The next day, Dakota woke up to that god-awful alarm, and he was angry. Not throw-your-alarm-clock angry, but he felt as if all the emotions of sadness that he should have had for Lenore hit him overnight and he was feeling side-effects of it.

Usually, when he went through something rough, he got angry at it. He didn't know why he got angry or what he was mad about. His sad feelings just morphed into anger most of the time.

However, it relieved Dakota that his mind was showing some response to Lenore's leaving. So, it calmed his anger- but only a little bit.

When Avil knocked on his door and told him it was time for breakfast, he almost felt sorry for his family, who were about to get attacked by his uncontrollable grumpiness. He sighed, his eyebrows furrowed, violently throwing some clothes on before going downstairs.

He sat at the table, his head in his arms- signifying that he didn't want to be talked to or touched.

Nick, for once, didn't get the message.

"Are you alright, Kota?" he asked, "I saw Lenore leave last night. She looked like she had been crying. Was the sex that good or did something happen?"

Dakota was aware that Nick knew something was wrong; his mom just made a joke to lighten the mood. However, the joke made him feel worse.

"I don't want to talk about it," he grumbled, not lifting his face from his arms. He just wanted to go to sleep and not have any interaction with people.

"Ah," deduced Nick, "Something happened then."

He heard a clutter from pots and pans.

"Just let me know if you need me," Nick replied softly. Dakota heard the knock against the table in front of him- his plate was ready. He didn't feel hungry. 

From the smell of it, it smelled like waffles- his favorite. He and Avil had many heated discussions about the difference between waffles and pancakes, and which one was better. Specifically, they had their repetitive but endearing argument on days they had waffles or pancakes.

Dakota obviously wasn't in the mood to debate, and neither was Avil from the sound of his silence. Nick served the rest of the food to the other kids, and was quiet for a bit before he asked, "You two are concerning me. Are you okay Avil? I know Dakota is in the dumps because he's not eating his waffles." 

Dakota still didn't look up. Avil scoffed.

"You're not eating yours either," he replied. Dakota then lifted his head up in curiosity. Nick didn't even have a plate in front of him. "Have you been eating at all, Papa?"

Nick looked like he was a deer caught in the headlights. He froze stiffly, then looked in between the two.

"Of course I've been eating," Nick said defensively, "I'm fine. Just busy. What about you?"

Avil rolled his eyes, poking at his food, and shot back in a mocking tone, "Just busy, Papa."

Most parents would scold their children for their attitude- but Nick wasn't most parents. He dealt with foster kids even before he started adopting, which gifted him a bunch of patience. One previous day, Nick even hinted to Avil and Dakota that he once had an attitude with anyone who would look at him funny; he even said he punched Xavier upon meeting him.

Dakota didn't blame past-Nick and wished present-Nick would punch Xavier in the face too. Nick definitely had the muscle to do it- but he didn't have the heart.

"Both of you just be careful," he replied. Dakota was once anything but. "And tell me about it when you want to, okay? I can help."

The great thing about Nick is that he never pushed.

"Okay," Avil replied, looking glum. Dakota wondered what was wrong with him too. Maybe it was the teasing at school, he wondered. But Avil always acted as if the teasing never bothered him, and Dakota always wondered how someone could tease Avil for his works of art.

Today, Avil had on a make-up look that he probably woke up at four in the mourning to finish in time. It was a beautiful rainbow sky on his eye lids- with white little clouds- topped off with what looked like pink glitter.

It was simple compared to some of the makeup videos he saw Avil watch, but it was extremely dramatic for a casual look. Avil topped his look off with rich, thick eyelashes and some- what was it called? Highlighter? Or was that just a drawing utensil?

Dakota had learned a lot about the art of makeup from his brother, but he was no expert.

Dakota noticed that he had a rainbow-striped crop top with some white skinny jeans, which matched perfectly, and he wondered if he should ask Avil for fashion advice. But then he realized he didn't care about fashion.

He was still too angry to care about anything.

~{()}~

He met Soap and Ethan the next morning, not even caring to throw down his stuff and interrupt their peaceful morning routine. His abrupt presence caused Ethan- who was lost in the zone of hairstyling- to jump in surprise, and Soap to raise an eyebrow.

He flopped down into his chair, utterly exhausted from even thinking about seeing Lenore that day. He glared at his desk, until Soap cocked their head to the side to see his glare under the fringe of his hair.

"Okay..." they trailed, "I haven't seen this Dakota since our friendship formed. What's...going on?"

"Don't want to talk about it," Dakota grumbled. Soap and Ethan looked at each other, as if trying to decide what the next step to take was. Dakota thought it was rude to have a silent conversation about him in front of him- but then he realized he and Nick did the same thing to Lenore the night before. 

"Hey, Dakota?" said a voice that shocked him right out of his thoughts. He whipped around to see Lenore with a couple of folded black hoodies. 

"Here, um-" she cleared her throat. It was just as awkward as Dakota expected. "I stole these from you when we- yeah." She handed him the hoodies and looked at Soap and Ethan worriedly, as if they were going to attack her within any second. "Um, I also want to apologize, but it seems a lot of other people have found out, and I don't know how. I just wanted you to know that it wasn't me. I don't think, at least."

Dakota nodded stiffly. He just wanted her to go away.

"Find out about what?" Soap asked. Dakota and Lenore looked at them then looked back at each other.

"I'm going to sit over there for now," Lenore gestured vaguely toward the other half of the room before walking away. Dakota looked back at Soap and Ethan to see two confused looks.

"What was that? What does she know about that we don't?" Soap narrowed their eyes suspiciously, "And why is she sitting over there? It's not like I'm complaining or anything but-"

"Soap," Ethan warned, "I think you should let him tell us on his own."

Dakota sighed in defeat. Ethan and Nick were both very kind souls- and they were so understanding. They both deserved to know what was going on. So did Soap.

"Lenore broke up with me," Dakota grumbled, practically inaudible. It must have been inaudible to Soap and Ethan because Soap leaned in and asked him to repeat. So, he did, a minuscule amplification louder.

"I'm sorry," Soap said with mock ignorance, "Did you just say Lenore broke up with you? As in- Lenore broke my friend's achy-breaky heart?" Soap stood up, and both Ethan and Dakota pulled them back down. "Let me at her. I'll make her wish she was never born!" Soap snapped.

"Stay!" Dakota growled like a dog at Soap, who tried to fight the resistance of their hands. Soap stopped immediately at the command. "I'm not mad or upset that she's left me. I think-" Dakota breathed deeply. He didn't want to cry in front of everyone else- "I'm just upset that I'm not upset about it."

While Ethan gave a look of sympathy, Soap still looked extremely confused.

"So? You're not completely in love with her enough to be sad at her leaving. So what? I wouldn't be completely in love with her either," Soap huffed. Ethan nudged them as a universal symbol to shut up.

"You prefer guys," Dakota pointed out, deadpan. 

"Even if I was the most vagina-loving person on this planet," Soap rephrased, "I still wouldn't understand how you could love her." They shuddered, presumably at the thought of being a "vagina-lover," and Ethan glared at Soap as if them ignoring his shut-up nudge was a capital offense.

"I think you're just jealous of Lenore," Dakota attempted at a joke, but it came out laced with anger. Snapping at Soap just made them angry.

"If you ever suggest such a thing again, I will end you-"

"Soap," Ethan interrupted, "Dakota. I think you both need to calm down. Soap, you know what it's like when Dakota is cagey. He's trying to push you away-"

"Wha-" Dakota tried to interrupt angrily, before Ethan gave him a talk-to-the-hand gesture.

"And Dakota, I know you are fully aware that Soap does not like Lenore, and if they were jealous, they would probably tell us," Ethan pointed out. Dakota had to admit- it was true. Soap ranted about literally everything that made their day suck. If they were jealous, they would let the world know unabashedly.

Soap and Dakota glared at each other.

"Sorry," he grumbled, looking away from Soap, "Dickwad."

"Uncreative," she mumbled, "But sorry or whatever. Vagina-rag." she added. They smiled at their insults toward each other.

"I feel like I'm raising a bunch of children," Ethan mumbled. Soap smiled up at him, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. Dakota's eyebrows raised halfway up his forehead, and Ethan looked like he was about to explode- his cheeks would probably been blushing if not for the darkness of his skin, but his eyes and dropped jaw said it all.

Soap hardly hugged, let alone, kissed.

"You're really admirable, Ethan," they expressed, "Where did you learn to read people that well?"

"Uhm," Ethan said, still shocked, "My brother...he...he's a counselor."

"Oh," they said frowning, "That's kind of...boring." They shrugged her shoulders. Then the bell rang. "Still cool though."

Soap left the table, leaving just leaving Ethan and Dakota behind.

"I think...they like you," Dakota replied, uncertain himself. Dakota was decent at reading people, but some people were too hard to understand. Soap was one of them- however, Soap was also really bad at internalizing their problems.

Ethan looked at him with stars in his eyes- as if he had just achieved his life's dream.

~{()}~

Dakota was the first one at the lunch table- something that almost never happened. He was usually the last to show up. Ethan arrived around the same time he did, so they talked about things like Soap. Dakota revealed that he knew about Ethan's crush. Ethan replied that it wasn't surprising and that he wasn't trying to hide it.

Soon, Soap found their way to the table, same as ever. From then on, the crush-talk ceased, and they began to joke like normal friends. Dakota felt happier- not fully out of his angry phase, but he did feel lighter.

That was, until Devin walked up to him.

"Dakota!" the bully cackled, "I heard you finally got rid of your girl! I'm glad! She was really bringing you down." Devin sat in the empty seat next to Dakota- and Dakota was very close to pushing him out of it. "I know the perfect way to lift you up! We should go out together. Maybe we can find a girl who will take two at once." He smirked.

"Is that all you think about?" Dakota asked in return, "Booze and sex?"

"What else do I have?" Devin shrugged, "We don't always have things to entertain us in the evening. Anyway, can I finally have the details?"

"What?" Dakota snapped, unamused.

"Is she good?" Devin asked, looking at him seriously, "Is Lenore good? Like, would you advise toward being her boyfriend? Is her sex worth the commitment?" 

Dakota wanted to throw up.

"I'm not giving you any of the details," he grumbled glaring at him, as he always did, "Can you leave now?" It was rude; but despite being worse at fighting than Devin, Dakota was angry and he didn't care how rude he was in that moment.

"What? You don't have any details for me?" Devin snapped back, his eyes getting dangerous, "I guess I'll have to get them myself then." He rose from their table, and walked over to Lenore's.

"Uh, what is he doing?" Ethan asked. Soap shrugged. Dakota sat, ready to fight if something bad happened. Devin sat down and chuckled and laughed with Lenore, who was sort-of glaring, sort-of not-caring.

Then Devin left.

Nothing happened.

"He's weird," Soap commented, glaring at Devin, "And a disgusting human being. He's the reason I want to graduate."

"Same," said Ethan.

"Same," mumbled Dakota, afraid he just dropped a nuclear bomb.