Quarter Mile

Introductions

TW// mention of depression

A quarter mile at a time. That's how Dakota liked to live his life. Taking each moment as it came and making the most of what he had.

So when Dakota's mother came into his room one Tuesday morning, tears brimming at her eyes as she spoke at a hushed whisper, telling him his father had left them in the night, he didn't know how to react.

At first it was confusion. Why would he do that? It didn't make sense. He thought his mother and father were doing just fine. That is until he read the scribbled note his father had selfishly left behind.

Then it was anger. How the fuck could he do that? Cheat on his mother with one of his young coworkers and then dip in the middle of the night, leaving no trace of him ever being there.

Lastly came the tears as Dakota fell apart. What drove him to do that? Was it his fault? Was it something he had done or said to make his father up and leave? Dakota racked his brain for hours and hours, desperately wanting to put an answer to the haunting, overhanging question.

His mother had been put on anti depressants two weeks later. She wasn't coping well with the sudden change and Dakota often came home from school to find her crying on her bathroom floor. He would hold her close and stroke her hair, telling her everything was going to be just fine.

Two weeks after his mother's depression diagnosis, Dakota was sitting on his bed, staring out the window when his door creaked open and his mother slipped inside, gently sitting across from him and laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Honey, I've been thinking about this for a while now and I think it would be best for both of us if we move."

The brown haired boy nodded slowly, his eyes flicking from his mother down to his hands. He knew it was coming, he was just waiting for her to have the courage to say something. He agreed with her, knowing there were too many memories in this house and that she would be better off in a new house, in a new state, with a new start.

He just wanted her to be okay.

~

One month later

The soft hum of his car came to a stop as Dakota switched off the ignition. He leaned back into his seat, unbuckling his seatbelt and fanning himself with his enrolment form. The 18 year old boy was sitting in his new school parking lot, feeling slightly overwhelmed with the sheer amount of people milling about.

His mother had enrolled him into an all-boys school in Arizona after they had moved there from Michigan.

The blistering sun sweltered down on him as he groaned, swinging his car door open and stepping out onto the sizzling concrete. Dakota and his mother had moved to Arizona right in the middle of a heat wave. Typical.

Dakota made his way to the schools head office, keeping his head down as not to draw attention to himself. Once there, he was greeted by a grumpy-looking lady.

"You must be Dakota?" She raised her eyebrow as if she was asking a question.

"Uh, yeah, that's me," the brown haired boy replied, stretching his arm out to give the lady his enrolment form. She took it from him without saying thanks and started punching letters on her keyboard.

"Welcome to Maydale High," she said unenthusiastically. "Parker will show you around." She nodded towards a black haired boy sitting on one of the benches in the foyer. He was slumped over, scrolling absentmindedly on his phone.