Leah's POV
Oh yes, the school hallways were filled with the over excited freshman who thought we were going to break out in song like high school musical and all become friends. The bathrooms were filled with snobby girls who needed to check their make up for the rest of school, and then there was people like me. Trying to get past the annoying crowds of cheerful people who were excited to see their fake friends and just get to class.
You'd think that on the fifth day of school people would be over the whole 'first week of school' stuff, but it's only just begun.
I made a pit stop at my locker to grab my skateboard from inside which I accidently forgotten yesterday. I don't even know how I managed to forget, I take it everywhere with me. But yesterday was an exception because I was feeling completely off and get throwing up every couple of hours. I should've gone home early, but I didn't want to miss anything for the first day's school.
Besides, I couldn't miss saying a normal hello and goodbye to Luke in the hallways. It was nothing more than just that, a simple wave in the morning and a goodbye after class. We never said 'how's your day going' or anything like that. Part of me thought it was because he was embarrassed to be seen talking to me in front of his football friends but I hadn't seen him hanging out with any of them. Except for one.
Calum Hood happened to be the schools best football player, Luke next to him. They were best friends so take it that's who he went to football camp with. Luke had only ever hung out with him, it was as if they both isolated themselves from the 'popular' crowd and became their own little group.
Luke was standing a couple lockers down from me, and he was looking exceptionally good today. His hair was up in a quiff, which was different, and he was wearing a completely different attire. His pants were skinny, black, and ripped at the knees while his shirt was also black and had holes at the top. Those blue piercing eyes were shining brightly today, they were almost glowing. I couldn't help but stare.
He caught onto my eyes and waved hello, and I did the same back. Once I realized that I was running late, I hopped onto my skateboard and skated down the hall. They usually give demerits for skating on school grounds but all the principles loved me. They never had a problem with it, they even made jokes about how my feet were permanently glued onto my skateboard.
~
School was school, but I was glad that I was sitting in my last period, English, with only five minutes left of class. Luke was in this class, which made the end of the day so much better. The fact that almost the whole football team was in this class made it worse.
Still, Luke isolated himself from the annoying perverts that the school adored. He sat himself right next to me today, which was odd because I thought this 'friendship' was only waving hi's and bye's in the hall. Nevertheless, I shouldn't have been complaining because I got to glimpse at Luke every so often and get some of the answers from him. I think he noticed that I was copying because he would chuckled every time I glimpsed.
The bell rang rather fast which caught me off guard. I grabbed all my stuff quickly so I could get the hell out of there. It was Friday which meant another night of catastrophe and TV.
I didn't expect for Luke to tap my shoulder and ask, "Do you want to come over to my house for a movie or something?" Like I said, I couldn't speak to anyone besides Michael so all I did was nod.
We walked out of the school completely silent. I didn't know what to say, I was awkward around boys except for when I was drunk and we all know what happened the first time I ever got drunk.
I got on my skateboard and skated very slowly to keep up with Luke. I didn't mind not going fast, it was always relaxing for me to skate regardless of speed.
"So tell me," Luke began, running a hand through his hair, "How did you learn to skate so amazing?"
I chuckled, "I hardly think I'm amazing at skating, it's just skating."
"Sure but at the beach you were going incredibly fast," he stated. In some ways that's true. I always liked going extremely fast to the point that I knew if I fell at any moment I'd probably knock some teeth out or break my nose, but I liked the thought anyway. "So?"
I sighed, "Well when I was 5, my dad bought a skateboard for my older brother, but he never took interest in it so I picked up on it," I explained.
"So I take it your dad is proud of you for sticking to it?" He chuckled.
"I wouldn't know, he left us that same year," I didn't even realize I had said that rudely. Luke was about to apologize but I stopped him, "I didn't mean to sound rude, but it's the truth and you don't have to be sorry for it."
He stood quiet for a while as he kept walking. I think I freaked him out a little. God danget Leah, get your shit together. I was terrible at talking to boys, what was I supposed to say now? Ask him about himself. No shit. Now I was arguing with myself, ugh.
"So you play football right?" I mentally slapped myself since he mentioned this the other night. He nodded without smiling or anything. "Do you not like it or?"
"Don't get me wrong, it's a great sport, but I'm interested in other things," he explained. I didn't want to ask what other things because I didn't want to seem too nosy or eager to get to know him.
He interrupted my thoughts, "We're almost to my house." He pointed to this house that was a bit far away but close enough. It was huge and gated with four cars. I assumed the only black one was his since that's the one he took me home in the other night.
"Wow," I whispered. "You have like the nicest house I've ever seen."
Luke giggled, "I guess so. My mum's a teacher and my dad is lawyer. You'll love my mum! Just wait for it!" He seemed so happy to talk about his mom.
But it only made me nervous, "I'm meeting your parents?" He nodded. I wasn't too big on meeting parents. When I first met Michael, he some sort of crush on me so he would always hug me from behind which I didn't mind because at the time I didn't know he liked me. When I met his mom, on the other hand, she thought I was a boy so whenever Michael would wrap himself around me she thought he was gay. She cursed me out once for "turning her son gay" and kicked me out. He later explained that I wasn't and she felt so bad, but it happens I guess.
We reach Luke's house which only looks bigger up close. He types in the code on this pin pad and the whole gate opens. Luke grabs my wrist and pulls me into his home.
"Mum, I'm home!" Luke shouts. A small blonde woman walks out from the long hallway and smiles at him.
"There's my boy!" she kisses him on the cheek, "And you've got company."
I was so glad that I managed to make myself look somewhat like a girl today. I was wearing a plain black shirt with shorts and my hair was pulled back into a ponytail. My usual outfits were baggy shirts and skinny jeans with a hat, but I decided it was time for new things.
"Mum this is Leah, she's my new friend," he introduced.
She came walking towards me and pulled me in for a hug, "It's so nice to meet you Leah." After she let go, she went straight into the hallway, "Dinner should be ready soon. I'll call you guys."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hemmings."
She chuckled, "Please call me Liz."
I giggled. Well that went well, I think. "My mum really likes you," Luke chuckled along with me. "She never lets anyone call her Liz except for Calum, and now you."
Before I could say anything, Luke grabbed my hand and led me through his house. He gave a brief tour of the upstairs part which was considered his own. He had a loft with plenty of gaming systems and video games and a music room. He explained that his mother used to play instruments but when she started teaching she sort of just stopped and gave all her instruments to him.
Then we walked into his room. It was pretty huge and full of things. So many posters were hanging up on the walls and so many trophies were placed around the room. Of course there was a giant TV right in the middle of the room, which didn't surprise me at all. There was a book shelf that was half way filled up with movies and the rest with books. He didn't strike me as the reading type.
"So what movie do you want to watch?" he asked, taking off his shoes and setting them aside. "I've got loads of Disney movies."
I laughed a little too hard, "You like Disney movies?"
"Yeah! And I also have Mean Girls." Luke was starting to become a completely different person to me. I always thought he was this self-centered asshole who didn't care about anyone or anything except his fake girlfriend and football.
"I like the sound of Mean Girls," I suggested, and he cheered.
He played the movie and we both laid down on our stomachs on his bed. I'd been so nervous that I couldn't be friends with Luke, but I actually liked this. He was completely different and so nice. I just hope he wasn't being friends with me out of pity.
~
We were at the part where Regina George throws copies from the Burn Book all around school when Luke's mom called for us. Luke paused the movie so we could go downstairs to eat because according to his mom and Luke "it was forbidden to eat in the bedrooms".
He led me through the hallways, they seemed like a maze, and then we got to the kitchen. I was greeted by two new faces who looked a lot like Luke.
"Is this your new girlfriend, Lukey?" one of them joked. His mom got a bit upset and told them to settle down.
"No," Luke reassured, "This is Leah, she's my friend." He looked at me with a little bit of embarrassment in his face, "Leah this is my brothers Ben and Jack." I waved at them feeling slightly awkward about what they had asked before.
I didn't want to think about being Luke's girlfriend, or anyone's girlfriend, for a really long time. Sure I liked Luke but being friends sounded a whole lot better than being his girlfriend. Not that'd he'd want to date me, no one would date me.
"Well she's prettier than the last one," Ben joked. "She was a bitch." Liz smacked him in the back of the head. They both excused themselves from the kitchen and ran out with plates in their hands. Luke's mom shouted that they'd better be careful not to get the loft dirty.
"I'm sorry," Luke apologized, "They live for embarrassing the hell out of me." I reassured him that it was completely okay. I knew a thing or two about having siblings embarrass you.
We sat down at the dining table with Luke's mom. She was making small talk with Luke about school and how things were the first week. Then she asked, "How did you and Leah meet?"
I tried so hard not to choke on my drink because we weren't about to just say 'we met at a party and had sex'. "Leah was skating at school, and I thought it was cool, so we just clicked," if I had learned anything today, it was that Luke was a terrible liar.
"That's adorable," his mom bought it. "So Leah, tell us about yourself."
Tell them about myself. How was I supposed to do that? Fuck. "Well I-uh, skate. I started when I was 5 and I like skating at the beach." I was beginning to run out of things to say because I wasn't that interesting. I stumbled upon a few things that I actually liked and then Liz began a conversation over it.
Turns out we have more in common than I have with most kids at school. She liked almost the same stuff I did, and in the end we had a wonderful discussion about a lot of things. I made her laugh and she made me laugh, I wish making friends was this easy.
After we finished eating, my mom texted me saying it was getting late. It was odd at first because she hardly ever cared at what I got home, but I always listened to her.
Luke asked if his car was finally working so I didn't have to skate home in the dark, and his mom had said no but lent him her car. He later explained to me that she never does that so she must really care about me. For some reason, I really liked that his family liked me.
"I'm sorry if things were awkward with my brothers and my mum just starting conversations with you," he apologized while taking me home.
I fiddled with my fingers and chuckled, "It's no big deal Luke. Your family is way cooler than mine."
"Why is that?"
"Because my mom is always working and my brother is away at college. My little sister Emily is always partying, so I hardly have a family right now," I explained. I regretted it after I said it because now it sounded like I was trying to have a pity party.
We were at a red light when Luke put a hand on my leg, while the other was on the steering wheel, and he said, "You can always talk to me, whenever you feel like it. I'll be here for you." I thanked him, not wanting to take this discussion further on.
The rest of the ride was silent but for the first time it wasn't awkward. His presence comforted me even if we didn't say anything. He was the first friend I had since Michael three years ago so this feeling felt incredible.
I was starting not to regret the night at the party because I had made a friend out of that night. But now I was scared of what to tell Michael because for the past week he'd been ignoring me now that Luke said hi to me in the halls. I wondered what he was going to say after I told him that we hung out on a Friday night.
a/n double update, woot woot.