Off the Rails

Chapter Fourteen

Dakota

5 Months Later

I pulled over to the side of Main Street, right in front of Sommer's Diner. I honked the horn of my Mom's old SUV, which had become my new car. My mom upgraded her vehicle, meaning I got her spare.

A moment after I laid on the horn, Drake Sommers exited the restaurant, slinging his backpack over his shoulders, with two portable cups of coffee in his hands. He opened the passenger seat and greeted me with a grin.

"Hey, you," he said, handing me a coffee. God, his diner always did have the best brew.

"Morning," I smiled back, putting the car into drive. Ever since I had inherited my car, I drove Drake to school. It seemed like a good change in pace. Plus, he brought me coffee every morning.

"You look nice today," he commented casually.

"Thanks," I replied, looking down at myself and not seeing anything special.

It was early May, so the weather had gotten warmer. I was wearing a tight black tank top that revealed about an inch of midriff and ripped blue jeans. My wavy blonde hair had gotten longer in the past few months, and came down to my chest.

I took a quick glance at Drake. He hadn't changed much in the past few months, except he did have a little bit of stubble on his cheeks. But that just meant that on that particular day needed to shave. Like everything, he made the look work. In fact, I kinda liked it. He wore his usual jeans and gray t-shirt combo.

Things with us had been good. They'd been normal. We were happy as friends. As the school year went on, we just became closer. It finally seemed like we had gotten past whatever feelings we had for each other. I was happy with Liam, and though Drake didn't talk about it much, I figured he had been on a couple of dates.

Liam and I made up after that fight five months ago, and we'd been solid since. I had to explain to him how scary commitment was to me, and how I was going against that fear for him. Eventually, once he got past his own insecurity and jealousy, he understood, and apologized. I've been able to trust him more lately, and he's been more patient. It's been a nice compromise.

He was a great boyfriend, and I really, really liked him. I was happy.

I also turned down the offer with Clarke Industries. I didn't want anything to do with that company or Liam's parents.

So, my whole life had gone on fairly normal. I was settled into Blackden Ridge, focused a lot on school, where I had bumped up to advanced classes, and stayed involved in science club a lot. I also joined the school's newspaper, since I had recently gotten into writing, and met some nice girls there. I had particularly become good friends with this girl named Riley. We had gotten lunch and visited Blackden's extremely tiny mall a few times.

I watched movies with my mom and ignored my dad's phone calls and got breakfast with Drake and went on dates with Liam.

The small town I once hated was starting to feel like home.

"I'm so glad it's Friday," Drake remarked as I drove toward school, with the windows down and music playing softly.

"Me too," I said. "Got any big plans tonight?"