Photographs (Luke Hemmings)

Chapter 10

"Favorite band you've seen live?" Luke asked me.

"All Time Low at Warped," I said already knowing the answer.

"I would say Yellowcard at warped, but it's a close call."

"Yeah I went with this guy, Cody, to warped. He introduced me to Yellowcard, they were really good," I said.

"Boyfriend?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh no, I've never had a boyfriend before. Well I mean I dated this kid Tyler, but it lasted a week and we held hands once but that's about it," I said putting air quotes around 'dated' "I wouldn't say that's a boyfriend" I said shaking my head at the memory.

I saw Luke nod out of my peripheral vision, assuming he didn't want to come off as nosy.

After answering Luke's question, it made me ponder if he had a girlfriend. I had never seen him with a girl at school, and I had never heard of him having a girlfriend either. The curiosity was getting the best of me, but I was too much of a coward to be straight forward and ask him. Instead, I thought of another questions to ask.

"Do you know what you want to do after high school?" I asked Luke since my future was always in the back of my mind. I was undecided and it ate at me constantly.

"Not really," he said turning to me, "what about you? You seem to be the type of a girl with a plan."

"Not what so ever actually," I said tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I don't know what I want to do with my life. Some people know straight away they want to to be a doctor or a counselor, but I have no clue. I don't necessarily have a passion that I want as a career. I like things, but I would never want to do them for the rest of my life," I said cutting myself off.

My future was a complex topic. I didn't see how you expected people to make these big life decisions just a couple of months after high school. I could ramble on about it for hours.

"Hold on," Luke said standing up. I watched him walk over to his car, and open the trunk. I looked back to the water in front of me, letting my mind wander.

Before I knew it, Luke was standing next to me. I looked up at him and noticed he had a blanket in his hands. He nodded his head towards the beach. I stood up and followed Luke to the end of the pier where the sand started.

He placed the blanket down in the sand before taking a seat. I slipped off my sandals before sitting down next to Luke. I looked over at him and he was fiddling with the ring he wore on his pinky.

I saw Luke lean back and the sky started getting dark quickly; I could see the stars appearing as the darkness began to settle in. When I looked around me, it was hard to see now that the sun was gone and fireflies were starting to appear.

"That's so cool," I said looking up at the sky after we sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I know, wow," Luke said looking up at the bright stars above us.

We stayed in silence because no words were needed; the silence was comfortable. After a half an hour, I saw Luke look over at me. I turned my head to him, meeting his blue eyes in the darkness surrounding us. I gave him a small smile.

"It's almost 10, we should probably get going," Luke said giving me a side smile. I nodded and stood up, helping Luke fold up the blanket.

"Thanks Luke," I said walking back to the car.

"For what?" He said swinging his keys around his finger.

"Showing me this, it's really cool," I said not exactly sure how to put my thoughts into words. This was like his own secret place, and he let me out of all people come see it.

"It's no big deal, but you're welcome," Luke said as we got into the car.

The drive was also quiet, besides the music we played; there were occasional small conversations here and there. The wind blowing through the window hitting my face was making me tired, but we were close to my house so I knew I didn't have to wait long before crawling into bed.

"So remember that time I won our race in the parking garage?" Luke said looking over at me for a mere second before looking back at the road.

"Oh you mean when you won because you're legs are 80% of your body?" I said with a smile, trying to hold back my laugh.

"Sure that one," he said laughing at me.

"I think I know what I want as a prize," he said smiling but still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked as we hit a stoplight.

"We should go get dinner tomorrow night," Luke said calmly, scratching the back of his neck and playing with his lip ring.

"So you want me to buy you dinner? I would be fine with that. You've done a lot for me," I said with a smile. I was confused as of why he seemed so awkward about it. I didn't mind buying him dinner.

He was still rubbing the back of his neck as if he was nervous. We had been to lunch and the movies before, this wouldn't be any different.

As we pulled into my driveway, Luke looked at me.

"No i'll pay, but like.... as a date," he said clarifying himself, making me understand why he seemed nervous, I was just oblivious to everything. I was such an awkward person, I don't know why he wanted to go on a dinner date with me. His award winning eyes could have won over so many other girls.

He looked over, meeting my eyes for a second before quickly averting his eyes out the window.

I was still caught off guard by his question, and butterflies rushed to my stomach, "okay.... I'll see you tomorrow night," I said quietly with a smile, trying not to blush while looking at Luke.

I gave him one last smile and a thank you before getting out of the car and making my way into the house.

I leaned against the door as I got inside and shut it. I smiled to myself before making my way to my room to get ready for bed.

-

A/N

I laugh because I started writing this story in July. One month after writing this chapter, luke tweets that his favorite place is to be on stage. https://twitter.com/Luke5SOS/status/497087996332871680

He's predicting this fanfic!