Dakota was stirred awake, but this time, not by the sound of his obnoxious alarm. In fact, it was still quite dark and quiet when Dakota was woken up by the sound of his door opening. He blinked his eyes open and allowed himself to slowly adjust to the darkness of the night.

Dakota's eyes adjusted after a moment, and he soon realized that he wasn't about to be murdered by a serial killer or a shadow demon. It was Lucas making the noise, presumably coming home from the club he went out to.

The black-haired boy wondered why Lucas was coming home so late. Surely he wouldn't stay that long in a club?

Lucas quietly shuffled over to Dakota's drawers and rummaged through them. Dakota didn't mind- he had nothing to hide from Lucas. At least, not since Lucas figured out his deepest, darkest secret. 

Lucas went into the bathroom to dress himself- and came out in Dakota's pajamas. Dakota not only thought it was super cute, but he also was surprised. He thought Lucas was going to pop out of the bathroom in nothing but underwear- just like Dakota had seen throughout Lucas's stay. 

Dakota noticed Lucas opened the box of his mysterious belongings, dropping unknown items silently into the box. Dakota's eyes strained to see what they were, but he could only make out black silouettes. Lucas himself seemed to move very quietly, as if he thought Dakota was sleeping.

However, unlike the previous day, where he seemed graceful, Lucas seemed to have received a limp. He limped everywhere he walked- to the point where Dakota almost wondered if it was really Lucas he was seeing.

But it was. The figure was the same stature, the same shape, and it rested in Lucas's bed where it stayed. 

Was Lucas injured? Dakota wondered. He fretted at the idea. Was he hiding an injury?

Dakota, his eyes feeling heavy, his brain feeling numb, decided to rest his head again.

He would ask Lucas again when he woke.

~{()}~

When Dakota woke again, he was freaked the flip out. Literally, he almost flipped off the bed. Lucas, hair dripping from a fresh shower, dressed in Dakota's clothes, was so close to Dakota's face that it took Dakota a full three seconds to comprehend what he was looking at when he woke up.

And when he figured it out, he freaked.

"What are you doing?!" He asked, shooting out of bed to distance their faces. He then heard the distant cry of his alarm, but that wasn't important to Dakota in that moment. The only thing that was important was Lucas's owl-like eyes, puppy-dog head tilt, and Cheshire smile. 

"Your alarm went off," Lucas replied, then looked at Dakota more inquisitively, "I could see it."

"You could see what?" Dakota asked, blinking in confusion and sleepiness.

"Nothing. You know, I can teach you if you want to learn," Lucas said, dropping his eyes to the feet of Dakota- then raking his gaze up Dakota's body again. As if he was assessing Dakota- or checking him out.

"Learn what?!" Dakota huffed, still frazzled from the unexpected wake-up call.

"You know what, nevermind," Lucas shook his head, "You need to be let down lightly."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dakota furrowed his brows. He didn't know what Lucas was getting at- but Dakota wondered if it was Lucas's attempt at teasing him for being a virgin. Maybe it was teasing, and Dakota didn't know it- and that was the joke.

But Lucas didn't laugh. He just waved his hand dismissively; he watched as Dakota slowly gained sanity and walked over to his phone, switching off the annoying alarm. He watched Dakota as the black-haired boy picked out his clothes. He watched as he entered the bathroom.

Now Dakota felt bad for watching Lucas do the same things the night before- it was creepy and awkward knowing someone was silently watching your every move. But he also had those weird, unanswered questions to think about too. What did Lucas mean? Why wouldn't he elaborate?

It occurred to Dakota that Lucas was a little...strange.

Dakota didn't mind, seeing how everyone in his life is strange. Different than the normal. Unique. He was used to it.

However, Lucas seemed so perfect- so beautiful- that Dakota couldn't imagine him to be weird or unusual. Lucas was an untouchable angel. 

Dakota decided then- no, he wasn't an angel. He was a human just like everyone else. A human that probably would appreciate Dakota keeping his thoughts to himself. 

Lucas probably had flaws, fears, and demons like every other human being.

~{()}~

Lucas was still on his mind all of breakfast- even after Nick turned on the song, "Living on a Prayer," on the speakers and jammed out to it. Jason cried about breakfast being oatmeal and not bacon- so Nick quickly turned on, "Cryin'" by Aerosmith. 

Nick dancing in silly move combinations and pretending to sing into soapy-dish microphones seemed to cheer Jason right up. Especially, when Nick delved into his air-guitar and air-harmonica solo. Even Jordon giggled, and both two-year-olds joined in Nick's antics. When Bianca came down the hallway, she joined too- with Maria signing along to the lyrics by herself, her eyes closed, as if she was playing a silent instrument.

Dakota even noticed Avil slyly recording it all from his phone. 

But that still didn't take his mind off of Lucas, who was sitting next to Avil, laughing at his family's wildness. Dakota, despite the craziness going on throughout the room, couldn't take his eyes off of Lucas. Well, until Lucas looked at him and asked him, "What?" in response to his staring.

Dakota dismissed it as nothing, but really- he didn't know why Lucas caught his attention so much.

He was pretty, yes. He was cute because he smiled so much, but he was also intimidating due to how easy he could take your secrets. In fact, he had secrets himself. 

And that's all Dakota knew about his roommate. He should probably ask him more about his life- not extremely personal questions, but questions like, "What's your favorite color?"

He watched Lucas smile and interact with his family. Lucas's face was washed clean of his makeup- but that made him no less beautiful. He still had a slight limp from last night- which Dakota was still curious about. 

And that's when Dakota first wondered why he cared so much about Lucas.

~{()}~

Because of the concert at breakfast, they were all late for school. Nick kept on ranting and apologizing for being the cause of their late arrival- but no one really minded.

The only downside to being late was the fact that he missed a morning sitting with Soap and Ethan- which Dakota figured was fine. They needed some alone time together if they were going to become a couple. He still went to English- embarrassed to walk in late and have everyone look at him- and saw Ethan there. Ethan didn't look too happy, which caused Dakota to raise an eyebrow at him. Unfortunately, Ethan couldn't silent-talk like Nick could and just looked at Dakota with confusion. 

Dakota decided to stop trying.

Mr. Morgan was one of those teachers that assigned seats alphabetically and, because Dakota's last name wasn't near Ethan's they, unfortunately, were not close enough to ask each other questions out loud.

Ethan was always a good friend. He was always happy too. Dakota had only seen Ethan visibly upset once- and that was on Ethan's birthday when he and Soap both got drunk. Dakota, not wanting to be stupid-looking, decided to stay sober to take care of his friends. Ethan, however, was a very emotional drunk- it was that night when he spilled tears for his recent ex-boyfriend. And when he tried kissing Dakota after Soap was passed out.

Dakota freaked out that night, and when Ethan was sober, he apologized over and over and over. They never talked about it much afterward, but they had come to a conclusion that it was just because Ethan was lonely. Ethan's real feeling's belonged to Soap, Dakota knew. 

Dakota also knew Ethan was easily upset by relationships, but Ethan never showed it. The future-hairdresser was a positive person, so it was concerning to Dakota seeing him, sitting at his desk, frowning like his dog died.

He hoped nothing had happened between him and Soap while Dakota was absent.

~{()}~

Before Dakota could leave for second period, Mr. Morgan called him over to his desk. Mr. Morgan was a middle-aged man that was just hitting the grey-hair stage of his life. He had a scraggly beard and plain glasses, his bones popped when he rapped his fingers on the desk's top. 

He cleaned up his desk a bit while they waited for the rest of the students to pile out of the door, their footsteps echoing out in the hall. Mr. Morgan swept imaginary dirt out from under his pencil holder- which looked as if it was made from a student in a ceramics art class. He placed his school-issued laptop to the side after the click of a few keys. Soon, it was only them in the room, and the rap of Mr. Morgan's sounded like a war drum in the silence.

"Do you know why I called you to stay?" he asked. Dakota shook his head in response. Mr. Morgan sighed. "Because you still had, 'to be determined,' written on your project paper. Was this a purposeful thing?" Dakota, after hesitating for a few seconds, nodded again. "I thought you said the other students helped you decide?"

"They didn't," Dakota admitted quietly, and reluctantly, "Sorry."

"That's fine," Mr. Morgan, "Are you trying to make a decision between careers, or do you not have a specific one in mind?"

"I can't think of anything I want to be," Dakota also admitted, "Or anything I enjoy." Dakota wasn't used to the luxury of becoming anyone or anything he wanted. He was still used to surviving- not living.

"Well, this project is well involved in your final grade," Mr. Morgan replied, "And you can not complete it without a topic of career to work on. So, I propose this:" Mr. Morgan continued by handing him a typed paper from the printer. "Here are the different career clusters, with different general jobs- domestic and national. They have general jobs only, like 'doctor' or 'politician'. Your task from me is to look up the jobs that seem interesting- maybe go deeper into their specifics. For example, there are a lot of different types of doctors- one might appeal to you than the other. By the end of this month, we are going to find you a career." Dakota accepted the paper, and Mr. Morgan smiled kindly at him. "Don't forget, Mr. Moore. A lot of people struggle with this decision. You can always ask others for help or for details on different jobs that might not exist on this paper. While some people work with their hands in construction, some people like to sit at a desk job. There's a job for everyone out there, and a job everywhere to experience."

Dakota nodded in response and watched as Mr. Morgan wrote a note on a piece of paper and handed it to Dakota.

"That is a note to give to your second-period teacher. Let them know that I'm the reason you're late. By the way, from your essays and how to react to people, I think you are really observant," Mr. Morgan replied, "Maybe you should check out jobs that work well with that."

"Thanks," Dakota said. Dakota's tone sounded a little aggravated, but he really was thankful. He didn't know that there could be a teacher that cared for a student that much.

He decided Mr. Morgan was a nice person, no matter how annoying.

Teachers in general were annoying.

However, Mr. Morgan said he was observant.

Maybe that's why he thought about Lucas a little too much.