Carter Ortese is Trouble - completed (The Boys #1)

Chapter 1: Carter

"Oh, fine," I say, keeping my voice casual. My interest is piqued, because most people avoid small talk. It's like a game of cat and mouse. Go in, ask Carter for drugs, get out before the cat notices them. I'm not sure who plays the cat in this scenario, I just know that my squirrely classmates are all scared of getting caught.

Emma wrinkles her nose when I don't say anything more. She leans in close, and I think this is it. This is the moment where my elementary school crush asks me to hook her up with ritalin or a fake ID or some other rich kid drug and ruins my whole image of her.

Things were so much easier for me before parents realized that the infamous Carter Ortese was in their kids' grade. Once word was out that I existed, parents told their children to stay away from me. "That boy is trouble." Then again, it's also been pretty easy since. While I don't have any friends, I also don't have any enemies. No one dares talk to me, so no one dares bully me either. There are worse existences in the world.

"Will you go on a date with me?"

"What?" My answer comes automatically, because there is no way in hell Emma Williams just asked me on a date. She has never even given me a second glance. Heck, I know she's never given me a first glance. Guys like me are not on her radar.

She curls her fingers around the edges of the table. "I asked if you would go on a date with me." A blush rises across her cheeks again as I stay silent.

My mouth drops open, and I honestly am speechless for the first time in my life. No witty, smart aleck retort. Nothing. My mind is blank.

"You can say no," she adds, looking down the table at her friends—her friends who are now cracking up. It didn't take me long to put the pieces together. I might not be in honors, but I'm not an idiot.

"You're asking me out because of a dare?"

"No, I—"

I shift my gaze back to her, and her mouth clamps shut. The birthmark below her eye stands out against the rosiness of her face.

"Yes, I mean," she stumbles over her words. "They said I'd never have the balls to ask anyone out, and I wanted to prove them wrong."

"And you chose me."

"Because I know you'll say no, and I don't really have time to go on a date right now, okay? So I'll just tell my friends you said no. Sorry for bothering you." She starts to turn, but I snatch the ends of her fingers before she has a chance to leave. Her gaze flicks to my hand holding hers. Her fingers have small calluses, probably from playing in the band.

"Yes," I say.

"What?"

"Yes, I'll go on a date with you." I drop her fingers and meet her gaze. Her lips are taut, brows furrowed with confusion. "Since you asked nicely."

"You're supposed to say no." She settles back into the chair, eyes narrowing as she stares at me. "Why?"

"Why not?" I lean forward on the table, and a part of me feels sleazy, like I'm trapping her into something she doesn't want to do. Then again, she could have asked anyone out and she decided to ask me out. The childish part of me, the part that has secretly crushed on her for years, wants a date with her.

"Because..." She goes silent.

"Because?" I prompt.

"We're no where near the same circles, Carter."

"I'm not in any circle."

"Exactly."

"So?"

"So, it's not a good idea," she says.

"So why'd you ask?"

Her pale lips pout as the thinks this one over. I have her here. She asked me, not the other way around. If I had been the one to ask, she could shoot me down in a second, but instead on a dare, she asked out a guy she thought would say no in an instant. She thought I'd tell her to get lost, just like I told everyone else. Only, I had said yes, which threw a wrench into her perfectly laid out plans.

"Fine."

"Fine?" I sit up straighter.

"Fine. Pick me up at seven on—"

"I don't have a car."

Her frown deepens. "I'll pick you up at seven on Friday. You still live in the same one bedroom, right?"

I grimace at the way she said "one bedroom," but nod. My mom and I might have the smallest house in town, but it's ours.

"Since I'm driving, you'll pay for everything, and we're going to see a movie and get coffee beforehand."

"Okay."

"And I get to choose the movie."

"I didn't know you were this bossy."

She shakes her head and lets out a slight breath. "Me neither." Standing, she scoops up her case and begins to walk away.

"I'll see you Friday." I smirk as some people in the cafeteria swivel their heads to look at us. The whispers from the peanut gallery begin. She pauses for only a split second before joining her friends, who start giggling instantly when she sits down. The look on her face is a bit pained, and I'm not entirely sure what I've gotten myself into.

Maybe I'm a fool for even trying with Emma, because blending into the background has served me well before now. Something tells me that dating someone like Emma will be more trouble than it's worth, but isn't that what everyone says about me? My dad was trouble, my uncle was trouble, and my family was trouble. Every last one of the Ortese boys. Therefore, it makes sense that I would follow the same path. Some predestined bullshit, if you ask me.

I pick up my whole lunch tray and drop the entire thing into the garbage. Some girl cusses at me and picks the tray out of the bin, presumably to put it at the dishwashing station. I can't be bothered. When everyone decides you're trouble, some of it eventually starts to stick.

- - - - 

Liked chapter one? Don't forget to subscribe to the book and star the chapter! I'll be publishing once a week until this novel is finished.

Liked the writing overall? I have published novels and other titles on WattPad! Thanks for reading!