Apple was sure she had completely lost her mind.
Luka had indeed driven them both to the beach like she suggested, an absurd request by Apple, one she wasn't sure she even said from being so nervous from sitting next to Luka Ellis.
But there they were at the beach together, when they were supposed to be in class, doing team-building activities.
Apple had never felt so uncomfortable before, and now she sat barefoot on the sand in the soldering heat with her crush of two years beside her, with no shirt on.
The moment Luka stood up after they had both found a spot at the beach to sit, he had taken his shirt off, and the moment felt slow-motion, and Apple was sure she was dreaming.
She had seen Luka without a shirt before, she wasn't a total lost cause from not seeing the male body but this was the first time she had seen him up close, all his glory on display, right in front of her eyes.
"You ok? You look... warm."
Apple almost died from his comment, she couldn't hide how much she disliked the heat, she rarely stayed out for this long, in fear she would end up burning to a crisp in the summer heat.
"I'm alright, it's warm huh." She dumbly said, avoiding his intimidating gaze.
Luka snorted beside her and leaned back to rest on his elbows. "I take it you don't do outside things much."
Shaking her head, Apple watched some children run by them with a ball. "No, not really."
Apple didn't like the beach, there were too many memories, great memories with her father she wished to savor, she still felt weird being at the beach without him, it was usually around this time they went to the beach together.
"Do you want a drink or something to eat?"
Looking around, Apple spotted a stand selling ice cream and drinks, but not wanting to make him go get it, she shook her head no.
Noticing a frown on Luka's face, Apple looked away from him but felt him shift beside her, he stood up and grabbed his wallet from his bag beside her.
"Be right back okay?"
She nodded her head and watched him go, Apple admired the muscles on his back flex with each step, under the sun she felt like Luka looked truly beautiful, it made her wonder how he did that so effortlessly.
Apple didn't need to look in the mirror to know her face was warm, she and her father were the same breeds of people who didn't tan, they burned under the sun, it wasn't pretty, if anything it was awful.
But they had shared that together, every summer at the beach when he was alive.
"Here, I hope you like bubblegum waffles." Luka says suddenly, making her jump.
Luka had bought a bunch of stuff, in one hand he was holding two bubblegum ice cream inside a bubble waffle and in the other hand he held two cans of Pepsi max.
"Oh um, thank you."
Blinking confused, she accepted the waffle filled with ice cream and stared at it as he sat down beside her whilst placing a can of Pepsi at her side.
"Coach might disapprove but these things are too good to pass up."
She watched him dig into his, then she noticed his eyes staring into hers, waiting for her to try it.
Apple had never had one of these, but she had seen people have them, she had put 'try new food' on her bucket list, so here goes nothing she says to herself in her head.
The first bite was, 'wow' she had never tried something so nice before, the bubblegum flavor made the waffle taste so fluffy and light, there were so many different tastes in her mouth that Apple wasn't sure how to think about it.
This would be a great first date, she thought, not knowing much about dating, but waffles on the beach were as good as any to her, knowing now how it's not as bad as it was.
"Nice right?" Luka said, smiling while watching Apple eat.
She nodded her head and felt her cheeks grow warmer, if that were possible she thought, she felt like the ice cream was at least helping her stop from melting under the sun.
Just as Apple was going to speak, a phone ringing stopped her, she watched Luka go into his jacket pocket and answer his phone without looking at who was calling.
"Yeah?"
Luka rolled his eyes and caught Apple looking at him, smiling he mouthed 'Jake' to her, making her nod her head and stay as silent as possible, she decided to bite into her waffle and try not to listen to his conversation.
"No... because I didn't want to." Theirs a pause. "What am I, your fucking mom?" He laughs, and Apple heard Jakes's voice raise on the other end of the phone.
"Whatever man, I'm at the beach I'll be there soon." Pause. "Yeah yeah, be there in 10." Luka ends the call.
He sighs out and taps Apple on her back, causing tingles to go up her back and making her turn around to look at him.
"Sorry about that, Jake forgot his key." Luka says, putting his shirt back on. "Do you want me to drop you off home or do you want to be dropped off at college?"
Apple thought about it and she wasn't ready to meet the football team, knowing not all of them are nice people, she decided she should just end it here and take the bus, knowing her house isn't that far.
"It's fine." She smiled shyly avoiding his gaze and grabbed her bag before standing up. "I can just take the bus."
Luka frowned at that and shook his head. "I'll drop you off, buses run every hour here and it's fucking hot." He said, not giving her a chance to say anything as he begins walking.
She rushed to keep up with him, and when he noticed her he slowed down and walked beside her. "There's no reason to be shy now Apple, you already hanged out with me, we're friends now right?" He says playfully, smiling at her.
Friends? Were they? Just like that? She thought to herself.
Apple didn't know what to say, so she said nothing and followed Luka through the sand, hating the way the sand went in between her toes, she couldn't wait to get to a path so she could get her shoes from her bag and put them on.
Luka kept walking barefoot all the way to his car and Apple only managed to get her shoes out of her bag as she tried to keep up with him, when she got inside the car was beyond hot, the leather seats made it feel like she burnt her butt.
Luka turned on the fans and she sighed along with Luka, making him turn to look at her with a grin on his face.
"You know, I like the beach but there's just something about the cold breeze I like more." He says, rolling down his window then he begins to put his trainers back on.
Wow, she thought, it was almost like he was reading her mind.
Apple put her shoes on and Luka pulled out of the beach parking lot and onto the road, and with that, the beach was long behind her, along with the waffle, she opened her can of Pepsi and enjoyed the breeze coming from Luka's window.
The day had been awful at the start, but Apple was sure it couldn't get better than this, even if she never spoke to Luka again, this would be one of the top five best days of her life, because she got to talk to him, and he was as great as she thought he was, nothing could ruin her mood she was in right now.
Apple gave Luka directions to her house and once he pulled up to the gated community, Apple knew Luka was holding back from saying something, like most of her friends in high school, they would always ask what it's like to live in one of the most expensive houses in California.
Thankfully, Luka said nothing as he drove up to her driveway, stopping the car right outside of her house.
"Thank you.. for today and um, everything I guess." She said awkwardly, still not confident speaking to him.
He smiled at her and shrugged. "No problem." Theirs a pause. "It was nice to finally meet you, I hope I didn't get you too burnt."
"You look a little red." He laughs and hints at her arms and rosy cheeks from the sun.
Apple grimaces but smiles anyway. "It's nothing sunblock won't fix."
"Thanks for the ride." She added and opened the car door.
"Wait."
Apple got out of the car and looked back at Luka, he went into the glove compartment and got a piece of paper then handed it to her, which she accepted and looked at it.
It was a thank you note from the school and football coach for Apple's $500 donation to the team, also tickets to next week's big game, which she was meant to buy for, but now didn't have to.
"You'll be there right?" He asked.
She furrowed her brows and he pointed to the tickets. "Oh, yeah, of course, I'll be there."
Luka smiled and nodded, he then turned on the car and Apple closed the door, she had so much fun today that it felt a little sad to see him go, she actually wished she could hang out with him again, but she didn't want to be an intruder in his life.
She was happy she got today with him if this was the end to whatever today was.
"See you tomorrow Apple." He said with a nod, before driving off in his car.
Apple blinked and watched him drive down the path to the gate, she watched him leave right up until he left through the gates and turned right on the street, the direction of the college and she knew, for once in her life that she would see Luka tomorrow.
Her bucket list was swiftly going as fast as she wrote it, as she can now tick two off from her list.
Talk to Luka Ellis ✔️
Go to the beach before I graduate & move ✔️