Forbidden Lullaby || l.h

Chapter 3

Loud music, alcohol shots and slut drops was basically this entire party. About an hour after I arrived I threw up in the bathroom sink and decided I wasn't going to touch another alcoholic beverage for the rest of the night. Though, unfortunately for me that meant sitting outside continuously turning down the offer for pot while a bunch of slackers I've never seen in my life space out and talk about the weird shapes they were seeing were and how the floor was shaking slightly.

"Are you sure you don't want any?" The same guy who's been bugging me for the last half hour asked me from across the yard.

"Positive" I said again, giving him a thumbs up.

"100%?"

I was about to speak up again but someone behind me scoffed and let out an annoyed groan, "Dude. She said she doesn't want any. Leave it at that, dick head."

The voice was familiar and I recognised it from earlier today.

Luke Hemmings.

"Hey luke," I smiled, standing up and dusting myself off. He gave me a once over with his eyes before he gave a short head nod, then he flicked the cigarette between his fingers, making the burnt ash fall to the ground, "You know smoking isn't good for you" I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm not good for you either, yet you keep trying to make conversation with me" He muttered, watching the car driving past with too much intensity. I didn't reply to his comment, mainly because I didn't really know what he meant. He looked down at me and let a puff of smoke out through his nostrils, missing me by a few inches, "I'm not addicted. It's a stress thing" he stated, "one a month can't kill me," he stated, "at least not until I'm 70 and I'm dying of cancer anyway" 

"What is there to be stressed about?" I asked him.

Instead of saying anything, he dropped the smoke on the ground, stepped on it then walked inside without another look in my direction.

"Don't take it personally," one of the girls smoking pot giggled.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"Luke doesn't make new friends" she stated, "He's troubled and distant. Apparently he beat up this guy last year because he was being too nice"

"So he's like a bad boy?" I asked.

"Bad boy my ass" Another guy chuckled. I almost jumped as the blonde boy walked out from behind the darkness of the night, "You guys need to stop believing rumours. One in every million is true. Luke isn't bad, he just doesn't like new people" He explained. I remembered him as the guy Calum was with earlier, though his hair was more out of place now and he looked even more pale under the moon light.

"How would you know?" I asked, sounding more curious than rude.

He chuckled again as he walked past me, stopping at my ear as he spoke softly, "We're in a band together" He stated before he began to walk inside.

"Wait!" I yelled. He turned around, one eyebrow raised, a small smile on his lips, "Whats your name?"

He stood there for a few seconds, the smile slowly turning into a smirk, "Michael, but you can call me later" he winked before tipping his head back in laughter and walking inside. I rolled my eyes as I watched him stop and openly check out the two blonde girls that walked past him in mini skirts and crop tops. 

I sat on the step I was sitting on previously and began pondering my thoughts.

Was Luke bad? I mean, he gives off that sort of impression and people who have been at the school longer than I are saying he is, but Michael said its all lies. Does it make me a bad person if I said being bad makes me want to get even closer to him? I've always been a curious person, and I suppose id rather befriend someone with a past rather than someone with a boring life.

His resentment just makes me want to find out more about him, honestly. Behind those blue eyes isn't all just ice. There's emotion behind all that cold, and it's trying to break free. I get it.

And what's this about them being in a band together? Does that mean Luke is in the same band as Calum and Michael? I mean, duh, but I guess I didn't picture Luke being the pop punk type -Maybe the heavy metal, screaming type. 

When Shelbi stumbled out, looking drunk as hell, I took that as my queue to stand up and help her. I was pretty much sober now, but seeing her the way she was, I could tell she was about to pass out at any minute.

"I got your text!" She shouted, "oh you're right here" she giggled, "woopsies"

"C'mon" I laughed, putting her arm over my shoulder so that I could support her. She stumbled a bit before she found her feet and slowly walked back to campus.

When we got back, the place was dark and I was scared someone was going to pop out of nowhere, but fortunately they didn't. Shelbi took out her scanner, which was part of the room key you found hanging outside your door. She scanned it and the doors clicked, which then I pushed open and let her walk in first.

We decided to take the elevator -Actually Shelbi kind of just walked over to it. I didn't even know it existed until now. She pressed the button and stepped in, me following behind. I clicked the third floor and in a matter of seconds the doors opened again.

I helped her to her room, then said goodnight, giving her a short wave before finding my way back to my room.

I slipped inside the doors and into a pitch black room, the only sound being Josephine's light snores.

Time for a shower.


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When I woke up the next day, I surprisingly didn't have that much of a headache. I was usually a sucker for hangovers, but I guess last night I didn't party hard enough. I quickly had a shower then got dressed into a a long sleeved black sweater, and a pair of black leggings, paired with a pair of black ballet flats. I quickly ran my hair straightener through my hair, then let it fall loosely around my shoulders.

From what it seemed, Josephine was already out. Her bed was made neatly and a pair of matching pyjamas were spread out on her bed, ironed and everything. Also there was the same bible sitting on the pillow.

I grabbed my phone and checked for any messages, though none had come through, considering I hadn't gotten a new SIM card yet.

When I looked at the clock it read 8:48am and then my stomach growled in hunger. Though, there was only one problem. I had no idea which diners spoke English and which ones were in price range.

Deciding not to dwell, I got off my bed and walked out of my room, and down to where Shelbi's was. I didn't want to disturb her, but I was seriously about to die of hunger if I didn't get food into me anytime soon.

I knocked twice, no answer.

"Shelbi!" I called, banging on the door, "help i'm dying" I whined. Although we've only known each other for about a day, I feel like I've known her for a lot longer. She never had any friends here before me, so I can tell she's not one of those people to jump between friends.

"She's sleeping" Someone muttered, opening the door. A dark girl was standing at the door, a small smile on her face, standing to the side allowing me in. I gave her a grin before stepping into their bedroom, "feel free to wake her up. She's a loud snorer" she laughed.

"Are you new here too?" I asked her, smiling.

"Yeah" she stated, "South-African. You?"

"Australian" I stated.

"So we're both pretty far away from home I guess" she chuckled, "at least thats something we have in common"

"Yeah" I smiled, "Do you play an instrument?"

"No I sing" she told me, "What about you?"

"Same!" I said happily, "Maybe we'll have some classes together"

"I'm Kali" She spoke.

"Beth" I grinned.

"Stop being so loud you're hurting my soul" Shelbi mumbled, turning her head so it wasn't face planted into the pillows.

"You're my guide" I told her, "and I haven't eaten since I got off the plane yesterday so if you don't get out of bed now, I'll die and you'll be the one to blame"

"Why me?" She groaned

"You're the one that wanted to be friends" I pointed out as a joke.

"If I change my mind will it work?"

"Nope"

She sighed and rolled out of her little cacoon of blankets, stumbling as she sleepily found her way to her cupboard. Their room was exactly the same as ours, though back to front. It was weird, really. Everything was the same colour, there was the same style of furniture, and everything.

Kali and I waited patiently for Shelbi to finish getting ready. When she was -after like 45 minutes of my complaining and Shelbi's whining about how sore her head was- The three of us walked down the stairs and out onto the streets.

"There's a coffee shop that this cute guy works at" Shelbi stated, pointing to the coffee shop at the end of the road, "He doesn't speak English but I'll just order us all pancakes because that's the only thing I know how to say in French with a hangover"

I chuckled and nodded in understanding. We walked down the long road, me constantly forcing the poor blonde girl to keep walking, and found ourselves at a packed coffee shop -Actually it was more of a diner but I guess you can call it either considering they sell coffee.

I opened the door quickly and slid myself through the crowd of people lining up. Most of them were teenagers and it was easy to tell that most of them were apart of the school curriculum. School starts in less than 24 hours, so it was no surprise that 95% of the school had arrived.

I stopped short when I saw Ashton sitting at a booth next to a guy with brown hair. He wasn't wearing his glasses, but that didn't stop him from being any less hot.

"Ashton!" I yelled, grinning and waving at the blonde boy.

"Hey Beth" he smiled as we walked over.

"This is Kali" I said immediately, deciding it wouldn't be nice if I left her out. I felt like she's be apart of the clan from now on, so it made sense to introduce her to some of my other new found friends.

"Hey, I'm Ash" He smiled up at her politely. She nodded and looked down at her hands.

"Hey" She said shyly

"Sit," He instructed us, "This is my boy Christian. He's the American host I was talking about last night" He chuckled.

"Hey" He croaked out, "Guys is it really bright in here or is it just me?"

"No it's just you" Ashton and I said at the same time.

"It's really bright" Shelbi muttered.

"Who are you waiting for?" I asked Ashton.

"My band mates actually," He laughed, "They're never on time. I mean, I was late too, but they're like extra late. I think Mike went to see his roster at the school again before tomorrow, but I don't know about the others" He stated.

"Mike?" I asked

"Yeah Michael. You know him?"

My mind wondered back to mine and a Michael's short conversation about Luke, but quickly shook the thought about the pretty blonde boy out of my head and shrugged, "Nah"

Michael was a popular name. There's probably like five michaels in this shop right now. There's no saying the Michael I spoke to last night, was the same Michael Ashton was talking about.

"So you're in a band?" Kali asked.

"Yeah, I play the drums. We kinda suck if you ask me" He laughed

"Doesn't everyone? Thats why we're all here right? To get better?" Shelbi mumbled.

Ashton cracked his neck and shrugged, "I guess," he mumbled, "I never asked why you're here," he stated, nodding towards me.

I looked down at the spotty dining table and smiled slightly, "I sing" I said simply.

"Really?" he asked, eyes widening in surprise.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just didn't picture you as the singing type. Maybe more of a guitarist" He stated, "Or Bassist. Calum plays bass"

"Calum?" Shelbi spoke up, "As in Hood, Calum?" She asked.

"Yeah" he chuckled, his eyebrows knotting in confusion, "Why?" I couldn't blame him really. The way she said his name was as if it was poison on her tongue.

So that's a slight coinsedence, 

"Nothing," She mumbled.

"When did you get so popular?" A familiar voice snickered. I looked up and immediately recognised the bleached blonde hair and pale skin, "Oh, I didn't know you were friends with Ashton" He stated, looking down at me, "Miss imgoingtobelieveeverythingastonersaystome" He smirked. 

Okay, so it's the same Michael. 

I rolled my eyes, "I was curious. I never actually believed her" I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You so did" he chuckled, pulling up a chair at the end of the booth.

"I thought you said you didn't know each other?" Ashton asked, clearly confused.

"We don't" Both Michael and I said at the same time. He cracked a small smile and winked at me, "Already helping me complete my sentences? Bit forward if you ask me" He grinned, "Maybe try wining and dining me first yeah?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Don't get ahead of yourself"

He chuckled and winked at me before turning to Ashton,

But if Ashton and Michael are in the same band, and Michael and Luke are in the same band, then that clearly means they're all in a band together. And if Calum was brought up in conversation, then that meant he was apart of the band too, right? 

And if Ashton lives at that house, does that mean the others do too? Probably. So does that mean Luke wasn't at the party willingly? Maybe. 

"Calum and Luke will be here in a second" He stated.

And my calculations have just been proved correct.

"Speaking of the devil" Shelbi muttered, "Literally"

"Oh look, it's Ritus" Calum smirked, "Come to join the band?"

"You wish" She glared.

I slid over and looked up at Luke, who looked back down at me, then the open spot next to me, but he didn't sit there. He walked around to Ashton's side and slid in next to him, avoiding all eye contact with me.

Calum sat next to me and started blubbering on about some random song, but I couldn't concentrate while sitting opposite Luke. His hair was messy today, sticking up in different directions, and his eyes were tired, though he didn't look completely drained. He was playing with the stud in his lip, though it looked more like he was biting his lip, and his eyes were fixated on the tables pattern below him.

"Beth?" Ashton asked. I almost jumped out of my seat at the call of my name, but looked over to him anyway. When he didn't get a reply he said slowly, "Where abouts from Australia are you?"

"Oh," I coughed, "Brisbane. What about you guys?"

"Sydney" Calum interjected, "I like Brisbane though. Went there with my mum and sister once. We spent 3 days there and 4 days at the Gold Coast. Sea world was amazing"

"I've been to Sea World!" Shelbi spoke up.

"Not the Australian one, so it doesn't count" Calum stated, rolling his eyes as if saying God, can she get any more annoying?

I was about to ask Christian where abouts he was from in America, but when I looked over, his head was face planted into his arms and light snores were coming from his mouth. I already knew he was American -Because of Ashton- But I was still interested in which part. Gotta make as many friends as possible right?

"Let's order pancakes I'm starving!" Shelbi breathed out.

I think moving to France wasn't such a bad idea after all.

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Chapter 3! :) x

Hope you guys enjoyed it, please continue to comment and vote! 

Girl on the side aka the lovely Dakota Fanning is who I picture as Shelbi! :) 

How do you feel about Luke's coldness towards Beth?