*currently editing*
Two boys. Two different schools. One game. One goal.
Life was easy when you were considered high school royalty but when you get rivalry on the field, things get a little interesting.
Connor Taylor went to Northshore. Dakota Ande...
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"you can't run, run, run, from the smoking gun, caught in the crosshairs of the things we've done, there's no hiding place, not a secret safe, what is lost will be found, when the truth hunts you down"
when the truth hunts you down • sam tinnesz
***
I'd never been a particularly introverted person, but the following three weeks after Dakota and my conversation at my house, I completely retreated into myself.
Every class passed by without me so much as raising my hand. During the lunch period, I ditched my friends at our usual table to eat alone around the back of the science building. I'd also missed several practices, feeding Coach little white lies that didn't require much deliberation. Life was blurring into the colourful backdrop of a van Gogh painting, and I was happy to let it.
Dakota's revelation had hit me hard. He liked me. Dakota Anderson had genuine feelings for me and if I wasn't jumping through hoop after hoop of anguish, I might've even been allowing myself to enjoy the feeling of being wanted a little more. Even if I hadn't said anything in response to him, I didn't hate him. That much was true at least.
Every one of my interactions with Dakota from the past few weeks played over in my head like a time loop. Pinpointing the exact moment I'd changed my mind about him was impossible because the longer I considered it, the more I realised my perception of him had been slowly changing over a period longer than I'd initially realised.
It started in the little things. Where I'd once only felt sexual attraction to him was now replaced with little romantic desires; a brush of fingers, a lingering stare, the urge to run my fingers through his soft hair just to see that rare and lazy smile bloom across his face as his eyes fell shut. All at once, it was nauseating and thrilling.
Dakota was giving me space, just like he'd said he would. No texts, no calls, not even a passive-aggressive message online detailing how he planned to take down Northshore in soccer finals. This rivalry between us was all I'd known for so long. I felt like I was dangling in limbo with the sudden cut-off of violent words and endless taunts.
But, this was what I wanted, wasn't it? A chance to figure out what I really felt for him without everything else in the way. Well. Job well done, Connor. You really chose to put yourself through an episode of teenage angst rather than get anywhere productive.
No wonder Dakota needed a break from me.
I entered the courtyard on a Tuesday afternoon, sighing as I approach our usual table for the first time in weeks.
"Hey, Connor!" one of the boys on the team called when he saw me. "Look who's finally back."
Scott turned to look over his shoulder and Trent glanced up. I swallowed nervously before coming to a stop next to the table. "Hey, guys."
