PICTURE: KATHERINE MURPHY
Luke: Why aren't you here? I gave you the address this morning in Maths.
Me: oh yeah, about that... not coming
Luke: Don't make me come over and get you.
Me: tf leave me alone
Luke: Arizona, get your ass to this party.
Me: soz I died bye
It had been three days since the kissing incident in the hallway, where Luke had taught me how to seduce instead of be seduced. It was actually sort of strange how easily things reverted back to normal.
There was no awkward talk that had to be had. We just went back to normal, or as normal as you could get with teaching Luke Hemmings how to fake innocence.
He had also let it slip in Math class (with our favourite teacher who still hated us for that "incident") that he was going to a party tonight. I really don't know how he came to the conclusion that I'd be going with him, or at least meeting him there.
I was still under the impression that Luke was delusional.
"You're really not going to go?" Katherine asked from her place on my bed. She had swung around in the afternoon with the intentions of finding out what was happening between Luke and I.
I had promised Luke I wouldn't tell anyone about our deal, so I think she assumed the worst — that we were dating.
"No." I scrunched my nose up. "I hate parties."
"Yeah, but isn't it sort of a given that you'll go with your fuckboy when invited?" Katherine muttered, her clear distain for Luke shining through.
I pulled a face, not entirely pleased with her dissing him. He wasn't as bad as I originally thought. I wanted to tell her all about the tattoo parlor and hallway lesson, but I knew she'd just judge me for both so I kept quiet.
"Firstly, he isn't my 'fuckboy'. I don't even think I know what that is. Secondly, can you try not to be so irritated by the mere mention of his name?" I raised my eyebrow, scrolling through my phone absently.
"I'm sorry." Katherine huffed. "I just don't understand why, after an entire schooling life of ignorance, you'd want to spend time with him."
I merely shrugged, my attention taken by Luke's recent text.
Luke: Fuck it. I'm coming to get you.
Me: omfg i said i was dead and you want to take me to a party? sort out your priorities
Luke: You're sort of adorable when you text.
Me: h8 u
Luke: Be there in 10.
I figured there was probably an unlikely chance of getting out of going to the party now that Luke was coming to pick me up. He'd just whine and complain at my doorstep until I finally gave in.
I might as well save us both the time and effort. I got up from the ground and walked over into my wardrobe, hoping Katherine would leave and not realize I was going to the party.
"What are you doing?" Clearly my wish wasn't granted.
"I'm going to the party." I mumbled under my breath. "Luke is on his way to pick me up.
"Wow, he says jump and you say how high, am I right?" She laughed but there was an icy underlining to her tone.
I sighed quietly. I didn't feel like fighting with Katherine right now. I was too focused on mentally preparing myself for this party. Luke's crowd wasn't the sort of people I usually hung out with.
"Do you want to come along?" I asked out of politeness. I figured she'd say no.
"Sure." She shrugged and I just mentally groaned. Why was God so against granting me my wishes? "I'm pretty sure Ashton and Calum will be there anyway."
"Brilliant." I plastered on a smile, before returning to my wardrobe.
-x-
Exactly 11 minutes later, Luke pulled up into my driveway. Katherine was out the door and down the path before he even honked. Luke climbed out of his car and stepped towards us, his eyes on Katherine.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm coming with you and Ari." She smirked. "Consider me you're chaperone for the night." Katherine grinned mockingly, sitting in the passenger seat before I got the chance.
Luke leant forward, completely ignoring Katherine, and raised his eyebrow at me. He mouthed the word 'chaperone' with a confused look. I shrugged apologetically before climbing into the back seat. For someone who 'disliked' Luke so much, Katherine couldn't seem to keep her eyes off him.
The drive was rather awkward, as you'd expect. When we arrived at Michael's house, Katherine was the first to get out. She spotted Calum walking up the pathway and just gave me and Luke a small smirk.
"I'll leave you two alone." She hummed and I raised my eyebrow. What happened to "chaperoning". Luke must've been thinking the same thing because he chuckled under his breath seconds later.
"I think I'm starting to grow on her." He commented as we slowly made our way into the house.
"Thirty minutes ago she called you a fuck boy." I smiled at him playfully. "Sorry to break the news."
"Fuck boy?" He repeated with an amused expression. "Katherine always was classy." He rolled his eyes before pushing the door open.
"I can't believe I didn't put up more of a fight." I whined quietly, as a loud thudding sound filled my ears. What sort of music was this?
"I'm glad you didn't." Luke smirked, placing his hand on my lower back and steering me into the kitchen. "My puppy dog eyes are a bit rusty, so I was nervous about breaking them out." He teased.
There was a mountain of alcohol on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Everyone surrounded it like it was some sort of life support.
"Want anything to drink?" Luke asked, his lips twitching up slightly. He was probably thinking about the likeliness of me drinking.
"No, thanks." I smiled politely, hunching over when someone pushed passed.
"One day I'm going to get you drunk." He laughed, before grabbing a beer out of the ice bucket.
"Stop trying to corrupt our innocent, Ari." Ashton laughed as he suddenly appeared at my side.
Luke gave me an amused look, but refrained from explaining to Ashton how /that/ was exactly what he was trying to do. Ashton threw his arm around me and I could distinctly smell various amounts of alcohol on him. How early did he come to the party?
"Where's Katherine?" Ashton asked, looking around. I shrugged absently.
"She ran of with Calum when we arrived." Luke supplied, before pausing. "Why do you guys call her Katherine? That's such a mouthful. No nickname?"
Ashton chuckled softly and I tried to refrain from smirking. Luke just wore an expression of pure confusion.
"Katherine is too sophisticated for nicknames." I said mockingly before tilting my head. "She once threatened to cut Calum's balls of when he called her Kathy."
Luke's lips twisted into a devilish smirk. I groaned quietly. Had I just given him ammo to use against my best friend?
"She really won't hesitate to maim you." Ashton must've caught on with Lukes plan.
Luke shrugged and moved on. "What about Arizona?" He focused on Ashton. "Got any nicknames for her?"
"Ari or Arize." Ashton smirked. He was too chatty for his own good when he was drunk.
"Arize?" Luke questioned, like I knew he would.
"It's sort of like 'arise' but with a 'z'. I think it had something to do with Jesus arising from the ground because she's so pure or something." Ashton explained, before humming. "I don't really know. Tyler made it up for her."
"Tyler?" Luke seemed surprised. His eyebrows furrowed together and I assumed he was recalling our little chat the other day. The one where I admitted to hooking up with the most popular guy in school.
"Shut up." I muttered under my breath.
"You know he's here at the party, right?" Luke looked smug. "I can go get him if you want..."
I lurched forward and Luke began to move. I clamped my hand down around his wrist and held him still. "I do not want that." My eyes were wide.
"That's so cruel." Ashton laughed. "Threatening to bring her ex-boyfriend over."
I cringed slightly as Ashton let loose the one thing I didn't want Luke knowing. Luke just stared at me with an expression of awe.
"Wait, you're the sophomore he dated last year?" Luke asked incredulously. "The one who broke up with him? Holy shit, my little one. You left a lot out." He laughed before a wicked smirk formed on his lips.
"It was a mutual break-up." I argued, although I think we both knew that wasn't true. It wasn't that I stopped liking Tyler, it was just we hung out in different crowds and they expected things from him.
I was only 16 and despite him only being 17 there was a lot of pressure on our... sexual part of the relationship. I wasn't ready and although he never pressured me, I felt like I was holding him back. So, I let him free.
Luke was nearly on the ground, laughing his pretty little ass off. I stomped my foot and glared at him.
"Lesson five; don't laugh at someone's embarrassment." I muttered weakly. Luke straightened up and frowned.
"Sorry, love." He rubbed my shoulder. "I'm just in shock that you broke up with Tyler Hill. Didn't mean to make you upset." He nudged my cheek with his nose. "Forgive me?"
"Fine." I rolled my eyes teasingly as he grinned.
"Brilliant, now everything is out in the clear — let's go party!" He pumped his fist in the air before winding his arm around my waist. "I promise to protect you from Tyler." He added with a smirk.