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Damien's POV

At first, Luca hated me.

Which made messing with him even more fun.

I'd flick spitballs at the back of his head in class. He'd retaliate by "accidentally" spilling juice on my notebook. I'd find a way to switch out his lunch for something ridiculously spicy, and he'd respond by planting a stink bomb in my locker.

It escalated quickly.

I should've known it would backfire though. Because, while Luca might not have looked like it, he was wickedly smart. His pranks were next-level. One time, he convinced me my shirt was on inside-out so I'd take it off to check, only to be pelted with paintballs from a group of very dedicated onlookers.

I was equal parts furious and insanely impressed.

So, I did the only logical thing. I stole his phone and changed every single one of his contacts to a different cartoon character.

Which was all fun and games until he refused to change it back for a month, meaning I spent four weeks being called 'SpongeBob" whenever I texted him.

I spent hours figuring out exactly which buttons I could press. I made fun of his oversized sweaters. I ruffled his hair like he was a kid. I called him cute to see him explode about how he was not cute, dammit.

"You're like a tiny, angry kitten." I had laughed once.

He'd thrown a shoe at me.

Which, in hindsight, should've been another clue. I mean, what kind of person actually throws a show at someone?

Luca Moretti, apparently

And still, I kept coming back for more.

Did this whole thing just make me like him more? Obviously.

Oh. Oh, I'm screwed.

Somewhere between Luca trying to stand up for me, watching Luca argue with a vending machine, saving him from his own pranks, and being the person he called when he inevitably made things worse for himself, I started to notice things.

Like how his nose scrunched when he was frustrated. How his hands moved animatedly when he was passionate about something. How his laughter was always just a bit too loud but I never wanted him to stop.

And how I loved pressing his buttons just to see his face flush.

"You infuriate me," he grumbled once, as I leaned into his space.

"You love it," I shot back.

And then, one day, something shifted.

It was supposed to be another one of Luca's dumb ideas. He'd heard a rumor that the rival school had better cafeteria food (spoiler alert: they didn't), and for some reason, that meant we had to break in at night and steal their menu.

"Why are we doing this?" I whispered, crouched beside him in the bushes.

Luca gave me a sly grin. "For science."

"Are you sure it's not just because you lost a bet with Marco and now you have to prove their chicken tenders  aren't better than ours?"

"...okay, maybe it's a little bit of that too." he admitted.

I rolled my eyes but followed him anyways, because of course I did.

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