(A/N: I have a friend with the same name as Ethan, except it's spelled Eathan- so look out for that mistake lol.)

The next day, Dakota arrived at homeroom to the same sight: Soap getting her morning hair-do from Ethan. Ethan was staring almost lovingly at her as she ranted about something-or-the-other; he very patiently listened. 

Dakota almost hated to show up because, not only did he feel like a third wheel, but he also wanted to give Ethan some time with Soap alone. He was rooting for the guy to get his crush. 

He eventually sat down and was greeted by his friends. He was used as Soap's therapist, talking about her mom and how she is unsure of identifying as non-binary when it came to her.

"I looked it up last night, and I just loved it. It felt like me, you know?" she said, "I don't want to be a gender. Not anymore. I want my pronouns to be they/them! And I just feel like my mom is going to kick me out for it." She popped her gum.

Ethan kissed her head after he was done with his braid, which caused Soap to flinch and give him an odd look- she wasn't a touchy-feely person.

"You can come live with me then," he replied, "My mom and dad would love to have you around And they'll accept you too. They took my pansexuality like a piece of cake- and my first boyfriend too. They loved him. Sure, identifying by a different gender or no gender might be different than sexuality- but I think they could handle it."

"Aw, thanks, Ethe," she smiled, "You're a good friend, you know that?" Ethan smiled widely at the compliment, and Dakota raised his eyebrow. 

"What about me?" he asked, scoffing.

"Kota, let me break it to you," she sighed, shaking her head as if she were about to deliver a terrible diagnosis, "But you're boring."

"...what?" Dakota huffed, "I'm not boring."

"You are," she nodded, "You used to be a bad b**ch, but then Lenore came around. And now, you are boring as hell. You caught Lenore's disease."

"My what?" Lenore asked as she popped up, then she shook her head, "Nevermind. Babe? I have to go to Mr. Foust's room and ask him a question about the homework, okay?" She kissed Dakota on the cheek. "Have a good day!" She turned to leave, but before she moved, Dakota called her back.

"Hey! My mom wants you to come over for dinner tonight..." he started, "Do you want to come over?"

She smiled.

"Yeah, sure. I have something I need to tell you anyway," she waved a small goodbye and left the homeroom.

"Ugh, see what I mean? Boring," Soap replied, "You two sounded like a couple plucked out of every teen romance in existence."

"More importantly," Ethan pointed out, "Why does she get invited to your house before we do? Last time I checked, we were in your life longer."

"Exactly," Soap supported, "Do tell." They looked at him expectantly. Dakota rolled his eyes.

"You two have too much chaotic energy for my already-chaotic house," he explained. Soap shrugged.

"Fair point, I guess," she- no- they replied, "But I still want an invitation soon. Got it?"

"Understood," Dakota nodded dutifully. 

Then, the bell rang for the first period of the day. 

~{()}~

He had met up with his friends and girlfriend again for lunch, where they sat at the same table they usually do. 

Lenore had always sat with Dakota's friends- to Soap's displeasure- because he refused to sit with her friends; the first and only time he did, he felt severely out of place, and- in fact- Lenore also said she felt out of place sitting at her table that day.

So, the collective agreement was to sit together: Ethan, Lenore, Soap, and Dakota. Which they already did most of the time in homeroom, except this time they were surrounded by one-half of the entire school.

Which included Devin Carver, the stereotypical high school bully. 

Devin teased Soap for their "manliness" compared to women, and he often called her a drowned rat. Ethan was teased a little- but mostly for his feminine make-up, which Dakota was astounded by seeing as how Ethan wore so little of it. However, it didn't bother Ethan as much as it did Soap.

Now, Dakota wasn't bullied by Devin, but his family name was. The Moore family had a resident name in the school of "fag family," coined by no other than Devin himself. When word spread that Dakota's parents were two gay guys and Dakota's brother was gay, everyone watched him closely for any gay activities- as if he would magically turn gay due to association.

Dakota didn't have the heart to tell them he was attracted to men before he was adopted.

Anyway, ever since he started dating Lenore, everyone lost interest. Except for Devin himself, who- because Dakota had a rich family and was 'straight'- often visited his lunch table to invite him to bang girls and party.

Dakota repetitively declined. First of all, he was a virgin, even with Lenore. Second of all, he would rather fall in love and then, afterward, have sex. Third of all, he didn't like Devin one bit and would rather burn in the pits of Hades than willingly hang out with him. Also, what about Lenore? Wouldn't that be cheating? 

That's just the reasons he could think of on the top of his head.

"Dakota!" Devin called from his table of rich kids and jock boys. He waved over, but Dakota purposefully pretended he didn't hear or see. Another thing Dakota hated about Devin- he was fake. He sat like a king at the popular table, but he wasn't rich and he wasn't a jock. Sure, he was muscled enough to beat anyone for saying otherwise, but he often surrounded himself with popularity to make himself seem popular.

He was faux-popular.

Dakota's plan to ignore him failed as he noticed Devin approaching their table yet again. Soap mumbled something about a donkey's anus approaching before Devin arrived at their table.

"Dakota!" he greeted, slapping Dakota on the back as if they were buddies. Devin had his best friend, Tanner- who was actually a pretty tasteful human being. Sure, he was friends with a bully, but he often pointed out how stupid and immature Devin was- straight to the bully's face. 

"Are you bringing your girl to the school dance?" Devin asked, "I heard Kyle was going to bring liquor in water bottles for all of us to share. By the way, we're all planning to bring a virgin with us, but since you got a girl, you can bring her, yeah?" Lenore huffed.

"'His girl' can speak for herself," Lenore snapped, "And please get your manwhore self away from Dakota before the horniness spreads."

Devin narrowed his eyes at Lenore, then looked back at Dakota.

"You should teach your b**ch to stop barking," he said not so nicely. Dakota definitely could not win a fight against Devin, so he decided not to punch him- but oh, how he wanted to. Soap, instead, stood up. They were surprisingly strong for their stature and intimidated a lot of men and women with their attitude. 

The non-binary person rolled up their sleeves, revealing hair around muscly forearms. 

Soap and Devin had a tense stare-down before Tanner read the situation and flicked Devin on the cheek.

"Come on, Dev," he reminded, "She's not worth it."

Devin nodded and backed off, turning around and walking back to his table.

"I was this close!" Soap held up two pinched finchers, "This close! To beating his butt to the next dimension."

"Next time," Ethan said, patting their seat so they would sit down. He smiled proudly at them.

"Next time," Soap nodded, a murderous glint in their eye.

"I'll help," Dakota replied, wrapping his arm around Lenore. Their relationship was a little rocky, but no one deserved to be talked to like that. He just wanted to comfort her- but she read it the wrong way, and shrugged his arm off.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'll join as well. You guys hold him down, and I'll punch." The three shared evil smiles.

Ethan looked in between his friends worriedly.

"Okay, but be careful," he reminded, "I'll cheer you on from sidelines, but the minute things get bad, I'm getting a teacher alright?"

"Ugh, Ethan," Soap groaned, "How boring of you." Ethan blushed.

"Someone's got to be the responsible one," he muttered.

"I guess," Soap rolled their eyes, "But! We could tie your hair into a noose-"

"No!" Ethan's eyes widened, and he shook his head, "I'm not letting you commit murder! Any of you!"

"Boring," Soap challenged, looking him straight in his eyes.

"Well, if you go to jail, I'll never see any of you again," he reasoned, "And you guys are my only friends."

Soap's expression softed. They smiled.

"Aw! Ethan! You are so sweet!" they patted him on the shoulder, which was like a hug to Soap, "You're too good for us."

Ethan smiled at the compliment.

Dakota and Lenore looked at each other, feeling less like a couple than the non-couple.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" Dakota asked Lenore, referring to what she said earlier in the morning. However, she shook her head in response.

"I think it's best we talk about it at your house...alone," she added.

Dakota immediately had this sense of existential dread wash over him. What was she going to talk to him about that needed an isolated discussion? 

This questions sent him spireling into further thoughts.

What if she wanted to have sex with him...again? After the last time she tried, he still wasn't ready. If she tried again, he would stop her again. Would she get mad? Was six months of a sex-free relationship something to be reasonably mad about?

What if she didn't get mad? What if she cried and got insecure instead? Would that be better or worse than anger?

Did he even want to have sex with a girl?

His heart pounded with fear. Of course he wanted to have sex with her, one day. Right?

He had to.

He couldn't have sex with a guy after-

No, he wanted to have sex with Lenore. And he was going to- if she wanted.

Maybe.

~{()}~

"Alright seniors! Mr. McMurray has come here today to discuss colleges and careers with you. Here in our school, we value ourselves on our scholarship opportunities and preparation for our future workforce!" the principal of the school, Dorthea Thomas, their school principle screeched over the microphone in the gymnasium. She was too smiley compared to her audience. "I want all of you to be quiet and responsible young adults while Mr. McMurray is speaking. He has come here for your benefit, and you will treat him with respect."

As the audience of teens watched Mr. McMurray take the microphone and introduce himself, Dakota wondered to himself if he would ever find a job that was meant for him one day. Was this guy really going to help him figure it out?

By the end of the assembly, Dakota realized he still didn't have a clue on what he wanted to become. He thought about talking about it with his mom; it was getting too close to college for him to still not know what he was going to be.

It was stressing him out, and frankly, the constant reminders from the school were not helping. He felt like he was all alone in that area- helpless.

Soap already knew what they were going to do in life. They were going to go into dance. They were going to be a back-up dancer, choreographer, musical star, or whatever else. Ethan was going to do hair in a salon, or own a salon one day. Avil might be the next James Charles.

What was Dakota to do?

What was his passion?

The whole idea added more stress to his pile.