Rejects // Punk Luke Hemmings

>Chapter Thirty-Two<

Kelsey.

We hurried over to get in line, and as soon as I saw her little herd sit down at their table, Kelsey with her back to the lunch line, I let go of the breath I'd been holding. Malaya gave me a sympathetic look, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "It's alright Kar. If you don't give her the power to hurt you, she won't be able to."

"That's the thing. I don't know how to take that power away from her," I sighed, looking around for Luke and Michael. I found that Michael was ahead of us in line, but I couldn't locate Luke. It shouldn't have been that hard, considering his height...

I had just reached the front of the line when I found him sitting at our usual table. I wasn't sure why, but a feeling of slight relief spread through me when I saw that he was there. Maybe it was because of Kelsey...

I got a salad and a water bottle before punching in my student ID to buy the food. I waited a moment or two for Malaya, then we both made our way to the lunch table.

The only way to get there, though, was to pass by Kelsey's table.

Sure there were other ways, but the other paths were congested with ravenous high schoolers sitting at lunch tables that weren't all that far apart. The aisles were a death trap of chair legs and human legs that we'd never get through.

Keeping my eyes on the floor, I hurried past her table, praying nothing would happen. I made it almost to safety, to Luke, when I was doomed.

"Oh, hi Kara," came that sneering voice from behind me. My pace faltered as I clenched my jaw, willing myself to stay quiet. I finally reached the table and quickly sat in the seat beside Luke. He was glaring at Kelsey as he placed an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest.

"Aw, come on Lukey. Don't give me that look," she laughed. "You seriously stayed with that little pity case? How sweet. You've changed, I see," she taunted further.

"Just shut those slùtty lips of yours Kelsey. I don't want to hear it," he said forcefully over his shoulder, his hand coming to lace with mine. "Just ignore her Kara. She's just a bìtch," he assured me softly. I nodded and opened my salad.

"But Lukey, don't you think she wants to hear about all the fun stories we have together?" I felt Luke tense around me, his muscles bristling at the mention of what he had done in the past.

"How we used to show people like her what the inside of a locker felt like and gave them silly little nicknames?" Kelsey's whole group giggled at that one, and I realized how much the noise level had dropped in the large room. People were obviously paying attention to this, which I didn't want.

"The best was the time we convinced that girl, oh, what was her name again?" From where I sat I could still hear the mocking sarcasm dripping from her words. "Tess was it? Anyway, remember that time when we convinced whatever her name was that she wasn't worth the space she took up? Remember how she was found dead in those woods? Hanging from that tall tree, just dangling there with a note in her pocket? I remember reading it. She said it was partly because of me, but mostly because of y-"

"Enough!" Luke shot up from his seat as he said the single word forcefully enough to send vibrations through my entire being. "I said shut up, so you'd be better off keeping your mouth closed. Unless you want something really bad to happen to it," he threatened in a furious, growling tone. From the way his voice sounded, I knew he had made his way to Kelsey's table.

"Don't try me Lukey. I can still end you," she scoffed.

"See if I give a solitary fúck. Spoiler alert: I won't." His voice was dark and terrifying, only making me wonder how much scarier it would have been to see his face as well.

With  a final growl, he stalked back to where I sat frozen and unresponsive. All I could think about was the image created by Kelsey's words. I could just see that poor girl dangling from a tree branch, her eyes bloodshot, face a splotchy purple color, the signs of struggle clearly displayed within the claw marks and cuts from the rope that dug into her ski-

"Kara!" Luke's voice was filled with concern as he snapped me back to reality. I took a shaky breath and glanced at him. He gave a relieved sigh before pulling me against his chest. His one arm was situated around my shoulders while the other cradled my head, his fingers brushing back the loose strands of hair from my face.

I hadn't realized I was crying until the material of his shirt was wet beneath my skin. I cried into his chest, not caring who saw, especially not Kelsey. The bell rang loudly, making everyone rise from their seats. Except us.

"What do you have for the rest of the day?" He whispered the question, his lips brushing over my temple.

I wiped at my tears, trying to stop crying as the cafeteria emptied. "Art, History, and Maths," I mumbled, my voice thick. "Why?"

"We're leaving early," he stated simply. I started to protest when he tipped my head back to look at him. "You won't be able to do anything in class anyway, not judging by the way you're acting right now. You can come to my place like you do every day. We won't have to tell your mum if you think she'd get angry. But you're not staying here. Got it?"

I nodded slightly, making him smile and kiss my forehead softly. "Good. Let's go then," he murmured before standing.

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A/N (pt. II)

GOT ANY QUESTIONS? Ask them here (or wherever really XD. Doesn't really matter.) Also go follow hiddenpatronus  because she's the bomb.com and her story has got me feeling all the feels. :-D

Hey peeps!! So just FYI I apologize for this chapter for multiple reasons. One, it was really intense. If you read that, don't ask how I know so much about how it works. (I really don't know that much but still.......) I read way too many books that have that kind of thing in them. Two, this literally took me FOREVER to get done. Even now it's 4:15 am and I'm just now finishing it up. I am really sorry about that.

I want to come up with an updating schedule, but I won't be able to get that until probably mid-September maybe. Schools just been pretty busy and I don't really have as much time.......

Anyway, I can never thank you all enough for 26 thousand reads. I've had several people talk to me and they're like OMG A FAMOUS PERSON and I'm just like lol naaaaaahhhhhh. I'm just a girl who has a vitamin D deficiency because she spends way too much time fangirling over people and books and music while hunched over a screen.

I love you all so much, and this is getting long so I'm gonna go. I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP but it might not be till Saturday or Sunday. I hope you enjoyed this though.

~CC <3

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