Keep this on the Down Low

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚 : 𝕨𝕥𝕗 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣

The call ended and I went to go lay in bed. My phone vibrated and a text from Kwite popped up.

Kwite
I can't wait to actually
fucking see you.

I thought about what to say for a few minutes. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment. Then, as slowly as I could, I typed out a reply.

Me
Me too!!

My curtains were still closed and it was fairly dark, enough for me to fall asleep at least. Just as my eyes were starting to close on their own, my dumbass phone buzzed again.

Kwite
Oh and we are all staying
at Brandon's bc his
house is pretty big.

Glancing at it from the lock screen, I didn't answer. My vision went to black and soon after, I must've fallen asleep because I woke back up to a pitch black room.

Checking to see what time it was, I grabbed my phone and groaned. My clock read 9:47 p.m., and I had 93 messages from the group chat, with only fourteen missed calls.

I rolled my eyes. Twelve calls were all from Tyler, while one was Brandon and the other was from Ani.

I decided to call Ani back, if it was around ten for me, it should be close to 8:00 for her. She picked up quickly.

"Hey, Dakota," her sweet voice sang.

"Hi Ani," I answered. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your call, I accidentally took a nap."

Ani cleared her throat. "That's fine, I just wanted to call and let you know that Kwite is pretty upset and none of us can calm him down."

My eyebrows scrunched themselves. "Wait, do you know why?" I asked. "He called me a bajillion times too." I know him, and he doesn't get mad too often, and when he does, he really doesn't go out of his way to tell anyone.

"It has to do with Brandon, but he won't tell us anything either. Henry wanted me to ask you if you knew anything," she said with genuine concern.

Even though we weren't on a video call, I still shook my head. "I have no idea, sorry about that. I have a missed call from Brandon, though, do you know what he wanted?"

"Brandon hasn't said anything to anyone–not even Diesel–since he ended the Discord with you guys after I left. Dakota, I'm worried, we're leaving for California in less than a week."

I stood up and went to sit at my desk. "I think it'll all be okay," I said slowly, unsure of what I was saying was true or not. Starting to get bored, I Googled how far away New York and California are, since I'd have to fly to see them. At this point, I was barely listening to Ani ramble about how we're all going to be mad when we see each other.

"Okay, calm down," I interrupted. "I'll call Brandon and then maybe Kwite, I'm pretty sure all of this is gonna blow over by the time we see each other. It's gonna be ok."

Ani sniffed, I didn't realize she was crying. "Have fun, I'll hang up, goodbye," she said.

"Bye." I replied, a little too cheerful. California is exactly 2,441 miles away. I went to Brandon's contact, and hesitated before pressing the call button. I didn't know whether I should tell him that I knew that he was mad or not. Deciding to just ask him what he needed me for, I finally called him.

He picked up on the third ring. "Hey," he blankly said.

"Hi Brandon," I answered. "I took a fatass nap all day. What did you call me for?"

"Oh, I was just going to tell you that I think I like you," he said to me. I was stunned for a moment before my mouth popped open.

He took a big breath and started to explain, while my mind was running. "I wanted you to hear it from me and not one of the others. You're really funny and smart and I think you're really pretty too, but I don't know how I feel about you for sure." he continued. leaving me almost speechless.