You Only Live Once | lrh

1.1

L U K E

"I should have just told her she was my girlfriend."

"How would that make her feel?"

"Which one?"

"Ember. Duh," Michael responds, rolling his eyes at me.

"Right. Yeah. I don't know," I sigh. Ember had to go home—something about a dog. We have to leave here tomorrow morning, and I don't know if I can see her again.

"You going to her house tomorrow before we leave?" Michael asks, as if he read my mind.

"Maybe. I want to see her again," I reply, lying back on my bed and running a hand through my hair.

"Do you like her?"

"Why would I want to see her if I don't?"

"You know what I mean," Michael snorts.

"Yeah yeah. I do like her, but considering we just met, I don't know what the fuck this is," I laugh. I do enjoy spending time with her, and she does cloud my thoughts a bit, but that doesn't necessarily mean I like her. Like that, anyway. "I'm worried about her," I admit.

"Same here."

"I'm going to call her," I finally say, rolling over onto my stomach and grabbing my phone. We'd exchanged numbers before she left, and I scroll through my contacts until I find her. Pressing her number, I bring my phone to my ear as I roll over onto my back again. It rings once. Twice. Three times.

"Hello?" Her voice is soft on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Ember. It's Luke."

"Yeah. I know. I have caller ID." I can hear her smiling.

"Right," I laugh. "How are you?"

"Fine. You?"

"Same," I reply, and we fall silent. I realize that I didn't call for a specific purpose, and she's probably waiting for me to say something. "I wish you could come on tour with us," I say without thinking. I mentally curse myself, and she remains silent for a moment.

"We just met," she finally says.

"I want to get to know you better," I reply, chewing my lip ring nervously.

"You do?" She sounds genuinely surprised.

"Yes. Why do you sound so surprised?" I chuckle, running a hand through my hair.

"I mean. You're you. And I'm me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"You're Luke Hemmings. The Luke Hemmings," she tells me, as if that clears anything up.

"Yeah. And?"

"And I'm just a fan. I'm not even remotely interesting. Why me?" she asks, her voice flat. She sounds upset, and I don't know what to say. She lets out a sigh before saying, "I have to go."

"Wait Ember—" She hangs up before I can even finish my sentence.

"She hung up on you?" Michael asks, and I groan.

"Yes. And I don't know why."

"Check her Twitter account," he responds.

"Oh yeah." I open up Twitter and go to her account. I realize I hadn't followed her, so I do. I notice she'd tweeted Annabella, and I furrow my brow. Going to Annabella's account, I see she'd tweeted about seeing me with...

Omg I saw my Luke today, and he was with some random slut like wtf

I bite my lip as I see her tweeting Ember directly. How did she even find her account?

Stay away from other people's boyfriends, you bitch

Ember had responded.

He's not your boyfriend?? And we're just friends. No need to call me a slut or a bitch. Thanks.

I'm proud that she didn't stoop to Ann's level. Their conversation goes on for a few more tweets.

Ann: okay, we are on a break now, but he's still mine. So stay away.

Ember: why should I let you stop me from being friends with him?

Ann: you're just an attention whore. You're no good for him. Even as a friend.

Ember: you know nothing about me

Ann: one look at you and I know more about you than Luke does. Clearly.

Ember: I like the way you think you can understand people with a single look. Judge a book by its cover much?

Their conversation ends there, and I sigh. At least I know why Ember sounded upset.