"You owe me," Corian said, smirking at me over the french fry she held to her lips.
I glared at her from across the table at the fast food restaurant we'd stopped at for lunch. It was now Saturday, and I'd briefly told her about what had happened with Dakota at his house the night before. I, of course, still left his identity a secret despite Corian's multiple efforts of guessing who this guy was.
"I don't owe you anything," I told her, eating a fry of my own.
"You wouldn't have gotten laid last night if it weren't for me forcing your bitch ass to call the guy," she said, keeping her voice low so the few people on the other side of the restaurant wouldn't hear us.
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
She smiled victoriously. "I'll take that as your thanks. So are you guys a thing yet?"
I shook my head. "No."
"And why the hell not?"
"Because it's complicated."
"Harley...the whole reason it didn't work out with the mega-douche was because y'all didn't communicate well enough. Don't do that again with this guy."
"I don't plan on it. It's just I had to leave last night before his parents came home and we haven't had a chance to talk about the logistics because we had a game this morning."
"Okay..." Corian said slowly. I could tell she doubted the situation.
"We're hanging out tonight again, though," I offered. "I'm gonna talk about it then."
Corian gave me a bright smile in exchange for that bit of information. "Good, I can't wait to hear all about it."
"You know," I said, eyeing her. "I don't know how you managed to weasel into my life like this, but I'm not mad at it."
Corian laughed. "At least I'm welcome."
It was silent for a few minutes as we continued to eat lunch. I noticed that she kept sending me subtle glances, so I eventually raised a brow. "What now?"
"So...I've been meaning to ask you something for a little while now."
"Go for it."
"Do you think Andrew is interested in me?"
I choked on my cherry coke. I spluttered and coughed for a moment while Corian looked completely unimpressed. "Sorry," I said, coughing a couple more times. I cleared my throat. "Uhm. I'm just surprised. You like him?"
She shrugged and I could tell she was trying hard to seem unbothered about the topic. "Sort of. He's pretty hot, no?"
I wrinkled my face, picturing him in my head. "I mean I guess. But I've never really thought about him in that way."
Corian smirked. "I have. Lots of times."
"Have you guys never gone out?"
"Harley, there's plenty of guys I haven't gone out with. Like for instance guys on your team I haven't been with...Bryce Fischer, Jack Thompson, Dakota Spicer, Greyson Giraud...there's a few others but you know what I mean."
I took a deep breath as her words sunk in. When she'd said Dakota's name it took almost everything in me not to react. I looked down at my food and grabbed another fry. "Yeah, I get it. Well I've never really heard Andrew say much about you, but of course he's attracted to you. Everyone is."
Corian blushed lightly at that and it caught me so off guard that a huge smile burst onto my face. "What?" she snapped.
"I have never seen you blush. I didn't know you could."
"I'm not a fucking robot. Quit acting like an idiot."
"You really like him, huh?" I asked, humming as I thought about the two of them together. "You'd make a cute couple."
"Whatever. He's never asked me out so I wasn't sure if he would be into me or not."
"Want me to mention you to him?"
"Fuck no! Don't you dare, Harley."
"Well if I don't mention it, how would he ever know you're game for a date?"
"We have Advanced Chem together. We're sort of lab partners."
I grinned. "That's so cliche."
"So is your face," she said quickly. Then her glare softened. "Sorry...and I know it is. But he's so stupidly cute. I was trying to flirt with him the other day but he was all pass me the magnesium, and I was like bitch I'll pass you the magnesium alright if you know what I mean."
I snorted as laughter exploded out of my chest. Corian was smirking as she leaned her head on her hand. I noticed we were now getting looks from the other patrons and the cashier at the counter. I covered my mouth with my hand as my chuckles died down.
"You're so embarrassing," Corian muttered.
I didn't take her comment seriously as her eyes were shining at me with amusement. "Anyway, he's just super serious about academics."
"So I'm realizing. I just wish I could tell if he was serious about me."
"I'll ask him."
"Seriously, don't."
I rolled my eyes. "Corian come on."
She bit her lip and thought about it for a moment. Eventually she sighed. "Fine. But be cool about it!"
I scoffed. "I'm always cool. Cool as a--"
"Don't fucking say cucumber."
I smiled. "Fine, I won't say it."
Corian groaned and buried her face in her hands. I was thoroughly enjoying this new side of her. "What the hell did I just agree to?"
*************
Later that night while my parents were out at some dinner party with their friends, I was sitting on the couch in the living room with Dakota's head in my lap. As commercials started to play on the television opposite us, Dakota glanced up at me.
I smiled down at him, unable to help that it was now habit every time his eyes met mine like that. I ran my fingers through his dark hair and a happy sigh slipped through his lips.
"So you know Corian Bradshaw?" I asked randomly.
Dakota nodded. "Your new bff?"
I stuck my tongue out at him for a second. "What are you stalking me?"
"You wish. You guys sit together at lunch now and are always in the library before school. Kind of hard not to notice. People think you're dating; it's kind of all they've been talking about at school this week."
I frowned. "Wait, for real?"
"Yep."
I tried really hard not to smile at Dakota's obvious jealousy, but I couldn't hold it back in the end. "Why does that even bother you?"
"You know why, idiot."
"It shouldn't. We're just friends...it's a new thing. She was there when I needed her."
"What like to be your date at parties so people think you're straight?"
"I don't see you offering to be my date at parties," I bit back. He instantly shut his mouth but I knew he was still seething on the inside. "Look, she's been the only person besides you and Dante that I've been able to be myself around. It feels good to talk to her."
Dakota pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. "You talk to her about me?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, but I never said your name."
He was quiet for a while. I just continued to sift my hand through his hair, pushing it off of his forehead. It looked kind of sexy that way.
"You mad about it?" I asked.
"Not really. What did you tell her about me?"
I grinned. I recognized the curious and shy tone in his voice. "Just stuff."
Dakota glared up at me. "Like what?"
"Like how into you I am. And how even though it hurt like hell when Dante rejected me, I'm actually secretly kind of glad he did."
Dakota's body went stiff and I could hear his breath hitch quietly. I instantly knew he was nervous as he pulled himself up so that he was sitting next to me. His hand found mine and wound our fingers together.
"You are?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as it came out.
I nodded and turned a little so I was facing him. I felt my own nerves starting to attack as I gazed steadily into his eyes. "Yeah. Because I'm just really, really happy to be here with you."
"You're sure you don't wish I was Dante?"
I frowned. "No, I don't. I had feelings for him...but he didn't reciprocate and...I don't want to get into it right now but he said some pretty awful things to me that day. And if he doesn't want to be with me then that's fine. I don't want to be with him either."
Dakota nodded in understanding as he took a few minutes to digest my words. "Who do you want to be with?"
"Honestly?" I asked, trying not to throw up from the anxiety that was bubbling up in my chest. It took me a while to come to terms with it, but now that I'd made up my mind, I wanted to let him know. He watched me expectantly and I placed a hand on the side of his neck, angling him closer to me. "You."
Dakota's green eyes widened and I pulled him the last few inches to myself so I could kiss his perfect lips. It was sweet and drawn out and full of so many unspoken emotions that it left me speechless when we finally broke apart to breathe.
He wrapped his arms around me, nearly crushing me as he did so. With his face pressed to my shoulder he mumbled, "I want to be with you too."
I pressed him closer to me with hand gently resting on the back of his head. I closed my eyes as I basked in the warmth of his body touching mine. Everything about this moment felt brand new and familiar at the same time and I was entirely addicted to it.
"Do you want to go out with me?" I asked in a rush, needing to get the words out before I stopped myself. "On a date somewhere?"
"Without a doubt," Dakota said, his words breathy against the fabric of my shirt.
I released my grip on him as a million tiny butterflies seemed to explode inside of my body. I felt lightheaded with delight as we shared another long kiss.
Afterwards I could see Dakota glowing with excitement I'd never seen on him before as he asked, "Where are we gonna go? When's it gonna be?"
I laughed and shrugged. "I don't know. I hadn't really thought that far ahead."
"That's dumb. You should have known before you asked me."
I shook my head but I couldn't shake my smile away. "You're incredible."
"I'm like a curious fucking cat is what I am," he argued, causing me to laugh. "Now I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about it."
"So I should keep it a surprise until the last minute, then? Okay, got it."
"Jerk. Don't do that to me."
I hummed. "We'll see."
"Fine, then I'm taking you out first."
"You can't do that."
"Can, and will."
"When?" I challenged, attempting to call his bluff. I was surprised when it turned out he wasn't joking.
"Tomorrow night. I'll pick you up at seven."
My jaw dropped. "You serious?"
"Duh. I'm not fucking around waiting for something to ruin this. We'll go to the movies and we can get ice cream after if you want."
What I wanted to do was throw up from all the flips my stomach was doing. But I just nodded and leaned in for another kiss. "Okay, I'm in."
"Great," he said, giving me a bright smile. "Oh, so what did you bring Corian up for earlier?"
My eyes lit up at the reminder. "Oh yeah! So we went out for lunch today and she told me she likes someone. You'll never guess who."
"Is it me?"
"Good guess, but no. It is someone from the lax team, though."
Immediately he said, "London Beasly?"
I screwed my face up. "Why him?"
Dakota shrugged. "He's super hot." I pouted and he laughed. "He is, but don't throw a fit. I'm not in love with him."
Ignoring the palpitations in my heart that the implication in his words caused, I took a deep breath and said, "Fine. It's Andrew."
"No fucking way!"
He pulled away to study my face. Shock was all over his features. "That's what I thought."
"Why would she like him?"
I huffed. "Hey he's my best friend."
"I'm just curious. I mean he's not ugly that's for sure...but he seems leagues below Corian. She's the single hottest girl at school and he just sort of seems a little average, you know?"
"He's way cooler than you think," I said. "But I guess I can see it from your point of view. Anyway, apparently she wants to give him her magnesium."
Dakota looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Excuse me...what the hell does that mean?"
I smiled knowingly. "Apparently it's what the kids these days call their genitals."
"That's sick," Dakota said through his sudden laughter.
I couldn't argue with him there.