-Luke-
"Good morning," I muttered my greetings when I leaned against the wall next to Ronny the next day at school. "How was your weekend?"
Ronny turned to stare at me. "Good what?" he asked.
"Good morning?" I frowned.
Ronny opened his mouth once, twice, three times, before he found his voice. "Who are you?" he breathed out. "There's no such thing as 'good morning' in Luke's vocabulary."
"Very funny," I grunted at him.
He shook his head and fell silent for a moment, but then he turned to look at me again. "Did you seriously ask about my weekend?"
"Yes, I did," I said, rolling my eyes.
He squinted his eyes at me. "That's not normal. What's going on?"
I leaned my head against the wall with a groan. "I'm sorry I said anything."
I could feel him staring at me for quite some time. I didn't bother to look at him again. He was just being a wanker. Then, he surprised me with a quiet laughter.
"So... It is true then," Ronny spoke. "You have someone."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said – I was not telling anyone about Troy as long as he needed to keep us a secret. "You're making way too big of a deal out of a simple 'good morning'."
"It's not only that. Ever since you got back from your homeland, you've been different," he said. "I'm guessing you met her there. Who is she? An old childhood friend? A girl next door?"
Well, at least he couldn't be more wrong, which suited me well. "Something like that," I said. "Why would you even care?"
"It's been the hottest topic lately," Ronny smirked, and looked around. I noticed that pretty much everyone in the hallway was paying attention to our conversation. "Who is dating Luke Frost?"
"People should mind their own goddamn business," I said quietly, glaring at everyone who dared to look in my direction. They all took the hint.
"So, was I right? She lives in Australia?" Ronny asked.
"Yeah," I said, just to end the stupid rumors about me. I knew I was in trouble once Troy would hear about this, but this was the easiest way out. Having an imaginary girlfriend who conveniently lived half across the world wouldn't bring up any questions about why I was never seen with her.
This annoying conversation did seem to have its upside.
"I knew it," Ronny laughed. Everyone else seemed curious to hear more, but I ignored them.
Thankfully, the class started, and I was left alone. I knew Ronny would probably ask me more about my "girlfriend", but I wasn't going to tell him anything. I wasn't a liar, and more importantly, I wasn't someone who shared things with anyone. No one would be surprised if I decided to ignore everyone's questions.
I had a free period after the first one, so I headed to the library, like I always did. I couldn't help but notice people – especially the junkless ones – talking about me with hushed voices. It was obvious they were trying to guess what kind of girl I was dating. It seemed like the rumors were spreading faster than a wildfire.
"So, I heard you have a girlfriend back in Australia."
I came to a halt. I had no idea if I was in trouble or not. I turned around to see Troy walking the last few steps to me. He had no expression on his face.
"Hmmh..." I murmured. I couldn't say yes to his face, and if I denied it, the rumors would start circulating again. I wished Troy understood why I let this new rumor be born. The thing that really sucked was the fact I couldn't explain it to him right then and there, with more than two dozen people overhearing us.
Troy continued walking past me, gesturing for me to follow him with his index finger. Now I could tell he wasn't awfully happy with the new rumor, but I also knew he wasn't mad at me. I walked two steps behind him until we reached an empty, short hallway. It was at the back of the school, leading to an emergency exit with huge windows on the outer wall.
"So, I'm an Australian girl now?" Troy asked quietly, turning to look at me.
"I just wanted people to stop guessing who I'm going out with," I told him just as quietly, peering behind us to make sure no one was there.
He sighed and crossed arms on his chest. I felt cold inside when he did that – it made me feel rejected.
"I hate this," he said slowly, making me feel even worse.
"What?" I asked.
"Hiding. Sneaking around..." he sighed and stepped right in front of me. "Hearing stupid rumors about who my dude is dating..."
"O-Oh..." I murmured, mentally slapping myself for letting the insecure side of me get ahold of the steering wheel. "I'm sorry... I wish they would just fucking mind their own business..."
He let out a short chuckle and hugged me. "It can't be helped. Besides, I knew what I got myself into when I started dating the hot superstar of our school."
"I'm not–"
I wanted to object, but sadly, he knew exactly what to do to shut me up. More than that. When he pressed his lips on mine, I forgot what I wanted to say. When I felt his tongue against mine, I even forgot my own name.
And when he pulled back, it took me a moment to put my head back together. I wasn't in a hurry to do so, to be honest.
"One day, we won't need to hide this," Troy said with a small smile, resting his head on my shoulder. "I just need some time..."
"You can have all the time in the world. I only want what's best for you," I told him truthfully. Even though I hated the idea of him living with that scumbag he called his father, I understood why he was afraid.
"I know," he purred, and squeezed me tightly. Then he sighed. "I should go to my next class. Can I come over to your house after school?"
"Do you even have to ask?" I said, and he smiled at me.
"I guess not," he said, and pecked my lips again before letting go. "You better tell everyone that your Australian girl is the hottest creature on earth."
"Sure," I chuckled. "It is true anyway. Well, not the part about the Australian girl."
"No flirting when I'm trying to walk away," he said with a wink, and started walking, eventually leaving me alone in the hallway.
*****
I tried to make some progress during my free period, but my mind kept returning to our camping trip. We'd spent the longest time in our camp, just talking and joking and having fun. I spent most of that time in Troy's arms. I really wanted to go back there. Sky was already planning for our next trip, but this time we would go somewhere else, since their project was done.
I was looking forward to that. I was really looking forward to that. I couldn't believe how happy it made me when Sky spoke about it without even asking if we all wanted to come with him. He had already decided we all wanted to come. Well, no, it was more like it didn't even occur to him that there was a chance we didn't want to come.
And then I forgot all about it when Troy invaded my mind again. I kept living in this one particular memory. I'd been leaning against the log we had between our tents, and he sat down on it right behind me, placing his long legs on both my sides. He'd played with my hair for a long time and more than once, I nearly fell asleep. It was such a happy moment – I knew I would never forget it.
It was weird to have happy memories and happy moments. Part of me still expected me to ruin everything, but I wasn't the same guy I was a year ago. Hell, I wasn't the same guy I was a month ago. Now I had... hope.
The period was about to end, so I forced Troy out of my head so I could finish reading the page I was on. I shortly realized I had no memory of reading the first half, so I just gave up. I started gathering my belongings, but then I heard footsteps behind me in the quiet library.
"So, I heard you have a girlfriend back in Australia."
I groaned. "Leave me alone."
"How rude," Lisa said, stopping next to my desk. "Is she hot?"
I stood up and grabbed my bag, hauling it over my shoulder. "You just don't give up, do you?"
"Can you even call her a girlfriend, if she lives so far away?" Lisa continued, and I turned to glare at her.
"Okay, how are you not getting this?" I asked, rubbing my temples with both hands. "I – am – not – interested – in – you!"
"Yet," she said over-confidently, crossing arms over her chest. "No one says no to me."
I just stared at her for a moment. "Lisa, I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm now going to say to you: no. No, no, no. Nope. Nuh-uh. Hell no. Nonononono. No. No. NO! You get me?"
She didn't reply to me, but her expression was far from amused. I turned my back on her and started walking to the exit.
"You will–"
"I AM NOT, NOR WILL I EVER BE, INTERESTED IN LISA CUNNINGS!" I yelled at the top of my lungs when she tried to speak. Absolutely everyone turned to stare at me until they spotted Lisa. I heard snickering all around us.
"You're such a jerk, Frost!" Lisa yelled after me.
"Thank you! You finally noticed!" I yelled back at her. "Now leave me the fuck alone!"
I walked to the closest set of stairs, heading to our next class, when Ronny suddenly appeared next to me.
"That was cold, man," he laughed.
"Nothing else seems to work with her," I muttered.
"Yeah, she's set her eyes on you," he nodded. "You're probably the only guy who has turned her down, and it pisses her off."
"She needs to grow up," I grunted.
Ronny just laughed.
The next class went by annoyingly slowly, but finally it ended, and lunch break started. Ronny followed me again, and I kind of wanted to shake him off so I could go find Troy, but I didn't have enough time to think of a way to get rid of him, when Troy was suddenly standing right in front of me. He was talking with Max, and just a second later, he noticed us.
"Hey, dude," he smirked, and waved at us.
"Ladies," I greeted them, and stopped close to Troy – not too close, obviously.
"We're waiting for Sky," Troy said, pointing into a classroom where Sky was speaking with a teacher. "Want to eat with us?"
"Sure," I shrugged. "Is Pipsqueak in trouble?"
"Mr. Dexter asked Sky about the cats," Max explained. "The ones he found."
"Ah, I see," I muttered, and turned to look at Ronny. "Sky isn't done talking anytime soon, so you can go ahead if you want."
"I'm not in a hurry," he shrugged. Bugger. I really wished he would just go. I couldn't relax at all if he was there, seeing me interacting with Troy. I knew I would slip. Troy had the power to turn me into a mindless, careless idiot if he wanted, and I had a secret to keep.
"So, ready for the game?" Ronny asked, and both Max and Troy let out weird, whiny groans. "That's the spirit," he laughed.
"It's too soon," Troy said. "I'm really not ready."
"Don't worry about it – it's just a friendly game," Ronny said with a shrug.
"Yeah – real friendly. Isn't it that on average, two players end up in hospital every year?" Troy chuckled.
"Details, details," Ronny said dismissively. "You two will do fine – you are, after all, the heirs of the frozen throne."
I rolled my eyes at his words. Max and Troy laughed shortly, and both peered at me. "Don't be such a party pooper, dude," Troy spoke to me. "I like that term."
"There's no throne, and it's not that frozen," I grunted at all of them.
"Frozen throne?" Sky asked, scaring the crap out of me.
"Since when did you stop talking?" I asked, glaring down at him.
"Twenty-five seconds ago," Sky said with a smile. "What frozen throne?"
"Luke is leaving the team," Max explained, and suddenly the atmosphere turned into something straight out of a funeral home.
"King Frost is stepping down," Ronny nodded. "Leaving behind a frozen throne. It's going to be either Max or Troy who will take his place."
"Ohh, that sounds so cool," Sky said with that ridiculously excited, wide-eyed expression of his.
"There is no throne," I told him.
"Well, there's a bench in front of locker number one," Troy smirked. "That's your throne."
"But that's cool too," Sky told me with a sympathetic voice, like I was a toddler who needed to be cheered up.
"I hate all of you," I said, and started walking to the lunch hall. They were all laughing at my words and I heard them following me.
Soon we sat down to eat. They continued talking about the game and that stupid frozen throne, but I was already sick and tired of that topic, so I didn't join the conversation. Lucky for me, I wasn't the only one who didn't seem interested.
"Bella didn't want to get up the bed this morning," I told Sky, who was peering out of the window.
He immediately snapped his head in my direction. "Is there something wrong? Is she sick?! Did something happen?"
"Relax," I said, stressing the word. "She was just so tired after the trip, that's all. She had so much fun."
"Oh, thank goodness," Sky breathed out. "It really was fun. Right...?" he spoke the last word like he feared I hated going with them.
"Definitely. I can't wait for the next one," I said.
He got really excited after that. Max, Troy and Ronny were all quickly silenced when Sky started talking about all the locations he wanted to visit, all the parks he wanted to see, and every possible nook he wanted to explore.
"It's going to be so awesome," Sky said in the end, using his last breath to muster out those words.
"I bet," I said, and Troy and Max were nodding their heads. "We can ask Gwen if she'll let us use her ATV, so we can travel even further."
"Let him catch his breath before you say things like that," Max chuckled.
Sky was basically shivering in his seat, grinning like a maniac. "Awesome...!"
I laughed shortly and shook my head. "Breathe, Shrimp."
And then it was time to drag our asses to our next classes. The wrong parts of the day were going past too fast.
"Christ, I need to get my books from the locker," Ronny cursed, and got up on his feet. "You coming?" he asked me.
"Yeah..." I muttered, getting up on my feet.
"You still have five minutes, bro," Troy said, looking at the clock.
"My locker is downstairs, and our classroom is upstairs," Ronny sighed.
"Oh, okay," Troy said, giving me a hasty look. Maybe he, too, wanted me to stay a little while longer? Or was I just dreaming?
"We'll get going. See you around," I told him, trying to sound normal. I started following Ronny towards the exit.
"Dude!" Troy yelled after me.
"Yeah?" I turned to look at him.
"Wait for us after school," he said.
"Sure," I nodded, even though he didn't even need to ask – he knew I would always wait for him. I waved at him and continued following Ronny.
"That Sky is a bit... weird?" Ronny said when we were far enough.
"I'll give you a fair warning," I said slowly, turning to look at him. "The next thing you say about him will determine whether you get my fist lodged in your face or not."
"Not in a bad way," Ronny hurried to say. "He is such a nice kid and I can see why people like him so much."
I squinted my eyes at him. "You may live."
"Thanks," he laughed. "I must say, I'm surprised that you're friends with him now. I mean, you used to hate his guts."
"Things change," I shrugged.
"Apparently," he said. "Wait here, I'll go grab the book," he said, as we arrived at the staircase.
I leaned against the railing, and waited for him to run down the stairs, before I turned to look toward the lunch hall. I couldn't see Troy, of course, but I wished I could. I was already waiting to see him.
A minute later, Ronny returned to me, and we continued our way upstairs, and to our classroom. Once we got there, we had less than two minutes left before our class would start. I could only think that I could've spent that time with Troy. Clingy much?
"By the way – funny little thing..." Ronny spoke, and turned to look at me.
"Yeah?" I muttered absentmindedly.
"I noticed it a while ago, and it's been bothering me quite some time now," he continued, tapping his head. "T.D. calls everyone bro."
I turned to look at him slowly. I was on high alert now.
"But not you," Ronny continued. "He calls you dude."
I didn't say anything. The bell started to ring, and everyone else started to move to the doors, but I stood still. So did Ronny.
"Funny, right?" he smirked.
I still didn't say a word. I know I should have, but I was too shocked. He couldn't possibly know why Troy called me dude. Right?
He started to laugh. "That's what I thought."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, and moved to our classroom. I knew painfully well that my words only made things worse.
"I have eyes, you know," Ronny spoke, but I didn't stop. "And, by the way, you're welcome!"
"For what?" I asked, turning to glare at him.
"For this morning," he said with a smug smile, walking to me. He stopped right next to me and leaned closer. "I'll give you a fair warning. People are starting to notice, but for now, they're distracted by the Australian girl. Keep it that way."
Then he straightened his posture and walked into the room, leaving me in the middle of the empty hallway.