The Boy With The Black & White Guitar [Luke Hemmings Story]

chapter twenty-one

(Reese)

"Don't think too much about it."

"It's not that easy for someone like me, I'm going to look like a fool."

"Fitting in isn't everything."

Luke and I stood before the stairs leading up the the double doors. School has opened again, and Thanksgiving break is offically over. I've spent the last few days helping Nana get Ron settled with everything and haven't spoken to Luke during the whole process. I needed time with my brother and to know that things were going well, I couldn't be distracted.

Now, I must face the one thing that had me shaking like an idiot on my way here.

Showing the whole school that I was his.

"I g-get anxiety over these things Luke." I stammered. 

"I'm that ugly that you don't want anyone to know you're dating me?" Luke said jokingly.

I laughed, hitting him playfully on his arm. "You know it isn't like that. I'm doing something that's going to bring a lot of attention on me."

Being in front of a class to do a presentation is nerve wrecking, but it's reliving that you can just get it over with and everyone can go on about their day. But this was entirely different. This was something that I was going to be judge on and people would never stop talking about. Luke made a name for himself, and even if he wasn't interested in being popular anymore, people still wonder what he's up to. That's high-school for you.

"Don't think about everyone. Look at me," I slowly raised my head up and was met with his bright blue eyes. They were filled with so much admiration and it made me feel a bit more calm. "I'm doing this because I'm not ashamed of what we have. I love you."

He has his way with words, Reese thought.

I knew that fairytales were nowhere near real, but I felt like the most special girl in the entire world.

"I love you too, noddle." I giggled as he cringed at the nickname, before intertwining our hands as the both of us opened the double doors and stepped inside of the school. It happened so quickly that it almost made me run back outside. We were only walking and people had their eyes glued on us, my head dropping down to look at the ground.

"Ignore them, baby." Luke told me, turning them to the corner where my locker was. He leaned against it as I started to get the materials I needed for first period. 

"I've never been so nervous in my life. I felt like the little kid that peed on the carpet in front of everyone," He chuckled at my statement and wrapped his arms from behind me, the sudden PDA startling me. "This feels so nice, but I could feel people staring at us."

Luke hummed in response. "Forget those assholes. I haven't seen you in weeks, let the noddle have his fun." 

"You're such a dork." I laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. It would have been smart not to even attempt to give him a kiss before she knew he'll want more, and I was right. He started to give me small little pecks on my face and nose, my small hands falling to his chest to push him away.

"Calm yo self noddle." I said warningly, as he pouted at me.

-

I was thankful that Luke had first period with me because things started to get worse. Instead of people just staring I could hear the words they were saying. Calling me a rebound chick and throwing as many insults about my appearance. Luke pulled me close to him and guided us to the back of the classroom. I was fine knowing that he was with me, until I locked eyes with Riley.

"Well, I see you moved on fast Lukey," She stood up from her desk and walked over to us, Luke giving her a frown. "You downgraded to average after dating me."

He rolled his eyes. "You can't go a day without bothering someone, can you?"

Putting her hands on her hips, she sent him a glare. "I've always thought you was a person with more sense around here. But I see you trust people so much that you never think of the consequences after." Luke didn't seem phased at her words but she looked over at me. If this was me back then I would have looked down at my feet from her stare, but instead I looked at her back. She wouldn't be a threat to my relationship, I'm not going to let her.

"Luke, can I speak to Riley for a few minutes?" I asked. He turned to me with a puzzled expression, as Riley crossed her arms. 

"Reese, are you s-" I stood on my tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "Everything is fine. Just trust me." Luke still looked hesitant about leaving me alone with Riley, but soon nodded and walked past us to go to his seat.

When I was sure he was away from us, I stepped up to her. "What are you trying to pull here Riley?" 

She fake gasped. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Excuse my shock, this is the first time I actually seen you try to stand up for yourself, dyke."

"I'm not trying to start any feud with you, Riley. We never really had a full conversation without it being about Luke. It's getting pretty overrated."

Riley chuckled. "The only thing overrating is that someone like you actually had the audacity to try to steal my boyfriend."

"It isn't stealing if what you guys had was never that official."

"Keep talking, dyke. What you say is going to bite you in the ass sooner or later."

"This was only confrontation. You've done far worse," The bell rung for class to start and everyone started to head to their seats. She stomped off towards her desk as I made my way beside Luke, his blue eyes eager to know what happened.

"What did you say to her?" He questioned. 

I didn't want to lie to him. It was his ex and even when she doesn't have any part in our relationship, she always found a way to be involved some how. The last thing she needs is for Luke to do something to protect her, they already made their relationship public..her having conflict with Riley was going to make what they have into destruction. She couldn't let that happen.

"I tried to make friends with her but she refused. I didn't expect much anyways." I lied, sending him a shrug, Mrs. Gladstone's sudden instructed causing her to look in her direction.

"Making friends with her isn't going to make her hate us any less. Besides, you have Connie, the guys, and me as your friends. Didn't you hear, were the main squad." He did a small gangster pose, making me laugh.

She wasn't going to let anyone ruin her happiness, not even a jealous ex. 

Author's End Note : My reasons for not updating for an entire year has no excuse. It was mainly because of school and the lack of motivation to finish this story. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I started to reminisce on all of the things I worked on that I realized that this story must be finished. You guys helped me get so many views and left comments on every chapter that either made me laugh or smile all the time. There are moments where I've written chapters for this story and was sad, but just seeing those positive feedbacks from all of you is what kept me going until chapter twenty. I'm not going to leave you guys hanging and decided to do what I've always planned to do, and that was to finish this story as best as possible for all of you. I appreciate the support and it's all because of my readers, so thank you - LEXI