The Bet (Lashton)

Chapter 1

High School.

Probably the worst time in a persons life (unless you're a jock or cheerleader, in which case it's where you peak, but the rest of your life is shit).

And fortunately for him in the long run, Luke Hemmings was neither jock nor cheerleader. Nor was he popular, well liked, or accepted...unfortunately

One thing he was, was gay.

He'd known for most of his life, and his family was quite supportive. Even as a small child, he'd preferred bright colors, rainbows, and cute things. His parents had sort of known all along, but weren't going to force anything on him. He was grateful for that one random summer night when he was in 4th grade. They'd all piled on the small couch, his two brothers, his mom, dad, and him and had family movie night. The movie they watched happened to be about a gay couple. Luke asked his family their opinions and they told him they were allies, and Luke came out right then. It wasn't even a big deal, his parents told him they loved him no matter what and his brothers gave him a hug. That was it. They finished watching the movie and moved on with life.

Luke wished it was that easy in school.

Because his family hadn't made it a big deal, Luke assumed the same treatment would occur in school.

Since it was middle school, of course it did turn into a big deal. Got a pimple on your forehead? You get poked in the face months after it's gone. Spill something on your shorts? You get called PeePee Pants for the rest of your life. Drop your books in the hall? For the rest of the year, kids will slap your stuff down and laugh as you scramble to pick it up.

Some of Luke's friends had been okay with it at the time, but a larger portion weren't. They weren't accepting; middle school children were horrible monsters, and though Luke hadn't ever been popular, he'd done all right...until the day he came out.

The jocks and other popular kids made it their mission to destroy Luke's happiness. He was the only Out person at school, and the way he was treated ensured it stayed that way.

He was fine with that, he just wished people would give him a break.

Because of the constant mockery, no one wanted to be around him. The second any of the bullies turned on the friends that had stuck with him, Luke lost the friend. He understood, no one liked to be teased, and for some reason these bullies really went after him.

Still, he would have liked to have friends. Everyone does, it's a basic human need.

Luke was walking in the hallway and looked around at his peers, watching everyone walking with a buddy, laughing with their mates as they stood at their locker, sharing headphones with the person next to them.

And then there was Luke, walking by himself, head down but on high alert in case anyone tried something. Because they always tried something.

Luke felt the vibe in the hallway shift and lifted his head up, looking around when suddenly he felt something hit him in the back and he was propelled forward onto the ground.

Everyone nearby moved aside so he could hit the floor and turned to laugh, aiming their cell phones at him. He sat up and shook his head to get his bearings and looked around to make sure no one was going to kick him while he was down. Unfortunately that happened a lot.

He saw all the faces laughing at him, but couldn't figure out who the attacker was. It didn't matter, because this wasn't the first time it had happened, nor would it be the last. Luke got up, brushing the dust off his pants and pushed his way through the crowds.

He'd learned a few things over the years.

    The first was never hold anything in your hands. People are able to slap it away, throw it, or hold it above his head, and when he was knocked down, it would spill everywhere. The same principle applied to keeping his backpack zipped closed.

    Another thing he knew was not to look to anyone for help. Sure, there were the people who really enjoyed tossing him around, and there were the people who didn't participate but watched/laughed/recorded. And even worse than them was the people who watched, clearly felt bad about it, but did nothing.

To Luke, that was almost worse than the people who actively bullied him. Sure, the bullies had no conscience and hurt him daily, but there were people who realized what happened was wrong, but just let it happen. If they felt bad, they should stick up for him, or at least try to be his friend.

Above all, what Luke wanted was a friend. He didn't care if the entire school liked or accepted him, but if he could just have one person besides his family to talk to about things, someone to go to the mall with, text and video chat, then he knew he'd be able to manage whatever else went on.

He just felt so alone all the time and he hated it.

Luke was heading to the library when he felt someone push him into a locker, laughing as they walked past.

He sighed.

If he only had a friend....

***

So here's the first chapter! My poor little Lukey 🥺 hopefully things get better for him.

(Also I just wanted to put this little warning in here: some of the characters are very rude and use crude language. I 1,000% do not agree with this kind of homophobia, however this is a main trait in these characters. Just wanted to put that little note out there, so there's no issues or comments or anything)

I'll be updating the next chapter soon, hope you all have a great day! ☺️

~ashtonfortherwin