As I saw Dakota heading into school, he looked rather angry for some reason. When I asked what was wrong, he refused to answer it. But, I won't push him to tell me. It's his own choice if he wants to. The only thing I can do is be his friend and that's fine by me really.

We had a meaningful conversation before homeroom had started though I can't help but overthink something. I wanted to just play around but he proved faster than I thought he was. He grabbed my tongue and held it there, making it impossible for me to bring my tongue back into my mouth.

But, it wasn't that thing that confuses me. It was the thing he said when he did it. He had a very strong accent when he said it. "he said. It felt so out of character for a guy like him

I've known him for two months so I know how he acts. He doesn't care about what's happening at school and he usually just does his own things during classes. I hate to really admit it but I once did have a crush on Dakota but that feeling already faded a long time ago.

The bell rang, signalling the end of homeroom and the start of our classes. I bid Dakota farewell before heading off to my first class which was Art. It was my safe haven because that hyena doesn't know anything about drawing at all.

Although the art teacher is nice, she only accepts serious students. The ones that want to make a living with art. I mean, I picked this class because I liked drawing but that is just some scary expectations coming from a teacher. Then again, everyone has their own expectations.

For me, I'm still thinking of what I want to be. Being an artist doesn't really sound like a great career path for me. The income isn't that great and the critics would probably tear a hole into me. I think out of everyone, artists and art critics have the most strangest idea of art.

Like, coloured lines splashed onto the canvas? And it sells for thousands of dollars? Are you actually kidding me? I guess, beauty does lie in the eyes of the beholder. For me, beauty in art doesn't mean drawing a line on a canvas and calling it art with some lame backstory on how it's created.

Anyway, I think I'll probably go for something like graphic design or something. I've used my computer a lot so I know a lot about graphic design. Well sadly, there's no graphic designs class I can take in the school so I'll just stick to self-teaching. Now back to the class.

"Today, class, the theme you all will be drawing will be Ancient Rome. It doesn't matter if you want to draw a building, accessory or even a famous historical figure. As long as it has the theme, you will get a high grade for your art", she says. Ancient Rome, huh?

It can be anything at long as it has Ancient Rome. I'm not going to draw the Colosseum because that's too complicated. Historical figures might be good but I don't remember how they look like. Accessories was the only thing left. What type of accessories can I even draw?

I mean, I could try drawing a laurel but that feels too simple. A sword and shield would feel too boring. Honestly, drawing any type of Roman fur would feel rather boring and unoriginal. That's when I realised something.

Didn't Rome have a lot of gay couples during the ancient times? I mean, in this day and age, furs prioritise male and female relationship. Never the same sex, let alone guys love. I mean, it's historically accurate plus it will be different than what the others are drawing.

So, I got to sketching up my two lucky subjects. I gave a rough sketch of one holding the other in an embrace. I decided to have a wall block off the legs since I don't have a lot of time to be drawing things in detail. I added some pillars and vases to add more depth to environment.

For the one embracing, I decided to give him the role of a soldier while the one being embraced was a regular citizen. No point in going too detailed. I wasn't making a backstory for these characters. Once I was done with my sketch, I started to draw the scene.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It was the end of school as usual. Damn, time goes by so fast when you don't pay attention to the time. I was at the front entrance waiting for Dakota. I wasn't exactly treated nicely when everyone walked out of the door. Getting rammed into and insults were the most of what I had gotten.

Nothing that bad. "What are you doing here, love?", a dreadful voice asked. I look to my left to find the damn hyena staring at me with his evil eyes. An evil grin plastered his face to mimic his intentions. I hate that face so much. He always has something up his sleeve when he has that face.

I don't answer him and continue to ignore him. "Oh, don't be like that. You know I was only joking back then. You can forgive me for my jokes, can't you?", he says. I'm not falling for his tricks again. I don't respond to him at all. The awkward silence filled the air as neither of us spoke a word.

"Fine. Ignore me. We'll see how long you'll last", he says. Then, he leaves. Well, that was surprisingly easy. I continue waiting for Dakota but it seemed he was nowhere at all. Was this how he felt when I was unconscious in the cafeteria. How the tables have turned.

An uneasy feeling crept up on me so I quickly went to find Dakota. He isn't usually late to anything, not even going home. I'm pretty sure he told me he had Algebra at the end of school so I made my way to the classroom. The halls felt longer than I was used to while running through it.

As I get nearer and nearer to the room, I can hear swearing and yelling from inside. Okay, what the hell is happening inside there?! "Where the fuck is the necklace?!", I hear Dakota yell out. A necklace? Now that I think of it, I didn't see him wearing the necklace today.