ELISSA ZAEDEN HAD always been in love with Ashton Testa.

At eighteen, she might not have known what love exactly was, but she was certain she was in love with the boy with brown hair and green eyes. She doesn't remember not loving him. It had been Ashton since the minute she had laid her eyes on him. She admits that she didn't know him much because they hadn't spoken about anything other than boring math problems and terrible lunch food served at their cafeteria. After all, high school cafeteria food is supposed to taste bad, right?

It always broke her heart when he did not acknowledge her. Whenever she tried talking to him, he would give her a polite smile and nod his head to show her that he was listening. It wasn't like he hated her or anything; it was nothing personal but he just did not want to get involved with the brunette with a flirty smile.

Ashton had a hunch that she was into him so he always let her down easily, careful not to hurt her feelings. He was nice like that. Whenever she asked him to help her with a math problem, he did. He was naïve; he did not know she was only doing that to spend time with him so once he realised, he stopped. He stopped helping her with her math problems, making an excuse saying that he had an upcoming game to practise for or he had to study for his biology test; the list of his excuses could go on and on.

However, he admits that he did find Elissa pretty. It was kind of hard not to, to be honest. She had the prettiest brown hair with the kind of shine and bounce girls craved for. She had those kind of hazel eyes that drew you in and made you want to stare in them all day, those that made you want to search for secrets but they gave away none. She was gorgeous and she knew that. Not only did her looks attract boys, but her personality did, too. She carried herself with confidence and she had an aura of superiority surrounding her. She had a little strut while she walked, her Louboutin heels clacking on the floor, making several heads turn.

Elissa was no stranger to male attention. She liked it, scratch that, she loved it– she basked in it. She took in all the attention like a sponge, growing bigger and bigger, but still absorbing it all anyway. She went on several dates, toying around with boys like nobody's business. She was apathetic about their feelings, not giving a damn if she hurt them.

Anyway, Ashton had his fair share of dates, too. Nothing too serious, but not too causal either. He went on dates with the girls he thought he could come to love. It wasn't as if he didn't have any female attention. Being a part of the football team and being one of the top scorers of the school had it perks.

The only reason Ashton was keeping away from Elissa was because he did not want to become another pawn in her game. He did not want to be another trophy in her collection. He was a human, not some thing that Elissa wanted, then got, and then threw away after she was done with it. He wasn't a fucking bubble gum which she would chew until he lost all of his flavour.

Ashton Testa wanted to date Elissa Zaeden but he would never.