1 Chapter 1

I laughed heartily with Yasmine as I slurped on my milkshake. We had come here after school because apparently ogling at Ian Somerhalder hot dad bod was better than eating lunch so Yasmine decided to make it up to me after school by sponsoring my late lunch at The Food Shack which was a little closer to my house, obviously I was happy to indulge myself with a burger, chocolate milkshake and a side of fries and Yas had ordered the same.

We had finished our food long ago and we currently sat together in a booth laughing at the story she told me about some dude her mum saw while grocery shopping who couldn't apparently see the wet floor sign and tripped while holding a gallon of milk. The idea of it already had me wheezing

"Okay Jess now the real question is why don't you like Ian Somerhalder though, he's hot and we both know it" Yasmine asked going all serious

"Well, I know he's way out of my league and besides he's married with a wife and kid" I answered honestly

"So, a girl can dream, can't she? And your assignment for today is to fall in love with Ian Somerhalder before tomorrow, alright"

"Okay fine Yas" I stood up while carrying my back pack " Bye Yas see you tomorrow " I said before leaving. I walked back home since it wasn't far. I stood on the Porsche and opened the door with my own key. My house wasn't overly big since my parent wasn't overly rich either and by parent I mean my mum, my dad died when I was 4 while doing his military service not to be too gruesome about the details, he stepped on a bomb.

I made my way to my room before pulling off my shoes. I laid on my bed tired from today. Yas and I have been best friends since pre school, I was a huge introvert while Yas was an extrovert, she did all the talking while I just stood quietly. Yas had other friends while I had only her. Well the saying was opposite attracts anyway.

I picked up my pet turtle from his glass bowl who was currently napping, he was a cute little lazy thing and my other friend "Wake up Murphy Mama's home"

He opened his eyes lazily and yawned, I patted his head lovingly which he always seems to enjoy. I pulled out a lettuce from my drawer and gave it to him which he happily snacked on and yes I kept lettuce in my drawers because my pet was also my roommate.

I was scrolling through TikTok when I heard the front door open, I placed Murphy who was still nibbling on his piece lettuce at a snail's pace back in his dome and ran downstairs to greet my mum.

"Welcome back mum" I greeted cheerfully

"Thanks darling" She kissed my forehead before pulling off her heels. My mum worked as an accountant in some company which I didn't care to know about.

Mum was only 36 years old because she gave birth to me when she was 19. She was the complete opposite of me because I took most of dad's features, it's hard to believe she's my mum. She had black hair which was in a pixie cut which framed her heart-shaped face and amber eyes with a cute button nose meanwhile I had brown hair which was shoulder length, brown eyes with a snob nose which wasn't fair but she made me feel I was the most prettiest person on the whole world.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet I was waiting for you"

"I told you to stop waiting up for me, what if I come late one day so you'll starve to death"

"Mom stop being so dramatic" I groaned and rolled my eyes, she chuckled and pulled out her leftover homemade pizza from the fridge and put it in the microwave. When it was done she brought it out of the oven and announced "Dinner is ready"

I ate three slices of pizza before my belly decided to no longer contain any more food. I kissed mum good night before heading up to my room. I took a quick shower before jumping in bed and sleeping off. What can I say I was a quick sleeper.

Yas and I met up in the hallway in school "Hey so did you do your assignment yesterday" Yas asked

"Yeah" I groaned out

"So whaddya think?"

"It didn't change my mind all, he's still hot though but not really my type"

"Uhh" She groaned "Fine, it's not like you have to like everything I like"

Before I could utter a word to Yas there was a sudden hush which fell upon the usual noisy hall way, that's when I noticed Finn Jacobs strolling in with his usual black hoodie and blue washed jeans. He was the typical bad boy of Midtown High, everyone was scared of him 'cause he's rumored to live with some gangsters and the shiner which he was currently spotting did nothing to mellow down the rumor. He was rarely in school which made me wonder why he wasn't expelled yet.

When he had gone, the whole hallway burst into whispers which was almost deafening

"If this isn't cliche, then what is?" I said genuinely irritated about the whole situation

"Anyway forget about that, let's talk about the costume party tomorrow that we're going to" She said the last part more aggressively

"Com'on why do we have to go for a stupid party anyway?"

"Because we are irresponsible teenage girls" On cue the bell rang signalling the beginning of classes "Okay bye Jess see you later"

"But it's not even Halloween yet why are people hosting costume parties" Yas waved goodbye at me, ignoring my argument. I rolled my eyes and made my way to class before I got in trouble.

English class was probably one of my best class but also one of my most uncomfortable, probably because Finn sat directly behind me. I knew he didn't pay me any mind or even knew I existed but my socially awkward self did not still feel comfortable which made me stiff as a board throughout the entire class.