nobody's pov
september 19th
12:30 pm
it was lunch time for the students, and everyone was at their selected lunch table. that is, everyone besides dakota. everyone had noticed the girl's absence, as leo spoke up, "is dakota absent today? it's weird she's not here."
nalani looked around, in search for dakota. she then shook her head, "i saw her earlier today, it's weird she's not here."
"did we already drive her away?" minh questioned.
"i blame daehyun." kaui said, earning an offended gasp from daehyun.
"the fuck did i do?" daehyun questioned the boy.
"you were gay, and i'm homophobic." kaui responded, joking with the elder.
"you don't look homophobic when you're kissing leo and begging him for more attention." the elder shook his head.
kaui fell silent, "i'm still homophobic." he responded, "only towards you though."
"i actually think you two together are the reason why dakota isn't here." phan said, pointing at daehyun and kaui.
"the constant sibling fights." jian shook his head, laughing.
"i do wonder where she went though." ryu mentioned, looking at hana, "do you know?"
hana nodded her head, "i'll go get her, i have to talk to her anyways." the girl said, getting up from her seat and grabbing her backpack.
"bring my platonic girlfriend home please." jax told hana, making her laugh.
"i'll bring her home, don't worry." hana reassured the group, "i'll be back in like fifteen minutes." she mentioned, before walking away from the group.
hana then explored the campus, enjoying her time alone while she walked to the art classroom. she knew that she could always find dakota there, knowing that the art room was dakota's safe place. the girl then walked into the art room, seeing dakota sat alone in the empty room as she was painting something. hana hummed to herself, as she walked over to dakota and pulled a stool over, that way she could sit next to the girl. hana sat down her backpack by her stool, as she then sat down on the stool and looked at dakota, "whatcha painting?" the girl questioned.
dakota looked over at hana, "i'm painting a flower field." she told the girl, "i love flower fields."
"is it because my name gets translated to flower?" hana teased the girl, earning a scoff.
"in your dreams." the elder responded, turning back to her painting.
hana watched the girl become focused on her painting, finding it peaceful to see dakota so focused. as dakota was painting, the girl's hair kept falling in front of her view, which kept bothering her. hana then stood up, letting the elder know she would take care of it as she brushed dakota's hair back with her fingers. the younger then took the scrunchie off of her wrist, wrapping it around dakota's hair. hana then turned dakota's face to look at her, smiling at the girl, "pretty."
"shut up." dakota shook her head, smiling back at hana. the girl then looked over at the younger who sat back down, "so why are you here?"
"because the group missed you and wanted me to bring you back." hana explained, "and i also have a question."
"are you going to be asking koji to homecoming instead?" dakota questioned.
the younger shook her head, "no, it's something else."
dakota hummed a response, turning back to her painting, "what's the question then?"
hana fell silent, "well" she started, "my friend asked me how i knew when i liked girls, but i got confused because i never mentioned that i liked girls, so i just wanted to ask someone who does like girls just so i can tell my friend."
