Oh, Dakota

27- Let Her Go

It was raining.

I really didn't like rain at all. I hated rain, really. It's just so... wet.

However, it was Friday and Coach would have killed me if I missed a practice the day before a competition especially if that competition is one week before nationals. Not to mention the fact that it was raining would have been a legal excuse to pass through my dad for him to call me out of school for the day. He really didn't like us not going to school, Owen and me.

I groaned loudly into my pillow one last time before getting out of bed and shutting my curtain so that I didn't have to see the rain thudding against my window.

I took my time getting dressed, since I took a shower the night before, and I just didn't feel like going to school at all that day. However, I managed to get dressed in these gray jean shorts with pink flowers on them and a matching oversized pink sweater with these weird flats. They looked weird but they were pretty comfortable and kind of cute, I guess.

I didn't do anything to my hair but I did put on just a little bit of basic makeup before grabbing my school bag and the keys to the car before leaving my room to get to school so that I was on time, unlike yesterday or the day before that when I slept in and missed first period, which my dad was not very happy about at all.

When I got into the kitchen, though, both Owen and Todd were there, sitting at the kitchen table eating something. Pop Tarts, I think. I didn't say anything to either one of them because I was still mad at Owen and he was still mad at me and so we weren't talking at all, which was why Todd was there, because Owen had been riding with Todd to and from school since Wednesday, the day after our major fight.

"Good morning, Dakota," Todd chirped in the awkward silence.

I gave him a weird look before nodding at him in acknowledgment and making my way towards the back door so that I didn't have to undergo a whole lot of that awkward angry silence.

"You can have some of my Pop Tart if you want," He offered me just as I walked out the door, only leaving the slam of the door as my response.

As I drove to the school, I didn't listen to the radio like I usually did while driving because my mood was just so terrible that even music couldn't fix it. Not only were most of the relationships in my life falling apart, but it was raining. And on the way to the school building once I got to the school, my hair got wet and so did my bag and my sweater. I really hated rain so much, have I mentioned that yet?

"Are you feeling better?" Braeden wondered once he approached me at my locker.

"No," I sighed. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're here before first period today, so that's more than you could say yesterday. Or the day before that." He informed me in his adorable Australian accent.

"That's not progress, that's the fear of my dad grounding me or taking my phone away or something," I explained, shutting my locker to get to my first period class. "Are you feeling better?"

"Um, nothing is wrong with me," He told me slowly.

"Just thought I'd ask," I chirped innocently. "Since you ask me every day and I never ask you, I decided that I should return the favor for once."

"I'm just worried about you, Kota," Braeden sighed, stopping with me as we reached the door to my psychology class.

"I know," I muttered. He really had been amazing to me for the past three days, throughout my and Owen's fight. Braeden and Nikki were really the only two people that I associated with most of the time, except for Caleb and sometimes John or Levi who would text me or come over to me during lunch to encourage me to talk to Owen so that we could fix things. They reminded me that Owen and I never fight like this and that we should fix it because it was weird for us to be fighting.