Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
"Five."
                          
"Four." 
                          
"Three"
                          
"Two"
                          
"One" Everybody chanted down to the last second of school. The bell let out a long ring and all of us cheered as we flooded into the hallway and out the door. "Were out! Summer has OFFICIALLY started!" I yell and jump on the back of one of my bestfriends back. 
                          
"Are you goin to the end of school party at Jackson's later?" Colton asks me. I instantly feel butterfly's. I've liked Jackson Smith ever since he asked me for a pencil in 7th grade and I just finished 11th.. 
                          
"Yes. How bout you?" He nodded and walked to his truck. I slid down and ran over to the passengers side to get in. A second later my twin brothers Mason and Bentley jumped into the bed of the truck along with my other friends Jeremy and Hunter. Then my ONE girl friend, Samantha, slid in next to me in between Colton and I. This is kind of our little group. The boys are popular since they're on the football team and Jeremy is the quarterback but people don't usually pay attention to us since were not head cheerleaders or anything which we're completely fine with.
                          
"Hello darlin'. Wanna get ready at your place for the party?" I nodded and Colton pulled off. Sam turned up the music and on came Taylor Swift singing 'should've said no' came on and Sam and I start singing along to the song. Colton was the only one who could hear us since the others were in the back so he groaned and let out a huff making us both laugh. We pulled into my driveway and my brothers jumped out like wild animals before the truck even stopped. I laughed at them and Sam and I raced them to the back door. 
                          
"I win!" I yell as my hand touches the door handle. 
                          
"Dakota... How do you... always.... beat them?" Sam huffed as she stood with her hands on her knees trying to breathe. I laugh and walk through to the smell of beef stew.
                          
"Hey mama. Smells amazin." I give her a big hug and then hug my dad who's looking out to the field. Sam and I run upstairs to my bedroom and set our bags down and she immediately starts going through my clothes. "Wear this." She throws me a pair of jean shorts and a black and white plaid shirt. I change quickly and she does my makeup. A light layer of eyeliner, mascara, and sparkly gray eyeshadow. She then goes back to my closet and picks herself out something to wear. 
                          
"Straight or wavy?" I gesture towards my hair.
                          
"Just leave it your natural wavy. It's pretty." I walk into the bathroom and brush through my long blonde hair. I grab my brown boots and my black cowgirl hat. I look at the time and it is already 6 o'clock. We walk downstairs to where everyone is already eating. Sam and I sit down and grab ourselves a bowl of the stew. "Tastes great." I tell my ma and multiple voices agree with 'mhmm' and 'delicious!" as they stuff their faces. Once were done I stand up and put my bowl into the dishwasher. 
                          
"Dakota where the h.ell are your pants?" My dad looked at the shorts I had on that weren't as long as regular shorts but they're cute! He was always gettin at me for my short shorts and tight shirts. He says it attracts boys and I'm not aloud to have 'one of those' until I'm 50. That's what he thinks.
                          
"Daddy don't worry. I ain't a hoe. You can trust me alright?" I laugh.
                          
"I know darlin'. I can trust you, it's those inappropriate teenage boys I don't trust." I laugh and run out the door to Colton's truck and we drive out. 
                          
"Ready to go to Jackson's house?" Jeremy says nudging me. 
                          
"Shut up." My cheeks redden and I force myself to look away as my cheeks burn from embarrassment. They all know about my little crush on Jackson. They all tease me about it except two of them. Jackson's one of their close friends but I'm out of the house every time he comes over and he doesn't even notice me. I purposely try and stay out of his eye sight though because I would be too shy to talk to him.
                          
"Yeah Jeremy. Shut up." Mason says sternly. Him and Bentley aren't the happiest about my crush on the popular guy at school. I keep my face from them since I still feel the red on my cheeks. By the time we get there my face is completely back to it's tan color. All of us at once either slide out of the truck or jump out of the bed and walk up to the front door where you can hear music blasting through the house. Once we're in I spot Jackson with his girlfriend Amanda Lane on his lap. She's sliding through her phone as he talks to some of his friends sitting next to him. I roll my eyes and walk straight to the kitchen. I grab a bottle of bud light and hit the cap off on the counter.
                          
"Dakota no."
                          
"Come on. Lighten up Bentley. It's a party." I begin drinking and he takes one himself and I cheer for him. He's always so tense until he has some beer in him then he's the funniest guy around. "Thata boy" I laugh. Sam grabs herself a bottle along with the rest of the guys. 
                          
Three bottles later and I'm in the living room dancing with Colton. I'm not drunk but I feel the alcohol in my body. I yell as my favorite song comes on. "Tonight is bottoms up. Throw it on down. Rock this quiet, little country town. Get up!" I hold up my drink as I sing along to the Brantley Gilbert song playing throughout the house. I laugh and then Hunter grabs Jer and I's arm and drags us upstairs and into a room with maybe 10 people sitting in a circle, 4 being the people in my groups besides Jeremy and I. I sit down in the empty space between Colton and Mason. 
                          
"What'er we playin?" I ask them and then notice a certain someone sitting across from me. The Jackson Smith. Of course on the right of him is his puppy dog Amanda.
                          
"Truth or dare." Sam tells me. 
                          
"What is this, 8th grade? I laugh and the game begins. A few people say truth until one of the skanks that follows my brother around, Kourtney, starts. "Alright Dakota. Truth or Dare?" She looks at me once she's done with her dare. 
                          
"Dare." I say confidently. 
                          
"Kiss Jackson." All of a sudden all of my confidence is gone and my eyes are wide but I try to act normal so he doesn't see my reaction.
                          
"No" Three people say in unison. Bentley, Mason, and of course, Amanda. 
                          
"Oh why not?" Kourtney called out. "You scared Jenkins?"
                          
"Nope" I announced. Jackson's face looked surprised as 
                          
I got on my knees and moved my way over to where he was. He met me half way and slowly placed his lips onto mine. Fireworks instantly went off. I felt like I was getting jolted with electricity. I never had this feeling with another guy. He deepened the kiss and we were suddenly pulled apart. Mason had his hand on my shoulders pulling me back and Amanda's face was burning red from anger with her hands around Jackson's arms pulling him back to him. I jumped to my feet and walked out of the room. I started running and didn't stop until I was at the end of the driveway. I walked towards my house. I.....I just kissed Jackson Smith. My phone rang and I looked at the screen to see a picture of Mason. 
                          
"Hello."
                          
"Where the h.ell did you go Dakota. I just searched the whole house."
                          
"I'm walking home. I'm fine don't worry about me. I'll see you at home." With that I hung up. I placed my fingers over my lips where his had just been a few minutes ago. I smiled and replayed it over and over and thought of the way his lips moved on mine. I wonder what he's thinking. I'm sure he felt what I felt because it was so strong for me. I thought about it until I was walking through the door of my room. I slipped on some dark purple fleece shorts and a black tanktop. I plopped onto my bed and slid underneath the thin covers. A small smile stayed put as I fell asleep for the night.