Pretty Little Liars

Chapter 28: Dakota's on the Guest List

Dakota glances over her shoulder at the other diners inside of the Applerose Grille after school. She's seated in the back of the restaurant, sharing a table with Tyler, safe from anyone from school walking in and finding a girl like her sitting with a boy like him. Dakota likes it that way. The last thing that she needs is all of the Alison DiLaurentis wannabees walking in here and gossiping about the two of them studying together.

"You're a really slow writer." Dakota observes, watching Tyler neatly copy down her notes from her notebook.

"I like to be neat," he responds, finishing off the sentence. "Beats this chicken scratch you call penmanship."

He isn't wrong. Dakota's never had the best writing. She used to think that her mind would go a million thoughts a second and she just couldn't write down all her thoughts at once, like some great poet or something. Turns out, she just sucks.

"So are you coming to my party tomorrow night?" Tyler reaches for his glass of sweet tea. "According to everyone at school, it's going to be a real rage."

Dakota snorts at his sarcasm and shakes her head. "Nah. I'm not sure if you could tell, but I don't really do parties."

"You?" He looks her up and down, from her neon pink sweater to her denim skirt and knee-high boots. "I wouldn't have guessed."

Dakota runs her tongue over her teeth. He's been snarky lately and Dakota isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Could he potentially know the truth about what she knows? Or is he just being playful?

"Is that sarcasm?"

"No," he claims. "You're just very... full of life, I guess. Figured you'd want to embrace the act of socializing."

Dakota brings her tall glass of sparkling water to her, twirling her straw around and listening to the ice cubes clink against the sides. "Well, if you haven't noticed yet, socializing with people around here doesn't really go that well for me." She pauses, not wanting him to pity her. She's not that pathetic. "And I don't hate that."

"Well I think you should come," he tells her, resting his elbows on the table. He looks like he has no plan in finishing copying down the notes. "You could bring your friends if you want."

Dakota raises her eyebrows. "My friends?"

Maybe this was his plan all along: get close to Dakota so that she could bring her old friends along to his party. Now that Ali is officially never coming back, he gets to shoot his shot with the four other members of her clique. He can run his hands through Bree's silky orange locks or ogle at Neah's legs or smile at Sabrina's contagious laugh. There is nothing to envy about the grungy girl of the group.

Even back when Ali was alive, Dakota felt like the other girls had more than her: maturing at a rapid pace while Dakota fell into a hole where she would forever be looked at as the girl who whispers curses at people in the hallways and knits her friends bras they'd never wear and quickly grow out of. Always on the outskirts, Dakota found herself, except when Alison made her feel accepted and wanted, like Dakota thought she deserved.

"Yeah, you're cool with them, aren't you?" Tyler goes on. "I've seen you guys together at school."

Dakota slouches in her chair, suddenly feeling like she's being questioned by the creepy detective again. "Not really." She's feeling quite snarky herself. "But I'll be sure to tell them that you want them there."

"I didn't say that," he quickly promises. "I just know you don't really talk to anyone at school so I figured if you went, you might have people to hang out with."

"Planning to ignore me if I go?" The words aren't Dakota's, they're something Alison would say. Someone a lot more bold than she is in the flirting and defensive department. Something Alison did say.

"I could never ignore you, Ali," Tyler flashed his smile at Alison as they stood in this very restaurant when he invited the two of them to his party over two years ago. He ran his hand through his hair. "Even if I tried."

Dakota giggled from behind Ali, adjusting her fake nose ring as she gazed at Tyler with big eyes. A girl swooning over a boy.

"I know." Alison's head dropped to the side and smirked. "But as for the party, we're kind of busy that night."

Tyler arched a brow. "Doing what?"

"Pretty girls don't kiss and tell." Alison winked and she looped her arm through Dakota's. "Come on, Kota. He's waiting for us."

There was no "he". Dakota and Ali were only at the restaurant to have dinner with Dakota's mom, who was pulling the car around to the front. It wasn't until recently that Dakota realized Ali was just saying what she said to make Tyler jealous. And it worked.

"Not at all," Tyler says to her now, ripping her from her memory. "You're very intriguing."

Dakota flinches, unsure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. "I'll think about it."

That seems to make him smile and he pulls his paper closer to him. "Back to these notes."

Dakota scoots her chair closer to his just as her phone bleeps from inside of her horse skinned bag. She reaches inside to check the screen, keeping it in the safety of her bag because a haunting new message pops up on the screen:

How would Mommy feel about you cozying up to your source of income? Careful, Dakota. You kiss, I tell. -A