I don’t remember waking up, but I never wanted to go through that again. And with Dawn, I hope I never have to.
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**Chapter Break**
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“Remember when we first met?” Dawn asks randomly, crawling into my arms around five later that night. Her skin was so soft, she smelled amazing, and her lips looked so kissable.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling at her, cuddling against her. “I remember it so clearly. I was out with my mom and when we passed the corner of the street, I saw you curled up on the sidewalk…”
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**Chapter Break**
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“Hey, mom?” I called back towards my mom, looking at the girl. She was bruised and beaten. “Mom!” I called again when she couldn’t hear me.
“What is it, honey?” She calls back, paying for our street tacos, rushing over to me.
“I-I found her laying here,” I say, nodding towards the girl, who was cornering herself into the steps of the apartments. “Mom, who could do this to a kid? To anyone?” I ask, distressed, looking up at her.
She hugs me, looking at the girl. “I don’t know, honey.” She kneels down towards the girl. She goes to speak, but the girl beat her to it.
“Who are you?” The girl asks with a raspy voice.
My mother smiles gently. “I’m Sasha Raye and this is my daughter, Dakota.”
She nods, moving slightly, revealing more cuts and bruises on her side. “W-what happened to you?” I get the courage to ask.
“Dakota, don’t ask that!” Sasha protests.
The girl waves her hand dismissively. “I-it’s okay… I-I don’t really want to talk about it right now…” she says, looking around.
My mom nods, asking the girl if she can pick her up. The girl nods and we take her to our car. “My mom’s a doctor, you’ll be in good hands,” I say, smiling.
She feebly smiles back at me, slightly closing my eyes. She curls up to me, nearly falling asleep. I comfortingly hold her, gently, as my mom starts the car and we head to my house. The girl was asleep in the next few minutes.
Sasha looks up at the rear view mirror, smiling. “She must’ve been exhausted, poor girl.”
“She looks so peaceful,” I say, looking down at her.
My mom smiles, nodding. The drive was quiet and I couldn’t stop smiling at the girl. She was really pretty and I felt bad for her. Whoever did this to her was seriously messed up.
We got to the house shortly after the girl fell asleep, and then my mom operated on her while the girl was asleep.
It was an hour later before my mom was done and the girl was finally awake. She sat up, weakly and I helped steady her. “Don’t move too much,” I say, smiling, “you’re still injured. I don’t want you to mess up the surgery wiring.”
“I hate needles,” the girl complained, looking at the needle and syringe on the surgical tray next to the bed.
I smile, nodding. “They suck, but they help you heal.”
She smiles at me for the first time while being completely conscious. “I’m Dawn. Dawn Jasper.”
I realized I never asked her what her name was before and I blushed when she told me. “That’s a sweet name. Are you named after anyone? I’m named after my cousin.”
She shakes her head. “It was dawn when I was born,” she laughs a little. “And Jasper because of my mom’s maiden name.”
“Oh,” I say, smiling. “Wait- your mom? She must be worried about you.”
She looks down, her smile fading. “No, she’s not really. She was arrested when I was six. I’ve been living with my…dad.”
The way she said ‘dad’ made me think it was hard for her. “I’m so sorry,” I say, my smile gone too. “Isn’t your dad worried?”
“No.” She doesn’t elaborate.
“Oh. Well, you can stay with us for a while if you’d like. My mom said it was fine.”
Her smile returns lightly. “Thanks,” she says, looking distressed.
“Yeah, of course,” I say, smiling at her.
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**Chapter Break**
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“And after that night, we became best friends. We were inseparable,” I say, smiling.
“Until my mom got out of jail, of course,” Dawn amends. “I didn’t mean to drift away from you. I really loved hanging out with you, but at the time, I wanted to spend time with her, since I missed 8 years without her. Since if you remember, she didn’t get released when I was 14.”
I nod, cuddling up against her a little closer. “Yeah, I understand that. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that, Dawn.”
“It was never- and never will be- your fault,” she says, kissing my forehead. I closed my eyes, letting her lips clear my thoughts.
“Thanks for being there,” she says finally, looking into my eyes.
“Yes, of course. Always,” I say, taking her hand and putting it on my cheek. She gently caresses my cheek, kissing me. “I love you,” I say, kissing her back.
“I love you, Dakota,” she says, pecking my lips against me. “Hey, do you want to come to the park with me tonight? I wanted to go on a walk, if you’re okay with that.”
“Yes!” I say, excitedly. “I’d love to!”
She giggles, climbing off of me. “Okay, sweet!” She says, running upstairs. “I’ll be outside in a few minutes, just need to grab something!”
I giggle, putting on my jacket and getting ready to leave. Looking in the mirror, I saw that I wasn’t wearing anything special for this walk. Did I have to? I wanted to, but I didn’t want to take too long. All I was wearing was a simple red shirt with blue skinny jeans. Dawn always jokes that I’m her “angel in blue jeans.”
And that’s when I hear a door open behind me, and someone walking down the stairs. Looking behind me, I see the most beautiful angel to set foot on earth.
Dawn, in a short white dress with small pockets, that’s like half a shirt attached to a skirt, stands there, smiling, looking as beautiful as ever. She smiles and my heart melts.
“W-wow,” I say, speechlessly. She slowly walks downstairs, still looking at me, smiling.
“Is it too much?” She asks, self-consciously grabbing her arm with her other hand.
I gently pull her hand away, holding it gingerly. “You’re beautiful, Dawn,” was all I said before I kissed her softly.
She gasps for air, smiling at me, when I pull away. “You really think so?” She asks, blushing.
“I know so,” I say, smiling up into her sparkling green eyes. I kiss her forehead, comfortingly and adoringly, taking her hand in mine.
“Do you know what today is?” She asks, blushing.
“Our six month anniversary?”
“Mhm,” She says, not adding anything else, which makes me kinda suspicious, but I don’t say anything.
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**Chapter Break**
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As we were walking, we noticed kids playing on the swings. It got me thinking, maybe that’ll be our kids one day. I blushed at the thought.
Flying high above us, a perfectly-white dove circles us as we make our way over to a wedding-like structure that the park build awhile ago.
“What’re we doing?” I ask, suddenly nervous, but never afraid. I felt really safe with Dawn, and nothing will ever change that.
“I’ll show you,” she says, smiling, “can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, of course,” I answer without hesitation. “Anything.”
I noticed she was carrying a small bouquet of flowers, which only caused me to be more curious.
“Well…prom’s coming up, so is Valentine’s and I was wondering if you’d like to go to prom with me?” As she was speaking, she moved the flowers in a way that shaped them into a heart, smiling at me.
I started tearing up, smiling brightly. “W-wow,” I say, looking at the beautiful flower-heart, utterly speechless. “Y-yes…yes, I’d love to!”
She sighs, smiling radiately. “Really?” She says, visibly shocked. I hugged her, smiling.
“Yes of course! That sounds like so much fun! I’d really like that!”
She hugs me back, snuggling into my neck. “Okay, great!” She pulls away after a few minutes, her breathe sent shivers down my spine. “Oh,” she says, realizing she was still holding the flowers. “These are for you!”
I take them gently, putting my nose in them, taking in the scent. “They’re beautiful,” I say, crying a little, “thank you so much! Cupid definitely shot me tonight.” I say, smirking.
“Mhm!” She says as I kiss her, cupping her face in my palms. The kiss, once again, took my breath away.
She gasps a little, smiling and blushing. “You’re the best kisser,” she says, taking my hand, looking at me.
“I think you are, but thank you,” I say, doubting my kissing ability a bit.
“Hey,” she says as we start walking. “What’re you thinking about?” She asks, noticing the change in my demeanor.
I shake my head, smiling. “Nothing,” I lie, clearing my throat so I don’t start crying. Truthfully, Katy had entered my mind. I promised to read her letters when she died, but I never did. What kind of friend am I?
“I can tell when you’re lying, Kota,” she warns, soothingly rubbing my back. “What’s up?”
“I-I’m a horrible friend…” I say, turning towards her and sobbing in her chest.
“What?” She asks, hugging me. “No, you’re not a bad friend, Dakota, why would you ever say that?”
“Because I hurt her, Dawn! I mentally and emotionally shattered her!”
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“What exactly happened that night?” She asks, pulling away, looking into my eyes. I could see that she didn’t entirely want the answer, but she needed to know.
And I was there to provide…
Go me.
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