For another two weeks I drove my car to and from school every day. It was boring, like, extremely boring, but I did it anyway. It was better than awkwardly sitting on the bus with Ashton and Michael while Ashton ignored everyone and Michael cried.
After the awkward friend-date with Ashton, I had a little hope for us. It was a good night, to say the least, and at the end of it I honestly thought that Ashton was going to say something about having made a mistake and wanting to get back together. I don't know, that's how I felt, but not Ashton. After our dinner was over we both got rides home from Luke and walked down the block together, making very short and boring conversation. We just parted out separate ways and went back to our own houses, and then didn't speak to each other again for two weeks.
I guess that this is just how things are going to be now.
"Ashton's going to sit with us at lunch today." Luke snuck up behind me while I was at my locker, grabbing my things for my afternoon classes so I could head down to the lunchroom.
"No," I whined. I don't think Luke understood that I really didn't want to spend any extra time with Ashton than I had too. "Why do you keep doing this to me?"
"Because I feel bad." Luke shrugged, as if it was self explanatory. I kept telling Luke not to feel bad about this, but it had already been a month and he was convinced that Ashton and I breaking up was all his fault.
"You have no reason to." I sighed, slamming my locker shut. I followed Luke as we walked down the hallway, heading over to the lunchroom, something I was not looking forward to.
"I'm trying to help." Luke said softly, kicking at the ground with his shoes.
"Well, it's annoying." I snapped. I didn't mean to be so rude to Luke, but I was in a pretty bad mood today anyway and Luke was just making things worse. I've told him repeatedly that I didn't want him to take the blame for my breakup with Ashton and that he shouldn't be trying so hard to get us back together, but he doesn't listen. I was sick of it, and I felt that being a bit rude and snappy to Luke would somehow get the point across.
"You know, Dani, I'm kind of all you have left."
"What?" I asked, turning to face him.
"Well, Ashton left you and Michael ditched you for whatever reason, and Brooke kind of did, too. Your parents are dicks - sorry, it's true - so Calum and I are really the only people you have left to turn to. And Calum really doesn't give a shit half the time." Luke said bluntly, continuing to walk ahead of me.
"What?" I repeated, only because I had no idea how else I was supposed to answer that. I mean, Luke was right, he was all I had left, but I didn't want to admit to that.
"I'm just asking you to stop being such a bitch about this," Luke said softly, "I want to help you and you aren't letting me."
"You're not listening to me, though. I don't want help." I sighed. Luke just couldn't get it through his head that I was doing okay without dating Ashton, and he was only going to make it worse by trying to force things upon us. I loved Luke for caring so much about me, I really did, but I wished that he would just tone it down.
"You need it." Luke said, turning around to face me. He stopped walking, and we stood in the hallway against some lockers while everyone else walked past us.
"You make it seem like I need a boyfriend to be happy." I pouted, looking down at the ground. Luke put a hand on my shoulder and let out a big sigh.
"Dani, are you happy right now? Without a boyfriend?" He asked. I wanted to punch him in the stomach. Suddenly this had seemed to turn into this whole sexist argument about how Luke thought that girls needed boyfriends to make themselves happy, and I honestly wasn't in the mood to try and fight him about this.
