Original Love

Erica’s POV:

The little piece of paper in her hand seemed to glare at her as the days passed. Ever since she had gotten home from the Glamour Kills photo shoot and found it she had been trying to decide what to do with it. Over the last three days since she had found it she had come up with a few very interesting ideas but they really didn’t help her make the final decision to call or not. From the time she had found the number and now, she had been trying to find another job so she wasn’t just sitting in her apartment doing nothing but stare at the piece of paper. But finding a job wasn’t actually happening since she ended up always thinking about the paper.

She had found the piece of paper after the shoot was done and she was packing up all her things. As she had been putting her camera back gently in its bag, her eye caught something at the bottom of the bag and when she picked it up and read it, she ended up dropping it to the floor in shock. When she had finally composed herself enough, she looked around the room for the author of the note but he was nowhere to be seen. The cocky sneaky asshole had left before she had time to give the note back and decline.

But now, she was sort of glad she wasn’t able to. There was something strange, and slightly annoying, about the boy. He seemed full of himself and way too proud but behind all that Erica had a feeling was something more. She could see in his eyes that they didn’t match the attitude he always had. His eyes seemed almost shy and unsure of himself and hid it behind his cocky demeanor. And that reminded Erica of herself, maybe that was why she had actually kept the paper. Maybe she kept it so that she could slowly tear down the walls Jack had up and see him for his true self and not the jerk he came off to be.

And she could totally relate to that. That had been her back before she had moved to Baltimore. Back in Texas, she had pretended to be someone she wasn’t just to please the people around her. They made her feel like the only way to fit in and be happy was to be someone she wasn’t. She had lived like that for 20 years right up until her 21st birthday when she finally decided to put an end to her fake, unhappy life and start a new one. So she told her parents she was leaving, packed up all her things, and left without turning back. A person could only hold up a front for so long before it started to crack and their true self shone through, it only happens in a matter of time. And for Erica, it was 21 years. She had no one around to help her break it down but maybe she could be there for Jack to break down his walls.

Sure he probably didn’t act like that around all his close friends, but to the rest of the world he did. He came off as the cocky sex God of a rockstar who didn’t give a care about anyone else. But she knew that there was more to him than that. And she was intrigued to know the real him. To see what was hidden underneath.

Maybe that was why she kept going back to that little piece of paper with the seven digits scribbled on it. But she was afraid of what might happen. She already gave up so much, taking a risk and finding out that it was actually a good risk. But was she ready to take another? She wasn’t a big risk taker and it had taken her all her courage to up and leave her home to start a new life. Thankfully it turned out better than she had thought it would, but not all risks turn out as well as this one did. What would happen if she took this one? There was always that chance that it wouldn’t turn out well. And was she really willing to let someone else in so soon after breaking all her ties back home? What if it turned out just like back home and she turned into someone she wasn’t and hide behind a mask again because she was too scared to show her true self? She didn’t know if she would be able to handle that again.

Groaning in frustration, she let the note float down on her desk and she pushed her chair out from under it and stood. Turning on her heel, she rushed out her room to go and find something else to do so she would stop freaking out over those seven little numbers scribbled in horrible writing.

Realizing that it was nearly noon, her stomach growled as if she had an internal alarm going off telling her it was noon and time to eat. Although she was happy for it since it meant that she would have a distraction against all the thoughts in her head.

Walking into her kitchen, she rummaged through her cupboards to find something and settled for making something so it took longer and she would put her whole focus on what she was making instead of what had been troubling her for so long now. Grabbing all the things she needed, she set to work, hooking her iPod up to her portable speakers, filling the room with music as she continued to make her masterpiece.

A half hour later, she was done. Plating her food, she made her way back into her small little living room and plopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote. She didn’t have her cable installed yet so she was managing by playing movies since nothing really good was on the local channels.

By the time she was finished though, her mind had wandered back to Jack’s number. She found herself with her phone in front of her and the memorized numbers already dialed into the phone and an option to either call to text on the screen under it. Before she knew it, she had pressed the text button and a short message was typed out and her thumb was hovering over the send button.

Should she do it? Or should she delete it like all the others? She didn’t understand why she was always doing this to herself, making her worry and wonder if it was the right thing to do or if it would end horribly. There was no way to know the future and the only way to see how this was actually going to work out was to take a risk and press send. She had taken a risk by moving to Baltimore and starting a new life. Why not just take another risk and see how it turns out?

And that was exactly what convinced her to press the button and watch as her phone sent it off to the mysterious boy.