Hard To Get

Neighbor

-Jacob-

Damien Torei had lived next door since he and I were both in middle school. I doubted he ever noticed me, even though I found myself staring at him come and go every day. I was homeschooled until freshman year, when I enrolled in Northbridge High School. Northbridge was a private school, one that I was surprised to find Damien also attended. Sure, there were plenty of other people I could have occupied myself with. But for some reason I couldn't help but be drawn to Damien. There was just something about him. Maybe it was his ice blue eyes, or his jet black hair. Maybe it was the cool way he rode his motorcycle, or how he could never fully conform to the rules. Whatever the reason, I always had a crush on the boy next door. I just never expected him to actually notice me. That is, until one fateful day...

-Damien-

School was a drag. Life was a drag. Every day was the same. Get up, go turn my brain to mush with useless facts and information, hang out with my friend Andrew, and drink a little, maybe do some weed, then go home and sleep. Literally that was what I did every day.

My home life was fine. My parents were nice, but always working. I was the fourth child out of six. Maybe that's why I acted out. Maybe I wanted attention or to stand out amongst the sea of faces. I didn't know, and I honestly didn't care.

My days all blurred together, an endless parade of things to do. Especially after I got a job at the lumber yard. Then I added work into the mix. Of course, it wasn't until my senior year that anything changed. It was always the same.

"Hey Damien, you ready for Thanksgiving break?" Andrew asked in the hallway between classes.

I shrugged, "whoo hoo, another chance to work and smoke weed."

"Sounds great to me," Andrew beamed, laughing, "your family doing anything?"

"Probably, but I haven't asked them. Why? Your family going out of town again?" I arched an eyebrow, recalling how Andrew's parents usually went on some fancy vacation by themselves over the holidays.

Andrew nodded, "yeah, Mom and Dad are going on a cruise. They'll be gone until the New Year."

"You know that you're welcome at my place," I responded, understanding that Andrew might want some company. Not to mention the food. "Just don't hit on my little sister again."

Andrew laughed, nodding, "okay, deal."

I paused to tuck in my white button-up shirt. My next teacher would send me to detention again if I violated dress code one more time. Andrew got a good kick out of that, "scared to go back to detention?"

"No, I'm just sick of hearing Mrs. Morris's high-pitched voice." Mrs. Morris was the elderly woman who ran detention. She was famous for her wheezing, paper-thin speech.

I finished straightening my uniform, just for it to be ruined by none other than Mason Quill. Quill was your average high school idiot. Tall, muscular, no brain. Of course, that damn jock always had to ruin my day. Instead of just passing by like any normal human being would, he had to bump into me on purpose, spilling his iced coffee down my front.

"Whoa! Watch it, delinquent!" Mason growled, shoving me.

Anger boiled in my veins, "I thought I smelled something rank. Should have known it was your stinky ass."

"Look here, Torei, you better watch yourself. Might find yourself somewhere you might not want to be," he hissed, jabbing a finger at my chest.

If it weren't for Andrew, I would have swung at that pea-brained idiot right then and there. However, Andrew grabbed my arm, muttering, "he's not worth it, Dame."

I growled in anger, glaring at Quill. That jock - idiot that he was - smiled triumphantly, sauntering off.

"He thinks he won now, but neither of you would have won if you'd have gotten into it," Andrew explained, "you'd both be expelled."

I nodded, scowling at the ice cold beverage splattered across my shirt. "I'm going to get cleaned up. You head on to class."

"Okay, I'll catch up with you later," Andrew waved and disappeared into the thinning crowd. Class was about to start. I decided to skip, thinking that cleaning up my uniform was probably more important.

Slipping into the bathroom, I sighed, looking myself in the mirror. My dark hair was a mess. My shirt and navy blue tie were both dripping with coffee. I sighed, grabbing some paper towels and getting to work cleaning myself up.

A moment later, one of the toilets flushed and a boy around my age came out, his head lowered. I didn't recognize him, though I could admire his looks. He was tall - almost as tall as me - with brown hair and green eyes. His skin was a nice golden tan, though the flesh on the right side of his jaw was covered in a nasty bruise. He didn't look at me as he came out, simply washing his hands and turning to leave.

"Get into a fight?" I asked softly. He turned and looked at me then, surprise shining in his eyes. Did he not think I noticed him?

He shook his head, "no."

"How'd you get that bruise?" I frowned, setting down the paper towels I was using on my uniform.

He dropped his gaze to the floor, "fell."

My eyebrows knitted together, "you fell?" That was hard to believe. It was only on the right side, more like someone had hit him.

"Yeah," he turned on his heel, pushing the door open.

"Wait," I said. He paused, not looking back at me. I leaned against the counter, curious why I hadn't seen him before, "what's your name?"

"Jacob," he answered. Before I could say anything else, he vanished. I sighed, cleaning up my uniform and heading on my way.

***

Hey guys! Here's the first chapter of Hard to Get! If you haven't read my other book, Yes, Master, head over to my page and look at it! Anyway, please vote and comment to let me know what you think!

Thanks!

Alaina