Shutting the door, I immediately sprint to my room.
It just means I'll have to earn it.
The way my heart feels right now should be illegal.
Blake is truly a man.
Willing to take care of me, my family, my mental stability, and so so much more.
Words cannot describe how grateful I am to have met him.
Am I nervous that my feelings towards him i'm a no friendship way are growing? Yes.
But if he keeps doing the nicest things to me, and making me feel like I'm the only girl in his eyes...
I will fully accept those feelings.
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Monday
Another day of stressing about school.
I completely wish I was the type of person who had the heart to just lay in bed instead of going to school.
Currently, I am staring at the ceiling. Are we noticing a pattern?
What should I wear today? Do I dress differently? Does Blake like girls who dress flashy?
Not that I want to dress like girls Blake likes.
God my head hurts.
I can't tell if it's from all this thinking or the fact I haven't eaten since Saturday.
Something tells me it's the latter, but it will be worth it right?
It will all be worth it.
A knock on the door interrupts me from my overthinking.
"I'm heading out for work, text me if you need anything." My mom blows me a kiss.
"Will do." I sigh. She clearly notices my expression. "I meant to ask you, how did your date with Blake go?"
"It was not a date mom, we were with friends." I roll my eyes, sitting up on my forearms.
She comes to give me a kiss on my forehead. "I heard squealing at midnight. But you keep telling yourself whatever you need. Love you!"
With that, she walks out of the room.
Emerson and Jake are probably up right now, so I should start getting ready.
It's October now, but in Texas it is still unfortunately quite hot.
I put on a black top with a neckline that scoops down, showing some cleavage. Wow, this shirt really makes my boobs look good.
But I go to the mirror as always. Do I look fat? My arms look weird don't they? Maybe I should change?
I throw my head into my hands. I hate this. I hate it I hate it I hate it.
Why can't I just feel pretty? Why must I hurt myself to meet some bizarre standards?
It'll be worth it.
That always seems to do it.
I straighten out my jeans and put on my like, only pair of shoes.
My hair is in its curls per the usual, but I make a little more of an effort to make them not as wild.
"Are you guys okay with cereal? I think that's all we have." I say as I walk into the kitchen.
Emerson is sitting at the table helping Jake with his homework. I find these moments adorable, like we three all have some need to help each other.
"Have we not been able to go to the store?" Emerson pouts. I shake my head sadly. I would do anything to be able to give them a better life. One with snacks galore, sports, and no sadness.
They both go back to what they were doing, and I go to pour them both a bowl of Cheerios. When I pour the milk into the bowls, I realize it has run out.
God, and I can't even go with mom to the store until this weekend.
Life has something against me I think.
I hand them the cereal, and sit myself on the couch to do some homework. We have a test in Calculus today, and homework due in English.
My essay is done, so studying it is. The bus will be here for them in about 10 minutes, so I make sure they know to have their bags ready.
Math is probably my favorite subject. Really weird to most people, but I find it fun. Except when I'm confused I get stressed, and that is not fun.
When a knock on the front door sounds, I immediately panic.
Someone is going to kill us. Mom has left and I'm pretty sure bus drivers don't knock.
I whisper for Emerson and Jake to get under the table, causing them to be very confused.
Stealthily, I walk to the door. I peek through the little window right next to it, viewing the surroundings.
A white jeep?
And the bus.
Oh shit.
"EMERSON, JAKE, THE BUS IS HERE HURRY UP!" I yell.
They both run to me, bags dangling from their arms. I swing open the door to run out.
Unfortunately, I am only met by a solid chest, and my head is now pounding even more.
"Ow, oh my god that hurt." I say, bringing my palm to my forehead.
"Good morning to you too." Blake laughs.
Blake.
Why is Blake here? At 7:30 in the morning?
7:30.
"Holy shit, Emerson and Jake, run to that bus right now." I manage out.
There's pushing and shoving, and surprisingly, resistance.
Blake is trying to hold them both back, but they are true fighters.
They listen to me, and me has told them to run to that bus.
"Help?" Blake asks. "No! They need to get to school, and that is the bus that takes them." I throw my hands in the air.
The bus engine slowly fades, and the yellow vehicle is gone.
I try to run and hopefully catch it, but Blake has other plans.
Now all three of us are being held back by him. And I am amazed at his strength right now.
"Blake, you have to let us go! It's driving away!" I push.
"Dahlia, I'm taking you guys! Now can you please stop pushing? I think my arm is falling asleep."
"Um, since when?" I signal for Emerson and Jake to stop. Blake shakes his arms out. "Since I told you on Saturday I would take you all to school?" He raises an eyebrow.
Oh, I thought we were like, joking about that. "I wasn't sure you were being serious." I shrug.
He laughs, but then quickly becomes serious, like my response had just sunk in.
"I'm serious about everything that is you."
Did it just get hotter out here?
I cough and try to play off with a nod, but Emerson and Jake clearly notice my little blushing moment there.
They are both smirking, brows raised.
Rolling my eyes, I turn back to see Blake. He is now too blushing at the faces of my brothers.
"Are you Dahlia's boyfriend?" Jake asks Blake. I hit his head just hard enough to send my message. "Jake! You can't ask that!" I lecture.
"Why not?" He nags. "Because it's rude and none of your business." I respond.
"Not yet, but working on it." Blake inserts himself into the conversation.
I hit his head just hard enough too, but it's a little less helpful as he's taller than me.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Blake turns to the boys.
"I never agreed to this." I point out.
He crosses his arms as he looks at me. "For one, you did say okay when I told you all the things I would help you with. And two, it seems to me you have to take my ride. The bus is gone."
Dammit.
"Also my sister is in the car, so let's agree to this quicker, yeah?"
I hate it when he's all helpful and nice.
Rolling my eyes, I tell him to let me grab my bag.
Lord save me.
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When Dahlia walks inside to grab her bag, I'm left with her brothers.
They're both fighters let me tell you. My arm is going to be very sore during practice today.
But it proves their loyalty to Dahlia, and I like that.
The older one, Emerson, is taller than most. For his age, which I've learned is the same as my sister, he does look taller. His hair is dark brown like Dahlia's, but not as curly.
Jake on the other hand, is like a replica of her. He's almost as tall as his brother, and his hair is short with messy curls. His face his still very chubby and boy like, which makes him even cuter.
They have both quieted down now that their sister is gone. Maybe they're shy like her? I want to make them comfortable.
"Hi guys, I'm Blake." I introduce. They look at each other and smile.
"We've seen you a few times." Emerson mutters.
Well yes, Dahlia's jam sesh and Dahlia's first ride home with me have led me to seeing her brothers. But I want them to properly know me.
"Yeah I know, but I figured since I'll be giving you guys rides from now on, we should know each other better." I smile.
Their eyes widen. "You're giving us rides?" They say in unison.
"Is that okay with you?"
"We've only ever rode the bus. Maybe a car would be nice." Jake shrugs.
I bend down so I can talk to them better. "I think a car could be nice too. And I hope to get to know you guys better." I state.
"Because you want to be Dahlia's boyfriend?" Jake asks.
I laugh. "Well yes, but you guys seem fun too."
Jake smiles wide, and Emersons lips rise at one corner.
Just then, Dahlia comes through the door and locks it. "Ready?" I ask.
She nods, and we all walk to my car. Lucy is in the back seat on her phone, barely noticing when we all show up.
"Lucy," I start, "This is Dahlia, and her brothers Jake and Emerson."
"Hi Emerson." She finally looks away from the phone and smiles
So I did a bit of snooping. I asked Lucy is she knew any of Dahlia's brothers. I wasn't sure how old they were, so I wasn't sure of their grade either.
Lucy just so happened to know Emerson. They even have a couple classes together at school.
Turns out, Emerson was the kid she wanted to help out. And everything clicked.
"Are you Blake's sister?" Emerson asks. "Unfortunately." She sighs.
"I'm standing right here." I roll my eyes.
I walk over to the drivers seat, signaling for everyone to sit in the car. Dahlia is riding in the front, obviously, Lucy sits in the middle, while Jake and Emerson sit near the windows.
This feels right.
Before driving, I pull a box out from under my seat.
"What's that?" Dahlia questions. I smirk at her. "Me trying to win you over."
Her nose scrunches and brows furrow. That has got to be the cutest damn face I've ever seen.
"I have donuts." I turn towards the back seat to hand them the box.
The boys' face light up, and they cautiously try to take the box. I nod, giving the okay to grab them. "You rarely get donuts when it's just me and you." Lucy complains.
"No, but I have bought you plenty of ice cream and other things." I reply.
Lucy agrees, and all the kids in my backseat are shoving their faces with donuts. Dahlia is staring at them in awe. "Do you want one?" I comment.
"No I just...thank you." She returns. "It's no big deal, happy to do it."
"It is for them. I don't think they've eaten a donut in like, 3 years. We've always just gotten the necessities. I can't tell you how thoughtful this is."
And just like that, another piece of my heart breaks. I hadn't thought about it that way at all.
I turn back to see Jake and Emerson totally smiling over these donuts. It warms my heart to see them happy, and I've just barely met them.
When I go back to face Dahlia, she's doing that cute confused face again. "I just had a whole speech, you can't say nothing." She confesses.
I laugh and go to put the Jeep in drive. "I plan to prove to you I'm even more thoughtful."
━━━━━━━━━━
After dropping off the others at their schools, Dahlia and I talk a little more.
She tells me about the English paper she wrote, how she studied for a long time so she would do great on this calculus test (I have no clue how she studied for so long, and I'm in the same class as her), and how much she's dreading P.E today.
"I hate running. Especially outside, it's always so hot. How do you do baseball like this?"
I chuckle at her comment. "Well the season is starting soon, so we've been training like crazy."
"Will you tell me about it? I feel like I've been talking a lot." She half smiles.
For starters, I love how comfortable she is talking to me now. I could listen to her forever.
Secondly, I've never had anyone really ask me to talk about myself. There's been the girls who want me to think they're interested, but they talk about themselves a lot.
Dahlia is special, I'm not sure how I got by when she wasn't here.
"Of course. I have baseball last period everyday. We alternate practicing out offense and defense-"
"You lost me, but please keep going." She laughs.
I look at her and smile. Her laugh is just another mesmerizing thing about her.
"Offense is batting, and defense is when we're out on the field to put in simpler terms."
I talk to her for another 8 minutes about baseball. It's the most comfortable I've ever felt. We talk about training, me playing when I was younger, and more.
She listened contently the whole time. I fall for her more and more with each second that passes.
We reach Southview, and I step out of the car to open her door.
She rolls her eyes playfully at my actions, but I won't stop doing it. Only now do I get to look at her fully.
Jeans frayed at the ends, shoes a little worn out, and a top that makes me want to have her right here right now.
Dahlia has to be teasing me. These tops she wears that show off her cleavage...it's hard to not kiss her into oblivion.
She turns back to grab her bag from my car, bending over slightly. Don't look Blake, don't look.
Dammit. I'm looking. She's too perfect for this world, I'm sure of it.
"Blake, you're looking at my butt again." She blushes. I pull her in by the waist, our bags dropping onto the asphalt.
"I was. And I'd look at it and everything else forever if you'd let me."
"I'll think about it." She remarks. Sexy as hell.
━━━━━━━━━━
In Spanish, we take some notes I'm having trouble comprehending.
Dahlia still does the thing where she mutters answers for no one to hear. She's always right, and I have to ask her why she does this later.
"¿Qué causa el estrés en su vida? Blake?" Wait I have no clue what she's saying.
"Uh, que?"
The class laughs, but it wasn't meant to be a joke.
Dahlia hits my leg, discretely showing me her notebook.
Say: La tarea me estresa
"La tarea me estresa?" It comes out as more of a question.
The teacher nods on moves on. "Holy shit, thank you. I'm really lost." I whisper to Dahl.
She shrugs and says, "I'm always here if you need help."
I'm taking her up on that offer.
━━━━━━━━━━
We're all at lunch now. I think we've moved past what happened this weekend a bit, but we're all kind of avoiding the subject.
I don't want to make Dahlia uncomfortable.
"Blake, what are you doing for your birthday? It is coming up." Logan asks, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Your birthday is coming up?" Dahlia sits up in her seat. God she's so cute.
"My 18th. And yeah it's this Friday, the 10th." I respond to her.
"My parents said they're heading to our grandparents this weekend with Lucy. Told me to have my party on Saturday night. Are you guys coming?" I continue.
Everyone tells me they'll for sure be there. Except for Dahlia.
"Who's invited?"Aaliyah starts. "You guys, the baseball team, and anyone else who wants to come that I know."
They start talking about how exciting it's gonna be. Dahlia just sinks into the cafeteria seat. "Will you be there?" I whisper to her
She sighs. "My mom is working extra hours this weekend, so I have to watch my brothers. I'll ask but I probably won't be able to make it. I'm sorry, I'd go if I could."
Fuck, I feel bad.
"Don't worry about it, just let me know." I respond.
My hand finds its way onto her thigh, and I squeeze it to reassure her. She gives me a look of concern, but doesn't push it away.
Woah, I might have to do that more often.
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Next chapter will be a simple filler!
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