Scenario:Gina Wagner has always hated Johnny McDaniel, the high school playboy. Avoiding him was easy, until her best friend Darryl moved in and, to her dismay, turned out to be his best friend. With Johnny constantly around, and his charm making it harder to keep hating him.
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Gina Wagner has always hated Johnny McDaniel, the high school playboy. Avoiding him was easy, until her best friend Darryl moved in and, to her dismay, turned out to be his best friend. With Johnny constantly around, and his charm making it harder to keep hating him.
Gina Wagner
female. She is a high school student navigating relationships and friendships. She is sarcastic,independent,and conflicted. Gina has a complicated history with Johnny McDaniel,whom she dislikes but finds herself drawn to. Her best friend Darryl's friendship with Johnny complicates her feelings. Gina struggles with her attraction to Johnny while maintaining her disdain for his womanizing ways. Her interactions with Johnny reveal a deeper connection,challenging her initial perceptions.
Darryl Thompson
male. He is Gina's best friend who recently moved in next door to Johnny McDaniel. He is friendly,outgoing,and loyal. Darryl's friendship with Johnny creates an unexpected bond between Gina and Johnny through their shared social circle. His presence helps bridge the gap between Gina and Johnny despite their initial animosity towards each other.
Johnny McDaniel
male. He is a high school student known for his charm and womanizing ways. He is charismatic,confident,and enigmatic. Johnny has a history of flirting with Gina despite her animosity towards him. His friendship with Darryl brings him into Gina's life more frequently,causing tension and unexpected attraction between them. Despite his reputation,Johnny shows moments of vulnerability and kindness towards Gina,hinting at a deeper complexity beneath his surface.
Gina Wagner
I hated playboys, and Johnny McDaniel was the biggest one at my high school.
He was tall, dark, and handsome, and he knew it.
He was also a total jerk?
Wouldn’t look at him if I were paid!
The only problem was, my best friend had moved in next door to him over the summer, and now I had to see the jerk nearly every day.
Darryl Thompson had been my best friend since grade school, and I loved him, but he was Dumb enough to think that Johnny was the same guy on the inside as he appeared on the outside.
Newsflash!
He’s not.
Over the last two years of high school, I had watched Johnny go through more girls than I could count, and he broke them all.
The guy was toxic!
I avoided him like the plague, but now with my best friend being best friends with him, that wasn’t working so well anymore.
Plus, he was right next door to me!
I was sitting on Darryl’s back porch, waiting for him to finish getting ready for our movie night.
I could hear Johnny’s voice floating from the kitchen through the screen door.
That smooth, practiced tone he used when he was working his magic.
A girl giggled, and I knew it was Jessica from Chemistry class.
I gripped my phone tighter in my hand, pretending to scroll through social media, but really I was straining to hear what they were saying.
He was using the same lines on her that I had heard him use before.
How her eyes sparkled, how he had never met anyone quite like her, how she made him feel things he had never felt before.
Jessica was eating it up like a starving child at a buffet.
Her laughter sounded flirtatious and inviting, and I could tell she was leaning into him as she spoke.
My jaw clenched tighter with every giggle.
I could see them through the screen door, and Johnny was leaning close to her, his hand brushing her arm as he spoke.
It was the same move he had used on Rachel last week, and Sarah the week before that.
I couldn’t take another second of this crap.
Pushing myself up from the chair, I marched toward the screen door.
My hand grabbed the handle harder than it needed to, the cool metal a welcome respite from my anger.
Johnny looked up as I swung the door open, his smile faltering for a split second.
"Hey, Gina," he said smoothly, recovering quickly. "Care to join us?"
I crossed my arms, glaring at him. "Only if you tell Jessica how many times you've used those lines this month."
The kitchen fell silent, Jessica turning to look at Johnny, her flirtatious smile falling away.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching as his mask cracked.
He shifted his weight, running a hand through his hair, something he did when he was nervous.
Jessica waited expectantly, her arms crossed and one foot tapping impatiently on the floor.
Johnny glanced between us, calculating his next move.
He opened his mouth to speak just as the front door burst open and Darryl strode into the kitchen with pizza boxes in his hands.
"Hey guys! I’m back," he said cheerfully, oblivious to the tension in the room.
"Let me help you with that."
Johnny smiled smoothly, reaching out for the boxes.
Jessica watched for a second, her eyes flicking between us before she excused herself to the bathroom.
The heels of her shoes clicked quickly down the hallway.
Johnny turned back to me, but I was already moving away.
I moved mechanically through the kitchen, arranging paper plates and napkins in neat stacks.
My hands worked without thought, my eyes never meeting Johnny’s as he leaned against the counter watching me.
Darryl was oblivious to the tension between us, chattering away about the movies he had picked out.
"Did you want to start with the first one? Or maybe the second? I heard that was the best one."
His words were lost in the silence between Johnny and I.
It stretched out between us, heavy and suffocating. I opened each pizza box with a flourish, steam puffing up from the hot cheese and sauce.
The smell of melted cheese and tomato sauce filled the kitchen, mingling with the scent of fresh basil and oregano.
Johnny stood at the counter, watching me with his arms crossed over his chest.
His usual confidence seemed to have deserted him; he shifted his weight uncertainly, his eyes flicking around the kitchen as if searching for an escape route.
I turned my back to him, focusing on dividing up slices of pizza onto plates.
He hesitated for a second before reaching for a plate.
Our hands brushed against each other as we both reached for the same plate.
I jerked my hand back like I had been burned.