BOXER

eighteen

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. It was quiet for a while and it seemed as if Samantha was contemplating what she was about to say next.

"It kind of turned me off when he told me he hung out with an underground boxer," she added, looking down at her hands as she held her tongue in the side of her cheek.

Brielle sucked in a breath of air and ran her hand through her hair. She loved Samantha to pieces but there were times were she just wanted to strangle her to death.

"Excuse me?" Luke's eyebrows raised, not understanding what Sam was trying to get at.

"Samantha, don't start," Brielle groaned, not wanting to break up another argument. It seemed like her bad luck just wouldn't run out.

"I'm not doing anything."

"Is there a problem?" Luke asked, turning towards Brielle though the question was directed at Sam.

"No, I just don't feel comfortable with my best friend hanging out with you." Sam kept her eyes down and Brielle could tell that she was trying to be as nice as possible while also trying to make it obvious that she was not fond of Luke.

"I can guarantee you she's just fine with me." He looked over at Brielle as if he wanted her to help his point, but she just smiled apologetically at him.

"I'm just looking out for her," Sam said, not seeing what was wrong with what she was saying -- it's not like she was being rude or anything. She thought it was pretty normal to be worried if your best friend was hanging out with a guy who could've played in the movie Fight Club.

"But you don't even know me." Luke clutched his hands on the counter in an attempt to release his anger through that rather than words. All he wanted to say was how he was there for Brielle when she needed someone and that he was anything but a danger to her -- if anything, he was the only one protecting her. But he had especially caught on to the fact that Brielle was being secretive about the whole situation with Tyler and he was going to respect that -- he didn't need to blurt something out and lose Brielle's trust.

"Luke, it's fine." Brielle pulled his hand that was grasped onto the counter and loosely intertwined it with her own, hoping that it would calm him down.

And it did -- the feeling of her fingers wrapped around his made his anger disappear almost immediately. Her smile was barely visible, but it was enough to soften Luke's expression.

"We're gonna go. If you wanna talk to me, then I'll be home in a few hours," Brielle announced as she led Luke to the front door. He was still upset that this girl would accuse Luke of being a threat to Brie, so it was probably best if they left before anything escalated.

Sam watched on, mostly focusing on their intertwined hands. Usually Brielle would listen when Sam would warn her about a boy, but this time was different, and it hurt.

Brielle, of course, apologized for Sam's behavior multiple times -- Luke assured her that it was okay and that if Sam actually got to know him she probably wouldn't feel the same way. He then officially declared that everything that happened this morning was not to be discussed anymore and the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to forgetting about it.

Brielle felt weird just walking out on Sam, especially with Luke. She was not one to side with a boy over her best friend, but she believed Sam was just being annoying and overprotective.

They finally were able to get to the good part of the day -- the part where they were supposed to forget about everything that happened in the previous parts. Luke took her to the Santa Monica Pier, a place that he and every other teen in this part of California visited frequently. It was a place close to his heart, as not only did he spend a lot of late nights there with the few friends he had in school, but his parents would take him and his brothers there all the time before they got divorced. The memories were nice, though at the same time it pained him to know that his family was not the same anymore.