The Girl in the Hoodie is Mine

Jason’s POV:

I waited. And waited. Sitting at home like an idiot, expecting the hoodie girl to show up. I had told her ’my place at seven’, and she had the audacity to blow me off. Who did she think she was? No texts, no call, nothing. Not that I had her number anyway, but still—most girls would’ve found a way to let me know they couldn’t make it. Then again, this wasn’t like most girls. She was something else entirely, and I couldn’t decide if it pissed me off more or made me even more intrigued.

I spent half the night staring at my phone, waiting for some snarky message or a lame excuse, but nope. Silent. She really didn’t give a shit, did she? That annoyed me more than I’d like to admit.

I paced around my living room, checking the clock every five minutes like an idiot. Seven o’clock turned into eight, and then eight-thirty. Still no sign of her. The hoodie girl—Ella—whatever her name was, had completely blown me off.

I wasn’t used to this. People didn’t ignore me, let alone straight-up ditch me. If anything, they went out of their way to make sure they were on time for my schedule, not the other way around. But this girl? She acted like I wasn’t even worth her time. My patience was running thin.

By nine, I was done pretending like I wasn’t pissed. I threw my phone onto the couch and ran a hand through my hair, frustrated as hell. It was one thing for her to reject the partner switch in class—whatever, maybe she didn’t want to work with me—but to blow off our meeting? What the hell was her problem?

I pulled up our assignment on my laptop, trying to figure out how much of this I could do on my own. I wasn’t about to let her sabotage my grades just because she thought she could act like some untouchable mystery girl. I needed this project done, and it needed to be good. I didn’t trust her to actually pull her weight, especially after she didn’t even bother showing up.

By ten, I’d had enough. I slammed the laptop shut, seething. She was going to pay for wasting my time. I couldn’t help but think about all the other girls who would have jumped at the chance to be alone with me, let alone work on a stupid project together. Girls like Amber, who practically threw themselves at me, begging for attention. And then there was her—Ella, who couldn’t even be bothered to care.

The next day, I walked into school, half-expecting the entire place to be buzzing about how the Jason Knight got stood up by some random girl. But it was the usual—people staring, whispering, and, of course, Amber always lurking nearby. She shot me a concerned look, but I wasn’t in the mood. I ignored her.

As I leaned against my locker, I saw her—the hoodie girl—walking down the hallway, her head down, acting like she didn’t notice the stares or whispers. I smirked. She had no idea what she was walking into. Amber had already made sure people knew what happened. The school was ready to turn on her like a pack of wolves. Yet, she looked as unaffected as ever.

I half-thought about walking over, starting something, but nah—I’d let her sweat a little. Instead, I gave her a smug smile, letting her know I hadn’t forgotten about last night. Her eyes flicked toward me for a second before she pulled her hood further over her head and kept walking.

Damn, this girl was harder to crack than I thought.

Later, during class, the teacher reminded us about the project. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me again, waiting for me to make a move. I was the one people looked to when something needed to happen, and clearly, they expected me to handle this situation with the hoodie girl. But I wasn’t about to make a scene—yet.

When the bell rang, I sauntered over to her desk, taking my time like I had all day. She didn’t even look up as I approached.

"Nice of you to skip out on our meeting last night," I said, leaning against her desk with the same arrogance that usually worked like a charm.

She didn’t even flinch. "I had a shift," she replied flatly, shoving her books into her bag.

I gritted my teeth, irritated by her nonchalant tone. "Yeah? You didn’t seem too concerned about my time."

Finally, she looked up, her eyes narrowing as she met my gaze. "I have a job. Not everyone has the luxury of sitting around and playing pretend with school projects."

That stung more than I’d like to admit. Was she really comparing my life to hers, acting like I didn’t have responsibilities? Sure, I didn’t have to work some dead-end job, but I still had things to do—important things.

"So, what’s the plan, then?" I shot back, my voice a little sharper. "Because I’m not doing this whole thing by myself."

"Neither am I," she said just as sharply. "I’ll do my part. You do yours."

I raised an eyebrow. "How about we actually work together? That’s usually how partnerships go." I tried to keep my voice steady, but damn, this girl was frustrating.

She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I’m not interested in hanging out at your place, Knight. If you want to work on this, we can meet at the library after school. Take it or leave it."

The nerve of her. Telling *me* where we were going to meet? Still, I crossed my arms and smirked down at her, pretending her little act of defiance didn’t irritate me. "Fine. Library it is. But don’t waste my time again."

She rolled her eyes, brushing past me like I was nothing. It took everything in me not to grab her arm and make her listen, but no—I’d play it cool. Let her think she had control. She wasn’t going to get away with this attitude for much longer.

As she walked away, I couldn’t help but watch her. The way she acted so unaffected, like nothing could touch her—it was almost impressive. Almost. But she’d learn soon enough that no one brushed me off like that. If she thought she could just slide by without making an effort, she had another thing coming.

Whatever game she thought she was playing, she wasn’t going to win. Not against me.