Dear Dakota | Academic Rivalry Story

Twenty Three | The Notes

"Can I just stay here? Spend the rest of my days here."

| Locked Out Of Heaven- Bruno Mars |

N Y L A D Y L A N S

"Nyla Dylans, I am facing a huge dilemma." Dakota's voice comes from the other side of the line.

"What is it?" I ask in a sleepy tone. When I hear him start talking about science I groan, covering my head with my blanket. Once he starts talking I swear it never stops. He is such a competitive debater that he will not stop until he gets all of his thoughts out.

"... And then there are some idiots who think the Earth is flat! Flat! Listen, if the Earth was flat then why in the world are there hills? Better yet, when you lay on the grass you can see the curve in the sky. It is a sphere."

I sit up in my bed and peek behind the curtains. "You were arguing with a Flat Earther? He must not be the brightest of the bunch." I sigh, shaking my head, looking at him through his window. When he sees me he waves a hello.

I think that this whole flat vs round Earth talk must be one of the most idiotic conversations in the world. There are Satellite pictures that clearly prove the Earth is a sphere, yet people still don't believe it.

They see one map and base their whole evidence on it.

"Is that it? Because I would love to go back to sleep again."

"Nyla, we still have our letters to open. You need to stay awake for that." He reminds me. "Come over as soon as possible because I might open the notes before you do."

"You wouldn't dare," I respond. "I'll be there in a few. Give me ten minutes."

It took me twelve minutes and I can bet so much money that he was counting every time that second hand passed the twelve. Before I can even ring the doorbell he answers the door and lets me in. "Three minutes late now, Dylans."

I cup my heart. "I am so sorry. I guess that means I will have to stay an extra three minutes longer." Dakota closes the door behind me and like most days it is calm and quiet in the Reids house. "Where are these notes of ours?" I ask, walking up the stairs behind him.

"In the binder?"

I roll my eyes. "I know that. I was sparking a conversation." When I walk into his room I see he has the binder on the center of his bed, untouched. Dakota pats the spot across from him. He opens the binder, takes each folded piece of paper into his hands, giving me the one he wrote.

"You open yours first," I tell him.

"Okay, you will open mine last." He replies, then unfolds his paper. My handwriting catches my eye and it is bad that I forgot half of the things I wrote to him. He moves closer to me, holding the note between us.

Dear Dakota,

Nyla here! I got to Presley and am already freezing cold. New York lesson one: wear a jacket even if you think it looks ridiculous.

Does the intro sound familiar? It reminds me a lot of the first note I wrote to you but this time everything is the opposite. Something you may not know is that all of these notes take me about an hour or two to write because I cannot shorten my thoughts to about four tiny paragraphs so this is a stretch.

By the time you read this, we already know who won Valedictorian. I hope you win but we won't know until Monday. You're the most deserving for this award but not going to lie it would be pretty cool if I get it. Kidding, whoever wins I hope we are still best friends.