Eighteen.

Chapter 12

Luke couldn't get the image of Aimee wearing the bracelet out of his mind. Somehow, and he couldn't comprehend the reason, he'd gotten that lucky. It was fastened securely around her slim wrist, and she seemed to push it forward at all times.

He remembered, almost fondly, how she'd twisted it absentmindedly all through their brief encounter. How she didn't notice when stray strands of fine blonde hair got caught in it, too engrossed in their eye contact.

Calum walked noisily into the room, humming some Busted song that made Luke want to hit him over the head with his guitar.

"Hey, Calum, here's an idea," Luke snapped, gritting his teeth slightly. "Why don't you go back to the year 3000, so we don't have to put up with you."

Calum acted as if he hadn't heard Luke, continuing to hum under his breath. "For a guy who's just completed stage two, you're kinda angry, dude."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I told you already. Aimee isn't about the stages any more- they're taking too long with her."

"Not that hard to speed it up, Robert," Calum smirked, shrugging as he grabbed a bottle of water from beside his bed. He snapped the seal and drank thirstily, gulping audibly. It grated on Luke's nerves, like most things his roommate did.

"I've told you," the blonde grunted. "I don't want to. She'll come of her own accord."

Calum nodded sarcastically. "Because that worked for everyone else."

"Worked for you."

The dark haired boy tossed his water bottle into the bin. "Because my personality is one in a million. Yours, Robert, is not."

Luke hopped from his bed and tightened each muscle individually, focusing on that to curb his aggravation. 

"Aw, Lukey, where are you going?" Calum asked, his voice sickly sweet, as Luke began to make his way across the room.

"Out," Luke snapped, and his sentence was punctuated by the usual door slam.

***

Aimee's footsteps pierced the silence, as usual. It was approaching exam time, and everyone was indoors studying. The blonde herself usually would be, only she found too much of it clogged her mind, and she needed a break every so often.

She fished her phone out of her pocket, and pulled it up to her ear once her mother's contact flashed across the screen.

"Yes?"

Her mom's voice was frantic. "Aims! There's only three weeks left in term!"

Aimee pulled the phone in her ear so her hearing wasn't damaged by the shrieks. "Yes, mum."

Her focus being on the phone, she didn't notice a second set of approaching footsteps- footsteps that she would vaguely recognise, from all the time she seemed to be hearing them lately.

"No, mum, I can't visit, I have so much wor- Yes, I know it's been three months."

Luke smiled to himself as he listened to this, hearing the patience in Aimee's voice gradually leave. Her voice was still so soft, yet he could hear irritation build up if he really focused.

"Yes, I'll be back for Christmas. No, Jen's fami- Yes, mum, I know the neighbours are coming. I'm not clear on the why bit, bu- Okay, mum. Yes, mum."

Luke continued walking behind her, occasionally catching snippets of her conversation.

"Yeah, mum. Love you too."

The blonde boy almost stepped directly into Aimee as she stopped suddenly, poking at her screen with no result. She glanced up in surprise at the closeness of the stranger, but then stepped back once she saw Luke. It was almost a reflex.

Eventually, her phone screen died down, and she knew that her mother had hung up. 

"I'll have to get that fixed," she mused aloud, then blinked up at him.

"Sorry," they said at the same time, then both laughed awkwardly.

Luke took a step back, and gestured to the road. "You were, um... Walking?"

Aimee nodded. "Yep."

Luke smiled slightly, and Aimee knew his cockiness was back. His random bouts of nerves were disconcerting.

"Where to?"

Aimee smiled. "Back," she said, pointing to her distant dorm. She hadn't realised how far she'd come.

"Funny that," Luke shrugged. "Because I was too."

"Lies," Aimee said, glancing over her shoulder. "I would've seen you in front of me."

Luke smiled again, and Aimee waited for it to touch his eyes. It didn't.

"I'm trying to be polite."

The blonde girl took a step, using her foot as a way to turn her back to him. "Too late. Maybe another time," she said, in a voice that sounded way too confident to be her own.

Luke watched her for a minute. He wasn't sure exactly what he was thinking.

"Aimee!" he yelled after her, when she had begun to leave his sight. 

"That's me," he heard her call back, and smiled even wider to himself.

"Don't stop stalking me," he responded, and for a second he kidded himself that he heard her laugh carry back to him on the faint breeze.

************************

OMG GUYS

HI

IM SORRY

I WAS ON  A SCHOOL TRIP

WITH 0 INTERNET CONNECTION

AND THIS CHAPTER IS HORRIBLE BUT I HAD AN IDEA AND I DIDNT HAVE MY NOTEBOOK SO I COULDN'T WRITE IT DOWN AND THEN I FORGOT IT

but anyway I'm home now let's all pray I manage to somehow get into an updating schedule

UM SO YEAH THAT'S IT REALLY

QOTC:

What is the best school trip you've been on?

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH OMG 

ILY 

MEGHAN XOX