Chapter 11
Chapter eleven
Cooper
Thirteen Years Old
“Who you looking for?” Parker, my cousin asks as I crane my neck to peer around the cotton candy machine.
“Dakota.” She’s supposed to be meeting us here.
“That dark haired girl?” Parker grins. “She’s pretty.”
“Would you shut up?” I shove at his shoulder.
Dakota is pretty. Prettiest girl I ever saw, and it irritates me that he thinks so too. She moved here three years ago. I was shocked to see her at school that fall after I bought her those chips at the gas station, but we became fast friends. She loved horses and made me laugh.
“You like her.” He studies my face before he shrugs. “It’s cool, man.”
I ignore him and start toward the hot dog stand where my sister Ivy, and my dad stand. The carnival comes to Mayson Ridge every fall for the harvest festival, and this is the first time Dakota has been able to come.
I’m just about to give up hope when I see her. Her long dark hair hangs over one shoulder as she walks cooly through the crowd.
“Kota!” I call, waving a hand.
Her smile widens, and her blue eyes brighten. She struts to us, and I don’t miss how muddy her shoes are. I didn’t see any mud on the way in here. Most of it dried out from the rain two nights ago.
“Sorry I’m late.” She stops in front of us. “What are we riding first?”
“Dakota. Good to see you.” My father steps over and gives her a hug.
“Hey, Mr. Mayson.” She hugs him briefly before sliding back beside me.
“I told you to call me Emmett.” He nudges her lightly. “You make me sound old.”
That warrants a chuckle from me and Parker, because I hate to break it to him, but he’s already old.
My gaze catches on the ride directly across from us.
“Ferris wheel?”
“Sounds good to me.” She shrugs.
It’s been two hours, and we've ridden every single ride. I even won her a stuffed bear that was almost as big as her.
“This was great, Coop.” She grins up at the stars dotting the dark sky. “I want to come every year.”
A scoff comes from beside me, and I turn to see Rhodes McDowell, and a few other guys from school approaching.
“I didn’t think a Mayson would be slumming it.” Rhodes slips a flask from his back pocket.
The fact he’s fifteen and openly drinking at a county function shows just how stupid he really is.
“Excuse me?” I roll my shoulders back.
He lifts his chin in Dakota’s direction. “Sterling, right?” He eyes Dakota. “On the wrong side of town ain’t ya?”
I take a step forward, just as Parker places a palm on my chest.
“Fuck off, Rhodes.” Parker shakes his head. “Leave her alone.”
Rhodes gives Parker a light shove. “What are you going to do about it? Huh?”
Dakota’s voice sails through the tension. “He ain’t worth it, Parker.”
Rhodes’ gaze whips to Dakota, as her eyes remain hard and narrowed on him.
“Why don’t you crawl back into the gutter you came from trailer trash,” he sneers.
That was it.
My lungs burn, my pulse thrashes, and without a single ounce of hesitancy, I ball up my fist, and clock him right on the chin.
Rhodes falls to his back, wailing as my dad and a few other people come rushing over.
“What’s going on here?” Dad barks.
“Nothing.” He scrambles back, obviously not wanting to let on that he’s been drinking. “We were just leaving.”
My hand throbs as I shake it out, my rage still burning hot in my veins. But when a small, soft hand slides into mine, all that rage evaporates.
Dakota squeezes twice and my breathing slows.
“It’s time to head out.” My dad faces me. “Dakota, you got a ride?”
“Oh… yeah.” She releases my hand and wraps her arms around the bear. “Y’all go ahead.”
I reluctantly leave, my chest filled with an unfamiliar feeling. When we climb in the truck, my dad doesn’t say much since Ivy and Parker are in the backseat. When he slows down just a few minutes down the road, I see a figure walking alone. Holding a stuffed bear.
My father rolls down his window.
“Dakota.” His voice isn’t angry, but it’s strained. “Hop in.”
She hesitates long enough to realize that he isn’t leaving before she climbs in beside Ivy.
“Cute bear.” Ivy smiles.
“Thanks. Muscles up there won it for me.”
Her tone is light. Like her walking home in the dark is completely normal.
“What’s your address, Dakota?”
When I peer over my shoulder, her face pales before she snaps out of it. “You can just drop me at the corner of First and Holloway.”
My father nods, but he doesn’t speak. When we get to the intersection, he doesn’t stop, he turns right, heading into the Mayson Ridge Mobile Home Park.
“Which house?” He asks.
Dakota lets out a sigh before she mutters. “Fifth one on the right.”
When we pull into the drive, my stomach clenches. I knew she lived in a trailer. But this….
“Thanks. See you at school, Coop.” She jumps out, running up the broken steps before quietly slipping inside the dingy trailer door.
It finally hit me.
She walked all the way to that carnival. That’s why her shoes were muddy.