Caring for Dakota Knox

6

Dakota Knox

The sun seeped in through the dusty blinds hanging crookedly against the window. The slits of sun poured on to my face and I slowly forced myself to peel open my eyes to face the light. I lifted my hand up slowly to block the sun shining through onto my face.  I moved around my fingers and played with the shadows. It was the day we were going back home.

It took a few days to get closer to Tatum. Stella and Dale left the day after the incident, Dale's parents took her on vacation to Los Angeles and Stella went with them. As Tatum finished her course, she had more time to hang out with me. The rest of the students were nice to her, but she wasn't very cool with making friends with them, she didn't care much. We enjoyed comfortable silences and star gazing. Her perfume mixed with the summer air turned into a warm and familiar scent, one I still can't forget. However, I battled myself day after day, trying not to get to attached. 

Tears slid down my face and I wondered if I were doomed to cry everyday for the rest of my life. If I were really doomed to feel that lonely and dirty forever. 

Tatum was not like me, although I didn't know much about her because I had rarely try to make conversation. I didn't need to, though. I could tell what kind of person she was just by looking at her. Looking into her eyes I also could see that she didn't hate me, but she wasn't over the pain I caused her during high school. I was the broken one. 

All I knew was that I didn't belong anywhere near her. She intimidated me. The way she walked, talked, dressed, spoke... it all intimidated me. The only place I had grown accustomed to getting used to was working at the kitchen. She came and talked to Mr. Carter for hours, or read. It was only for half a day, easy to get to, easy to leave. I only felt comfortable going there. I had not attempted to share another spot for that long with her. It had never happened to me before. 

That morning, before we left, Mr. Carter asked me to pick up some more things for him to put away. I knew half of the things he asked me to do I could probably had refused to, but I'd grown to like him a bit. At very least, he didn't really know me, so he wasn't scared of me. He always said that he couldn't find a single thing wrong about me. 

"Oh, hey Dakota" He greeted me when I walked in the kitchen. I didn't reply, but paused briefly and nodded before hurrying to the other side of the room. I couldn't find anything that wasn't already packed. 

"Don't you need help?" I asked, after walking near him, keeping my usual distance. He must had learnt by then, I never came too close.

"Of course I do" he replied, kindly "I need to talk" 

"About what?" I mumbled, already feeling that he was about to complain about something. To my surprise, he laughed.

"Why are you so defensive? crazy girl..." he said, and I looked up at him, his crinkled eyes filled with kindness "I just want to tell you something, give you a piece of advice, maybe?"

"Okay" I replied vaguely. I was already bored. If he had the impression that he could persuade me with the 'just be a good girl and your future will clear up', he was wrong. 

"One day, maybe, we can meet again. And by then, I hope to hear that you, Dakota Knox, were brave enough to tell Tatum how you feel about her" he said softly "because it only takes one true love to make a better life"

All I could do was to shake my head. 

"She is not my type, and I'm not hers, Mr. Carter" I replied "so now, if I may, I'll go home"

He smiled at me. Not a single word escaped from his lips. He waved me goodbye and went to do other things.

Outside, the weather was nice. Not too hot, slightly colder than the past weeks. Tatum was already gone, the only ones left were the people from the crew. 

I left the camp empty and confused that day. 

My mom was angry with me that night when she learned that I had gone to the camp as detention. My dad stood right beside her, probably because she told him to. 

"Do you even care?" She demanded "Do you see how hard I work, and the hours I'm gone from home? How early I must leave every morning? And what you've been doing, Dakota? What have you've been doing to help me or your father? Why do I have to get a phone call saying you almost set a place on fire, while being there not as a volunteer like you told me?"

Naturally, I went to my room without trying to defend myself. I started hating feeling so mad about everything, but it was really impossible not to. 

The next morning, before my parents woke up, I walked for a minute or so and arrived to Tatum's house. I didn't know why, since I knew she wouldn't even care to see me there.

"Hey" a tall, tan skinned man said to me as he stepped from behind the car parked outside, right away to walk towards me. I took a few steps back.

"Are you looking for my daughter? Tatum Hayes?" He asked with a smile, holding a plastic bag full of objects - candy, it looked like. He must have noticed my surprise, so he continued "I know she knows you, you are the hazel -eyed girl" 

I stared at him, my mouth gaping. 

"You are one of those girls who were at the college study camp, right? we talked on a daily basis. I thought you might miss each other. I'm Cesar Hayes" he said, sticking his hand out. The handshake was firm and confident, so I could relax.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I thought she might be up. I should've called" I said, but he laughed.

"Do you know my daughter?" He asked, amusingly "she is already up and going! we always have breakfast together. I have to go, I volunteer at the local shelter, but please, go inside!"

I slowly nodded my head "Maybe not today, I was just walking around" I said

"Let's see" He reached to scratch the back of his head before he continued "why don't you come over tonight, for dinner? I have a job, as an XUber driver, but I could pay for pizza so you two hang out?"

I said nothing. There was an awkward pause.

"Well, only if you are free" he said "Tatum is very shy, she doesn't bring people over, maybe in college will be easier. However, she said you were nice to her"

I continued staring at him, at a loss of words. Tatum said something good about me? Me, Dakota Knox?

"If you are free" he started again "you should come over one night. If it's tonight, I feel she would like that"

I felt as if I owed him. Did this feeling of being welcomed somewhere over power the feeling of my fear? 

"Okay, sir. I'll be here"

I got home with Tatum's number written on a piece of paper her dad handed to me. He trusted me when I told him that I had lost my phone in the camp's lake on the last day. 

When my mom got home, she was relieved to see that I was invited to hang out with someone other than Keith or Cohen. I did not tell her that it was not me who wanted to go in the first place. The smile on her face that I had not seen in a long, long time made me feel like I owed Tatum's dad even more. She even told my dad, who seemed quietly happy about it. 

I only could hope that darkness didn't find me until being safe near Tatum again.