Magnolia

s i x

Luke

My alarm blared, snapping me out of sleep. A headache still lingered, the relentless beep like a hammer against my skull. I angrily slapped the clock, allowing silence to fall over my room once again. With a sigh, I rolled onto my back, staring up on the ceiling. Damn, school already. 

The heavy feeling still hung on my body, but I pushed forward, getting up, and performing my normal morning routine. Take a shower, get dressed, call for a mom who is never there, eat cereal, and brush my teeth. This morning's routine was a little different, however. Along with the basics, I also had to fit in three subjects worth of homework which I hadn't been able to get done over the weekend. Because in case you hadn't noticed, I'd had one wild ride. 

-

Stuffing my homework, I sprinted out of my front door, running down the street as my muscles screamed in protest. Adrenaline forced me forward, my hands waving as the bus doors began to shut. I gained quickly, the bus driver catching sight of me with a roll of her eyes. 

The doors remained open, pants escaping me as I climbed the stairs, trying to catch my breath. "You're late," the driver said, setting me with a cold stare. 

As if I didn't know. "Sorry, won't happen again" I muttered, my cheeks rosy and breaths shaky. I moved to the closest seat, collapsing down into it. My head rested against the seat, my head throbbing again. My muscles ached and my stomach churned.  

After my breathing had slowed, and my heart didn't feel like it was gonna explode, I pulled my phone from my pocket. Still no text from Emma. Where the hell was she?

-

Finally, the bus pulled up to the school. One by one all the kids filed off the bus and into the high school. Luckily, I didn't have to carry my lacrosse bag because I had left it in my locker due to the practice's rain cancellation. I followed the masses, stepping into the large building that was now my school. My body ached as I was jostled in the crowd, a sigh escaping me as the first period was English. With bad quality sleep and an aching body, this was going to suck. At least I knew my way to this class. 

When I got there I looked around, my eyes landing on the empty desk next to mine. Surprise, surprise, no Emma. I sat down in my seat, pulling out the homework that I hadn't gotten to finish. My eyebrows furrowed, that cloudy fog returning to my brain as I stared at the paper in front of me. The words went in and out of focus, my eyes closing in defeat. Maybe I'll just take the zero. 

"Did someone forget to do their homework?" 

I glanced up, meeting Emma's warm brown eyes as she chuckled, taking her seat next to me. I smiled at first before catching sight of a faint bruise on her cheekbone that hid behind what looked to be a thick layer of concealer. 

"Is that from Saturday?" I asked, trying to remember Missy actually getting a punch in. But as hard as I tried to remember, there wasn't a moment where Missy touched Emma. And I remembered outside of the party, in fact, it was my most vivid memory of the whole incident. I remember staring at her face, taking it in. And there hadn't been a bruise there unless it had been a dream. 

Emma turned slightly, angling her face away from me. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. It's barely a bruise at all" she smiled, shooting me a wink. She hadn't gotten that bruise from Missy. And she wasn't as a good a liar as she thought. 

We sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to students buzz around us, all of them coming in, getting settled as gossiping to their friends about the weekend's events and newest rumors. "Emma," I said softly, catching a curious glance. "Thank you. Really, thank you" I whispered, trying to keep my voice from wavering.