Hope.

• Chapter 18 •

• Luca •

Come on, Luca. Suck it up and go talk to her. It's been long enough, you pathetic little bitch.

Okay, sometimes I beat myself up in my head. So what? It helps me get stuff done.

Don't judge me.

My hands trembled as I shakily walked over to where Jess was standing, pulling some books out of the locker, as she hummed slightly to herself. "J-Jess," I asked, my voice sounding pathetically weak.

Her gaze shifted towards me and her lips twisted into a bitter scowl. I felt myself shrink slightly at her intense gaze. "Luca," she acknowledged, stiffly.

I sighed in frustration. "What did I do wrong?" I whined, raking a hand through my tangled, mess that I call hair. "I don't get it, Jess. We always tell each other the truth and that's what I did. What can I do to make it up to you?" Wow, Luca. There goes your plan of sticking up for yourself.

Just leave me alone, Luca," she mumbled, turning back to her locker.

"I don't get it," I huffed, folding my arms over my chest. "I'm sorry, Jess. What more do you want? It's been nearly a month. You know I'm useless without you," Great going, Luca! Now you look even more pathetic.

"And that's exactly why I'm ignoring you," she said, bitterly causing my heart to twist painfully inside my chest. I hated that this was hurting me so much.

"Jess, please," I begged, trying to make her look at me.

She let out a sigh before turning away from her locker. "Luca," she started, her voice sounding softer than earlier. She paused before letting out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, I just-I don't know. Whenever I look at you I just feel so upset. Then I get angry at myself for it, but I can't help it,"

I frowned, wanting to do nothing more than to pull her into a hug. "I'm sorry,"

"No, it's not your fault, It's mine," she said, looking down. Though since I was so short she was still sorta looking at me. That's beside the point. "I just needed some time but the thing is, I'm useless without you too," she smiled, sadly. "Plus, Lily is really fucking annoying,"

"You're a puta," I said, though a small smile was tugging at the corner of my lips.

"I know," she muttered, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. Her round, hazel eyes met mine apologetically. "I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," I said, biting my lip. A small smile covered her dark features before she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. My face was buried into her chest, awkwardly. God, I hated being short.

We pulled away shortly when the bell rang above us. "I'm glad we sorted this out," she said, eyeing me nervously.

I hummed in agreement. "Me too,"

She ruffled my hair before walking to her next class. It felt so good to have her back. I missed this feeling. Feeling like someone apart from my family really cared for me. Of course, there was Tyler. But it was different with him. Jess and I have known each other for two years and I've barely known him for two months.

Tyler was really sweet, though. He got all riled up when I told him that I got cornered for defending him. Now that I think about it I probably shouldn't have told him. It just made him feel guilty and I didn't want to make him upset. Tyler is really nice to everyone. He doesn't deserve to be blind, nobody deserves to be blind. I just wished I could help him, but I knew there really wasn't anything I could do.