The sun hit my face. I groaned and rolled offer covering my face with the blanket. I shot up out of bed and realized that I must have slept through my alarm. I grabbed my phone and headed straight for the bathroom to get ready. As I brushed my teeth, I decided I’d check on (a Random game thing). I turned my phone on and realized it was only 6:15. So I stopped brushing my teeth and stared at myself. I might be the stupidest person I know; my alarm didn’t go off because I set it for 7. I woke up an hour before I was supposed to, finished brushing my teeth and went straight back to bed; this day was already shit, and it had just started. I finally decided to get up at 6:40 and go downstairs to make breakfast, something I never eat. I was halfway down the stairs when I overheard my dad talking on the phone, I’m surprised he’s up this early, but I’m also not surprised he’s up making phone calls. I had some time to spare, so I decided to stop and listen. It’s not like I eat breakfast anyway. “You were supposed to take care of this; that’s your one fucking job, Micheal” he was probably talking to the CEO of his company about some random event they’re having, but then again, what do I know. “What do you mean?” I turned back into their conversation. “Why would they be looking for her, it’s been 27 years, and now they want her back; tell them they can put a fucking stick up their ass because they’re not getting her. She’s gone, and she’s been away from them for the past 20 years. If he thinks he’s going to get shit, he has another thing coming” What the fuck was he talking about? This was beyond simple financial issues gone wrong; who was gone, and who wants them back? What the literal fuck is going on. I assumed he hung up on Micheal, so I decided to continue my descent to the bottom of the staircase and headed straight to the kitchen. There he was, head in hands, sitting at our kitchen island any other day. I probably wouldn’t have said anything, but I was curious to know what the fuck was going on. “Good morning” he seemed startled and tense he relaxed when he saw it was me. “Oh, good morning Dakota.” “What’s wrong? You seem tenser than usual” he let out a deep sigh and rubbed his eyes. “Everything with this whole business trip today has just been more stress full than I would have liked, that’s all” oh right, he was leaving today for his business trip. “Oh okay, well, I’m going to head out now. Don’t wanna be late for school, hope everything works out,” and with that, I left the kitchen. The atmosphere was too tense. I finished getting ready and was about to head downstairs when I heard my dad talking to someone at the front door, “Fuck” I mumbled under my breath. I stood by my door, trying to listen to what was said. “Do you live around here?” I heard my dad ask “No, I live a couple of blocks west from the school on Main st.” “Oh, you live in that ==neighbourhood==; that’s impressive, I was planning to move out there, but my wife wanted to have more of a cabin in the woods type house.” “Happy wife, happy life” They both laughed; I just rolled my eyes. But, of course, they think that’s funny. Men will find everything but an actually funny joke hilarious. “Dakota, you’re gonna be late for school” I rolled my eyes again and continued down the steps, a decision I regretted when I saw who was at the door. Fucking Liam. This kid never takes a break. He had the biggest smile on his face, and it boiled my blood; how did he even know where I lived. “Hey Dakota,” he waved at me; I just stared at him. “Liam was just telling me about a party he invited you to. Is that why you didn’t wanna come on the trip with me today?” I looked between Liam and my dad “No, that’s not why I just didn’t wanna come” I looked at Liam. “I probably won’t be able to make it. I don’t have a ride since my dad’s leaving” problem solved, I thought to myself. “I could come to pick you up since I know where you live and I have a car if that’s okay with your dad, of course” I looked at my dad, pleading with my eyes for him not to through me in the lion’s den. “Yeah, absolutely; you seem like a good kid. I don’t see the problem, but I do have to get going now or ill miss my flight.” He was about to leave when I turned and looked at him. ‘Dakota, did you need a ride?” I was about to say absolutely any reason to leave Liam, but no, Liam spoke first “It’s alright, sir. I can drop her off were going to the same place any way wouldn’t want you to be late” I looked at my dad, and he was smiling; of course, he was fucking smiling. “Sounds great. Have a good day, guys and don’t have too much fun at that party” with that, he left. Shoot me. Liam looked at me. “Ready to go?” I rolled my eyes one last time before walking out the door and following him to his car, something I never thought I’d be doing. We drove in silence, and I was happy that I didn’t want to talk to him anyway. Finally, we got to the school, and I was about to get out when he looked at the doors; I wiped my head back at him; I was going to die today, and of course, Liam was going to be the one to kill me. “What the fuck Liam?” “Listen, Dakota,” for a second, I thought that he was going to give me a sincere apology, so I relaxed a bit. No one really apologized for anything they’ve done to hurt me, so I was still on edge about the situation, “I know you and Georgia aren’t on the best terms at the moment…” and with that, the moment was ruined, “but she is coming to the party you know because were back together and everything, and I didn’t tell her you were coming so just be prepared for that I guess” I just burst out laughing I finally stopped laughing and looked at him. “I don’t care, and it’s funny that you thought I did; she managed to avoid me at school for three years; I’m sure she can do the same at a party, and i think you should be more worried about how shes gonna act when she finds out your picking me up and not her now can we go? I have class?” he studied my face for a while, then unlocked the doors. “Thank you” I grabbed my bag and headed to class. The second class was history. It was probably one of my favorite classes. I loved the idea of unfolding the past and watching how that shaped our present and all the stupid fucked up things people did, and how I’m glad they’re dead. History was probably my best class that art and English. I feel like they all go hand in hand, but the downside of these classes is Liam is somehow in every single one; he is practically failing history and can barely make a sentence if his life depended on it , but I’m sure he’ll still pass with an A. The only reason I know this was when he was dating Georgia, he would always take advantage of the fact that I was her friend and ask me to “review” his work. We are supposed to be writing our rough copies for our History project. Still, I’d rather just sit here. I have plenty of history projects that I did alone that would suit this, so I’m not in a rush, and it seems like no one else is either because they’re all talking. No one talks to me in Mr. ==gggggggg== class, so the front seemed like the perfect place to sit. “Hey Dakota,” spoke too soon. I sighed and turned around to see Liam sitting next to me. “What do you want, Liam?” “Do you wanna be my partner?” I looked up at him, confused “Partner for what “ “For the history project,” I rolled my eyes “He said you can do it in partners or alone. I already decided sorry to disappoint.” I went back to doodling on my notebook; I looked over to see he was still sitting there staring at me. I raised my eyebrows. “Liam, what do you want?” “I want to be partners. Come on, Dakota, please.” “I never took you for a beggar, Liam,” I smiled; I put my pencil down and leaned close to him, “but if you are planning to beg, might as well go all the way and get down to your knees,” I leaned back, grabbed my pencil and continued to doodle but little did I know hes stupid ass would actually listen. “Dakota Wilson, will you please be my partner for our history project?” I looked down, and he was on his knees with his hands clasped and puppy dog eyes “Liam, get the fuck up before people notice.” I looked around the class, and they were already sending looks in our direction. “I refuse to stand until you agree to be my partner” he folded his arms, still kneeling on the floor. “Mr. Davis, please stand up and return to your seat,” Mr. ==gggggggg== said, standing up from his chair. “Mr. ==gggggggg==, I will not stand till Miss. Wilson agrees to be my partner” now the whole class was watching us waiting to see what I would do next. I looked at Liam then back at Mr. ==gggggggg==, but he just went back to correcting work. “Fine, I’ll be your partner” he smiled and stood up `Great, we can start working on everything tomorrow before the party” then the bell rang, “I’ll see you tomorrow, partner” he smiled and walked out with the rest of the class, and I immediately regretted saying yes. I walked out of my last class ready to die; I didn’t have the car, so I had to walk home, my house isn’t fair, but it might as well be after today. I’m just glad it’s going to be empty when I get there. I got home, dropped everything on the floor, grabbed my laptop, and headed straight to the kitchen; I might not have friends at school but me and my newfound friend Alexandra Lauren Torres who I met the year before my mom died, and she’s been with me since then. She lives in London, with one year left of university, she’s on another level of life that I haven’t reached, but I love her we get each other, and unlike people I’ve known forever, she’s been there for me. I opened my laptop and ==Skyped== her; she picked up the second ring. “D.W bro Miss. ==Macconal== can suck my dick should have told her that to her face” she has zero filter; it can be rough, especially if she says it directly to your face. “Yeah, that’s what you said last time; what did she do now?” “This bitch gave me an F on my essay because she didn’t think my topic was ‘appropriate’” she rolled her eyes. “What did you write about this time?” she glared at me through the screen “What do you mean this time?” I laughed “==Lex==, you and Miss. ==Macconal== have been butting heads since you got to this school, and you love to test her,” she was staring at me blankly through the screen. “Do you not remember last month when she said to write about the downfalls of the Second World War, and you wrote about everything you loved?” “It was my opinion, and in my opinion, it taught us all a lesson about people being brutal and how we can’t trust anyone because they all have their secrets, and I did love that it’s not my fault. I thought this was creative writing class, not history.” “Yes, true, but you also used a bunch of profanity lets not forget.” “I’m getting the feeling you’re taking her side over mine. I’m pretty sure I’m the one failing here.” “I am on your side. I just think maybe for this next project, follow her rules maybe I don’t know” she sighed deeply. ‘Fine, then I should start it, or I won’t be finished tomorrow.’ “You didn’t start??” “Oh I started, but if I’m following her bleak mundane rules, I have to re-start, so I’ll talk to you later” I laughed and hung up the phone. She’s the most intelligent person I know, so I’m sure she’ll have it done by tomorrow. I got up from my bed and stood; I had nothing to do; I walked around the house trying to find something to do. I walked past my dad’s office, stopping at the door; he stopped letting me come in here when I was 9, mom always said he was making a surprise for me for when I got older, so I never bugged him or threw a tantrum when he disappeared into his office without me. I eventually forgot about the need to go in there, and what he was doing was never brought up again. I sighed and kept walking; we didn’t have a big house, so I’d already been everywhere. I laid on the living room floor, looking up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to do; if mom were here, she would probably be in the kitchen baking because that’s what she loved to do. I was never good at baking, but I loved watching her. Finally, I sat up off the floor. ‘‘Fuck it’’ I got up and walked to the kitchen; I pulled out my phone to find recipes; I found the most basic recipe I could of chocolate chip cookies, so I couldn’t possibly butcher it. Before I started to do anything, the doorbell rang; I froze. Dad wouldn’t be back for a while, so it couldn’t be him and he has a key anyway, I know dame well I wasn’t expecting anyone. I slowly walked to the door as quietly as possible, so I wouldn’t have to open the door if I didn’t want to. I got to the door, looked out the peephole, and saw that it was Liam. ‘‘What the fuck is he doing here?’’ I whisper yelled to myself ‘‘Dakota, are you home?’’ He shouted from outside and started banging on the door, I backed up slowly and turned around to get back to the kitchen, but the air decided to be thicker than usual, and I tripped and hit the floor hard, and it echoed throughout the house ‘‘Dakota, I know your home. I can hear you.’’ ‘‘Fuck me’’ Maybe if I stayed on the floor, he wouldn’t think anything of it and leave; I waited for a minute to see if anything would happen before I got up, and it was silent. As soon as I lifted my foot, he started banging at the door again. ‘‘Dakota, please open the door’’ I sighed and stood up from the floor and opened the door ‘‘Liam, what do you want? I’m busy’’ I was about to close the door back in his face, but he blocked it with his foot. ‘Wait, I’m putting up my white flag,’’ and he stuck a white flag in the crack of the door. I sighed but opened the door again and looked at him. ‘‘Hear me out, I wanna start over and get back on your good side.’’ ‘‘You were never there, to begin with,’’ I mumbled ‘‘I just wanna hang out, Dakota, not fight. Cut me a little slack.’’ in normal circumstances, I could have punched him in the face, but I was in no mood to go to jail for assault, so I moved to the side and let him in. I closed the door and walked past him back to the kitchen to start my baking. He walked into the kitchen after me looking like a lost puppy ‘‘So, need any help?’’ I looked up from the recipe at him; he said he was trying to be peaceful, so the least I could do was extend my olive branch ‘‘Why not, I’m making chocolate chip cookies.’’ he walked over to me laughing ‘‘What?’’ ‘‘No nothing I just think that chocolate chip cookies are a white girl move’’ he grabbed the phone from my hand and looked at the recipe ‘‘Oh shit, sorry Liam, let me just tap back into my black side, for a moment’’ I rolled my eyes and grabbed my phone back ‘‘No don’t take it the wrong way,’’ ‘‘It’s fine Liam I’m not that sensitive, don’t hurt your little head’’ I shook my head and laughed ‘‘Are you gonna help me or just stand there’’ he looked at me for a long while before smiling at me ‘‘Alright this is getting weird now, grab the dry ingredients and start mixing them’’ ‘‘Yes ma’am’’ he saluted me before grabbing the ingredients. Now it was my turn to look at him as he mixed the dry ingredients together, maybe he has changed, or he’s just being a suck-up to get something from me either way it’s better than what he was before so I’ll take it. ‘‘Okay what next’’ he looked up sliding the bowl over to me, I grabbed the bowl and added the rest of the ingredients ‘‘Okay so we’re gonna do a half white chocolate and the other half regular chocolate chip and then we can put them in the oven’’ I looked up from the recipe and started rolling up the cookie balls and putting them in the oven ‘‘That is the last time I bake cookies’’ I grabbed all the dishes and dumped them in the sink ‘‘What do you mean, that was great, they better be good’’ I rolled my eyes ‘‘Or what?’’ ‘‘Or I’m taking back my white flag’’ he crossed his hands over his chest “Liam, what are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be with your friends?” I walked past him towards the living room. “Hmm, is that any way to talk to the man that just helped you bake boom cookies?” He teased me. ‘‘Still waiting for that thank you by the way’’ We reached the living room and I turned to face him. “==Ohh==, I didn’t say it? Well, I’m sorry. Thank you” I said sarcastically. I was about turn back towards the couch, but I felt him push me against the door frame. His hands were above my head as he leaned over me. “No, not that one. _This_ one,” he said before he smashed his lips onto mine with a tight hold on my face. He kissed me roughly. I tried to get rid of his hold on my face, but he held it tightly. I struggled to release myself from his grip. Finally, he pulled away. I was about to slap him, but he got a grip of my hand instead. I tried the other hand, but he got a hold of it too. He grabbed my cell phone from my apron pocket while he held both of my hands with one hand. He punched in some numbers and put my phone back in the apron pocket. He released his grip on my hands. “You owe me now. You know that right?” he smiled. He then checked his phone. “Got it,” he said to himself. With both hands out from his hold, I used the opportunity to slap him as hard as I could. He looked at me while holding his cheek in surprise. ‘‘Get the fuck out’’ I pushed him out the front door and gave him one last disgusted face and slammed the door in his face. I quickly wash my hands and touch my lips. _He_ kissed me…Liam Davis kissed me… I ran to my room put a pillow over my face and screamed; I screamed and screamed till my lungs hurt. I sat up and stared into space, is this considered assault maybe I shouldn’t have slapped him, yeah maybe I was overreacting. I mean if I really thought about it isn’t that what I’ve always wanted to be kissed by surprise I mean I’m here for consent and all but getting asked to kiss just takes the spark out of it. I sat on my bed for a while just replaying what just happened with Liam. I was trying to think of a time that I’ve ever thought of him as more than Georgia’s boyfriend or ex or even more than an ass but there wasn’t and I don’t think there ever would be.