seven

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We made it inside and luckily mom wasn't in the living room, so we were able to get upstairs undetected. I went to my room to shower off the memories of tonight and change in pajamas.

The warm shower felt so good rinsing off the sticky remnants of the rain in my now knotted hair. As I ran conditioner through my brown locks, I thought about how Luke looked tonight. How scared and sensitive he was. He's never been like that before.

He's always been a tough guy prone to fights since our parents met and he was always the rebellious one. He had never shown this side, and I was the one who made him.

I turned the shower off and wrapped myself in a towel, looking at myself in the foggy mirror. I hadn't noticed it before, but bruises were starting to form where Daniel grabbed my arm. I poked the spot and winced in pain from the tenderness.

At least the injuries inflicted weren't worse than that. God knows they could have been.

I dried off and changed into my pajamas, feeling exhausted from everything I had been through, plus all the crying. I swear, a good hard cry basically takes the same energy from you as playing a sport.

Picking up the large denim jacket off my bed, I went down the hall to return it to Luke. I knocked on his door softly.

"Come in."

Upon entering the room, Luke was shirtless at his desk, scrolling on his laptop. He spun around to face me in his swivel chair and my eyes lingered on his golden muscular torso. Good god when did that happen?

"So are you gonna give me my jacket back or are you just gonna stand there like an idiot?" He asked with a laugh. I smiled tightly and set it on the bed with a nod.

"You know I was thinking," he started, leaning back in the chair to stretch his arms above his head, "You've had a shit night and I wanted to make it up to you. Some friends of mine from highschool are having a pool party tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come. Pretty much the whole town is gonna be there, they're trying to get a big turn out. You could bring Hailey if you want."

I was trying hard to maintain eye contact but it was supremely difficult with his figure just a foot lower. "Um, yeah. Yeah! I'm down, yeah, when is it?"

He scratched his jaw with his fingertips, creating a scratchy sandpaper noise on his stubble, "Starts at 4 ish, and it just goes until people leave. So be ready to leave by like 3:45."

Luke was always a stickler for being on time to things, even if it meant we would be the first ones there. Which I really didn't want to happen.

I nodded, leaning in the doorframe, "Yeah, I'll call Hailey tonight." He nodded and softly spun himself side to side in his chair with his foot on the ground and I felt like I was being hypnotized by his body.

His ribs at his sides flexed as he breathed in and out, moving like an animated sculpture. I could visualize every muscle, every tendon, like they were all placed there so deliberately that one slight shift would throw the whole image off.

He pursed his lips in the silence before speaking, "So goodnight."

I snapped out of my trance and regained eye contact, "Yeah. Goodnight."

Leaving his room, I immediately called Hailey. It rang once before she answered. Yeah that's pretty typical.

"What?" She asked eagerly.

I laughed, "Yeah, hello to you too."

"So how did things go tonight with Daniel?" Her voice was suggestive and playful.

I sighed and popped my lips awkwardly, "Not well."

"Aww boo," she whined.

"Yeah I don't think him and I are gonna work out, he was just a....a bit too aggressive for my taste. He tried to have sex and I didn't want to, and he took my shirt off me then left me out in the rain when I rejected him again."

There was silence and then a small sigh, "God, Natalie, I'm really sorry about that. Are you okay?"

I quickly reassured her, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, Luke came and got me."

"Well that's good to hear. Was that what you were calling about?"

"No, no, Luke invited me to this huge pool party his friend is hosting tomorrow and he said I could bring you. Apparently they have a very generous open door policy since they're trying to make it huge."

She was silent a few moments and I said her name to make sure the call hadn't dropped and she answered, "Huh, oh ummm actually...I'm feeling kind of sick. Not really in the mood to party."

That was really weird considering Hailey is the type to have the plague and still go to house parties. She was unlike me in the way that she was a social butterfly.

I bit my lip and thought about asking her if she was sure but decided to leave it, "Okay...yeah, you know I'm not gonna go either then, I mean I wouldn't really have anyone else there to talk to anyways."

Truthfully, if Hailey didn't come, I would have the worst time ever. I'm not the best at making new friends, and I'd probably just be the weird loner anyways.

We hung up and I went back to Luke's room to tell him. Please have a shirt on.

I knocked again and he let me in. Nope, still no shirt and oh great now he's down to just boxers. My eyes quickly darted up and down his body, catching a quick glimpse of his muscly legs before entering. He was in his bed, no covers on, phone in hand.

"What is it, Nat, I just want to sleep."

I put my hands up defensively, "I know, I know, I just wanted to tell you that Hailey isn't going, so I'm not gonna go either."

He sat up, "What, why?"

I shrugged, "I mean I wouldn't have anyone else to talk to-"

"You have me."

I rolled my eyes, "You know damn well you're gonna be off with your bros dicking around, there's no point."

He furrowed his brows, "Nat you've lived in this town your entire life and you only have one real friend. What kind of seventeen year old are you? I think you should still come, you should meet some new people."

I paused and smiled a little, "Yeah and who knows, I might even meet an actual nice guy!"

He gave me a look of discipline and shook his head, "Not what I meant at all. Meet some new girlfriends, if anything at all, you just need to get out of the house for once this summer. It would be good for you."

He's right. I've had issues with depression for as long as I can remember. I used to see a therapist when I was younger, but then I convinced mom and Andrew I was doing better. I don't not have friends because I'm antisocial. I'm just never in the mood to be social, or go to events.

I don't like leaving the house if I'm not being forced to. And maybe this was Luke's way of forcing me to.

I sighed and nodded, "Okay, I'll go."

He smiled, "I'm a miracle worker. Now goodnight, we both need beauty sleep to prepare for how hard we're gonna party tomorrow."

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