Eighteen.

Chapter 6

The night of the fountain incident became a story the two girls found necessary to tell at every opportunity. Soon, everyone on campus was copying the girls, pushing unsuspecting friends into the icy depths- now nobody would go within five feet of it.

The lack of visitors didn't affect the inhabitants of the dorms closest to the fountain- specifically, didn't affect the student whose light had flicked on at Aimee's scream.

Luke Hemmings, the newly-eighteen year old boy from Sydney who stayed in dorm 35B, was far from concerned about the lives of those outside his inner circle. People being murdered outside his front door, though... That would have probably affected his future.

With these thoughts in mind, on the eve of the fountain incident, Luke had gone to investigate. He scoffed quietly in the darkness as he saw a girl he vaguely recognised in the faint light floundering around in the icy water. The waterproof LEDs were blinding to look at, but not very good at illuminating the area.

Luke had turned to go back to his dorm and stopped, seeing brown hair emerge out of the night-black water. He sighed and began to follow the two, lighting up a cigarette.

Flicking ash away impatiently, his eyes watched the now-familiar girl enter the building and felt satisfied, knowing she was safe. He finished his cigarette, throwing it on the floor and crushing it with his shoe to quench its amber glow.

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Aimee's life progressed slowly in college, much to Jen's displeasure. She was still single, still not into drinking, and still trying to get good grades.

Jen sighed in relief as her eyes opened on Saturday morning, spotting the time on the clock. 11:36.

Not bad, she mused, sitting up slowly and stretching her arms. She glanced at Aimee's bed to see that it was- unsurprisingly- empty.

Aimee, at 11:36 in the morning, was in the library. Not really in the mood to study, she'd gone mostly for the walk, afraid to stay in her dorm and wake her ever-sleeping roommate up.

Her small backpack slung haphazardly over her left shoulder, brunette hair tucked messily behind her ears, Aimee looked bored. Her expression was blank as she looked at familiar titles, picking them up to skim over recognisable descriptions.

She made her way out of the library, once again cursing the intense Australian heat. She sighed at the memory of cold London, of hating rainy days and detesting snow.

Snow, Aimee recalled, that she wouldn't go out and play in. Too cold.

She scoffed at the memory of 'too cold', knowing those two words- in Australia- would never go together again.

She rooted through her bag and successfully found what she was looking for- a pen and a scrap of paper.

Biting her lip, Aimee began to write about snow. Its beauty, glistening in weak winter sun. Its texture- crumbly and hard, all at once. But, mostly, Aimee dunked her entire mind into the memory of cold- something she'd appreciate a lot more on future trips home to London.

Aimee smelled the cigarette before she saw the boy.

Coughing, she looked up, to be greeted by intense blue eyes.

"What are you working on?" the boy asked, his blond hair messy and reflecting the sun in little glints.

Aimee gestured to the cigarette, choking again. "I'm not working at obtaining lung cancer, but thanks for your contribution."

Smirking, the boy discarded the cigarette, allowing the last trace of smoke to stream from his mouth in an exhale.

Aimee waited until the last of the smell had cleared before she looked at him again.

The blonde sat beside her on the concrete wall, his black skinny jeans contrasting hugely its faded grey.

"Luke," he said, extending a hand that Aimee didn't grip.

"Nice to meet you," she said, standing up. She hadn't even noticed sitting down while she was writing.

Luke's eyes followed her movements, and she knew she'd seen him before- she just couldn't pin down exactly where.

She didn't ask, taking a step away.

Something about this boy- maybe the smoking, maybe the fact that he was wearing a leather jacket in the southern Australian heat- unsettled her, and she wanted to get away immediately.

Unsurely, Aimee walked toward the big glass library again, using it as a place of refuge- a safe haven where she could wait out the storm that was Luke Hemmings.

Luke's eyes followed her the entire way, but he didn't say anything. She didn't turn around again, afraid of meeting those cold blue eyes.

He hopped down from the small wall, legs hitting the ground silently. He moved with an awkward sort of grace- like his inner self had a fluid movement, but just hadn't grown into his rather tall form.

Luke smirked to himself as he walked away.

Mission 1 accomplished: Make her think about you.

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A/N: OKAY UM I UPDATED TODAY BECAUSE IM PROBABLY JUST GONNA SOB TOMORROW AWAY

luke is 18 in this story bUT I WASNT READY FOR HIM TO BE 18 IN RL

Also if this update is short it's bc I wrote it on my ipod so I don't know how many words are in it

um yeah im emotional

I'll update tomorrow if I can

but if I can't

happy birthday to my sunshine, Luke Hemmings ♥♡♥♡♥