One

"Put your hands in the air and don't move " My heart dropped and I stopped dead in my tracks. I didn't recognize the voice, but I knew who it was. I swallowed fear and turned my head to slowly look up at the boy next to me. The one person I turned to when I needed something. The one person who would know what to do in a situation like this. His eyes mirrored mine. I had only ever seen that look once in my life. That look was utter fear. The two of us raised our arms above our heads and slowly turned around. I had a cop with a gun pointed at me and no good explanation as to why. Where did this go wrong? I wasn't always like this, I swear. The ropes just got a little tangled along the way.

I guess I should just start from the beginning.

My dad was an alcoholic. Well, Andy was anyway. I called him Andy because he wasn't my real dad. My real dad died when I was seven. So my mom remarried this screw up four years ago. He wasn't a screw up when they met, or when they got married. But he started drinking. He went to rehab last year and got better. He's been doing great. He hasn't been drinking and he hasn't relapsed. Yet.

My mom was pretty cool. She was a writer, and kind of a hippie I guess you could say. She was a vegan and she was so thin the two of us could share clothes. I liked her though. Her name was Claire. She had long light brown hair and blue eyes that matched mine. She was very pretty. And I'm not exactly sure what she saw in Andy, but she saw something. Andy was the reason we moved. We used to live in California, not even ten minutes away from the beach, but thanks to Andy's job we moved all the way across the country to some nowhere town in Ohio.

It was my first day as a sophomore at Falls High. I couldn't tell you exactly what emotion I was feeling that morning. I was nervous, I knew that much. Angry too. Angry at Andy for making us move to the place and angry for having to leave everyone I knew and start over here. But I got dressed and got in the car without a word, and without breakfast.

"Baby, it won't be so bad." My mom assured me on the way to school. That same voice she used on me when I was six and didn't want to get a shot. Soothing and reassuring an full of bull. "You might actually like it here."

I crossed my arms and stared out the window at the houses passing in a blur. I might like it here. Ha. I was dropped off at the front of the school and I slammed my mom's car door before she could even finish saying goodbye.

I stopped by my guidance office and they gave me my schedule and told me where my locker was. The secretary asked me if I wanted a map of the school. I told her I could manage.

Stares are always expected as the new kid. I walked into my first hour English class and nearly every head turned as if I were a sideshow freak at the circus. Come one, come all, see the freaky new kid from California. Honestly...

My teacher looked at the note I gave her, then told me to take a seat behind Garrett, as if I knew who he was. But like a puppy, the boy looked up at the sound of his name, then raised to fingers to show that he was in fact Garrett and I was to take the seat behind him. I took my seat and studied the back of his head. Shaggy, brown-red hair that almost touched the collar of his shirt, and a freckle on the back of his neck. I looked down and doodled in my notebook.

The bell rang and the girl next to me immediately attacked me with a too-happy-for-a-Wednesday-morning smile. "Hi I'm Heather. You're from California, right?" she chirped.

"Yeah," I nodded as I continued walking down the halls.

"I can tell," she smiled and continued to talk, "You look like it with your blonde hair and blue eyes. You're like wicked pretty."
"Thanks," I smiled. "I'm Dakota, by the way."

Dakota. My parents named me after the state I was born in. North Dakota, 1991. Thank God I wasn't born in Massachusetts.

My 2nd hour class was study hall. Possibly the worst time for a study hall. Last hour was the best. You could finish homework, then just goof off. At the beginning of the day, all you could really do was nap, which I considered.

I took the seat I was told to, but receive less stares than before. A good sign. I looked around the room, and that's when I saw Him for the first time. He and I maintained eye contact for a few seconds before He finally turned away. I didn't forget Him though.

I got a text from my mom during my last class. Yes, my mom did insist on texting me. Probably part of some midlife crisis thing she's going through trying to fit in with teenagers.

Mom - I'm going to be a few minutes late to pick you up. Sorry.

Great. I couldn't wait till I could drive.

I was waiting around for my mom when I saw Him again. He was standing across the street, a cigarette in His mouth. We locked eyes again, and soon the friends He was standing with started staring too. He nodded, motioning me over to them. I walked across the street and slowly approached them. He stepped forward and a mix of cologne and cigarette smoke filled my lungs. He offered me one without even speaking. I shook my head and He put the box away.

"What's California like?"

He speaks.

"Sunny," I shrugged, confused, "It's pretty nice I guess."

"So why'd you move here?"

"Andy got transferred, so my mom and I moved with him."

"Who's Andy?"

"My step dad." I fired off answers like a robot. It was like I was hypnotized. Another kid stepped forward and I recognized him as Garrett from my English class.

"Ever been arrested?"

He elbowed the boy in the stomach without ever taking His eyes off me. I laughed lightly, and for the first time, He actually smiled.

"Are you guys in some sort of gang or something?" I asked nervously, no longer hypnotized by His eyes. The five of them smiled. He was the only one to actually laugh.

"Is that what we look like to you?"

They kind of did, the way they just stood around in a group, smoking. But then again, they didn't look scary enough to be a gang. They were all dressed pretty nicely. Maybe it was the smoking and the hostile looks. I didn't know how to answer.

"I like you, California," He smiled. I couldn't help but smile back.

"My name's Dakota," I told Him. He smiled and stuck His hand out.

"John." was all he said. Before I could get the names of the other kids my mom pulled up. I was kind of embarrassed and my face turned red. None of them seemed to care.

"Later California," John said as he and the rest of the guys started to walk away. I got in the car, still confused.

"Who were they?" my mom asked. I looked back at them

I couldn't answer.