*Isabelle's POV*
2:02 PM
I'm Isabelle Knowle, a 17 year old senior in Washington D.C. My dad is a politician who's currently running for congress, and my brother is away at an Ivy league school. Classic for a politician's son, am I right?
Myself on the other hand...I guess you could say I'm popular, not by choice really. I've done cross country and track and field, but I didn't this year so I could really focus on my music - NYU is my goal, hopefully. Besides track and field...I'm pretty quiet. I love to read, I love tea, and any kind of crime or mystery shows on tv. I might be popular in school, but I never really go out. I don't party, I don't do drugs, I don't drink...I stay at home, do homework, write my music, watch Netflix, and read, and that's about it.
Currently, it was the end of another school day in January, one of the coldest days of the year, and I was freezing, clutching my sweater tight to me as I managed to shove all of my books I needed into my bag.
"Please Izzy, I don't want to ride with Mark." Jackie, my best friend whined, leaning her head against her locker while holding onto her bag.
"And why not?" I asked her, slipping the last of my folders into my purse, hanging onto the door of my locker as I raised an eyebrow at her.
This is one of the things I disliked about Jackie. She always ran away from her problems and then tried to use me to get out of the situation - especially when she was annoyed with him.
That's another thing about me. I haven't dated anyone in so long...I've had a bunch of short relationships, and I've talked to guys, but it's been a few years since I've actually committed myself to someone.
I don't want a bunch of relationships - I don't want to play games with guys. I want it to be meaningful, and I want to be in love.
So I'm waiting...the games and short-term relationships just aren't worth it for me.
"Because he's getting on my nerves. I don't want to be around him all the time 24/7 and that's what is happening." And there it was. Bingo. I already knew the answer.
"He's your boyfriend." I pointed out. "Maybe you should talk to him, or you know that nothing is ever going to get solved."
Mark is amazing, at least with her. He was so in love with her. He always took her out, surprised her with things. He never took his hands off her.
I wanted that. Someone that never got enough of me - but apparently, she got enough of him.
"I've tried..." She trailed off, resting her head against her locker. "...and then I feel awful. I can't do that. I don't know how to talk to him without upsetting him."
"It's never going to get better if you don't try to fix it."
As I was talking, Mark came up beside her, sliding his hands around her waist and kissed her cheek.
"Hey, babe."
Sometimes, it really wanted to make me puke - and that was my cue to leave.
"Have fun." I said sweetly, skipping away to the doors before she made up some excuse for me to drive her home.
I looked around me, no sign of Troy as I made my way my car.
I guess now would be the time to talk about Troy. I've grown up with Troy. We've known each other for as long as I can remember, and he's the guy that my dad wanted me to end up with, which was never going to happen.
Remember before when I talked about those short-term relationships? Troy was one of them, and he tried to get too physically to fast, to the point that I felt like I wasn't even in control of the situation anymore, and I broke it off.
One night, we were at the beach on a short friend vacation when I got completely trashed. It was the only time I've ever drank, and I haven't since then.
I know for a fact we would have had sex that night if Jackie wouldn't have heard me fighting him off. He's tried to get me back ever since then.
It's probably one of the reasons why I haven't really dated since then. I have trust issues.
Troy was trying really hard to get somewhere with me, but I wasn't interested at all. He was such a player, and that's not what I was looking for.
I made my way out into the parking lot, digging into my bag for the keys to my BMW and slipped my hand back into the warmth of my sweater when a voice behind me startled me.
"I swear! I'll have it by tomorrow!" Bradley said, my eyebrows coming together as I watched the interaction between him and the guy I couldn't see.
"You said that no fucking Wednesday, you were supposed to have it today!" The other boy spat, running his hand through his ruffled light brown hair, but I still couldn't see his face, and he was in this black sweatshirt I had no idea who he was. "It's not just your ass on the line here! It's mine too! Don't you know what could happen to you if he finds out?! He'll fucking k-"
"I know, but I'm trying t-"
"No buts, you have it tomorrow or you won't be back here on Monday if you understand what I'm saying. You know what this business entails. He'll have you bury you're own fucking grave if you don't-."
Then Bradley's eyes found mine, and they mystery guy turned around, looking me up and down as students starting pouring out of the school.
"How much have you heard, buttercup?"
"N-Nothing. I just got here." I shook my head, unlocking my car door and went to open it when a hand stopped me from doing so.
"Leave her alone. She won't do any harm. I'll have it to you tomorrow. I promise. Just leave her out of it."
"Shut up, Brad. I'm sure she can speak for herself."
"I really didn't hear anything." I insisted, leaning back against my car as his hand still rested on my car.
"Nice ride you have here."
"Thanks." I whispered, slightly holding my breath as he looked at me.
I don't know why, but I'm not scared. I should be peeing myself right now.
"What are you still doing here, Brad?" The guy shot at him, and then Brad mouthed a 'sorry' to me before he disappeared, leaving me alone with mystery guy. "What's your name?"
"What's yours?"
"Nice try." He chuckled a little, his laughter making my stomach do a twist.
He's beautiful, especially his eyes. They were this gorgeous caramel color - that I honestly just wanted to swim in.
"You alright there, buttercup? You seem a little speechless."
"I'm - I'm fine." I cursed myself for stuttering, feeling my nerves kick in as he stepped closer.
Not because I was afraid, but because of how effing beautiful he was. I'm losing my mind.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. That was just business before."
"Business? What kind of business?"
"Can't tell you that...um...I don't know you're name yet or I would have used it."
"Isabelle!" A familiar voice shouted - one I had been desperately trying to avoid.
Troy. Shit. I don't need this right now.
"Who is this?" Troy asked, motioning to the beautiful man that now stood in front of me.
"Who are you?" He shot back, taking a step closer to Troy, my hand instinctively flying out and pressed to his chest to keep him back, his eyes locking on mine as I did so.
It sounds incredibly cliche, but the contact sent bolts of electricity through my body, and it felt like world completely froze.
"Troy, I'm fine." I turned to him, slowly moving my hand off of the mystery man's chest. "You're not my boyfriend. You don't have to check up on me."
"But I-"
"She said she's fine." Mystery boy spat, his hands clenched at his sides along with his jaw.
I wanted to touch his face - and his chest again. Actually, I want to touch everything.
Troy glared before he walked away, leaving me alone with mystery boy out in the cold.
"So...Isabelle, huh?"
"Yup, and now that you know my name, I think it's only fair that I know yours."
"Justin. My name is Justin."
"Well, it's nice to meet you."
"Yeah, it's pretty nice to meet you too. So, that's not your boyfriend?"
"No." I blushed, shaking my head as I tucked my hair back behind my ear and crossed my arms over my chest to keep myself warm. "I don't have a boyfriend."
"How in the world is that possible?"
"Um..." I could stop blushing, especially because he was standing so close and cluttering my thoughts. "I don't know. Just haven't been interested in anyone really I guess."
"Would you be interested in going out with me?"
Holy shit. I can't breathe. This gorgeous human being just met me and he already asked me out.
Now I'm scared shitless.
There's something here. There has to be...but going out with someone I've known for five minutes?
But I want to go out with him.
"How about this," I started, digging my nails into my arms while they were crossed to keep myself from doing something stupid. "If we see each other again and we still want to go out, yeah, I'd like to go out with you."
"So you do want to go out with me?" He asked, smirking from ear to era as he leaned closer.
"Yeah, but you know, I think if we're meant to go out on that date, we'll meet each other again."
"We're meeting now, that doesn't count?"
"Nope." I shook my head, biting down on my lip and rocked on my heels.
"Alright, fair enough." He shrugged, pulling out a box of cigarettes and brought one up to his lips. "Well, I look forward to seeing you again, Isabelle."
"You too, Justin." I smiled at him, holding out my hand and shook his, watching him light his cigarette as he walked away, then hope into the passenger side of a black SUV.
After that I got it my car, looking at myself in the mirror and rested my palms on the steering wheel, processing what had exactly just happened.
I pray that I actually get to see him again.
__________________________________
2:17 PM
"Dad?" I asked after hearing movement in the kitchen where I heard rustling, my voice echoing through the house as I shut the door behind me.
"He's out. Had another press conference." My brother, Josh, called from the kitchen.
I entered, dropping my bag by the breakfast bar and crinkled my nose at whatever he was eating.
It wasn't a surprise that Dad wasn't home, but Josh was usually away at Columbia.
That was another thing about my dad being a politician, he was never here. I'm 17 years old and I'm always alone in this huge house. I hate being alone, and I never go out.
It definitely gets lonely, but my dad doesn't understand that. Ever since my mom left, he's a workaholic. Josh practically raised me, but he was even a lot to handle sometimes, especially when he came home on the weekends like this and thought he could try to boss me around like he never left.
I always tell myself I'm going to go out and try to be social, but it just doesn't happen. I don't like anyone here enough to actually will myself to leave the house.
"What are you doing home?" I asked him, leaning against the marble slab of the bar, ignoring him stuffing his face - the usual.
"It's Friday. I thought I'd come home for the weekend, why?"
"I don't know." I shrugged, pulling out a chair. "Did Dad leave money or anything for dinner?"
"Yeah, want Chinese later?"
"Sure, that sounds great." I nodded, smiling at him as he sat a glass of water in front of me.
"How was school?"
"God awful." I said with an eye roll, my chin rested in my hands. "I met a guy today though."
"You what?" He asked, choking on his drink. "Who? Does he already go to your school?"
"No, I don't think so. He was just there talking to Bradley or whatever...but he was pretty cute. He asked me out."
"What did you say?"
"I told him that if we met again, I'd go out with him. I mean...I talked to the guy for five minutes, but there was something there. Does that sound crazy? It's like I forgot to breathe for a minute."
"And you just met him?"
"Yeah..." I trailed off, blowing out of the side of my mouth to fix my hair. "It sounds crazy, doesn't it? It's not like there's any guarantees that I'll see him again."
"No, I don't think it's crazy." Josh shook his head, leaning on the other side of the counter and faced me. "Sometimes that stuff just happens with people. You know, that whole love at first sight shit."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not go throwing that word around this early in the game."
"I'm just saying, you never know, maybe you should have said yes."
"If we're meant to go on a date, then I'll see him again." I shrugged, taking a sip of the water he handed me before I pushed my short self off of the bar stool. "I'm going to go change my clothes. Want to find a movie to watch or something?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay, I'll be right back." I told him, disappearing into my room and shut the door behind me to change my clothes.
____________________________________
*Justin's POV*
10:39 PM
"Who was that girl you were talking to?" Hunter asked me, sitting up where he sat.
"What girl?" I asked him, lifting my beer up to my lips.
I knew exactly what girl he was talking about, I just didn't want to hear all the shit they were most likely going to give me for it.
"At the school, when you were finished with Wilson...you talked to her for a little bit." He shot me a smug smirk, clearly noticing my body tense as our gaze met.
"Oh, just some chic, I don't know. I've never met her before, why?" I raised an eyebrow, a part of me dying to glare at him.
"Why? Because you were talking to her! Did you see her? Damn bro, she was hot as fu-"
"Yeah I saw her," I said quickly, not wanting to hear the rest, my grip tightening on my beer as I lifted my joint to my lips. "Why?"
"Because she was hot as hell! How did you not try to jump up on that? You always try to jump on anything like that."
"I told her I'd see her later, plus she was scared, I could tell. I don't want to scare her. You know how shitty this job can be."
"You always scare off the hot ones." Mike whined.
"Bro, why are you complaining? You go after her then." I blurted, cursing myself mentally after I spoke.
I definitely didn't want that. I saw her first. I asked her out first.
I had to see her again.
I don't know why I'm still thinking about her, but she hadn't left my brain.
This wasn't normal for me. Usually I was a hit and quit kind of person. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't said yes to me right away, or the way that her hand felt against my chest and I instantly imagined it in other places.
Shit.
"You could have flirted a little, put the moves on her, get somebody for yourself...besides, if you weren't into her the slightest you wouldn't have stayed to talk to her." Hunter pointed out, my eyes narrowing at him again.
"I'm not going to screw around with those preps. 'Oh Daddy, can I have your credit card, my heel broke!' Fuck no. I gave up on all of that a long time ago. I went there, remember?"
"All you would have to do is get with one of them, find the stash and you'd be set."
"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" I gave Mike a look, feeling my eyebrows frowning together, pulling the joint I had from my lips. "I am set. We make thousands during every job. I don't need some other pricks money."
"Sorry bro."
"I'm gonna go home." I finished off the beer, shooting the bottle into the trash can and wiped my palms on my pants while holding my joint between my lips.
"Already?"
"Yeah, I have stuff to take care of tomorrow." I stuck the joint back in my mouth, slipping my leather jacket on and popped the collar. "I'll see you guys later."
"See ya."
I pushed the door open, walking out into the spring air, but that's the last thing people thought about around here, at least in this part of Washington.
The smell of blood not far slithered its way into my nose, a fight that had probably only ended a few minutes ago...even I had been a part of those a few times.
I kicked at the gravel, commotion heard down the street, my hand flying to the knife in my pocket.
I usually kept it with me, you never know what you could run into around here...it could be quiet, and then the next thing you knew all hell was breaking loose.
But I made it to my apartment without any trouble, unlocking the door and kicked it open with my foot and took off my jacket, quickly locking the door behind me and went back to my room.
Mike was right, she was hot, of course I had taken a good look at her, but I was almost positive that whoever that little prick was that walked up beside her was her boyfriend, and I wasn't making more drama for myself. I had enough shit to deal with here.
I was there on business, not to pick up chicks. No matter how she looked, or how easy it would be for me to do exactly what Mike said. I liked how things were, working during the days, partying into the night and then doing the same thing the next day. It was a cycle.
But business always came first.
Always.
______________________
If you are just reading in 2014, I want to thank you so much for doing so. Some people have told me my story is copying BRONX or Danger, and I want to tell you all right now it's very different from that, and Sonia (the writer of BRONX) and I are friends, she's given my story shoutouts on BRONX, so I really encourage you all to read a little further past the first chapter. It's just a different story, and so many things happen, so please stay with me. Many of the chapters are much longer than this, some 10-12 pages...but if you wish not to continue, thanks for giving it a try!
Please don't send hate either, you will be reported. Thanks.
Follow me on twitter @jellababee for more updates :)
EDITED June 3rd, 2017.