Blonde {muke}

Chapter Three: Oblivion

a/n: in honor of hitting 100 reads, here's an update!

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oblivion: (n.) the state of being unaware of what is happening around you.

Josh's sitting on the wall along the front of the school, swinging his feet back and forth and humming. He has one earbud in, the other hanging against his chest, the loud thump of bass and drums spilling out of the tiny speaker. He looks up, grinning when he spots Luke. "You look like absolute shit, Hemmings."  

It's all Luke can do to not grimace. He's entirely aware of how bad he looks, there's a sheen of sweat over his eyebrows and his cheeks are paler than usual. He feels like crap, could easily collapse dead in the next second and not even mind.

"Good to see you too," Luke replies sarcastically, and he smiles weakly. He throws his bag on to the wall and rests his face on his crossed forearms in front of it. It smells like rain, like wet grass and dewy ground, it reminds him of Halloween last year, how he'd lost his glasses in the storm while running home with Tyler and how his brothers covered for him when his parents figured out he'd been out past twelve.

Josh drops the other earbud from his ear and ruffles Luke's hair. "Tired?"

"Absolutely exhausted." Luke sighs, letting out a soft yawn. He wants nothing more than to head home and crawl under his blankets, sleep for the next fifteen hours straight and get ready for the groups of children that'd be knocking on his door Saturday. "Can we just-"

"Luke!" It's Michael, again. Luke turns around, eyes wide and cautious. He doesn't like how Michael's grinning at him, like he knows something. There's something about Michael that doesn't seem right, and of course, a large majority of the student body is aware of this, including Luke, but that was what had Luke leaning in questioningly. "You're coming to my party on Saturday, right?" Michael's eyes flash with something Luke doesn't know how to comprehend.

He nods, chewing at the inside of his cheek. His gut is twisted up, painfully so, and he can feel goosebumps prickling over his skin, like his body's defense to being close to Michael again. Michael smiles and backs up, eyes locked on the blonde in front of him. He turns away, walks over to a car on the corner and gets in. There's a flash of hazel curls, quite like the boy Michael had been talking to the day prior sported, and the window rolls down, enough to let air in but not to see any faces.

Josh is mindlessly playing on his phone when Luke turns back, doesn't seem to acknowledge Luke's presence until he taps the boy on the knee. "Did you just see that?"

"Seems like Clifford's taken a liking to you," Josh teases. His tone is light and airy, but Luke can feel the uncomfort Josh hides under it, how his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes and how it quickly falls from his face once Luke's looked away.

A liking, that in itself was terrifying. He was an almost perfect match to the boys in the rumors and the realization made his stomach twist up.

Luke frowns, letting out a groan. "Listen, let's reschedule, I've got a lot of homework and I'm exhausted, okay? I'll text you and Ty later." He pulls his bag down from the wall and slings it over his shoulders, fingers knotting in the long straps. Josh nods and mumbles out a goodbye before Luke turns, heading down the street.

His room is an absolute mess, clothes strewn about and a lamp knocked over. It looks like a hurricane has gone through, torn up the place and left Luke standing on the bed, wide-eyed and lost. Michael's standing there, halfway through Luke's doorframe, smiling. He looks absolutely flawless, fucking radiates a positive aura that chokes Luke, has him desperate for air and Michael's hands.