dead wrong (l.h)

"well, if it isn't luke hemmings"

chapter thirteen
luke

7:05 PM
Wednesday, September 28

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," I called out to my coworkers as I gave them a wave.

"You sure you don't want to stick around for drinks?" asked a guy named Deon. "We've got the night off, Hemmings... surely it's worth celebrating?" I let out a breathy laugh as I shook my head at him; I was walking backward with my phone in my hand.

"I've got a call to make," I explained as I lifted my phone up. "Raincheck?"

"I guess," he teased with a shrug. "See ya, Luke." I waved once again before turning around and heading out of the bar's back door. Before beginning my walk home, I looked down at my phone screen and dialed one of the only numbers I had ever bothered to memorize. I brought my phone up to my ear as I began walking toward my apartment.

"Hello, Luke."

"Hey, Evelyn," I responded through a breathy laugh as I felt a ball of nerves build up in my stomach. "What are you up to right now?"

"Well... it's Wednesday... so it's movie night," she answered, almost as if she was reminding me of something obvious. Once she had spoken, I did feel somewhat embarrassed; Wednesdays had been movie nights since college. Knowing that tradition had continued without me caused a weird lump to form in my throat, but I knew I had no justification for feeling disappointed.

"Duh," I responded through a nervous laugh as I tried to seem unphased by her answer.

"...What are you up to?" she asked after a couple of silent moments.

"I'm just leaving work... and I got this idea that maybe it would be nice if I brought over some food and we could hang out. I figured Calum could pop in, too. But you've got plans, so maybe we could... raincheck," I said somewhat lamely. I wasn't sure when raincheck had become so frequent in my vocabulary but I was annoyed with myself.

The line fell silent for a couple of moments—other than the quiet sound of mumbling on Evelyn's end—and my eyebrows furrowed as I waited for her to say something.

"Or... instead of a raincheck... you could join for movie night?" Evelyn suggested which caused my eyebrows to raise. I hadn't expected her to be so willing to invite me along, but I was more than pleased with the invitation.

"Uh... I would love that," I told her—most likely too eagerly.

"Great," Evelyn said with a genuine sense of happiness in her tone. "If you want to pick up food, you could. But we could always find something here, or just figure something out once you get here."

"I could pick up our usual Chinese takeout order?" I suggested as my heart raced. I wasn't sure why my words had made me nervous, but I was worried she might have changed her order, or she might not have appreciated my use of saying our. "I mean... that is if you still like everything. We don't have to—"

"That actually sounds perfect. Just double up on a couple of things, maybe?"

"Uh... yeah! Will do," I said as I nodded my head eagerly. After talking to her for another minute or so, we ended the call and I instantly called Evelyn's favorite Chinese place. I placed the order—decided to double up on nearly everything just in case—and was told that it would be ready soon. I booked it to my apartment and got myself together before grabbing my keys; the Chinese place was on Evelyn's side of town, and was the perfect distance away. By the time I made it to the restaurant, my order was just coming out.

It only took another six or so minutes to make it to Evelyn's—and Calum's—apartment building. I walked up the familiar three flights of stairs before making my way down the familiar hallway. As I stopped in front of Evelyn's place, I looked down to see a welcome mat laid in front of her door and I couldn't help but smile; it hadn't been outside of her place the last time I came over, but I was glad to see it this time.