Jessie Marina came to Riverview High during the middle of the first semester of freshman year. She barged in the middle of Mrs. James lecture about the Civil War and plopped into the seat beside me without saying a word to anybody.
"I'm Luke, if you wanted to know. Luke Hemmings" I whispered, leaning towards her.
"Jessie Marina. No last name." She kept staring straight ahead.
"None? Not even a fake one?"
"Nope." She popped her 'p' and I grinned at her.
"Well, Jessie Marina with no last name, welcome to Riverview High, home of the Wolves."
By then, the bell had rung and kids in the next class began to filter in. It turns out we had next hour together, so I showed her the class. Her seat was a couple rows over from mine, so I couldn't really see her. Towards the middle of the hour, she had managed to trade seats with Cooper and Ashley, the people in the rows beside me.
"Jessie Marina with no last name, what on earth are you doing?" I whispered, mocking Mr. Roberson.
"Doing what I want, which is sit by you." Jessie Marina replied. She began to twist her hair in that annoying way that girls do when they flirt. "Speaking of you, do you have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, if you're into that type of thing?"
With that question, I felt myself tense. "No, and I'm not looking for one, Jessie."
All the memories of the girls I've dated before flew through my mind, the girls I dated before I realized why they all died or just plain disappeared out of no where. Alexa, Jo, Kloë, Jessamine, Dara, all of them. I was quite the player before I realized the consequences. I don't think anyone completely dropped the subject of why the school player, Luke Hemmings, stopped talking to people out of the blue.
I mean, I still had my little circle of friends that included Michael and Calum. We sang together sometimes, like covers on YouTube, but it wasn't serious. We were a close knit group, no one else ever joined our group and if you messed with one of us, the other two would defend him. Michael and Calum knew about my 'situation' and helped with the girls sometimes.
That's the thing about this, they get girls because I reject them. It's actually pretty funny in a way. Michael didn't really need a girl anymore, since he started hanging around with this girl, Calia.
Calia was this spunky little thing, with long, curly blonde hair and pretty green eyes. Michael adored her and he had admitted to us he would die for her if he ever needed to.
That was the kind of love I wanted. The kind you would die for, and that you would die to protect. But I couldn't have that.
