Chapter 4

*Dawn's Point of View* 

~

I'm at home.

I'm on my laptop trying to come up with a poem for the Writer's Block Contest and I honestly didn't know what I wanted to write, but I felt I wanted it to match this season...whatever that meant, but I couldn't think much after Charlotte broke my train of thought with a text.

6:26pm
'Hey girl! Click this link to this costume I found! It matches your skin tone perfectly!' -Lotte

I sighed and before I looked at it I texted back,

6:28pm
'I'm not totally sure if I'm going to go.' -Me

6:29pm
'Yea you are! You're going with Asher and you're going to look sooo cute!' -Lotte

6:29pm
'But I never been on a date! I know nothing about him. Rather that, party WITH a guy I actually LIKE.' -me

6:32pm
'I know, but you have to go! Asher's going to drool when he sees you! You could totally ask him to homecoming in your cute outfit too, HOW could he say no?? JUST CLICK THE LINK!' -Lotte

I groan before I did with a smile and I tapped my finger on the link and it took me to a Halloween store online, and it was costume of a tiger. It was super cute and it didn't look slutty at all, actually, no where NEAR that.

It was like a short dress type of thing with three inch straps on each side. It was orange, white, and black, and pretty simple overall with tiger stripes and on the actual dress part it looked like a tutu with black spots. It was good enough to wear to a kids costume party if that's good enough to explain and even came with a little tail, but I felt it was TOO babyish for a high school house party, so I messaged back,

6:36pm
'Yeah, it's cute. But I don't think I'd wear it TO THIS party, IF I'm going:/' -me

6:38pm
'Fiiiine, but imma find you a costume anyhow. This is the perfect chance for you to get with Asher! Plus he's a senior. Walking into homecoming with him will be like.... the icing on the cake!!! :D' -Lotte.

I busted out laughing on that one.

6:40pm
"Hahaha, okay fine. I gtg. Working on a project. See you tomorrow Lotte!!<3' -me

6:41pm
'See you Dee;)' -Lotte

I laughed because I was honestly happy to have such a friend like Charlotte. She suggested me a costume, which meant she was thinking about me which I knew she was trying to make that my ticket to go to the party with her AND she thought of my number one crush in the making.

I shook my head continuing on my poem until the doorbell rang a few minutes later. I thought it was my parents and they forgot their key, but if it was them, they'd know to look in the flower pot to find a spare key to get in.....but the doorbell rang again.

I groan as it must've been the postal man or something, but it was almost 7pm....they don't deliver this late do they?

I finally went downstairs and opened the door and when I did, I found that black haired-brown eyed boy in front of me.....somebody I wasn't so hyped to see....or should I say a NOBODY.

"Helloooo Kitty!" He greeted with a wave. I pretended to close the door in his face. "Ah man. You're just going to close the door in my face, and not even say hello first??" He asked me sadly. I sighed plastering on a fake smile.

"Hello Jake," and then I proceeded to close the door once again.

"Wait! Did you forget about our deal?" he asked me quickly. I groaned face palming myself.

"Shoot, I did." He laughed.

"Well a deal's a deal," he smiled at me. "Unless if you don't want to go to homecoming with that guy," he added evilly. I hunched over.

"His name is Asher.... Come in," I force myself to say. He laughed.

"Haha! Thank you Dee." I closed the door and I told him to wait at the kitchen bar for me while I get my stuff from my room, but he quickly questioned me.

"You don't trust me in your own room?" He asked me pointing to his chest.

"No. I don't. I don't want YOUR company in MY room. Who do think I am?" I asked him from my stairs, he laughed.

"But we could have it like the good old days, remember? Eating Pop-tarts and Hot Cheetos around the clock-" I caught him off.

"Playing the Playstation 2 and Wii Sports. Yeah I remember, but not all 'dreams' last do they?" I crossed my arms at him. He smiled.

"Ah, so you do remember?" He commented with a crooked smile. It always seemed my sarcastic insults made him happier. Nothing seemed to make him mad....which pissed ME off in the end.

"Shut up and get in the kitchen," I brushed him off rolling my eyes. He chuckled.

"Alright, alright."

I was getting my stuff in my room and I guess now would be a good time to tell you the WHOLE story....of me and Jake's past and WHY I'm so mean to him and WHY he annoys me so bad with those stupid nicknames.

~

We go back to 7th grade like I said.

He always picked on me and I never knew exactly why so I just picked at him back but unlike this day, back then we were ACTUALLY "friends", only because he lived one house down between the one beside me and we were so called "neighbors" and our moms knew each other from work at the time.

The main reason why I really DON'T like him is because one day he was harassing me in the hallway at school when transitioning from A to B lunch so practically 2/3 of the whole school was in that hallway at the time and he was walking extremely close behind me trying to gas pedal me. Gas pedaling is basically when someone behind you steps on the back heel of your foot causing your whole shoe to come off or flop and it's the most annoying ever. Well, that day, I had on a khaki skirt and my pink flip flops. That'll be important later.

I was walking with my friend, Claire at the time, while Jake was behind me purposely trying to gas pedal me and make me fake trip.

"Back off JAKE!" I said in my little squeaky voice.

"Move out of my way DEE!" He said back laughing with his friends. I ignored him and they kept laughing, but on the third try when he ACTUALLY gas pedaled me....I fell flat on my face. Everyone busted out laughing and I thought it was because I fell obviously.

Mostly the guys and some girls laughed and that's when Claire quickly got down to my level and helped me up as fast as she could and it looked like a struggle...it FELT like a struggle now that I look back on it.

"Oh my gosh Dawn!" She squealed at me worried.

"What?" I asked sadly rubbing my face.

"You're skirt....! It-it flipped up!" She told me. 

I turned to see Jake's face red from laughing so hard with his phone in his hand like he took a picture and he pointed at me laughing.

"Hello Kitty!? Was that Hello Kitty?" He asked me hysterically.

I.... Literally.... Died.

My skirt flipped up when I fell on my face and EVERYONE got to see my Hello Kitty panties and the ONLY reason why I was actually WEARING them is because I had no clean clothes that Monday...including underwear and I found those at the bottom my drawer that I haven't worn in YEARS.

My heart dropped to my feet; I wanted to throw up my lunch while at the same time, poop out my guts. Since I was already feeling all of that, I didn't want to cry in front of everybody too when they already saw my underwear and some of the sweet girls comforted me and I walked away from them and EVER since then, Jake called me Hello Kitty, but now that we're older he sometimes just calls me Kit-Kat like the chocolate bar. I guess he compares my skin tone to it, but to me it still doesn't make sense. I hate that name for many reasons, one) it goes back to that day which still haunts me from time to time and two) it sounds like some prostitutes name rather than the chocolate bar.

And that's why I will forever and always hate Jake Lander. 

~

I headed back downstairs and the last time Jake was here was forever ago which was the forth of July for a small house party held by my parents which was 3 months ago....and two years and he took a deep breath when I saw him.

"Ah, I love the smell of your house. Gives me happy memories," he smiled. I huffed my breath rolling my eyes.

"Whatever, let's just get this first session over with," I sat beside him.

"You know, you didn't have to agree to this," he smiled at me.

I ignored him.

"You can just back out now, but expect to get Asher on your own." I didn't look at him turning to my laptop.

"Okay, this is how you start an essay," I glanced at him as I basically agreed to everything he just said. He chuckled. "You start off with a thesis." He shook is head already.

"Wait, what's that?" I sighed. 'This is going to be more complicated than I thought,' I said in my head.

"A thesis statement is like...something to catch the readers eye," I told him simply. He nodded.

"Oh okay, that makes sense," he nodded. I nodded too.

"Yeah so...let me give you the prompt Mr. Will gave us in class." I got out my binder and took out the paper and he chuckled at me for whatever reason and I handed it to him. "Okay, the prompt is, 'Should teenagers be legal to drive at age 16 or 18? Persuade your answer.'" I read it to him.

"Easy," he said leaning back in the chair. "I started driving at 16 and there ain't nothin' bad about it.... Can I write that?" I licked my lips into a smile.

"Yeah, yeah you can," I nodded. He smiled as if he was proud. "BUT you gotta make that into two paragraphs with a conclusion paragraph and a concession and rebuttal." He looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Are you serious? What does all that even mean!?" He asked me seriously. I busted out laughing.

"Should've been on time to class to find out!" I said back.

"Aww man," he groan with a smile over my laugh. "No wonder I was 2 points from failing this 6 six weeks," he told me. I couldn't stop laughing almost having tears.

"Oh my gosh, you seriously wrote your essays like that?" I asked him. He nodded looking at me seriously.

"Yeah! I mean, as long as I get it to the second hole on the paper I'm good." I held my stomach laughing getting off the chair. He laughed by my reaction. "Hahaha! It's not that funny," he said calmly behind his chuckles even though he couldn't help it either. I had tears in my eyes.

"Yes it is!" I went over my refrigerator holding the handle still holding my stomach with my other hand. "You know Mr. Will is the author of two New York Time best sellers, and you turn in not even half a page of an "essay"?" I used quotation marks. He shrugged poking his lips out.

"I thought it was pretty good," he told me truthfully. I shook my head.

"Omg, I need a break already. I need to get my mind prepared for what you DON'T know," I told him opening the fridge.

"Fine. I don't feel like writing anyway," he told me. I rolled my eyes smiling. I got a water bottle and started drinking it closing the fridge back and he looked at me with open arms. "And you're not going to offer me any?" I shaped my eyebrows together.

"Offer you what?" I asked him pretending not to know.

"Something," he dragged out. "It's good hospitality. I mean, Hello Kitty would know," he squinted his eyes at me. I looked at him back the same way and huffed my breath hiding a smile.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Hmmm, a soda please while Coach isn't around," he said. I opened the fridge and tossed him a Coke. He smiled at me. "Thanks Kit-Kat." I sighed walking back over to him behind the kitchen sink as he was in front of me now.

"Do you seriously have to keep calling me Kit-Kat and Hello Kitty?" I finally asked him. He chuckled opening the soda.

"What? You don't like it?" He asked with a crooked smile taking a sip.

"No, I don't like it dummy, so stop," I told him sharply drinking my water.

"I can't now, it's a habit," he told me. "I would if I could."

"Hmmhuh, sure you would," I said narrowing my eyes at him. He laughed.

"I'm serious Dee," he sighed at me.

"Dawn," I corrected him.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked sarcastically.

I groan.

"Alright, alright, sorry. Let's just move on to my part of the deal.... Asher." I perked up a little at him. He went over and got down from the bar stool and sat on the living room sofa and I joined him in the other seat.

"First off, why do you like this guy?" I shrugged smudging a smile.

"I don't know....I just do," I told him thoughtfully. "He's cute, he's sweet, he's funny...everything you're not basically," I nodded with a shrug looking at him. He laughed.

"You're funny Kit-Kat," he nodded putting his drink on the table. "You got jokes."

"Coaster please," I told him aggressively. He nodded with his left hand in a surrender and he got a coaster and put his drink on top of it.

"Anyway, we're friends, but we're not close, so it's going to be awkward for me to get to know him," Jake warned me.

"And you're interfering with my personal work schedule trying to help you too," I told him. "So much for using lunch to practice routines for cheer, now I have to use it as a study hall." He chuckled.

"Well if you want Asher-"

"And if you want a passing grade in English-" I said over him.

"Then we have to do this-" he said.

"Then we have to to do this-" I repeated after him. He smiled. I couldn't help but do it too.

"So first off!" He said standing up quickly. I took a breath of hesitance. "When was the last time you were on a date?" I shrugged letting it out.

"Never had one." He turned to me with wide eyes.

"Never? Not one?" I shook my head.

"Nope." He hunched over not believing it.

"This is going to be harder than I thought..." He mumbled to himself like I did. He quickly straighten up. "Well, what are you doing first?"

"He wants to take me out to eat. He said I could choose." He nodded.

"Typical. Now, this is the perfect opportunity in your part because one) restaurants require you to talk and get to know each other and two) what people don't realize, this is also the point where you see his manners and you show him yours." I nodded as that made sense. "So, where did you want to go?" He asked me next. I shrugged.

"I don't know....What do you think?" I asked him. He walked around as if he was searching for his words with his hand over his chin.

"Okay, this what I do," he looked at me with a cocky face. I blew a strand of hair of my face rolling my eyes and he chuckled. "Nah, nah here me out. Hear me out... No matter WHERE you go, never order something leafy or something with a lot of sauce in it." I chuckled.

"What? Why?" I covered my mouth. He smiled.

"If you order a salad, which I know most girls always try to do all the time because they're trying to make themselves seem 'healthy'-" he used quotation marks.

"-and you would know a lot about that," I hid a smile. He continued over my comment,

"-you could have multiple problems. One, lettuce or anything green could and can get stuck in your teeth and you won't even know it and that's not attractive and two) IF YOU DID have anything visible on your face, the person you're with won't tell you because that's embarrassing. Especially if it keeps happening obsessively." I shook my head a little on the edge of being confused.

"Wait, what about sauce?" He nodded at me.

"Get it all over your clothes and it makes you seem unaware and not clean. It's not cute and they defiantly don't want to eat with someone like THAT for a second time," he shook his head with crossed arms. I buried my head in my hands.

"I can't do this," I said in darkness. I heard him shuffle toward me. "I thought eating at a restaurant was going to be easy, but you make it seem like it's the LAST thing I wanna do. I can't do this..." He sat beside me and removed my hands from my face.

"Don't be so discouraged already," he assured me sincerely. I looked at him as I didn't know if he was being serious or just playing like he always was. "This is only lesson one and you said you weren't going 'till Tuesday. We still have four days-including two weekends-to get this down. That's plenty of time to know the basics of eating out." He smiled at me, his white vampire teeth showing with his shiny brown eyes. I nodded with a shrug.

"Fine, but I still don't understand it," I admitted. He sighed into a smile.

"How about this.... Tomorrow I take you to Taco Bell. We can have our next session there," he suggested. "It's cheap and everyone likes tacos. You could tell him its for Taco Tuesday. Makes it seem like your corny but cute, It's a win-win." I looked at him crazy hoping over a seat away from him.

"First off, you're too close to me, and second off, are you serious? You have a whole girlfriend and THE LAST thing I want, is for her to get all bitchy and offended by it." Jake laughed.

"Nah it's cool. Celeste told me she had to go out of town tomorrow after school with her parents for a family related ordeal anyway." I gave an awkward face.

"Family related ordeal? What kind of ordeal?" He shrugged. "Who even says that?"

"I don't know. She texted it to me today after school," he told me. 'Wait...I thought Celeste went to work after school? You can't text during work?' I thought. I shook it off.

"Oh alright... I guess we can them," I gave in. He chuckled.

"Haha, alright. It's a deal then," he nodded. "I'll pick you up," he said with a grin.

"Excuse me, I can drive myself," I told him quickly with sass. "So I can be sure you're trying not to molest me or something," I got up from the couch. He laughed.

"Haha! Why does everything have to go there Kit-Kat?" He asked me getting up as well.

"Cause I've known you for five years," I turned around at him with wide eyes. He laughed.

"But I still don't see the resemblance," he shook his head. I fake chuckled.

"Ha! Ha! I do," I said plainly. He laughed.

Suddenly the front door rattled and it was my mom. "Dawn, and who is that? Jake!" She squealed. I secretly moaned. "How are yoooou?" She greeted coming out of the foyer.

"Mrs. Noel, so nice to see you," he glanced at me with a smile his tongue pressed up against his teeth. I glared at him evilly as he bent down to hug my mom.

"I know! What are you doing here?" My mom glanced at me and back at him with sparkling eyes. 

"Please do not have the wrong idea," I prayed quietly.

"Dee agreed to help me with the SATs coming up," he looked at me and back at her. "All juniors have to take it and we have study sessions." I thought Jake was going to bring up the deal or at least say that I'm trying to get a date with a senior, but he didn't as he knew I must've NOT told my mom about Asher, which I never will.

"That's niiiice, are you hungry? I was about to make dinner," she offered.

"No thanks Mrs. Noel, I better be getting home myself. My mom probably is wondering," he glanced at me with a smile. I crossed my arms.

"Oh alright. Tell her I said hello for me sweetie," she told him.

"Alright."

"I'll walk you out," I offered pretending to be nice. I followed Jake out the door and closed it behind me, the fall crisp air against my skin was a little cool, as I didn't have on a jacket.

"Your mom loves me, now why can you Kit-Kat?" He asked me turning around with a smile. I crossed my arms to show my expression and also to protect me from the cold.

"You know good and well ALL the answers to that question Jake Lander," I replied. "Including you referring me to Kit-Kat STILL." He laughed.

"Haha, I actually do. See you later Dee. I'll try to show up in class tomorrow." I nodded as he began to walk away.

"It's Dawn, and yeah I hope not," I said honestly. He laughed waving turning around walking backwards.

"Just know, me not showing up to class Kit-Kat means more work on your part." I rolled my eyes as he was right.

"Shut up," I groan at him.

"Haha! See you later." I rolled my eyes for him to see and he smiled heading to his house. I closed the door shaking my head.

"That's nice of you to help Jake," my mom began a pasta as I locked the door. I shrugged gathering my stuff.

"I guess. He's been bothering me about it so I figured I'd help," I had to lie. She nodded.

"I bet. But he doesn't hang around as much as he use to. Are y'all a thing now or something?" She asked me all girly like. I sighed.

"No Mom, we're just friends," I told her. She nodded.

"Hmmmkay, if you say so," she gave me a smile with a playful suspicious tone in her voice. I groan hiding mine.

"Just friends Mom. Friends." She nodded.

"Okay," she smiled. I groan going back up to my room and I flopped on my bed, turned over on my back looking up at the ceiling with my one hand over my stomach.

'Jake seemed eager to help me get with Asher today....but what if he's just doing this for show?' I couldn't help but think. Suddenly I got a text notification and I grabbed my phone thinking it was Charlotte with another costume, but it was Jake and I read the message,

8:36pm
'Oh yeah, 7:30 again for the practice date 2morrow. You don't have to look fancy for me Kit-Kat, but I wouldn't mind;)' -Jake.

I let out a breath shaking my head biting my bottom lip.

8:36pm
'Like I ever will.' - Me.

8:37pm
'Lol;)' - Jake.

8:37pm
'No emojis!' -Me

8:38pm
'Sorry, that's a habit tooXD' -Jake

I then tossed my phone over on my bed and smiled up at the ceiling closing my eyes and I thought,

'Yeah... He's serious.'

~