Changing Tune

22. I'm peachy

Chapter 22: I'm peachy

Ellie's POV

*****

The realisation hit me like a sack of bricks. I couldn't believe that I could have been so stupid to not notice it before. Even Noah seemed to have realised it, and he never even met him. I liked Blake, and I had liked him for a long time. From the moment he helped me get over my fear of singing all the way to us writing that amazing song together. 

He had always been there, in the back of my mind for the longest time. The feeling I had tried to push back and deny so badly  I had denied it, and I may have finally recognised it, but I still couldn't do anything about it. 

James had made it pretty clear that we had to get people to stop talking about it, and certainly not do the opposite. Blake and I's dynamic was a great one, and I didn't want anything to come between that. A lot of problems would pursue were I to do something about my feelings, and I didn't want that. 

That was all I could think about as Luke and I made our way to Adam's house for Blake's party. I had recognised that I liked Blake, but I knew that I had to find a way to stop myself from doing that. 

"Are you okay?" Luke asked as we neared Adam's house, the silence between us suddenly seeming to get to him. "You haven't said a word since we left. What's up?"

I looked at him and smiled, knowing that for once in my life, I couldn't tell him what was on my mind. Luke had always been one of the people whom I used to trust with everything. It seemed as if he always knew the right words to say, and a weight always seemed to be lifted off my chest whenever I did. 

I trusted him, I still did. I knew Luke probably more than anyone, and I could always tell when he was genuine and when he wasn't. Yet, I couldn't tell him about my crush on Blake. I couldn't tell anybody. 

"I'm fine," I replied, the look on his face making it evident that he didn't believe me. 

"Come on Elliana, I know you like the back of my hands, and I know when you're lying to me," he said as he grabbed my wrist to stop me from walking and to get me to look at him. 

"You mean just like how I know you're lying to me?" I asked with a raise of an eyebrow. 

His eyes widened slightly, seemingly taken aback with everything I had just said. It was clear that he wasn't expecting me to say anything like that, but his reaction only confirmed my suspicions even more.

"I know that you're not telling me everything. You're keeping something from me, and I can see it in your eyes every time you talk about our break up. It's always as if you want to tell me something but keep holding yourself back from doing it." 

Luke was one of my oldest friends, and if he thought that he was going to be fooling me, he was mistaken. I had no doubt about his genuineness towards me, but I also knew that he was lying to me. 

"Sometimes I forget how observant you are," he said with a nervous laugh as he ran his hand through his hair and carried on walking. "But it's nothing, really. You know how I am with feelings."

And once again, I knew that he was lying. I decided not to say anything, knowing that when Luke didn't want to speak, nobody could get him to. I hoped that me switching the conversation on to him would have gotten him to drop the question that he asked me. 

Luke was a very persistent person, and he could always get people to talk. I could trust Luke, and I knew that, but I preferred keeping my sudden revelation to myself.