Finding Heaven

“You sure you’re okay here?” Chase asked as he pulled his car over Fortsworth’s main gate. “I’ll walk you to your dorm, if you’d like. I mean, um, it’s pretty late.”

“No thanks.” I shook my head and smiled. “You should go back to your place.”

Just as I was about to get out of his car, he said, “Dakota?”

I looked at him over my shoulder, “Yeah?”

“About Alex,” He began. “Does he… do that to you all the time? Embarrass you, I mean.”

“No.” I answered. “He does piss the hell out of me off all the time though.”

“If he…” He averted his eyes, obviously tensed, and played with his car keys. “If he does that to you again, just let me know.”

“Sure. I’ll leave the saving part to you then. Thanks.”

He gave me one final smile and for a second, I felt like there were things fluttering inside my stomach.

~

It was 2:42 am in the morning, and I couldn’t sleep. I thought about Chase for a while, his kind smile, his concerned green eyes, the way he said my name, and every little thing about him—but it was interrupted by annoying Alex’s stupid face.

She’s my servant, he says. Yeah right, as if.

Tomorrow, I’ll have to deal with the idiot and make everything clearer for him, since his mind was as foggy as my dad’s truck’s windshield.

I lay on my bed restlessly and turned my attention to my laptop. I still haven’t replied to Joshua yet. Come to think of it, I’ve been here for four months and I still haven’t done what I was supposed to do. I almost forgot what and why I was here for.

I jumped out of bed warily when I’d heard someone knocking.

I peeked through the door hole and saw a red-headed boy with familiar blue eyes, holding a white pillow. I opened it and Max hurriedly welcomed himself in without even asking my permission.

“Okay, Max, what’s this about?” I asked him as I shut the door. He jumped and allowed himself to freefall on my bed.

“Bro’s not yet back, but you’re already here—” He stated the obvious. Of course, he wasn’t. He was out partying. “—so I came to annoy you.” He grinned.

I raised an eyebrow and pretended to yawn, “I’m sleepy.”

“No, you’re not.” Max was jumping up and down now. “Let’s pillow fight!”

“Max, what are you, ten?” Apparently, I wasn’t in a lousy mood today so none of my comebacks seemed to be as good as it usually is.

“Nice try,” He stuck out his tongue, and then playfully threw his pillow onto my face. The little brat was good with aiming. “But I believe that anyone at any age needs a good pillow fight.”

I rolled my eyes and decided to play along. I grabbed hold of the pillow he threw at me, and—yes, I am not accurate with throwing things—hit the lampshade next to my bed.

I rolled sideways like some sort of badass super agent, and the door got hit mercilessly by two consecutive fluffy things. I picked one up and luckily hit Max’s right arm.

After a few minutes of hitting each other and laughing like idiots, we decided to stop. I sat on my desk seat, panting, when I noticed that Max was staring at me.

“What now?” I asked tiredly.

“You and bro got into a fight, didn’t you?” He asked. “You wouldn’t have gone back without him if you guys didn’t.”

“Are you fully aware that you have a demon for a brother?”

He smiled slightly, “Yeah. Mom used to ask me a similar question jokingly.”

Oh.

“She’ll ask me that every time Alex causes trouble with a smile on her face.” Max continued, “Then she’ll kiss our foreheads and tell us she loves us so much.”

“She’s a cool mom, huh.” I didn’t have much to say. Alex and Max’s mom was a critical topic to talk about.

Max nodded and buried his face on the pillow, “She would’ve… liked to meet you—I think.”

It took me a moment to process this. Was that a compliment or something?

I smiled to myself and asked, “Why do you think so?”

“Because you’re an idiot.” He scoffed shortly before he continued, “And...because you’re like her in different ways.”

“Like?”

He suddenly threw the pillow towards me and missed. I noticed that his face was a little reddish than it usually was. “Whatever! I’m going back to my room!”

I let him.

Somehow, I got the feeling that one day he would tell me.

~

I woke up to the sound the alarm clock ringing and panicked. It was already 1:00 in the afternoon—

Until I realized that today was a Sunday.

STUPID, STUPID ALARM CLOCK.

Now that I was awake, sleep didn't sound too appealing for me anymore. I headed straight to bath and rummaged through my closet after I’d finished. I took out a red hoodie and a long white winter skirt and slipped on a pair of maroon flat boots before I headed out of the room.

The dorm had a large canteen downstairs where I usually bought my food, in case I haven't told you yet. I went there and saw Max and— some unknown entity whose name was not even worth mentioning— eating.

I greeted Max good morning, but I ignored the guy next to him.

“Dakota, are you going to eat with us?” Max asked.

“No. I’ll grab a take-out.”

I could tell that he was staring at me, but I didn’t have to meet his eyes. I still haven’t forgiven him for what he did to me and I changed my mind about even talking to him.

“Hey,” Alex finally said.

I started to walk away from their table and turned my attention to the food stands. I had no idea what I wanted to eat.

“Dakota.”

“I’m busy.”

“Would it hurt you to just listen?” He snapped behind me.

"Yes, if it's coming from you. I’m extremely busy, you stubborn pig.”

“You don’t understand—“ He was trying to reason out, but I cut him off crudely.

“Understand what?” I demanded. “I understand perfectly what you were trying to do last night. You were trying to pull another one of your pranks on me, weren’t you? Congratulations to you, moron, it worked. I would've been a hopeless laughingstock of your little crowd if it weren’t for Chase—“

It was him who cut me off now, “That’s exactly who problem was—Chase!”

“Don’t blame him for saving me from you.”

He gritted his teeth. “Chase is my friend, so I know a lot more about him.”

“So?” I scoffed.

“Chase’s a player, you idiot.” Alex retorted. “He’s just playing with you just cause you’re a little pretty.”