When Stars Collide » hs

six - we all scream for ice cream

WILLOW

I receive a text this morning, and I regret all of my decisions from the night before. It's from Harry and it reads; I'm kinda nervous abt tonight. Was thinking about making it a double date, you and Ashton up for it? The Keg @ 7. Already made reservations but don't feel pressured. Let me know.-H
I scream into my pillow, cursing myself for being so juvenile. Why couldn't I have told Harry the truth so I wouldn't be in this mess?
There is a knock on the door and I stop my screams of frustration. "What do you want?"
Luke opens the door a crack, just enough for his head and his soaking wet hair to fit through, "Is everything alright? I could hear you through the shower."
"No! Everything's not fine, Lucas," I admit and show him the text. I continue when he looks back up to me with a worried expression. "What am I going to do? I told him everything is fine with Ashton and I and now he wants us to go on a date with Isabelle. I can't stand her!"
"Wait. I thought you were friends with Isabelle?"
I roll my eyes dramatically and throw myself onto the unmade bed, "She was my friend until she backstabbed me and is all 'Oh, Harry this and Harry that'! I'd rather fall off of a cliff than spend another minute with her," I say, mimicking a high pitch voice is nowhere close and probably really offensive to Isabelle.
Luke comes and sits on the edge of the bed, beside my feet even though all he was wearing was a fluffy black towel around his waist, "Oh don't be melodramatic; why can't you just tell Harry you can't go? Tell him to grow a pair, he's 22 for god sakes."
"I can't just do that, Luke. That would mean I would lose."
"Lose what?"
"My dignity." I throw my hands up as if his question was obvious. "I can't just go alone."
Luke was silent for moment, "I'll be your date."
"What?" I ask and get a head rush from sitting up too fast.
He shrugs, "I have no plans."
A smile creeps up on my face. What would I do without Luke? I ask myself whilst picking up my phone, typing out my reply to Harry, and pressing send; We'll be there.
"Wanna do something today?" he asks, poking me in the ribs, and I flinch, holding back a giggle.
"I just wanna sleep for like six years," I sigh, propping my chin up on my palm. "This has been such a weird week." It has been months since we were at the park; it has been years. I let my eyes close, before I am attacked by Luke and his wiggling fingers attacking my stomach. I squeal and push him away, grabbing ahold of the end of his towel.
"Try me," I say with an eyebrow raised. "I will do it."
"I don't care," he says, shrugging and moving closer to me. "Nothing you haven't seen before." I suppose he has a point, so I shove his shoulder.
"Go get dressed." When he leaves, I stand and rifle through my stupid choice of clothing, which includes six pairs of jeans, my favourite sweater, and too many pairs of socks. For a walk in the park they'll be good enough, but I realize that I'm going to need something better to wear for a double date at the Keg. Especially since Isabelle likes to boast about her high school fashion courses - I'll probably resemble a vagrant next to her.
I change and throw my hair up and meet Luke in the kitchen, who is already smartly dressed in fitted jeans and a cream sweater and having his cereal and coffee, "What's up, buttercup?" he asks me when he sees my brooding expression.
"I brought nothing to wear for tonight. I'm going to look like a toad. Can we go back to my- Ashton's house later?"
"Is that really a good idea?"
"I suppose not... I have a lot of crap I need to get out of there, I guess, but is there a Forever 21 near here?" I pour a bowl of cereal for myself, practically shoving spoonfuls of the sugary goodness in my mouth.
"We can make a small detour, I suppose." He nods, chuckling. "You're like a child; sugar isn't good for you, you know?" I ignore him, scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing yet another photo that Harry has posted of Isabelle from last night in the diner, and I frown. The diner was supposed our place.
When we leave, Luke makes a point in changing the radio station every 30 seconds, muttering about how 'there's nothing good on the radio nowadays,' as if he is 50 years old. I roll my eyes, pushing his hand away when he tries to change it again, and don't move my gaze from the window; it is cool but sunny out, and this is the weather that makes me want to sit inside and take a nap in the sunlight - then again, I always want to nap. Steal My Sunshine by Len fills the car, and I smile at the sound of my childhood song, bringing me back to long drives to the city; back when my mother wasn't so uptight and would make pancakes for us on Saturday mornings, humming along to the radio.
Stanley Park is not crowded - probably because it is a Tuesday morning, but, regardless, I sit down on the grass next to a cherry blossom tree, letting the tree block the sharp wind.
"Meet anyone interesting?" I ask him, staring at my phone and the reply from Harry. Great!!! Excited to see you.
"Uh, no I haven't," Luke shrugs, "But it's nice being single, I get to make more time for my friends."
I nod, locking my phone and looking up at the boy, who is out of place in his perfectly tailored clothing and fancy shoes. "We haven't talked in, like, forever. I missed you so much." I pause. "Also, know that I'm not, like, using you to live in your house or anything. I feel really bad about it.This is awkward now. I should stop talking."
He gives me a warm smile, "Don't apologize, mi casa es su casa, mi amado."
"What does that mean?" I groan. "You know I failed German in high school."
"Well, for one, it's Spanish," He chuckles, "And secondly, it means 'my house is your house, my beloved.'"
"Well, I'm not that smart so oh, well. Thanks, though."
"Contrary to the topic, though, what do you think is going to happen between you and Ash?" he asks, hesitantly.
I shake my head slowly, "I don't know. I really, really, just want things to go back to how they were a week ago, but on the other hand, I think it's good that we had this fight. We need some time apart. I guess he just isn't the dude for me."
He puts his hand on mine, patting it like a reassuring dad would. "Maybe it's not my place to say anything, but I think you can do so much better than him."
"Like who? People are going to see me as 'easy' because Ashton's going to say dumb crap about me and half of the campus probably already knows that he took my v-card by now because he can't keep his dumb mouth shut."
He moves his hand, and looks as if I said something that made him uncomfortable. "Well, I can't think of a name per-say, but I know there is someone who truly cares and loves you, someone who treats you like their best friend, someone who will wait for you with open arms when you need the help..."
"So, you?" I tease, moving my head to his shoulder. "Maybe you should just date me instead."
I expect him to laugh but he stays serious. "Huh- imagine that." Then, suddenly, Luke's standing up quickly off the ground and I almost fall. "Lets go get some ice cream."
"Help me up, all the junk food has made me fat," I laugh, grabbing onto his outstretched arm. We walk to a tiny ice cream parlour that is on the corner of two streets.
"One scoop of vanilla and..." He trails off, looking at me.
"One scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough, please," I grin at the boy behind the counter, who flushes and scoops a little more than one scoop in the cup. I take both cups from him as Luke pays, and take a seat at one of the tiny patio tables outside. Luke sits down as well, but has a hard time maneuvering his long legs to fit properly from where he is seated.
"They should make these for grown men," he complains, squirming.
"They are for grown men, just not for giants above the height of six feet," I point out, putting a little spoonful of the ice cream.
"It's not my fault you're just above the height to be considered a dwarf."
I give him a look. "Very funny. This ice cream is nice."
He shudders. "Don't say nice; it's one of the most bland words you can use." Of course that's what gets his gears grinding; he is an English major, after all, so I decide to bug him a little more.
"That's nice."
"Marvelous, delicious,stupendous, remarkable, scrumptious... I'll even accept great if you promise to stop using nice." He has gotten so passionate in choosing the correct adjectives in a sentence that he has ice cream on the tip of his nose, and I reach forward to wipe it off with my thumb, before tasting it.
"Vanilla ice cream is so bland. Couldn't you pick anything more cooler?"
"I would prefer if you didn't judge me on my ice cream preferences. I'll take you shopping after this if you stop bullying me."
"I guess," I say, pretending to think, before finishing my sentence. "Not!" He pouts, and I cannot help but giggle.
"You're so mean."
"I'm only joking, can we still go shopping?" I imitate his pout until he caves in and agrees. The mall is only a few minutes away so we walk there once we finish our ice cream.
I squeal and he groans when we spot Forever 21, and, as if I am a fourteen year old girl who is about to start high school, practically hop there, not letting go of his hand. I cannot help but pick up every cute thing that I see, and, with a bit of persuading from my end to the lady standing outside the rooms, head into the fitting rooms in hopes of finding an outfit that will make me look better than Isabelle, though the chances are slim.
The first dress I try on is white, short, and far too tight, so I try on four more until tugging on a mustard jumpsuit. It shows a lot of leg, and my mother would be outraged, but I like it, and so does Luke; I step out and his face lights up.
"You look lovely," he says, and I give him a toothy grin.
"Thank you. I don't know about the length, though." I try to pull the romper down, but it refuses to go any lower that my upper thigh.
He furrows his eyebrows and nods. "It's awfully short. But if you like it, we can get it." I shake my head.
"I can pay for it, Luke. Plus, I was going to look at a couple more things."
"Seriously, Will, it's fine. Let me buy you something," he argues, taking the stack of clothes from me. I grab them back, and we fight like this all the way to the cash register. I put the clothes on the counter but Luke is one step ahead of me and gives the woman at the cashier his credit card before I even get the chance to take out my wallet.
"Stop," I groan as he takes the bag. "Let me do something for once." We leave and head back to the car, occasionally making a light-hearted jab at the other. It is beginning to get cool out, and I think about how much I miss Toronto and the humid weather, before reminding myself of the hours I spent straightening my hair, only for it to go curly again.
"You know," Luke begins, "I really miss hanging out like this together, like we used to back home."
"We still hang out every once in awhile..."I say, trailing off as he places the bag in the trunk and sits down, and I do too. "I guess we've just gotten so distracted by our problems we forget to make time for each other."
"I guess you're right. Everything seemed to change when you moved out with Ashton... It was weird not having you just down the hall." He gives a small smile, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
I shudder. "I can't believe I didn't see anything wrong. I was so stupid."
"Don't put yourself down," Luke says, starting the engine of the car, "You were just distracted by love, I suppose. Love makes us do stupid things."
I lean my head back, closing my eyes. "You're so level-headed. I doubt you've ever even made a mistake because of love."
"Clearly there's a lot I have yet to tell you," he mumbles.
"And now there's a lot I want to know," I say, but before he can explain, he has pulled up in his driveway.
"Get ready and come back down; we'll leave when you're done," he says absentmindedly, taking a seat on the couch and letting his gaze settle on the ground.

a/n: I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN THE LAST TIME WE UPDATED OOPS. Legit we finished writing this and theres less than 10 chapters I think left so I don't remember all the time. But anyways leave a comment or like the chapter if you enjoyed it!