Grease Monkey | shawnmendes

twelve

I sighed a sweet sigh of relief as I walked into my math class and found that Shawn had skipped again. Luke smiled sweetly at me, making my stomach flip flop as I took my seat. He was taking me to dinner tonight and I was more than excited.

Since my evening with Shawn at the auto paint shop three days ago, I'd tried my best to avoid him. It scared me that he'd opened up to me, even though that had been all that I'd thought I'd wanted. I couldn't open up to him so it wasn't fair. We were from two different worlds. But, Luke.

Luke was in the same boat as I was. His parents dragged him from the city and stuck him out here in the middle of nowhere. It had to be the perfect match. We got on very well and he was extremely handsome. I smiled as I watched him take his notes. The time we'd been spending together had been wonderful. I felt guilty about avoiding Shawn when he was still working so hard on my car. Fixing the outside wasn't enough for Shawn and he'd insisted on redoing the inside of the car as well. I made a quick decision to go by the shop tomorrow after school to see how the inside was coming.

The bell rang and stirred me from my thoughts. I looked down at my notebook to realize I didn't take any notes - only doodles. I sighed and closed my notebook before slinging my backpack onto my shoulders.

"You excited for tonight?" Luke walked down the hallway next to me.

"I am. I haven't been on a proper date in awhile, so I may be a little rusty though." I playfully nudged him.

"Lucky for you, neither have I." He grinned. "See you at seven?"

I nodded and he kissed my forehead, sending waves of heat to my cheeks.

++

"No, no. NSYNC was so much better!" I protested as I munched on a salad.

"You are insane. Backstreet Boys will always take the gold." Luke sassed me with his fork, sending me into a fit of giggles.

"Never. I will not accept it." I pouted and Luke rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Avoid the truth." He took a swig of his drink and I stuck more lettuce into my mouth.

Luke paid the bill and we made our way to his car.

"So, even though you have terrible taste in bands, I really want to take you out again." Luke leaned against the side of his car and tugged his bottom lip between his teeth as he waited for my answer. I wanted so badly to kiss him.

"And even though your taste in bands is worse than mine, I want you to take me out again." I smirked.

"It's a second date then." Luke moved in towards me and before I knew it, our lips were firmly pressed together, tongues battling. My stomach could have taken the Olympic gold for all of the somersaults it was turning. I smiled through the kiss, causing Luke to pull away.

"What?" He smiled.

"Nothing. I've just been waiting on that for awhile." I looked up at him.

"Well, wait no more." He smirked before kissing me again.

"Excuse me.." A voice that was all too familiar broke our kiss and I looked up to find Louis.

"Uh, Louis. Hey." I managed to utter, immediately looking down at my fidgeting feet.

"Just picking up some food. How's the car coming along?" He asked, snidely.

"Um, you know I haven't heard from Shawn, but with his skill I'm sure it's going great." I smiled at him, hoping to relieve some tension, but despite my despair, the smile didn't help one bit. Louis rolled his eyes and turned quickly on his heel to go inside the restaurant.

"Shit." I muttered.

"What was that about?" Luke asked.

"Nothing - just the guy who's fixing my car - I haven't checked on my car recently and I need to go by the auto shop and see the um, the progress." I fumbled my words, suddenly realizing how terrible I'd been being to Shawn.

"Can you uh, just take me home?" I slid into Luke's car and he followed.

++

The next day, Shawn skipped math again, and so did Luke. Luke and I were technically dating but I had to see Shawn. As soon as the bell rang, I made my way to the shop.

I went to Shawn's usual spot and found him inside of my car, reinstalling the dash.

"Shawn, hey." I smiled, peering into the car.

He didn't respond.

"Shawn, I'm sorry I haven't been by. I've just been busy." I started, but he quickly interrupted me as he stood from the car and briskly walked over to his toolbox.

"I get that you're into this guy, Kenna. He's your type - rich, handsome and charming. His parents give him all that he wants. But please, don't make people think that they can trust you when you really never had a single intention of being anyone's friend." He snapped, storming around to the other side of my car.

"Shawn, I'm sorry. But you can trust me and I'm definitely your friend." I tried to calm him.

"Kenna, I told you about my family. Do you know how many people I've told that? Hmm, let's see. Zero. Louis and his dad know because they were there when it all happened. Unlike you, I don't have tons of people dying to be my friend. I let you see a side of me that not many do because I thought you were sincere, and then you avoid me for four days. Some friend. The interior will be done tomorrow. Send your dad to pick it up. I don't want to see you here anymore."

He bolted into the office, leaving me in the shop alone. I sunk back against my car, tears threatening to spill onto my cheeks, but I fought them. I picked myself up and left the shop, feeling empty and alone.