Cry Me A River

Chapter Nine - Wait, What?

{Dakota}

I pulled open my locker and grabbed a couple books I needed for my first few periods. 

"Hey Dakota. How was your weekend?" May asked, stopping by my locker with her books in her arms.

"It was fast and I'm not ready to be back, but it was pretty good aside from that. I had to go to this business dinner thing with my parents last night," I told her. She nodded, her bun bouncing along.

"Sounds interesting. Mine was pretty boring. I just did some community service," she replied. I smiled. Of course she did.

"Beautiful morning, isn't it?" a male voice asked. May and I turned around to see Pierce standing there. Grace, Andi, and Dillon walked up right then as well.

"Well aren't you in a good mood," May teased. Pierce chuckled and shrugged.

"Elle and I hung out this weekend," he stated. I raised my eyebrows and nodded. They had a thing going on, and everyone knew it, but no one talked about it much. And no one knew when they were going to do anything about it, well specifically Elle. 

"It was hardly "hanging out,"" Elle said, coming up to join us. "He and Landon ran into my parents and I at the Costa Mesa Autumn Harvest Festival. In Orange County? Anyway, then they just spent the afternoon terrorizing me." Everyone chuckled, except me. My mind was somewhere else, or rather, on someone else. Landon and I hadn't spoken since Friday night's party and I didn't know what to do, let alone what the kiss meant.

"Oh, speaking of... how's your car? We heard about you and Landon breaking down," Andi said. I tuned back into the conversation.

"Oh right. It's dead and gone. My parents are working on finding me another, but for now I get to beg for rides from people," I replied.

"I.e us," Dillon mumbled. Elle hit her shoulder, which only made Dillon shrug.

"I'd be happy to give you a ride," Elle offered. I smiled.

"Thank you."

"What're we talking about?" a deep, familiar voice asked. I closed my locker to see Landon leaning against the other lockers next to me. He was wearing his leather jacket, had his arms crossed, and was giving us the typical 'Hudson smirk.'

"Friday night's after party between you and Miss Miller here," Dillon joked with a wink. I felt my cheeks heating up a bit so I looked to Landon, who was grinning.

"Yeah right," he said in disbelief. The embarrassment disappeared and was replaced by anger. "I'm just glad those people drove by when they did. I was getting hungry." An elderly couple had driven by maybe an hour after we'd kissed, and they offered to take us into town so we could call a tow truck. Then I called my mom and he called a cab. We parted ways and that was that.

"You're always hungry," I mumbled. He glanced at me and something flashed through his blue eyes that I couldn't identify. Hopefully no one should sense the tension between us. Thankfully, the ball rang right then, so I headed to class, ignoring everyone else as they dispersed to begin their own days.

**************

"Do you guys want to go anywhere for lunch today?" Elle asked May, Andi, and I as I stuffed my books in my locker.

"Well, we've only got about thirty minutes for lunch, so somewhere cheap and fast. We can try Subway. It's like seven minutes away," Andi suggested, looking at her phone.

"Did you just google that?" May wondered. Andi nodded, locking her phone and sliding it into his back pocket.

"Yes, now let's go," Andi replied. Elle closed my locker as the four of us headed toward the front door. Just then, some junior ran in from out front.