ANNALISE | Dallas Winston

twenty-four

—

he sits loudly, and i can feel his smirk burning into the back of my head. the teacher begins her lesson.

i try my hardest not to turn to dallas and ask him why he came. i believe he notices that i'm ignoring him, so he puts his feet on the back of my chair.

i elbow them, pushing them off. he just continues to put them back up until i say something to him.

i turn in my seat to face him "what's your problem?" i whisper, the teacher still talking.

"me and you are gonna get outta here" he whispers back, leaning over so that i can hear him better.

i narrow my eyes at him "i can't leave again dallas.." he smiles at me, knowing he's gonna get me to come somehow.

"well, i've got a surprise for you, so i need you to come" he replies. the teacher finally notices our talking.

"curtis, pay attention please!" she says, causing all the students to look back at me.

i turn forward in my seat quickly, annnoyed, crossing my arms "what about dallas? he was the one bothering me."

"well, i don't expect much from dallas. he's never here, anyway" she says, making the class laugh. i roll my eyes and let out a loud breath, slouching in my seat.

the classes passes by, dallas still pestering me anyway he can. the bell rings and we all gather our things and leave.

dallas and i walk out together "i'm gonna kill you" i say, pointing my finger in his face.

"yeah, yeah, do that later. let's bounce" he grabs my hand, pulling me to the front doors of the school.

"dallas!" i shout as he opens them, pulling me outside. he drags me to his car, opening the door for me. "in" he demands.

i do as he says, knowing there's no turning back now. he laughs and goes to sit in the drivers seat.

"darry's gonna kill me.."

"then i guess you won't be killing me, huh?" he jokes. i glare at him "i'm serious, dal. if he finds out about this-"

"chill out, doll, he won't. your next teacher is an old man that never pays attention. you'll be fine."

he starts his car and pulls out of the parking lot. "where are we headed?"

"it's a surprise, curtis" he answer annoyed. we ride in silence as i try to figure out where we're headed.

we went out pretty far, honestly. about 30 minutes. he parks near the river.

"come on," he says getting out of the car then coming to open my door.

he grabs my hand again, pulling me toward the river. "close your eyes" he says as we approach.

"are you crazy? i'll trip over rocks or somethin" i protest, which just causes him to pick me up.

"close them" he says again, and i do ask he asks. as he carry's me over his shoulder, i can't help but laugh.

this makes him laugh too. after a moment, he puts me down but has me keep my eyes closed.

"first of all, you look really beautiful" he says, and i can feel his hand trailing down my waist. "secondly, i wanted to take you on a proper..date" he says, a bit awkward with the last word.

he lets me open my eyes, and i'm met with a little blanket set out in front of the river with some bread, strawberries, grapes and pasta.

"dallas..." i whisper, astonished. "you didn't have to-"

"what? didn't think i was the type?" he asks, fake offended with a hand over his heart.

i smile widely at him, going in for a hug. he grunts when i suddenly run into him. "it's beautiful."

we sit down and begin eating, and i forget about school, about anything that could stress me out. it's just dallas and i here, it feels so peaceful. i feel so loved.

"where did you get all this?" i ask, popping a grape into my mouth.

"buck helped me out," he says, eating a piece of bread with pasta on it. "he's better at this than i am—more experienced."

"i see.." i reply, staring at him. the sun makes his dark brown eyes shine like a pool of honey. i've never seen them like that.

or; at least i've never taken the time to notice. i shake my head, knowing i'm catching feelings too fast.

not like i've just met him too fast, but i know relationships don't usually work for him. i don't wanna get too invested.

i snap out of my thoughts when he's suddenly getting up, taking off his shirt.

"what are you doing?" i say, not being able to keep my eyes off of him.

he smirks "come on" he says, reaching out a hand. i take it, not knowing what i'm getting into.

he picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder. i squirm, trying to break free.

laughing, he asks "you don't plan on going back to school today, right?"

"i guess not- too late anyway."

when i finish replying, he throws me into the water. i come up, gasping for air, shocked by how cold it is.

"dallas winston!" i yell, brushing the hair out of my face. he jumps in, splashing even more water in my eyes.

"i'm going to fucking kill you" i say to him once he comes up. i swim over to him and jump on top of him, trying to push his head under.

he goes under willingly, but swims under me, grabbing my legs and throwing me up, splashing back into the water.

we laugh hysterically together as we both try to win in whatever it was we were trying to achieve.

our picnic area was soaked, but we didn't care. we were having too much fun.

catching our breath, he swims up to me. he brushes the wet hair out of my face and leans in for a long, passionate kiss.