Chapter 10: Clueless

It had to be around 110 degrees outside. The sun beat down on my head as if it was trying to kill me and only me. The air was sticky, heavy, and didn't move. I pulled at the collar of my black shirt, wondering why I wore the color that gets the hottest in sun. Dakota on the other hand had a light, white shirt on and short light brown shorts and flip flops on. I had on tight skinny jeans and sneakers, along with the black t-shirt.

"Why am I so stupid?" I wondered aloud.

Dakota glanced at me as we walked. She frowned. "Your not stupid."

I motioned to my outfit. "Stupid."

She took my hand and squeezed it. "Clueless, not stupid."

I laughed. "I'm not sure clueless is any better."

"It is." she said, very serious. "If your stupid, you can't function. If your clueless, you can function, you just do stupid things."

I thought about that and decided I was somewhere in between, but decided it was better to just nod and agree with her. Even if i disagreed, she'd win in the end.

So I stayed quiet and we continued walking down the sidewalk. Amazingly enough, no one knew we were outside yet. Dakota had somehow talked me into coming out. She claimed she was "bored of sitting inside" and my house is "cold enough to keep ice cream in". So she ended up taking me out to the movies. The movie theater was really close, she claimed, so somehow we ended up walking. Halfway there, I was wishing we had driven. I could tell Dakota might be thinking the same thing, but she would never admit it.

When we finally reached the movie theater people started to notice us. It took us forever to actually get into the movie theater, get snacks, and into the theater. We were going to some horror movie that I didn't know the title of. I hoped people wouldn't expect us to be there, but everyone saw us go in, and I knew people would wait through the whole movie to see us again, it would also give them time to call their friends... I frowned at the idea of a big crowd outside the movie.

Dakota squeezed my hand and moved closer to me. "Your bouncing your leg a lot." she noted. "What's up?"

"Just thinking about the crowd that's probably forming outside."

"Forget about it. Enjoy the movie." she smiled as the lights started to go down the and first trailer started. She turned her hand to the screen but I kept staring at her. Her profile was perfect, everything on her face seemed to be the right size, and fall in just the right place. My face was far from perfect. For one, my teeth were too big...

Suddenly a giant grin formed on her face, and I looked at the screen. A trailer for Eclipse. I sank lower in my seat. I hated watching myself. I felt her glance at me. She leaned her hand on my shoulder. Suddenly I was relaxed. Suddenly, the world was gone. It was just me and her, and the kid kicking the back of my seat...

"Uh... Do you have any fours?"

"Go fish." Dakota said proudly. I frowned and pulled a card from the pile. A three. I didn't need a three, I needed a four.

"Do you have any kings?" she asked.

I sighed and handed her three kings. She smiled and put them down in front of her next to her other seven groups of four. I had two...

"I quiet." I grumbled, not believing I was actually getting mad about a simple game of Go Fish.

"Why?" she asked. "There's still a chance you can win."

"No, there isn't." I said. "Your just... Better at everything."

"Not true."

"Your... Perfect." I continued on. She set her cards down and I took them. I gathered the rest of the cards and put them back in the box. I threw it on my nightstand then turned back to her.

We were sitting on my bed. She sat across from me, hugging her knees into her chest. She was to far away. I leaned over and pushed her towards me. She rolled over, still hugging her knees. She was laying on her back, facing up to me.

"Must we always be touching?" she asked. I was now holding her hand.

"Yes." I said. "I might have a mental break down if we don't."

"Really? That seems unlikely."

"It's true." I grinned and she giggled. I leaned my head down and kissed her. It was quick and light, but soon we were making out. I loved how this kept happening. But this time, she was laying on top of me. It was nice to see her have some power, and I enjoyed how her little body felt on top of me. I moved my hands down towards her hips, then down to her butt. Suddenly, my phone rang. I frowned and grabbed it from the floor.

"Hello?" I said. Dakota stayed on top of me, but she sat up.

"Hello, Kristen?"

"Yeah. Who is this?"

"It's Mr. Joseph."

My first thought was to hang up the phone. Not even listen to whatever crap he was gonna say, but he spoke quickly and I listened.

"I'd like to say I'm sorry for being harsh on you two." he started.

"Not enough." I grumbled.

"I know. I'd like to make it up to you guys." he paused as if waiting for me to speak. I stayed quiet, worried all I could do was yell at him. "Why don't you and Dakota come have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

The question surprised me. "Hold on." I said. I held the phone to my shoulder and looked at Dakota. "Mr. Joseph wants to have dinner with us." I said.

Dakota frowned, then shrugged. "Okay."

"What? No! We can't go!"

"Why not? He's trying to be nice. Let's go."

I knew I couldn't say no to Dakota, so I lifted the phone back to my ear. "Okay."

"Great! I'll have a limo pick you two up at 7:00." and with that, he hung up. I sighed and put my phone down.

"This is going to end badly." I said, turning back to Dakota.

She lay back down and kissed my on the forehead. "You don't know that. He's probably just trying to be nice. Who knows? Maybe he does feel bad."

"I doubt it." I scowled.

Dakota sighed and kissed me again. "You need to be more positive." she whispered, before kissing me again.

"It's way to early for this." I complained. Taylor laughed and kept walking. "How long is this going to take?" I asked. "I have dinner tonight."

"How yeah? With Dakota?"

"Yeah. And the wonderful Mr. Joseph." I scowled.

Taylor frowned. "I thought you hated that guy."

"I do!" I sighed and stuffed my hands into my pockets. "But he wants to have dinner with me and Dakota. He's trying to be nice I guess."

"You never know, he may have changed."

"Now you sound like Dakota."

He laughed and kept walking.

"Why are we going on a walk so early?" I asked softly.

He shrugged. "I miss spending time with you."

I smirked at him and stared at my feet.

"Anyways, you going to be okay tonight?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

He smiled and put one arm around my shoulder. I finally felt safe again, and I felt the same feeling I felt with Dakota, which seemed strange to me...

The limo arrived at my house at 7:00, just Mr. Joseph had said. He hadn't told us where we were going, so me and Dakota both wore jeans. She wore a blouse while I wore a t-shirt. I didn't care if I looked like crap in front of Mr. Joseph.

The limo took us downtown to some bar/restaurant. I guess it was for all ages because they let me and Dakota in. Either that or Mr. Joseph bribed the restaurant. I could totally see that happening...

We told the hostess we were with Mr. Joseph, and her face lit up. He must come here a lot... Mr. Joseph was sitting at a table in the back. He waved to us as we walked over. There were already two menus sitting on the table, and the hostess looked sad that she didn't get to stay longer. I wondered how anyone could like Mr. Joseph. I guessed it was his eyes, or maybe his hair...

"So, girls, how are you tonight?"

"Good." Dakota said with a smile.

"Peachy." I grumbled in a sarcastic tone.

Mr. Joseph ignored me and continued to babble on about how great the stake was here. When the waitress came, she asked us what we wanted to drink.

"Uh-" I began, but Mr. Joseph cut me off.

"Get her a beer, will ya?" I saw him slip the waitress some money. I scowled, but I was a bit pleased to get a beer. Though I wasn't old enough, I did love beer. Dakota got a diet coke and I wondered why Mr. Joseph hadn't done the same thing to Dakota.

When the waitress came back with our drinks I decided to get a salad, just to annoy Mr. Joseph. Dakota on the other hand got the steak, and I wondered why she was listening to him.

Mr. Joseph sipped his beer and sighed. "This is nice, no?"

I eyed him and sipped my beer. I wasn't going to get relaxed with him. I didn't trust him.

That ended up being a bit of a lie...

By the time out food had come I'd already gone through 3 glasses of beer and was half way through my 4th. I could feel myself getting drunk, I knew it was happening, yet I didn't do anything. I didn't stop. I finished off my 4th glass and ordered a 5th. I didn't know what I was doing, but I couldn't stop.

I took a huge gulp of my 5th glass and Mr. Joseph spoke. "So I was waiting for the right moment to tell you this, but I invited a special someone to join us tonight."

I sipped my beer again. "Who?" I asked.

Mr. Joseph nodded towards the door. "Looks like he's here now."

Me and Dakota turned towards the door. Taylor was walking towards our table. I smiled as he reached our table. I stood and hugged him.

"Taylor, buddy!" I said, throwing my arms around him.

"Hey, Kristen..." he sniffed me lightly and eyed the table. I felt him frown. He pulled away from me and sat down next to Mr. Joseph. I fell back into my seat. "Hi Dakota." Taylor said.

"Hey." Dakota's voice was small and quiet. She didn't seem as happy as she was when we first got here.

I took another gulp of beer.

The night wore on and nothing much happened. We talked and ate. I wondered a few times why Mr. Joseph had even invited us here, and why Taylor was here. If I wasn't so drunk, I would have cared. But soon enough, I couldn't think. My thoughts fell together, just like my words.

"I think we should probably get going." Dakota said after dessert. "Thank you Mr. Joseph." she nodded at him.

"Yeah! Your soooooooo cooool!" I said, leaning towards him.

Mr. Joseph smiled. "Alright. Nice having you two. I'll call the limo." he picked up his phone, pressed a few numbers then put the phone to his ear. He muttered a few words I couldn't hear then smiled at us again as he hung up. "The limo is outside right now. It can take you back to Kristen's house. Unless you want to go home, Dakota..." he trailed off and Dakota didn't say anything. She stood up and pulled me up.

"I'll walk you guys out." Taylor said. He stood, and as he did, I saw the biggest, evilest grin form on Mr. Joseph's face. If I was in my right mind, I would have done something, said something... but instead, I turned and stumbled out of the restaurant.

Once we were outside, Dakota found the limo and opened the door.

"Come on." she said to me. She seemed to be in a rush.

I waved her off and turned to Taylor. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled up at him. "Bye... bye..." I muttered.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he hissed.

I suddenly couldn't see straight, and my drunken mind wondered if the 7th beer was a bad idea. "Huh?" I stumbled to stay up.

Taylor held onto my waist to keep me standing. "Your freaking drunk, Kristen! That's not like you, what's going on?"

"Nothing..." I hiccupped, then leaned up and kissed him.

He pushed me off and I stumbled backwards. "No. Come back to me when your sober." and with that, he turned and walked back into the restaurant.

I turned to Dakota. She was gone.

I climbed inside the limo to find her there, staring out the window.

"What?" I asked with a hiccup.

She ignored me then leaned forward towards the driver. "Can you take me home?" she asked, giving him the address. "No, take her home. Thanks."

I shut the door and the car started moving.

"Why are you going home?" I asked, my words falling over each other.

She scowled at me. "Because your a drunken, cheating fool."

I felt myself get shot in the heart. "Huh?"

"Never mind." she grumbled, sliding farther down in her seat.

"Dakota I-" I tried to touch her, but she hit my away.

"Leave me alone."

"Dakota..." She ignored me. I turned from her and pulled my seat belt on. I felt sick suddenly, partly from being drunk and partly from suddenly loosing Dakota. I tried to stare forward and beat the sickness, but it was to hard. I closed my eyes, before leaning forward and asking the driver to stop. I hopped out of the limo and threw up on the side of the road.