One and Done
Two Outta Three Series, Book Two
By S. Briones Lim
One and Done
Copyright © 2015 by S. Briones Lim.
All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: October 2015
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1-68058-306-9
ISBN-10: 1-68058-306-9
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To those who ever had a
“Jesse” or “Rocky”
in their lives
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Prologue
I don’t remember the exact moment when I realized I was in love with her.
It may have been the first time I saw her sitting on the quad with her best friend. They were eating some weird straw-shaped candy and laughing as the dye stained their teeth blue. I remember watching her and thinking to myself that even as a weird looking smurf she was pretty cute.
But nah, it couldn’t have been then…
Oh! It was probably this one time in grade school. Like always, I was sitting alone at recess, watching all the other kids go amuck on the jungle gym. Well, everybody except her, that is. She sat quietly on the ground drawing some weird looking shapes with sidewalk chalk. Bright blue, neon pink, an ugly shade of yellow—she certainly caught my eye. However, come to think of it, I wasn’t really into girls back then. You know, cooties and all that bullshit, so it couldn’t have been at that age.
Hmm…
Actually if I really had to hone in on one time, I’d probably pick freshman year biology when I was assigned to her lab group. Whereas all the other students were either too scared or disgusted to even look in my direction, she stared straight at me in an unnerving sort of way. It was as if she were looking inside of me, peering into my soul. I remembered being rendered frozen on the spot. I wasn’t easily shaken, but the fact that this quirky girl could affect me so much took me by surprise. I don’t even remember saying anything to her, but to this day I could repeat every syllable of what she said to me:
Hi, welcome to the group.
Simple words and nothing profound, but to me it was as if the universe had opened itself up. It was like those big brown eyes held my future, both taunting and beckoning to me. I was no longer white noise among my classmates, I was special. In that moment, I knew I’d do anything to make sure she never stopped looking at me.
But was it then that I fell flat out, balls-to-the-walls in love with her? I really can’t say.
I guess some things are better left unknown.
Chapter 1
“I’m through with this, Jesse! We’re gonna get hurt doing something so stupid!” Rocky hissed. Her eyes narrowed into menacing slits, and though she was trying desperately to appear scary, I couldn’t help but laugh at her. It was like watching a little puppy rise on its hind legs—fluffy, cute, and completely out of its element.
“Hey, I didn’t invite you, did I? Why are you even here if you don’t want to do it?” I raised my head and looked up at the rusted fire escape, which hung a few feet above us. A cool breeze blew by, causing the ladder to sway slightly. It creaked ominously, and for a moment I began to wonder if her words of warning held some weight. However, being a stupid teenager I ignored any cautionary sign no matter how brightly it flashed in front of my face. Hell, it wouldn’t be the first time I dove head first into something stupid, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. Scratching my head, my gaze dropped back to her face, which had suddenly turned pale white. Feeling guilty, I reached out and patted her arm. “If you’re really scared, you don’t have to follow me. I won’t think any less of you.”
I had meant them as words of reassurance, but judging by the scowl that worked its way across her features, she somehow misinterpreted my intentions. With a roll of her eyes, she took a few steps back before bursting into a sprint. Launching herself from the ground, she attempted to grab onto the bottom rung of the ladder only to miss it by mere inches, her fingertips barely scraping the cracked paint.
“You have got to be kidding me!” she groaned, kicking at a nearby dumpster. Her white tennis shoes became dingy with flakes of what was probably old food and dirt, further angering her. “Arghh!”
“What the fuck?” I burst out laughing and shook my head at the ridiculousness. “Hey, Shorty, is that what they mean by little dog syndrome? You’re like a little Chihuahua attacking a Rottweiler!”
“Fuck off, Jesse,” she snapped.
I continued to grin, not letting up. “For real though, how did you even expect to reach this thing without me?” To make my point, I stood on my tip-toes and reached the ladder effortlessly, pulling it down toward us. “There you go, Ma.”
It was quite amusing to watch the way her mouth trembled as if holding back words meant to stab me in the heart. Joke was on her. Nothing she could have said would have hurt me. I’ve basically seen and heard everything nasty in this lifetime—I was impenetrable!
Actually, I take that back. There was one thing she could have said to me that would cause my world to crumble. If she were ever to tell me that she never wanted to see me again, that would have stung—big time. Of course we both knew that was never going to happen. You see, Rocky, or Raquel Rossi as everyone in school knew her, was in love with me. Flat out, head over heels in love with me. Funny thing is, she didn’t know that I knew. Our best friend Stephanie didn’t know that I knew. So how did I know?
Easy!
It was in her eyes, the way her gaze lingered on me whenever she thought I looked away. I could feel her stare permeating my skin, bathing me in care and warmth.
I never looked away.
It was in her words. How even when she was busy cursing me out or joking around with me, there was a certain lullaby to her tone, almost as if by voice alone she could embrace my entire body.
I always listened.
Yeah, I knew she loved me, but you know what? I’d never tell her, nor would I ever let her know that I felt the same way. Why not? To put it bluntly, I didn’t want her to know.
Sure, it may seem simple. Guy likes girl, girl likes guy, they get together, end of story. Unfortunately, that’s not how it would work for me and Rocky. In fact, it would never work out. It was just never in the cards for us.