Dismissing Dakota | ✓

»3. Catch & Release«

Dakota's P.O.V.

8:20pm

Pacing the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Braxton Street, I distracted myself from checking the clock for the twentieth time. My mind tired itself out with numerous case scenarios playing out in my head, thinking of what she could be doing right now. I had done my best to not question her about Gabriel when I saw him on the front porch, even though my first instinct was the punch the bastard. I reminded myself that Silvia wouldn't go for a guy like him.

He drove a Prius.

A fucking Prius.

I bet his mom still packed him lunch and stitched his name into his underwear.

The only thing he did after school was work on school plays and socialize with the other drama geeks on campus. He probably thought dating a Senior like Silvia would give a golden ticket to popularity. Drama students like him didn't hang out with Pierson's crew. I should know, I used to be friends with him. Gabriel was the kind of guy Maven would pick on for fun.

8:35pm

I had handed her the letter around eight o'clock. She should've already read the letter by now. A half an hour had already passed. What was taking her so long? I had deliberately told her to follow the instructions after reading the letter.

You should've talked to her. You're an idiot for not saying anything to her. A complete idiot, my thoughts nagged. Talking to Silvia wasn't a hard task to accomplish, but getting her to listen was a real challenge. Even with her eyes on me, I could tell by her distant gaze and uninterested expression that she didn't want to hear a word I said.

If she didn't show up, I knew I had to stay true to my promise and quit trying to talk to her. Right now was the moment of truth, waiting for her under the pitch-black night, hoping she'd show up and give me time to explain everything. I zipped up my jacket once my phone alerted me that it was 8:45pm. Squinting down the street, I watched to see if she was there or not.

Give her five more minutes. I told myself. Just five minutes. 

Not seeing much harm in that, I sat back down on the curb. Only a few minutes later, a car slowed down in front of me. It was a gold Mazda with plates outside of this state. 

"Dakota?" the driver called out.

I got up and walked to the car, surprised to see Marilyn Washington in the driver's seat. She was Finn's cousin and obviously too kind to be related to that dickwad. Marilyn went to university in Texas. With it being the holidays and all, it made sense to why she'd be back in town. We grew up together and we were close friends for most of our lives. She graduated that year and didn't get to witness my fall from popularity when Maven swore to ruin my life that very next year. We had been on good terms when she left and she never asked me questions about my mother. She didn't even bother to point out the fact that I never talked about my father.

"Hey, I didn't know you were back." I said, walking up to the car. "How's it been?"

She tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, processing the question. "It's been okay so far. What are you up to? Do you sit on lonely streets on most weekends? Is that your thing now?"

"No, I was actually waiting for someone." I snuck a look to the street that would lead to Pierson's house. "I don't think they're coming though. There's not much use in staying here."

"Oh, is it someone over at the Redmond party you're waiting for? I just dropped someone off less than ten minutes ago. I wouldn't even be out here if it weren't for Finn."