BREAKING WALLS
1254 Words
By Thursday, something in Aria had shifted. She had started to lower the walls she had carefully built around her heart. Their conversations had become routine, between classes, during lunch, after school, and somehow, they kept ending up in the same places, talking like old friends.
Damian learned that Aria hated Wednesday. She found the day odd. She hated the colour yellow and sketched when she had something on her mind.
He noticed how her sketches were always done in pencil first, then inked later. She always smelled faintly like vanilla and lavender. She hates overly crowded places but is always surrounded by people.
She told him she had moved seven times in the last five years. She did not have social media. She missed her dad, even if she did not say it out loud.
She became more than a challenge.
She became someone he wanted to know.
Aria learned that Damian played the violin in secret. He only played football to keep his dad happy. That his mom had walked out when he was ten and never looked back. Sometimes, even the most popular guy in school could feel completely alone.
He started to forget the bet entirely and focused on getting to know her better.
He made her laugh once. She denied it.
He noticed her eyes lingered longer than before. She did not pull away like before.
“You know, you are not that bad to talk to,” she muttered while fiddling with her bracelet.
“Hmm, it looks like someone is falling for my handsomeness.”
“Second thoughts, I take that back,” she replied as she stood up, clutching her sketchpad, preparing to walk away from him.
“Hey, wait,” he calls from behind.
But she was already out of earshot when he called after her.
Aria was busy with classes for the entirety of the day. She did not see Damian till her last class.
He sat beside her like usual but did not make any attempts to communicate with her. She kept glancing at him to see if he would make small talks.
The classroom buzzed softly with the rustle of notebook pages and the scratch of pen on paper, Mr. Miller’s voice droned on about how inflation and interest rates affected the economy of a country.
Then it happened quickly, quiet and almost unnoticed. Aria slid a folded piece of paper across the desk without looking at him.
Damian blinked, heart suddenly alert. He leaned down casually, picking up the small folded square of paper. No one seemed to notice, not even Mr. Miller.
He opened it carefully beneath the desk, careful not to make a sound.
Aria.
And her number, written in clean, slanted handwriting. No extra notes. Just her name and number. Just her trust.
He looked up.
She was staring straight ahead again, her face unreadable and void of emotions, one hand holding her pen, the other pressed flat against her notebooks as if nothing had happened.
But he could see tension in her hunched shoulders, the way she avoided looking sideways again. Like she had given something small, but it meant everything.
And somehow, for the first time, Damian did not feel like he had won a bet.
He felt like he had just just been given something breakable, and he had no idea what to do with it.
He wondered if he should just lie to his friends and that he failed to collect her number, but that would be accepting defeat. His ego would be bruised.
Aria finally tilted her head to the side, offering a faint smile at him, unaware of the storm building in his chest.
And just like that, the memories returned.
“No chance she gives you the time of day, bro,” Jace had snorted, jumping off the hood of his car.
“She is basically allergic to boys.”
“Bet you twenty she does not even look at you twice,” Aiden had said.
“Damian Hayes, rejected by the new girl, oh my gosh bro, that would flip the whole school.” Noah had mocked.
That one had stung then.
He made up his mind, he was going to pull through, and he could not let them have the last laugh.
The bell rang, marking the close for the day. Students practically ran out of the class.
“Hey, do not be a stranger,” she told him before telling him goodbye.
Leaving him to stand alone to his thoughts.
Later that night, Aria’s phone buzzed.
Damian: You better save my number on your phone, Rivera.
She smiled faintly at the screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
From the hallway, Aria’s mother called, “Who are you smiling at?”
Aria rolled her eyes. “No one, mom”
Her mother peeked in and raised an eyebrow. “Mmmmm. Is it a boy?”
Aria flushed. “Go away, mom.”
“You know,” her mother teased, “you are allowed to tell me things, even if it is about a boy”
Aria hesitated, heat rising in her cheeks.“His name is Damian.”
A pause.
Her mother sighed, setting her cup down. “You know I do not want you getting hurt.”
“I am not,” Aria said too quickly.
“You are opening up again,” her mom said gently. “And I see that. It scares me a little.”
Aria lowered her gaze. “He is different.”
“They all seem different at first,” her mom replied, her voice tinged with something like sadness. “Untill they show you what they want.”
That stung more than Aria expected.
“I am not naive, mom.”
“No, you are not,” her mother said softly.
“But you are young. And boys like him, popular, confident, sweet mouthed, they know how to make girls feel seen.”
Aria’s voice trembled. “He listens to me. He does not judge.”
Her mother gave a small smile. “Then I hope, for your sake, that it’s real.”
Aria looked away, her heart unsteady
“I just want you to be careful,” her mom added. “I am your mom, I only want what’s best for you.”
Friday came with a chill in the air and pressure riding Damian’s shoulders.
He barely stepped out of the last period before Jace, Noah, and Aiden cornered him at his locker.
“You didn’t get it, did you?” Jace said, smirking.
“Damn, I thought you would pull through,” Aiden added.
Damian pulled the crumpled note from his pocket and held it up.
Jace’s jaw dropped. “No way, I knew she was easy.”
Noah snatched it. “Handwritten? You really got her number?”
“I told you,” Aiden added, smirking. “She is just another girl waiting to be noticed.”
Damian frowned but did not respond. The words just sat wrong with him. Aria was not just another girl. She saw through people, through him. Being with her felt different.
Jace leaned back. “Alright, bet won. But I gotta admit, that was too easy.”
“Too easy?” Damian asked, looking up.
“Yeah, man. Where’s the challenge in just getting a number? Anyone can flirt for five days.”
Jace’s grin turned sharp. “What if we raise the stakes?”
Damian tensed. “What do you mean?"
- Writer
