Paralyzed ▹ Luke Hemmings

05

"So where are you going to go?" Liz asked from where she stood at the kitchen counter,  pouring cream into her coffee.

Luke took a bite of his cereal and made sure to swallow before he spoke. "I'm not sure yet," he replied. "Either of our houses, I guess."

"Alright," Liz tsk'd. "Make sure one of her parents are home if you go to her house."

"Mom," Luke groaned, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to tutor her. That's it. Plus... she has boyfriend anyways."

Liz took a rather arrant sip of her coffee, glancing off to the side. "I know. Ashton."

Luke laughed at her tone of disgust. Liz knows almost everything about Ashton through Luke. Luke tells her everything about him, minus the fact that he bullies him almost every day at school. She's aware that he's the thing standing between Luke and the love his life. She hates Ashton Irwin, too.

Luke checked the time on his phone to see that he needed to get going, if he wanted to get to school on time. "Alright, I'm going," he shoveled in one last bite of cereal and placed his bowl in the sink, kissing his mother on cheek on his way out. "I'll be back before you get home from work."

"Good luck!" Liz called as Luke headed out the door. He stepped outside and shut the front door behind him, sucking in a sharp breath when he felt the brisk air on his skin. It was very cold out this morning, and Luke didn't know whether to take his car to school or not. He knows Sam has a brand new Audi she drives everywhere, and he didn't want to have to take a separate car than her. Luke was feeling alive today; he wanted to ride in her car with just her to prove to Sam (and maybe even himself) that he's not that as weird as everyone thinks. 

So Luke walked to school. It was only a few streets away from his house, after all. He walked slow enough to think, but fast enough to make it onto campus on time. He planned out what types of things he was going to say to Samantha: "Hey, Sam. How are you?", "Do you know the difference between a mixture and a solution?", and maybe he'll even throw in some tricks and tips on how to remember periodic trends. "Hey Sam, here's my number. Text me anytime you have a question", "Hey Sam, why is your boyfriend such a dick?".

Luke was just kidding on that last one, and he chuckled to himself. He thinks he's absolutely hilarious sometimes. 

Luke gripped the straps of his monstrous backpack as he shuffled along the sidewalk. He stared down at his feet and practiced controlling his breathing (just incase he starts to get a panic attack in front of Sam). Now that he was out of the house, he must admit that he was a little bit more nervous than before.

Luke finally walked onto campus and approached the front steps. He spotted Michael talking in a group of cool people a few yards to his left. Luke averted his eyes to the ground as he scurried up the stairs, though he could sense Michael watching him the whole time with a devilish smirk on his face. Luke still gets the shivers when thinking back to the toilet dunking on Tuesday.

Luke nervously walked down the hall to his locker. His shaky hands fumbled with his lock as he put in his combination. He screwed the lock open and pulled his textbooks out for first period. Out of the corners of his eyes, Luke could see Ashton practically strutting down the hall, and he tensed up.

Luckily Luke knew what Ashton was coming for. He quickly pulled Ashton's completed math homework out and turned, backing up against his locker in fear. Ashton strolled by and snatched the paper out of his hands. "Thanks, freak."

Luke rolled his eyes and slammed his locker shut. He watched Ashton make his way down the hall, attracting the stares of almost every other student inside. Luke wishes people would stare at him longingly like how they stared at Ashton, but the only stares Luke ever gets are looks of disgust and pity. If he's even lucky enough to get that much attention at all.