You won’t vomit because of embarrassment, I can assure you that.”

“You don’t know that!” I wailed, letting Owen drive for now. I was probably too hysterical to drive anyway. “You have  no idea what happened on Saturday because you were stoned.”

He grinned sheepishly at me. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“By the way, what was up with that? I thought you didn’t smoke.” I brought up.

He shrugged. “Yeah, usually I don’t but John had some extra.”

I grumbled a sarcastic response that he ignored and then I noticed that we weren’t headed towards the school, but we were going for Todd’s house. “We’re picking up Todd again?” I wondered.

He nodded. “He gets his car back on Thursday.”

“What did he even do to it?” I asked with an eye roll.

“I don’t know, you know what kind of driver he is.” Owen laughed. Todd was an awful driver, so he barely ever gets to drive it for reasons like this.

“Right, well we’re only picking up Todd, right?”

Again, he shrugged. “I don’t know, Kota, I guess we’ll find out.”

“O!” I whined. “Let’s just go to school and tell Todd to skip, you know he won’t mind.”

Owen shrugged. “Do you have something against Caleb now?”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You really have no idea what happened that night?”

He shook his head. “Nope. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No,” I said quickly. “Just forget it. You’re useless.”

“Okay,” He sang as he pulled up in front of Todd’s house. I waited anxiously, looking over at Todd’s house while I silently prayed that he was alone and that Caleb wasn’t with him, because that’d probably make for the most awkward car ride to school ever.

I expected Caleb to approach me at some point to confront me about the events of Saturday, but I really didn’t want that to happen. I was actually trying to keep that completely out of mind, because I have no idea how I’m going to handle him actually talking to me. I mean, I’ve handled it a little bit before, with some blushing and stuttering, but now that we like… did stuff, it was going to be so much worse.

Luckily, after waiting for like, five minutes, Todd came out of his house alone, so that was a major relief. At least I had some more time before I had to face the inevitable.

“Hey,” He grumbled, scooting into the backseat of the car before Owen started off, driving back down the street to get to the school.

“What’s up with you?” Owen asked with a small laugh, noticing Todd’s grumpiness.

Todd shrugged. “Tired, I guess.”

“Tired?” Owen laughed. “All you did yesterday was sleep.”

“Yeah,” He sighed, looking out the window. “Saturday was really intense. Don’t you think, Kota?” He wondered, looking up at me with a weird look. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was glaring at me.

“It was okay, I guess.” I replied slowly. “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged again. “I don’t know, considering you fucked Caleb, I’d assume that-“

“What?!” I shrilled, looking back at him with my jaw dropped. “I did not!”

Todd let out a humorless laugh. “Whatever, Kota.”

It was my turn to glare at him. “For your information, we went upstairs and made out a little but we didn’t do that, not that it’s any of your business.”

“That’s not what Marnie said.” He sang teasingly, but it wasn’t his normal teasing kinda voice, it was like a rude taunting kinda voice.

“Marnie wasn’t there.” I snapped. “And even if stuff did happen, that doesn’t mean you have to be an incredible asshole about it. My love life doesn’t concern you.”

Owen was clasping his lips together with his teeth and I’m pretty sure he was trying to stop himself from laughing. Luckily, that was when he parked in the senior lot, so I didn’t have to stay in there and argue with a grumpy Todd anymore.

Before he could respond, I got out of the car and stomped away from the car and into the school.

I didn’t have any classes with Caleb, so that made it really easy to avoid him for the first half of the day. Sure, the whole time, Marnie was laughing at me for both avoiding Caleb and being so mad at Todd for being so mad at me for something so incredibly stupid.

“Do you think that Todd likes you?” Marnie wondered curiously as we walked to lunch, which is the part of the day that I was fearing the most, because it’s the only period of the day that I share with Caleb.

I shook my head. “No, he’s probably still just hungover from Saturday or something, which is why he’s being so weird.”

“That guy hardly ever gets hungover.” Marnie chuckled. “I think he likes you.”

“And I think that’s insane.” I informed her, even though that was a lie, because I had already considered the possibility and Todd freaking out that morning just kinda made it more believable. “I’ve known Todd for like, almost my whole life and there is no way that he likes me like that. That’d be so weird.”

“Come on Dakota, you’re a smart girl.” Marnie informed me. “Why else would he get so upset about thinking that you and Caleb hooked up?”

I shrugged. “He’s weird like that.”

“Right,” She snorted.

“Well, why’d you tell people that I did that with Caleb?” I fired at her.

“Because I was drunk and you two were upstairs so that was the logical explanation.”

“But, you know that I wouldn’t do that, so really it wasn’t very logical.”

“Like I said,” She sighed. “I was drunk.”

We got inside the cafeteria and sat down where we normally sit after getting our food. I had a small salad and some water but Marnie had a nice pile of food on her tray.

“You’re different today.” Karen observed after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah,” Alexis agreed, looking at me with some pudding stuffed into her mouth. “why aren’t you obsessing over Caleb?”

“Dakota here had a long weekend.” Marnie laughed and Nikki nodded in agreement with a small giggle.

“Ooh, I smell gossip!” Alexis cheered. “What happened?”

I rolled my eyes at them and took a bite of the lettuce in front of me. “Nothing happened.”

“She hooked up with Caleb at his party.” Marnie squealed.

“Jeez, Marnie!” I cried. “Can you not tell everyone please?”

Both Karen and Alexis had very humorous looks on their faces and Karen was the first to speak. “Holy crap, are you serious?”

I shook my head. “No, we didn’t actually do the deed, we just made out a little bit and it was only because I’d taken a few shots prior.”

“Well, that’s still something.” Alexis grinned.

I sighed and decided that I should change the subject so that they stopped talking about this incredibly painful subject. “Well, Nikki hooked up with Levi.”

Nikki immediately went a dark shade of red and then stuffed her face with some pizza while both Karen and Alexis shot their surprised expressions towards my blonde friend.

“Seriously?” Alexis wailed. “Is Marnie the only one who didn’t get any action at this party?”

Marnie nodded solemnly. “Unfortunately, that’s true.”

“Well, I think Levi is going to ask me out soon.” Nikki informed us. “Like, at the game tomorrow maybe.”

“That’s really amazing,” Marnie cooed. “You guys will make such an amazing couple, I can smell it.”

Nikki blushed again with a small giggle. “Yeah, well I-“

“Hey,” A familiar voice rang from the other side of the table. I looked up instinctively and cursed in my head when I saw Caleb standing there with a small smile on his face. He was looking at me directly too, which made me blush profusely. Like, worse than I ever have before.

“Hello,” Marnie chirped.

He politely nodded at her, acknowledging her greeting but never took his eyes off of me.

“Erm, h-hi.” I squeaked. There’s my ever famous stutter and I knew that it was going to be so bad for as long as that conversation lasted.

“How was your weekend, Dakota?” He wondered.

“It was, uh, fine, I guess.” I muttered.

“You can have a seat, Caleb.” Alexis grinned, not-so-subtly sending me a wink. Yeah, I’d definitely be okay with like, dissolving into thin are at that moment because I was just ready to die.

“Thanks,” He chirped, sitting down in the chair beside me. “so you guys have your competition on Saturday, right?”

We all nodded and when nobody responded, I took it as my hint that I should be the one to reply to his question verbally. “Um, yeah.”

“That’s cool. I think you’ll win, you guys are pretty good.” Caleb commented, totally oblivious to the speeding rate of my heart. Like, I was beginning to think that I was having a heart attack or something, it was becoming ridiculous, really.

“Th-thanks.” I croaked softly.

“You’re welcome.” He chuckled, keeping his eyes on me. “Well, since you’re busy on Saturday, do you want to do something on Sunday?”

I was convinced that the gods hated me. All of them, they all hated me. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be putting me through this embarrassment and pain. “Do something?” I squeaked.

Caleb laughed and nodded. “Yeah, like dinner or a movie or something?”

“Oh,” I muttered, trying to think of a way to politely say no to the offer. However, I couldn’t think of anything before Marnie not-so politely kicked my leg from under the table. “Sure,” I piped, hissing at the sharp pain in my shin.

“Cool,” He chirped confidently. “so can I have your number?”

I nodded before I could even think about declining the offer, but I was still kind of freaking out inside. “Sure,” I muttered, shakily pulling a piece of paper out of my notebook and scribbling my cell number on it, sliding it over to Caleb.

“Thanks,” He grinned, accepting the paper and then standing from the table. “I’ll text you then.”

“O-okay.” I stuttered as he retreated from the table.

When he was totally out of hearing range and back at his table, the girls fell into a giggling match as they squealed about what had just happened, however I was still having a hard time breathing. I didn’t say anything for the rest of lunch because I had to focus on breathing or I’d like, suffocate or something. I wanted to kick myself in the throat for even agreeing to go out with Caleb on Sunday. I wanted to also kick myself in the throat again because I gave him my number. This pathetic crush on Caleb Fisher was becoming way too real for me and I didn’t like it one bit.

After lunch, I was still really preoccupied with the whole Caleb thing, so I didn’t really pay attention in any of my classes. I mean, I know that there was a new student in my study hall who was also in my anatomy class but that’s only because I heard the teacher announce the person to the class, I didn’t actually look up from the desk to look at the person because it was irrelevant to me.

I was about to find Marnie and head to dance practice when I remembered that Coach Bradford had postponed practice for an hour today so that she could go visit her daughter in the hospital but still not miss anymore practice. Since Owen drove to school, I didn’t have the keys and I didn’t feel like going all the way to the baseball field to get them, so I just decided to do some homework in the gym while I waited for practice to start.

I opened my anatomy book and pulled out the stupid worksheet that we had to do. I was proud of myself for actually remembering to do it, considering how zoned out I was during the class.

I was only working on the paper on my lap, sitting criss cross in the bleachers for about ten minutes before I heard the gym door open loudly and echo through the large empty gym. Startled, I looked up to see a guy walking into the room with a confused expression on his face. I would have ignored him and went back to my homework, but he was really, really attractive, so I just kind of subtly stared for a moment while he stopped and looked around, obviously really confused about something.

“Are you lost?” I finally called to him.

The stranger looked over at me, surprised that I was there. I don’t think he realized that I was in the room until I spoke up. “Um, I think so.” He spoke in an accent. It was such an adorable accent.

“Well, where are you supposed to be?” I asked with a small giggle.

“Baseball practice?” He posed it as a question, running a hand through his hair.

I closed my anatomy book, eager to have an excuse not to do my work. “You’re on the wrong side of the building.”

“Damn,” He sighed. “I’m kinda new.”

“That’s kinda obvious.” I laughed, standing up from the bleachers after shoving my text book back into my bag. “I’ll walk you.”

“Really? But isn’t it kind of far?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and it gets me out of doing my homework.”

He nodded in understanding. “Oh, well that makes sense then.”

“I thought so.” I chirped. “I’m Dakota, by the way.”

“Aren’t you in one of my classes?” He wondered as we exited the gym and made our way around the building to the baseball field. There’s another building that we call the rec center which is by the baseball, softball, and football fields where they have their locker rooms and there’s also another gym in there too for volley ball and tennis and some other sports.

I shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“No, I’m pretty sure you are.” He insisted.

“Oh,” I muttered, remembering that there was a new kid in my study hall and anatomy. “Yeah, probably.”

“Well, I’m Braeden.” He announced. That’s a really cool name, I think, but I didn’t say that, obviously, because I didn’t want to sound all flirty and whatnot.

“And you wanna be on the baseball team?”

He nodded. “Yeah, if the coach lets me, since the season already started.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, they’ve only had one game.” I assured him.

“Well, that’s reassuring.” He nodded. “So what were you doing in the gym all alone?”

“I’m waiting for dance to start.” I informed him.

“Oh, so you’re a dancer?” He asked with raised eyebrows. I laughed a little bit at how his accent made dancer sound like danca and it was really adorable.

I nodded. “Yep, I am.”

“Is that a fancy word for cheerleader?”

I shook my head. “No, a dancer is pretty different than a cheerleader. They like, cheer and stuff and they say stuff like ‘go team’ and their clever-ish cheers. We don’t actually talk, we just dance to catchy music.” I explained briefly. “Plus, the cheerleaders are total sluts.” I added. That wasn’t entirely true, there were some sluts on the dance team too, and some nice girls on the cheer team, but it just seemed like a funny thing to say.

I was proven right when Braeden let out a small laugh. We turned the last corner to get to the baseball diamond, so we were getting close and we could see the guys practicing from far away. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

I laughed softly. “Yep, it does.”

We walked the rest of the way to the baseball diamond in polite conversation and when we got there, I pointed to the dugout where my dad was standing, watching the baseball team run around the dirty diamond.

“That’s the coach.” I informed Braeden.

“Ah, well he doesn’t look too scary.” He sighed, more to himself I think.

“He’s not,” I laughed. “He’s really nice.”

We stepped up to him, which is when he noticed that we were even there. “Peters, shouldn’t you be at practice?” He wondered.

“No, not yet.” I informed him, motioning towards the guy beside me. “Anywho, this is Braeden. He’s new and he wants on the team.”

“The season already started.” My dad huffed sternly. “And why are your shorts so… short?”

“Oh come on, you’ve only had one game so far and he’s like, really good.” I gloated even though I had no idea if he was any good at baseball or not. I feel like he went through a lot of work to get here, so I might as well try my best to get him on the team.

“Hello, Sir.” Braeden chirped politely, jutting his hand out towards my dad, who returned the hand shake.

“It’s still already started.” My dad reminded again.

“Yeah, well don’t be a jerk.” I sighed. “Isn’t there a scrimmage on Wednesday?” I already knew that there was a scrimmage on Wednesday because they have one every Wednesday, and I was forming an idea in my head, which was a rather brilliant plan.

“Yeah, what’s your point?” My dad wondered.

“Let him play in the scrimmage before you say no. He could be like, the next Babe Ruth or something.” I suggested.

“I’m not that good.” Braeden said quickly.

“But he’s still good.” I interjected. “Really good, Coach.”

He rolled his eyes before nodding. “Fine, but you’re annoying.” He informed me.

I grinned, knowing that he was only teasing. “Yeah, well I get it from you.”

“Right,” He snorted. “Now, those shorts are too short.” He said again.

“They’re not that short.” I rebutted.

He frowned before letting out a small chuckle. “Is it because the thing with Fisher?”

I groaned. “There is no thing. Well, like, there wasn’t a thing.”

“Oh, but there is now?” My dad wondered with raised eyebrows. “Should I call him over here and get it all sorted?”

In a panic, I stomped on his toe so that he wouldn’t call Caleb over here because I know that he really would do that and stomping on his toe was the only thing to get him not to say anything.

“Ow,” He laughed. “That almost hurt.”

“You’re awful.” I grumbled.

“Yeah, well I pay your cell phone bill so I can be awful if I want to be. Now, tell me what kind of thing this is.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s hardly a thing.”

“But it’s a thing.” He repeated, totally ignoring Braeden who was still right beside me listening to this bicker between me and my dad.

“I’m leaving.” I mumbled, turning to return to the school.

“Wait, what’s your last name?” My dad asked Braeden.

“Uh, Dunce, Sir.” Braeden replied quickly.

“Well, Peters, show Dunce to the locker rooms before you go. Get dressed and then get out here for practice. You’re not on the team yet, but we’ll see.” He informed me and then Braeden.

Braeden thanked my dad and then followed me the short distance towards the rec center.

“You seem really close to the coach.” Braeden informed me.

I nodded. “Yeah, he’s my dad.”

“Oh, you didn’t mention that you were the coach’s daughter.”

“You didn’t ask.” I chuckled, opening the doors to the rec center, which opened up into a large gym with the door to the boys locker room on one side and the door to the girls on the other side. “The locker room is right there.”

“Alright.” He sighed before turning to look at me. “Thank you.”

“Yeah sure. Like I said, it got me out of some homework.” I shrugged sheepishly. “But I do need to get back, so good luck and stuff.”

“Thanks,” He chirped. “I’ll see you later?”

I nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

That was all I said to the new guy before turning around and leaving the rec center to return to the gym but I was in no hurry since I still had half an hour until practice started. Of course, I could still just do my homework… or I could continue my momentarily paused panicking about this Sunday, where I’ll be alone with Caleb and it’ll be a lot more painful than Saturday because I’ll be completely sober and completely awkward.

This was really, really going to suck.

________________________

Okay, so what are your thoughts on the new character? :P

Her outfit is on the side and I thank you guys oh so much for being so perfect and I love you <3