Don't Tempt Me

First Kiss

ELLA

I spent the rest of the night watching crappy t.v. and eating leftover spaghetti. I didn't even feel bad for yelling at Jason. He was a douche. True, part of my frustration with Damien had spilled over onto him, but the end result was always going to be the same. I realized now he never would have stopped bugging me until I yelled at him like I did, or I said yes. And the latter wasn't ever going to happen.

The next day, I got up early to work on the deck. I finally finished the outside, and spent the majority of the afternoon working on the surround. When four o'clock hit, I cleaned up and took a long shower, then got ready for work. Truthfully, I didn't need to work, but I enjoyed it. The restaurant was a great place, and it was how I afforded the tools for my projects. I called a cab to take me to the restaurant, and listening to music while I waited. Suddenly, Bubble was at my side, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

"Hey girl." I bent down to scratch her.

"Damnit Bubble!" I looked up to see Damien running across the road. Scooping her up in my arms, I held her out to him.

"I'm sorry Ella. She's obsessed with the squirrels around here." He said.

"It's fine."

He walked away without another word. I glanced at the fence in his yard.

"Hey!" I called to him. He turned to look at me. "I can see where she's been digging under the fence. You might want to pour cement or something underneath it."

He nodded. "Thanks."

My cab pulled up then, and I climbed in, giving the driver my destination. I looked in the mirror, but Damien was gone. The cab driver was chatty, but I wasn't in the mood to talk. Eventually, he gave up trying to make conversation with me. When we got to the restaurant, I paid him and got out.

"Hey Ella!" I turned to see Sandy walking up.

I knew she had a reputation, the whole town did. However, I never judged her; It was her life after all. She was actually really sweet, and one of the few people I felt comfortable around. She was also one of the few people who had never bullied me. I enjoyed working with her.

"Hey Sandy."

"Girl, when are you going to get a car? Cabs are such a waste of money!" She exclaimed as we walked in.

"I'd rather pay five bucks for a cab than forty bucks in gas." I replied.

"Huh. True."

I went to the back to get my apron, notepad and pen. Saturdays were always super busy here because it was our karaoke night. But the tips were great. Just as I walked back out to the front, a group of ten was walking in. Sandy and I went to take their orders.

We worked non-stop, well into the evening. I glanced at the clock; Nine thirty. A couple more hours to go. More people were coming in for the bar now, and since I technically wasn't allowed to serve alcohol until I was nineteen, I entertained the customers with light talk, and brought them their food.

"Ladies and gentleman, karaoke is officially open!" Our manager, Ben, announced from the stage. He was about fifty, with salt and pepper hair, and a beer gut. But he was funny and easy going. People starting flocking to the stage, putting down their names and the songs they wanted.

"Hey, table six wants to order food." Sandy said to me. I nodded.

When I turned, I froze. Damien and the teachers from last week were sitting at the table.

Fuck sakes.

"What are you waiting for? Go." She nudged me, and I reluctantly went to take their orders.

"Hey, Ella!" Mr. Vanner said. Damien looked up, and I tried my best to ignore him.

"Hey guys. The usual?" I asked.

"Yes, please. But can we add another large? We're staying for a while." Mr. Smith said.

Great... I thought. But I smiled. "Sure. Anything else?"

They shook their heads and I went to put their orders in.

"Two large pizzas, pepperoni and extra cheese, and one medium, same!" I called to the cooks through the window. They nodded and got to work. Waiting by the window, I listened to a woman completely destroy Taylor Swifts "Shake it off". Saturdays were always fifty/fifty when it came to karaoke. Some people in town could sing, others sounded like drowning cats.

"Order up!" The cook placed the pizzas on the window, and I placed one in each hand, and balanced the other on my forearm. I dodged a lot of tipsy customers on my way back to the table.

"Here you go guys." I said, setting the pizzas down.

"Thanks Ella." Mr. Smith smiled. "You getting up there tonight?" He pointed to the stage.

"God no. Nobody needs to hear me sing." I laughed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damien giving me a look, which I ignored. I focused on the rest of the group, keeping my forced smile in place.

"Flag me down if you need anything else."

"For sure." Mr. Vanner raised his glass and they cheered.

Just then, I heard my name come over the microphone. I turned to see a very unbalanced, very drunk Jason. Oh God. He wasn't going to ask me to the dance again, publicly?

"This one is,-" He burped into the microphone,"- Thisis for Elllllla!" He slurred. I winced. I spotted his group of friends sitting near the stage. They weren't in my section, so I hadn't even known they were here. They must have come from the party Megan went to.

Jason's face was hard and weirdly focused as he fished out a piece of paper from his pocket. He held it up to the crowd drunkenly.

"I wrote this!" He said proudly.

"Do you know him?" Sandy came up beside me.

"He's a kid from my school." I explained.

"He's a blubbering mess." She said. I nodded in agreement.

"Ahem! Ella!" Jason yelled. "The other day... I went to your HOUSE!-" He stumbled a little to the right,"- And asked you to... to the home c-coming dance! But you said NO! N-now I understand why. You seeeee-" He dropped the paper and addressed the crowd,"- Ella is a b***h!" He stage whispered.

I tensed. Sandy gasped. Jason located me in the crowd, and pointed. The entire restaurant turned to stare at me.

"M-maybe if you weren't suchhhh a b***h, you're parents would have stayed around to love you!" He said.

Tears sprang to my eyes at his words.

"Oh, hell no!" Sandy yelled.

"ELLA, YOU DESERVE TO HAVE NOBODY!" Jason screamed. "You don't even have any friends, not surprising!" He waved his hand dismissively. "Lonely little Elllla, you're not worth the dirt on my shoe! Y-your parents are lucky they didn't have to stay and watch what a loser you've become-"

Ben flew through the restaurant and up to the stage, yanking the microphone out of Jason's hands. He manhandled him through the crowd and out the door. I looked around to see faces of shock, pity, and anger. His friends looked equally shocked, but also embarrassed.

Tears were running freely down my cheeks, and I choked back a sob.

"Ella-" Sandy put her hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off, running to the back exit that led to the parking lot.

"Ella!" Ben came running after me. "Oh God, Ella, I'm so sorry! I was on the phone in my office. Are you okay?"

I shook my head, covering my face with my hands.

"Okay, it's okay." He rubbed my shoulder, but it did very little to comfort me. " Go home. Take the rest of the night off, and tomorrow too. And don't worry, I'm having a picture of him put up behind the bar. He's not allowed back in here." Ben said angrily.

I mumbled out a thank you. "C-can y-you get m-my purse?" I stammered between my tears.

"Sure. Hang tight." He ran in the back door and was back in record time. "I'm sorry Ella." He apologized again. I nodded and just left.

I cried the whole way home. The walk from the middle of town took me thirty minutes, but the tears wouldn't stop. I never dreamed Jason would do something so horrible. Part of me wondered if he had actually liked me. Too bad that he just ruined any chance of ever getting on my good side.

When I got home, I stumbled into the house and dropped my stuff, making my way to the couch. Laying down, hugging one of the throw pillows, I cried harder in the privacy of my house. I'd been bullied before, but nobody had ever insinuated that my parents chose to leave me. Jason's words struck me over and over again, piercing my heart painfully.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I ignored it. But it rang again. And again. I rolled off the couch, intending to slap whoever was at the door. Worse, if it was Jason again. But when I opened the door, it was Damien standing on my doorstep. The expression on his face was pure worry. Nothing could justify what I did in response to seeing him standing there. I flung myself into his arms, a fresh sob breaking through my chest.

He walked us into the house, kicking the door shut behind him. Practically carrying me back to the living room, he sat us down together, pulling me closer into his chest, rubbing my back. I sobbed into his shirt, wringing the material in my hands.

"Shh Ella. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that happened." He whispered.

"H-h-he n-needs to d-die!"

"I one hundred percent agree with you."

I buried my face into the space between his neck and shoulder, staining his shirt with more tears while he continued to rub my back gently. After a long, long while, my tears slowed, my breathing slowing down. Neither of us said anything for a while.

"Why did you come here?" I whispered finally.

"I was worried about you. And I wanted to apologize."

I shook my head. "What Jason did wasn't your fault."

"I'm not apologizing for him. He needs to do that himself. I'm apologizing from me."

I leaned back, looking at his face. He looked so sad.

"I'm sorry for treating you harshly. You were right, I was being an ass. Can you please forgive me Ella?" He still had his arms around me.

I nodded.

"Thank you."

"Tell me why." I said after a minute. I wanted him to explain why he suddenly started ignoring my existence, except to be rude to me on occasion.

"I can't." He said.

I looked down. My chest felt tight again. I was a stupid teenager, with a stupid crush. He shouldn't be here with me, like this. He shouldn't be here at all.

"You should go." I whispered.

He didn't move.

"Seriously, Damien."

Still, he didn't budge. I pushed against his chest, fresh tears welling up.

"I said GO!" I shouted.

"Ella-"

"No! Just leave me alone Damien!" I shoved him again, a new torrent of tears spilling down my cheeks. He grabbed my hands, holding my wrists together in one of his. He wrapped his other hand around the back of my neck, bringing his face an inch away from mine.

"Stop Ella."

I turned my face away from his. My cheeks were flaming with embarrassment. He released my hands to tilt my face back to his. I closed my eyes.

"Ella."

"Go away." I mumbled.

"Ella, look at me." His voice was firm and commanding.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. He took his hand from under my chin and placed it on my cheek. He looked into my eyes as I cried.

"What can I do to make this better? Right here, right now, tell me how I can help you." He said in a rough voice.

I wanted to tell him to leave. To leave me alone. But looking at him, I couldn't form the words. It was wrong, it was stupid, but I wanted him. More than I'd ever wanted anything.

Before I could do the sensible thing, the right thing, the words tumbled from my lips.

"Kiss me."

His eyes darkened and then I felt him crash his lips to mine, my world exploding.