Hooked

I jump as I hear the knock on the classroom door. I always do. Just in case...

I hope it's him and I hope it's not.

Mr Klein calls "enter", and I hear the creak of the door as it's opened. I keep my eyes on the book in front of me, my head bowed. I hear his voice. Deep and husky and all-too persuasive.

I know all eyes are on him. Especially the girls'. Austin Moon is every girls wet dream. Including mine. Though I'm not proud to admit that.

"Ally Dawson is wanted in the Principal's office, sir."

All eyes in the room turn to me. I urge myself not to blush, but, as I feel my cheeks start to redden, I look up, and stare at him.

His blond hair is slightly ruffled, and he's leaning casually against the doorframe. My assessment of him should stop there. But I go on to notice the way he's staring at me, the dark, focused look in his eyes that's always there when he wants something.

Mostly when he wants me.

It all started with a kiss. A simple one, too, 6 or 7 seconds long, if that. He had barely noticed me before, and one day I found myself in a conversation with him. I can't even remember what about. I just remember that I was taking and he had this distant look on his face. And then, halfway through a sentence, he leaned towards me and kissed me. And then he pulled away, a satisfied smirk on his face, then launched right back into the conversation.

"Again?" I ask, trying to sound surprised. This was the third time I had been called out of class by Austin this week. As sure as my voice sounds, I have to clench my fists to keep my hands from shaking. Memories of the last time flood through my mind. Last time was in the backseat of a car. Last time I had found myself overcome by wave after wave of sheer ecstasy, until I couldn't take it any longer. As if that'd stop him.

I was still sore.

"Yes, I was just thinking the same thing." Contributes the teacher, folding his arms.

Austin tries to appear untroubled, but I see his jaw clench as he shrugs. "I don't know. I'm just the messenger. She said something about a project you two are working on."

He takes a step to leave, expecting me to follow.

As I open my mouth again, I see his jaw tighten even more, his gaze getting angrier, darker. I should refuse. Show some backbone. Let him know I can't be pushed around like this.

"Okay," I say. Who am I kidding? In this game, he holds all the cards. I can't refuse, I don't want to.

He's about to say something, but notices all of the eyes on him, and doesn't. He turns to Mr Klein.

"Mr Klein? Can Ally please be excused?" He substitutes. His voice is strained, and he says the "please" a little begrudgingly. Politeness not being his strong suit.

Mr Klein sighs but dismisses both of us with a wave of his hand.

With another look at me, Austin walks out. Trembling, I get my bag, slowly putting my books into it.

I didn't even realise the effect he'd had on me immediately. It wasn't until my eyes started following him everywhere he went, until I was the first to notice if he wasn't there. Trish made several jokes that I acted like he was my pet and I was one step away from putting up posters to find him. I didn't bother explaining that it was the other way around, that I was the puppy dog waiting for its owner to come back. Maybe it's because we never discussed it. That he went right back to ignoring me afterwards. That he acted like nothing happened. It drove me mad. Did it mean anything? Did he just kiss any girl he wanted to? Was that just him? What? What was it?

I had asked him why, eventually. I sat beside him in home room one day, and, hands on my knees, eyes on the floor, I asked why he had kissed me. He didn't reply at first. He let me suffer for a good minute, and I could feel his stare on my face. Then his fingers under my chin, lifting it up so I was staring straight into his coffee-coloured eyes. "Because I wanted to." Was his simple reply. He dropped his hand. And left. And it wasn't until he was gone that I looked around and saw that we had been the only two in the room.

Everyone takes advantage of this brief distraction, launching into different conversations. I sling my bag over my shoulder. As I leave, I roll my eyes at one girls vivid description of what she'd do to Austin if she had the chance.

It wasn't until then that I understood why Austin had a different girlfriend every week. I never understood why someone like him could be single so often. With his blond, messy hair and dark eyes and muscles that rippled every time he loved his arms. But now I knew. It wasn't that he couldn't maintain a relationship, or he got dumped; he got bored. Simple as that. It was Austin who broke hearts, not the other way around. He just strings them along until he finds something new. And I know, because I can feel the string attached to me, see it wrapped around his finger, and he'd wound it so slowly, I didn't even notice how tight it was getting.

He started talking to me more often, and so I became friends with his friend, Dez. So did Trish. We sat together at lunch, and he sat next to me in more than one class. It was the subtle things. How he'd reach under the table and hold my hand in class and I'd hold so still, afraid to move, scared that he'd move away if he realised what he was doing. How he'd say my name, and my heart would pound so hard it'd feel like it would burst. I'm supposedly so much smarter than him, much more composed, but around him I'm awkward and clumsy. It's as if I really am a lost puppy and I'm begging and pleading for him to play.

As soon as I've shut the classroom door, I find myself pinned against it, his strong arms on either side of me, his lips anything but gentle against my own.

And, just like all of the times before, it's not a want; it's a necessity.

Part 2 should be up shortly. Thanks for reading, please review :)