The Dream Crashers ✓

14 - The First Backstory

The rest of the morning passed in a haze. I had been so caught up in my thoughts, I was hardly able to focus during my classes. I couldn't stop thinking about everything we had discovered over the last few days, and trying to figure out how it all related. 

I barely registered Luke running to catch up with me during lunch as I trudged my way towards the cafeteria. "Seriously, what's going on with you? You've been like a zombie all day. And why did you run off this morning?"

"What?" I asked, turning towards him.

"You were so out of it in Spanish, I thought you were sleeping with your eyes open. You better not be like that in history or Mr. Grant is going to twist it in a way to blame it on me and I'm gonna be sent to detention. Again," he said, trying to make a joke out of it.

"History?"

The amusement slipped from his face and Luke studied me with concern in his eyes. "Rory, we need to talk. I've tried to be understanding and give you some distance, but I can't just silently watch you spiral out of control—"

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I asked, "What? What are you talking about?"

"You look exhausted and beat up every single day!" Luke said, gesturing animatedly to get his point across. "You're always busy with secret stuff. And don't think I forgot about that time you had that huge bruise under all that make-up. What's going on?"

I swallowed.

Luke sighed in defeat. "And I can't prove it, but I know it has something to do with Seth and his friends. I know they're not bad people, but they're getting you involved with bad things. I don't know what it is, but I can tell it's not doing you any good. And also, I don't understand why you won't let me in. Why don't you trust me?"

The hurt in his eyes flooded me with guilt. Ashamed, I looked down and saw that my fingers were turning white from gripping my textbook so tightly.

After a period of silence, he said, "So you're not gonna say anything?"

"It's not because I don't trust you," I said.

I just want to keep you safe.

The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't bring myself to say them. The silence hung between us, in a kind of awkwardness I had never felt with Luke before. There was only a foot of space between us, but it felt as though a huge rift was tearing us apart.

"Please tell me what's going on. I need to understand."

"Luke, I can't," I mumbled.

"Is that all you have to say?" The finality in his words made my head snap up. The usual smile on his face was gone, replaced by a hard line.

"I'm so sorry--"

"Yeah, me too," he said, brushing past me.

"Wait," I said.

"I need some space right now." And he was gone.

And it was like my heart was breaking. I leaned against the wall so I wouldn't slump to the floor from my shaking legs. I felt like I was losing everything. First my dad, then Connor, and now Luke.

Students walked by, hurrying towards the cafeteria for lunch. Some looked over at me curiously, but no one stopped. No one except for a girl with faded pink hair and black combat boots.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"I usually can't stand being around you for two seconds because you can never shut your freaking mouth, but it's been maybe, what? Fifteen seconds? And I haven't felt like pulling my hair out, so that means that you're not yourself, hence something is wrong."