teach me ✿❀ luke

❀ chapter four ❀

shoutout to rainbow rowell for inspiring me to get off my butt and get this show on the road. love you mom

Luke felt him smiling a lot more now that Chessie was in his life. they had been talking for a week whenever she wasn't in class and doing homework and the same was said for Luke, though he texted her a lot more than she texted him. with her, he didn't care about double texting or however many texts he sent because she knew that she'd make fun of him. some part of him was always looking forward to her snarky replies.

it went farther than a hook up with her. yes, he did want to and he'd find a way to eventually but that wasn't the first thing on his mind. he really liked how she put him in his place and it made him wonder if that role would be the same in the bedroom. he hadn't taken his wall down with her yet but they definitely gathered a lot of information about one another through the words shared at eleven pm, the haunted hour just before bed.

he didn't lose the person he pretended to be and it got him in trouble too. she told him off for his attitude and his disrespect towards women more times than either of them could keep track of. it wasn't something that he was born with but instead something that he learned over the years from his father in the company and the cool boys on the playground. he didn't even realize half of the things that he said were hated by women. he just picked up on them and was taught how to say them by society and experience.

just as many times as Chessie had to tell Luke off for being a sexist rat, he had moments where he just wanted to be the kind of guy who could talk to that kind of girl genuinely. he wanted to get to know everything about her and shower her with gifts of her favorite things from the sumptuous amount of money his parents allotted him. he wanted to

but then he remembered who he was and what he ultimately wanted so he laughed off that idea. why be the best guy a girl could ask for when you can be the mysterious, bad boy with a bad attitude and dark past? even when girls say they want the nerds who can treat them right, they all secretly want the nerd's older brother who could do them so wrong.

"what's with the random smirk?" Jem asked as he brushed his too silver mane out of his oceanic blue eyes once again. "I can't tell if it's odd or just mildly ominous."

"I was just thinking about this girl," Luke replied dismissively just as Ashton - the last person he wanted to see in that moment - and Michael sauntered up to their usual spot in the intersection where the three busiest hallways met.

"what," Ashton asked, "like really think about her, or just thinking of ways to get her into your hotel room?"

he rolled his eyes in response but clarified, "a little bit of both."

"oh my god," Ashton gasped, then mockingly fell to the ground. "I never thought this day would come. I think I'm having heart palpitations."

"get up, asshat," Michael told his obnoxious best friend who was laughing at himself as he stood back up.

Ashton had not recovered from laughter and breathlessly demanded, "no but seriously, tell us about her, you prick."

truthfully Luke had no idea what she looked like. for some reason he could picture a girl resembling Effy Stonem, based on how she spoke to him. a few inches taller than average height and black, long, straight hair to match the dark but not completely gothic makeup always on her face. he could imagine her smoking herself thin and screaming from rooftops about the injustices in our world.

"I just started talking to her a week ago!" the only reason why Luke was protesting was because he didn't want to tell Ashton about her. there was something about their conversations - and her in general - that he wanted to keep all to himself. if he told his friends now, they'd think he totally gave up his need to hook up with the smartest and hottest girls of the school.