he has me by my heart.

Dakota hadn't had the best morning, his dog licking his face and barking until he finally got up. He had rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, which he didn't even really know if he got that all out. He got up five minutes before his bus was suppose to arrive, which made him only put on some sweat pants and a tank top that he didn't have enough time to check if it was clean or dirty. He thought briefly that maybe he should heed his mom's advice and actually clean his room. He forgot his project for English and was pretty sure his dog pissed in his room somewhere. He brushed his teeth quickly, taking a brush to his hair before he walked out the door, backpack slung on his shoulder half hazardously. He had made it right before the bus was going to close his doors, realizing that he had forgotten his headphones, he took a seat in the only empty slot, sighing in frustration.

Jeremiah and his dad never had a very friendly relationship. In all honestly, he hated his father. He was an ass. An alcoholic. And the sole reason why Jeremiah made sure that he would always remain at the top, always be better than the best, that way he could get a nice scholarship and take off for college. Of course, nobody really knew this about Jeremiah. He was the alpha in school, not the popular joke, but the genius. And the status was actually quite the load to uphold. Jeremiah studied more than he breathed it seemed, with hardly any time for social events or friends or relationships of any sort. That's what Jeremiah was doing now, studying in the school Library before classes had even begun.

Datoka had a month late library book that the librarian had been bugging for him to return since the it had been two days late. He grabbed searched through his messed up backpack once he was inside the building, the librarian looking at him expectantly. He handed it over sheepishly, not wanting to cause more trouble than he knew he made. He ran a hand through his hair before he paid the fine that had pilled up over the month, sending her a weary smile which she didn't return. He checked his phone before he sat down at one of the library chairs, staring down at his fingers. He didn't actually have a lot of friends, mostly just people he had to keep him company during classes. He looked up and accidentally caught eye contact with Jeremiah, looking back down and taking out his phone to pretend like he was actually doing something more than he was truly doing.

Of course he noticed the boy walking in, primarily because of his eye catching red hair. Nobody was ever in the library this early, particularly why Jeremiah had chosen it as his morning study place. Jeremiah watched the boy as he paid his fine and took a seat. Jeremiah shook his head at the fact the guy was so skittish looking. Clearly unprepared to school today, in nothing but a tank and sweats. Jeremiah tried to place a name on the boy, although he had to be an underclassmen, but gave up soon enough and went back to studying.

Dakota stayed put in his seat, playing games on his phone that he knew would just wasted his battery and leave him without any form of music once again after school though the loudness and talking was enough to drive him mad on the school bus. He was thankful when the bell rang, standing up and taking time to collect his papers he forgot to put back into his backpack. He accidentally knocked into Jeremiah, letting out a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry," he said as smiled wearily, "I'm Dakota." He didn't know why he blurted his name out. He was popular, attractive, and smart - no time for a background student like Dakota was.

Jeremiah gathered his books and closed up his bag just before the bell rang. A perfect study session complete and he felt confident that he would ace his next exam. He swiftly walked around the tables and chairs until a smaller body bumped into his. He mumbled an apology even though whoever had bumped into him was clearly at fault. Jeremiah looked up as the boy with the red hair spoke his name. That's right, Dakota Simon. Once the name clicked everything fell into place and Jeremiah knew exactly who he was, well, theoretically who he was. Which was nobody of importance to Jeremiah. "I know," he replied, "it's fine." He offered a weak smile and continued on his way out of the room. It wasn't that Jeremiah was trying to be rude, or considering himself of better class than Dakota, he just really didn't have time to make acquaintances with a figurative nobody, a nobody with red hair.

Dakota watched the other leave and nodded after he walked away, his mind still boggled by the fact that Jeremiah actually knew his name. It wasn't something he expected due to the fact that he hid in the shadows even with his hair such an obnoxious red as it was. He slipped into his first class, deciding that he shouldn't continue dwelling on someone who wouldn't talk to him ever again. He was in the wrong social group, his own 'group' made him want to hide his face because of his embarrassment of their actions. He wished he could somehow break out of it, ignore them all but he couldn't stand being alone like he felt sometimes even with them.

By the time lunch had rolled around Jeremiah had had enough of the school business. His stomach made an awful noise of hunger as he waited in line for the pizza cart and swept the room for an empty place to sit. When he was unsuccessful with that, he paid for his food and made way to the vending machine for a pop. He dug around in his pockets for spare change and was, yet again, unsuccessful. "Just my luck," he grumbled to himself as he counted himself a quarter short of a coke. He sunk his shoulders in disappointment.

Dakota saw Jeremiah fiddling with the vending machine. He moved over and heard him grumbling to himself. He walked over, not really big on eating during lunch since the cafeteria food was shit and he was too lazy to make his own food. He handed the other a dollar, a smile on his lips. "Here, take it if you want," he said as he knew that the other would take it. He didn't think the other would remember him, probably had put him in the back of his head without a second thought. He started to walk away after the other took his money, wanting to get back to his friends so he didn't feel too weird.

Without really looking at who had given him the money, Jeremiah graciously took the dollar and put it in the machine. "Ugh, thank you," he replied as he retrieved the can, finally looking up. He frowned as he watched the boy he'd ran into earlier in the library walk away. Dakota. "Hey Dakota!" he half shouted as he trotted to catch up with him, "hey, thanks." He knew there was really no reason to be so persistent on thanking the boy, but he couldn't help himself. Something about him interested Jeremiah; and it wasn't just the fire red hair.

Dakota lowered his head, rubbing the back of his neck as he laughed nervously. "It's no problem," he said as he fixed his hair to be out of his eyes. "But how are you?" He asked, deciding that neither of them were moving so he might as well start up with the small talk. He didn't know why he needed to thank him, it wasn't no problem, it was just a dollar, not like it was all the money in the world. He moved to lean against the nearest wall, deciding if they wanted to talk they could do it out of every else's way.

A half smile crept across Jeremiah's face as he watched Dakota mess with his hair and happily followed him to the wall. "Yeah.. I'm fine," he said before quickly adding, "and look, I'm sorry if I came off rude earlier, I didn't mean for that." Jeremiah looked away not sure why it even mattered. He let his eyes wonder to the people around them, subconsciously checking if anybody was watching them talking. Jeremiah looked back at Dakota and shifted his bag higher on his shoulder.

Dakota felt a little odd that the other had to check to see if anyone was watching them talking. He thought that maybe he was too weird, that the other wanted him to leave. "I -" he started before he shrugged, "it's fine, I mean, I don't mind. I should get back to my friends though." That was his way is dismissing the conversation. He didn't want to believe that Jeremiah was his friend if he was going to be treated the way he was. He went to walk over to his friends, sitting down and trying to ignore the fact that he was a little hurt the other one didn't seem to want to talk to him.

Jeremiah frowned as Dakota shrugged off his apology and walked away. If even this guy was gonna push him away, then it was just another reason that there really was no point in having relationships of any sort. Jeremiah stood himself up taller, glancing over to where Dakota had sat and shook his head before walking out of the cafeteria. Outside the doors he kicked himself for even wasting time on Dakota. Why had he even been drawn to him in the first place? Whatever the answer, it didn't matter anymore.

Dakota cursed as he saw the buses leaving the lot. He knew it was too late to continue after them, he was stuck at school due to the fact that he couldn't even think about calling his mom. He leaned against the door, sighing as he hit his head against the back of it. "Fucking shit," he cursed. He didn't know how he was even going to get home now, trapped inside the school for longer.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Jeremiah slowly made his way down the hall and towards the doors on the upper parking lot side of the building. He frowned at himself for letting the boy be a distraction and allowing himself to space off in his 4th block class. He really did not need any distractions; he couldn't afford any.

Knocking him out of his thoughts, a confused look twisted on Jeremiah's face as he pressed on the door and it barely moved. Going through the second door with a grumble, Jeremiah looked down at what had been his unexpected door stopper. "Dakota," he said, looking up with a cocked brow to see the buses no longer in the lot, "waiting on a ride?"

"I lost my ride," Dakota explained simply, pointing to the last bus turning out of the bus loop. He didn't know why he was explaining it to Jeremiah, obviously the other didn't think that he was worth his time. He stood up and brushed off the dirt from his jeans. "I can just call my mom, sorry for blocking the door," he said as he looked at the sky, glad it was cloudy since if he had to walk in the heat, he didn't know how long he'd last. He moved his hair out of his face, wishing he had his beanie to wear so he didn't have to bother with the wind blowing it into his face.

Jeremiah knew he told himself to leave the guy alone, but he couldn't. Even after leaving the cafeteria, he spent the rest of the day lost in his thoughts, somehow always reverting to Dakota. How often is it that you constantly run into the same person, multiple times in a day, having never run into them before? Maybe it was a sign or something. Jeremiah let out a scoff and smiled, "It's pretty windy, where do you live?" He dug in his jacket pockets for his keys, jingling them as he found them.

Dakota smiled at the offer, glad that Jeremiah was being polite and kind. He did feel the sting of knowing it wouldn't last if there were other's around, but it helped him feel better. "On Suntree Avenue, about ten minutes from here, I mean if you don't mind driving me there," he said as he saw the keys. He was suppose to be on his way to getting his license, just hadn't gotten around to taking his drug and alcohol test like he was suppose to do over five months ago.