Hard To Get

The Heart-Throb of Northbridge

-Damien-

Finishing up work at the lumber yard and riding home on my beat up black motorcycle was part of my daily routine. What wasn't part of my daily routine, however, was having Andrew waiting for me when I got home.

"Hey!" He greeted as I walked into my bedroom.

I raised my eyebrows at him, surprised to see him, "what are you doing here?"

"Just seeing how my best bud was doing! Also, your mom gave me food." Andrew beamed.

I laughed softly, tossing my bag down next to the door. Sitting down on my bed, I sighed. It had been a long day. "Oh hey, do you know anyone named Jacob? Tall, brown hair?"

"Are you talking about Jacob Anderson?" Andrew asked, frowning, "literally the heart-throb of Northbridge?"

I laughed, "Heart-throb, huh?"

He nodded, "have you SEEN him? I'm straight, but even I would tap that ass."

I almost started crying at that. The idea of Andrew tapping anyone's ass was hilarious.

"Yeah but he doesn't date. Rumor has it that nearly the whole school has asked him out and he's never once said yes," Andrew revealed.

I raised my eyebrows, "seriously?"

"Yup," he wiggled his eyebrows, "I might try my luck and see if the rumor is true."

"I bet I could get him to go on a date with me," I boasted, smiling confidently.

"You?" Andrew laughed, "as if! He's a straight-A student, Dame, he wouldn't go out with someone like you!"

Now it was my turn to wiggle my eyebrows, "I bet you $50."

"Seriously? You're on!" Andrew beamed.

And that's how I decided to ask out the hottest guy in school.

-Jacob-

"Yo, Jake," Koby Johnson, the only one in the entire world who called me Jake, greeted me, sitting down next to me in the lunchroom.

I smiled faintly at him, tucking my hands in my lap. "Hey, Kob, what's up?"

"What's up? Well, not much, although I do want to know why you didn't call me back last night," Kob leaned against the table, raising both eyebrows at me. Koby frowned, his brown eyes scanning my own.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, feeling bad for leaving him hanging. "I had some family things I needed to do." It wasn't completely a lie, but it still wasn't completely true either. I hadn't spent time with my father by choice.

"Is it your mom again?" He asked, referring to her sickness. My mother had been bed-ridden for years. She wasn't in any immediate danger, but she was extremely frail.

"She's okay," I replied, picking up my apple. "My dad just wanted to spend time together." Sure, if you could call it that.

Ever since my older brother died and my mom got sick, my father had turned into a stranger. Things were always rough at home, if the bruise on my face was anything to go by.

Suddenly, Koby's eyes focused on something behind me, and he dropped his head, whispering, "crush is behind you."

I felt my cheeks flush and I took a huge bite of my apple. Koby was the one person on the planet who knew of my feelings for Damien Torei, and I would never tell anyone else. Koby was the only person who knew everything. Well, almost everything. He didn't know about my home life.

My mouth was still hopelessly full of half-chewed apple when none other than Damien Torei plopped down next to me, casually saying, "Hey, Jacob."

I'm sure that my eyes popped out of my head, and I attempted to chew the apple, nearly choking on it as I swallowed. "H-hey," I sputtered, coughing.

Koby's eyes glittered, and he had to open his big fat mouth. "Don't choke," he said suggestively. This, of course, just made the coughing worse.

"You okay?" Damien asked, eyebrows raised.

I nodded, getting myself under control.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier," Damien said, smiling softly, "I'm Damien Torei."

"Koby Johnson! Nice to meet you!" Koby stuck out his hand, saving me from having to attempt to respond. Damien shook my best friend's outstretched hand, but his eyes stayed on me. Oh my gosh. It was those ice blue orbs that had drawn me in to begin with. Bright blue curtained by long, dark eyelashes.

I blushed, looking away.

"Jacob, I just wanted to ask," Damien began.

I interrupted him, getting to my feet, "I have to go to the bathroom." I immediately excused myself from his presence, practically running to the restroom and locking myself in a stall.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I had gone so long watching Damien from afar, wishing that one day he would actually notice me. Now that he did, however, I didn't know what to do. It was so much easier to have a crush on someone when you didn't have to risk anything. So much harder when you were actually faced with getting to know them. What if I got to know Damien and he wasn't who I thought he was? What if he was and my crush became more than just that? Geez, what if Damien didn't even like guys?

I took a few steadying breaths, but couldn't bring myself to go back out there. Instead, I texted Koby, asking him to grab my backpack at the end of lunch and meet me at the next class.

He agreed and I calmed down enough to leave the bathroom. I washed my hands then exited in the hallway... Only to find myself face-to-face with Damien.

"Are you sick?" Damien asked, his brows furrowed. I shook my head quickly, too embarrassed that he had caught me avoiding him. He leaned against the lockers, his untucked white shirt rumpled just slightly in the way that I found a little too sexy. He smiled faintly, "hey, Jacob, can I have your phone number?"

"U-uh, yeah!" I replied. He handed me his cell and I typed in my number.

He smiled faintly, "cool. I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay..." I murmured. As he walked away, I found myself alone in the hallway, though my heart was all warm and fuzzy inside.