Wherever you are |l.r.h|

0.1

He couldn't register how the situation escalated so quickly, one minute, they were all shy and fidgety around the other person, but now they were throwing questions at one another, stifling a few laughs as if they were actual best friends.

"So, Mr. Hemmings, do you like music? And if you do, who do you listen to the most?" - asked the brown eyed girl, Charity Dominguez, whose hair was naturally wavy and was the most gorgeous shade of chestnut that faded to a light purple at the tips. He thought she was really pretty but didn't have the guts to say it out loud.

"Oh, I love music, I even write some myself, it's one of my favorite things ever, in my life. And I like a lot of bands, you know, Nickleback, Green Day,..." - replied Luke Hemmings, the boy with eyes bluer than any oceans, blonde hair always perfectly quiffed (it better be, he didn't spend hours in the bathroom every morning for nothing...), a black metal ring pierced through his pale pink lips. She thought he was really attractive, but then again, too shy and awkward to actually say anything.

So, how exactly did they end up talking? You ask, well it was a pretty interesting story. 

They were assigned to be partners for the project for English class, so hesitantly, they walked to each other. Luke held out his hand after telling her his name, then mentally slapped himself because, who even does that anymore? Nevertheless, she took it with a smile, then introduced herself as Charity.  

At first they were both extremely bashful, the only few words exchanged were about the project, but when Luke attempted to ease the tension with a horrible joke, they both burst out laughing, he did because he thought she found it funny, while she did at how lame it was.

Needless to say, they were much more comfortable with each other's presence, and within a couple of minutes, they were asking questions in order to get to know the other on a friendlier basis, a more personal level.

There, that's the entire story.

"Wait, what? You mean you've never seen Titanic before? Dude, you've been missing out." - she tsk-ed slightly, shaking her head at him.

"I don't find corny, helpless romantic films appealing."

She let out a loud, offended gasp - "But it's a classic! You're definitely seeing that when you come over to my house."

He felt blood rushed to his cheeks when the "come over to my house" part was mentioned. They only started talking less than an hour ago and she hinted that she wanted him over? 

Stop it Luke, stop assuming things, she probably didn't even mean it...

"You want me over?"- sheepishly, he asked.

"I mean, yeah, if you feel like it, I don't really mind..."- she trailed off, then quickly added- "Probably not now though, some other times perhaps...?".

She then shut herself up completely, suddenly feeling all nervous and timid again.

"I'd love to." - the blonde boy replied, a small smile playing at his lips, thus, making her smile too.

The silence engulfing them wasn't exactly enjoyable, but it wasn't too uncomfortable, either. The fact that they were both trying to catch glimpse of each other through the corner of their eyes, then turned all pink and warm when caught in the act, was most definitely making the situation more gauche.

She awkwardly cleared her throat, finally breaking the silence seeing as Luke found his shoes way more interesting than trying to start a conversation again.The next thing came out of her mouth was utterly unplanned.

"Can I have your number? You know, for the project and stuff, we might need to discuss a little..."

Smooth, Char. That was a wonderfully safe. 

Luke chuckled at her poor attempt at saving herself from embarrassment, watching as her cheeks went even redder than they already was. 

"Sure, just give me your phone, I'll, yeah-" he stopped mid sentence, typing his number down then quickly glanced up, raising his eyebrows at her choice of contact name.

"Hey! That's not how you spell my name!"- he pointed at the screen on which written "Lewk", letting out an offended huff.

"But that's technically how you say it."- the girl protested.

"That's so American, are you even American Ms. Dominguez?" - he asked, to which she replied with a Californian accent so terrible that they both thought it must've infuriate the whole US nation - "Duh, can't you tell?"

"It's Luke, not Lewk, but you know what, I'm going to call you Chairidy, because, that's technically how you say it."

Rolling her brown orbs, a smile tugging at her lips - "I quite like that."

"Anyways, it was nice talking to you, new friend."

"Wait, friends? Since when did you and I become friends?", the brunette raised her voice, trying (a tad too hard) to be sassy (with whatever sass she's gotten.)

But it seemed he got the wrong idea as he started fidgeting and stuttering again, but his worry soon melted away when Charity playfully smacked his shoulder (it kind of hurt, but it was bearable), bubbles of laughter escaping from her plumped pink lips.

"Of course we're friends, if we're not then I wouldn't spend like what, one hour straight, talking about random miscellaneous things."

"Excuse you, my interests are not some random miscellaneous things."- Luke scoffed at her in fake disbelief, blue eyes rolling in their sockets.

They both chuckled at how ridiculous they've been that day, it was strange for the both of them to ever feel so relaxed and at ease talking to someone before. They just got that sudden boost of confidence that came out of nowhere, maybe it was the vibe the other person gave off that contributed to that confidence. (Well, that theory is invalid for the first half of their chat.)

They bid each other goodbye when the bell announced that school is, finally, over. Everything was going so smoothly, but then, it took an awkward turn when they both leaned in to give to other person a hug. The two of them tensed up, posture rigid, fingers clumsily wrapped around the other's torso, then hastily pulled away as if the uneasiness was suffocating them. 

"I..I'll see you a..around, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

After getting home that day, none of them could wipe the stupid smiles off of their faces. They were oddly giggly. It was strange, they enjoyed the talk, even the hug, which was so ungainly and uncomfortable. 

Later that night, Charity sent Luke a text message, perhaps, it was the small smiley icon at the end of the sentence that made his heart flutter, his lips twitched up, because he was sure a simple "Hello" didn't have the capacity to turn him all giddy. (But then again, it's Charity Dominguez, a hello from her is a big deal).

She was in her room, lying on her bed, face down, wiggling her limbs as if she was making a snow angel. She almost didn't notice the soft "ding" of her phone. Almost. Within a few seconds, she rolled off her bed, hastily picked up her phone and unlocked the screen.

From: Lewk

"Hi :-)"

Smiling at the text, she quickly type a reply then crashed on her bed again, giggling like crazy as their encounter came back to mind. It was so painfully awkward that it actually hurt, even though they did share some pleasant conversations.

The texting went on for the rest of the night, up until midnight. Luke told her to go to bed, that was the reason why she did, even though she didn't want to, neither of them did to be honest. They both fell asleep that night, dreaming about the other person, the twinkles in their eyes, the merriment radiated from their smiles. Neither of them could contain the excitement at the thought of seeing each other the next day.