17
You Dyed Your Hair
I'm sitting outside in the backyard, twisting the strands of my newly straightened hair around in my fingers, admiring how cool it is to see the honeyed afternoon sun glinting off the glossy brown strands and secretly plotting on a way to get Luke to take me driving again, when my mom turns to me and casually announces that we're going out to have dance lessons for the wedding.
I pause my hair twisting and the scene that I planned out in my head of playfully slamming on the brakes to scare Luke slips from my mind as I turn my eyes away from absentmindedly watching Andrew set up an old, portable fire pit that he found in the backyard to stare at her.
It takes me a minute to configure a response. "Wait what?"
"Dance lessons." Her tanned nose scrunches up slightly, and she smiles bashfully, "Don't tell him I said this, but Andrew isn't as good as he insisted." Then she turns to glance at Luke who's lounging on the couch near the fire pit, multitasking between scrolling on his phone and reading directions to his dad.
"I'm hoping not, but if Luke's anything like his father then I'm sure he could use the help, too. Plus as girls we definitely need to brush up on our dance moves, don't you think?"
My head is shaking furiously the minute the words leave her mouth and I'm sitting up in my chair and pointedly lifting a strand of my hair to show her. "No no, I can't."
"Why?"
"I just slaved all morning in the bathroom straightening my hair, and I can not afford to let it get frizzy from sweat."
She just stares at me. I continue, "Do you know how exhausting it is to straighten curly hair? No, I don't think you do, Mom. Because if you did, you wouldn't be asking me to --" I pause, a horrified expression crossing my face, "-- go dancing!"
"Annie, it's nearly August, what did you expect?"
"Excuse me for wanting to change my hairstyle every once in a while. I mean, it's not like I'm a girl or anything," I deadpan. "Seriously Mom, I want out. If my hair gets sweaty, it gets frizzy. Which will only mean that I'll have to wash it. And what do you think happens after that, Mom? Curls! That's what happens"
She sighs, calls me a drama queen and sifts her hand through her own wavy hair. Like that's fair! She doesn't have a lions mane waiting to jump out at her every time she runs a brush through her hair. I frown at her.
"You can wear a hat if you want." With that she jumps up and heads down the stairs off the deck and towards the guys. In attempt to get her to change her mind, I push myself up out of my chair to follow her.
"Mom," I whine. "Can I please just ditch? I know how to dance!" That's a lie.
She ignores me anyway, and motions for Luke to move over before settling down besides him. She leans forward peering over Andrew's shoulder, "Does it work?"
"Probably not. I can't get Luke to look away from that screen for just a minute to help me out." On cue, the older boy laughs at something on his phone and Andrew rolls his eyes, "Luke!"
He flinches, pulls an ear bud out and then sweeps hair from his forehead before glancing up around at us. He's wearing his usual black jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt, and even though it's freaking blazing out here and I can't help but think that he's insane, with the way it slightly hangs from his broad shoulders, it looks nice. Really, nice.
His mouth opens as he starts to say something but when he glances over at me, he stops; blue eyes blinking. I cross my arms, "What?" A slow, shy smile crosses his face and he grins up at me; still not saying anything. I try not to huff. It's almost as if I have a 'kick me' sign on my forehead. I furrow my eyes again, dragging out my words this time, "Whaat?"
He shakes his head quickly, "Oh, nothing sorry." Blue eyes stare a while longer and finally turns his attention back to his dad, "What's up?"
Andrew looks over at me briefly, and then looks at Luke before motioning towards the pit, "Is that all we need to do? Does it work now?"
Luke stands, his phone slipping into his back pocket. "I'm pretty sure it works fine. We just need firewood."
"Perfect, go get s--"
"Which we're all out of."
Andrew huffs, "Great." His hands move to his thighs as he stands up and he rubs them clean on the jean material before falling back on the couch with a groan. My mom laughs, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "We can pick some up later and use it tonight after our dance class."
His blue eyes turn frantic, "Dance class?"
"You didn't forget, did you?"
With the way he hastily shakes his head, I can tell that either he did, or we're sharing the same feeling about dancing. "N-no. I just ... I should probably wash and change before we go."
She grins, "We should probably get going then, the dance lessons might run a little late."
Luke raises an eyebrow when he hears this and he laughs loudly, "You guys are having a dance class?"
My hand sifts through my hair and I look over at him, "Oh, I wouldn't be laughing blondie, because apparently we are too."
--
The dance studio is small, well lit, and full of people. Which does nothing but make me feel extremely embarrassed when my mom insists that I volunteer as an example. And no matter how much I protested, our dance instructor doesn't take no for an answer, pushing me and Luke to the front of the room.
She's all smiles and pink cheeks, and dressed head to toe in black; her blonde hair pulled back in a threateningly tight bun. And even though her personality deems happiness and positivity, I still catch the annoyed glance that she sends me as she shakes her head, and points down at my feet. Turning towards the rest of the class, she claps once and says, "First and foremost, we do not wear shoes of any kind in the studio."
Gingerly leaning down, I unlace my sandals and step out of them, before taking my time at walking them over to the door. There is no way, I'm sweating out my hair. When I get back, the teacher -- Sarah or Sylvia, I can't remember -- takes my hand and places it on Luke shoulder. The only person who willingly volunteered to be my dance partner.
I resist the urge to draw my hand back, as she presses my palm down against his warm shirt. "Anastasia, step closer," she smiles, "He's not gonna bite. Someone in the class laughs, probably my mother, and Luke's lips twitch into a small smile. I frown, and subtly dig my fingernails into his shoulder; he grimaces.
"Right, sorry." I say to Sarah-Sylvia, before stepping closer to him. Our chests brush against each other.
"Well hey, not that close. No dirty dancing in this class. But if you go down the hall," she stops leans in and whispers to us, "Exotic dancing."
My whole body flushes hot with embarrassment; it's been nice knowing you straight hair. Luke raises his eyebrows and says, "I'll definitely look into that, Sarah."
Sarah! I pin point her name in my head for future reference and roll my eyes, just as she laughs and clasps her hand around my waist to gently pull me back. Then she places Luke's hand up above the small of my back. "Great, now hold hands.
When she says this, I hastily look over to find my mom. She's grinning at us and when we lock eyes, she holds two thumbs up. No! I silently plead with my eyes for her to get me the hell out this, but it's too late. Luke reaches down, gently clasps my hand in his and raises it.
"Perfect, Luke. Now, stay like that for just a bit, let me go help out some other people." Sarah smiles at me, and pats my shoulder before scurrying off.
I'm trying not to throw up in my mouth all the while ignoring Luke's amused expression, and when he softly laughs, I glare at him. "Knock it off."
"Knock what off? What am I doing?"
"Oh you know exactly what you're doing." I grumble. He just raises an eyebrow, still smiling and I narrow my eyes before hissing, "What is so funny?"
With a small shake of his head, he gently brings his lip ring between his teeth, "Nothing I exactly feel like sharing."
"Man, you're annoying." I tighten my grip on my his hand; squeezing. He doesn't even flinch, choosing to inside squeeze my hand back.
After a minute or two of just glaring at him, I feel his hand apply slight pressure to my back, pushing me closer before he quietly says, "You're beautiful with your hair like this."
My stomach tightens at his words, and I scramble for something say back to him. Thanks would be too blatant and anything snarky would be rude. Fortunately before I can make up my mind, then there's a loud burst of laughter that erupts throughout the room, and I turn my eyes away from him to look over at my mom clumsily pulling a red-faced and embarrassed Andrew around the floor. She's dancing around in circles, laughing, and completely ignoring the dance instructors soft pleads to stop.
"Oh my God, we're so gonna get kicked out." I whisper.
Luke sighs, "Bummer."
Hardly.
--
In the end, we actually do end up getting kicked out of the dance class for disorderly conduct, and my mom laughs about it the whole way home, while I scroll through Luke's pictures on my iPad.
Unfortunately, because my mom decided that we should all ride in her car, I'm squeezed in the backseat with Luke. His legs are incredibly long and he has them parted, his knee resting against mine and barely giving me any room.
He's fast asleep next to me, his head resting on the window and I roll my eyes and shift a little in my seat, so that just in case he wakes up he won't catch me.
For some reason, I find myself thinking that he looks so cute in them, and I even though I'm annoyed at how many he actually took, I can't help but crack a small smile at them.
His eyes are so blue, and his lips look so soft and my stomach dips. Blushing, I quickly exit out and turn off my screen. Luke was basically, my soon-to-be step-brother. There was no way I was gonna call my brother cute. No way.
For the rest of the ride, I listen to my mom and Andrew talk, occasionally leaning up between their seats to join in on the conversation, and a half hour later before we make it home, Andrew pulls into the plaza.
"We still need to get the firewood, remember? Target has it."
The minute he says that, I'm tossing my iPad aside and unbuckling my seat belt. Reaching over, I grip Luke's shirt and pull on it, "Me and Luke we'll get it. It's fine, we can do it."
Andrew laughs and reaches for his wallet, "Don't rip his shirt Annie, he'll wake up."
With a laugh, I stop my pulling and smooth down the stretched sleeve; trying to mask my excitement, "Sorry, I just like Target." He passes me the money and I shake Luke again, "Can you wake up, already? We have to get wood for the pit."
Eyes blink open, slowly, and he turns to stare at me, "What?"
I frown, lowering my voice before hissing, "For Pete's sake, just get out the damn car." He rolls his eyes and takes his time opening the door. I shove him in his back, hurriedly pushing him out.
"What's the rush?" He mumbles, stepping away from me.
"Nothing," I shrug. Patting my hair down, I fix my shirt and mentally pray that I'll get a chance to see Ashton. I haven't seen him for at least two weeks and I hope he doesn't think I've been avoiding him. I impatiently wait for Luke to grab a basket and then I lead the way in the store, already searching for a head of bronze curls. I don't see him anywhere, and I frown slightly before turning back to a sleepy Luke.
His hair is messy on one side of his head from sleeping on it, and the sleeve that I stretched is wrinkled and hanging even further down his shoulder. I look away from it, hoping that he won't notice, "So do you know where it is?" I ask, "The firewood?"
He sighs and ruffles a hand through his hair, "I figured you knew where it was. You're the one racing throughout the store."
"Oh, I didn't notice."
"I'm sure."
I ignore him and turn back around. "I'll find it myself."
"Whatever."
I end up having to ask someone for it and then after a few minutes of arguing over which brand to get, Luke just grabs anything and stalks away from me. His legs are seriously long and I have to jog to keep up with him, "Hey, wait up! Not everyone has skyscrapers for legs, you know?"
He says no, but still slows down and I elbow him, "You're being mean."
"Whatever."
I start to call him an idiot, but then someone calls my name and I smile, whipping my head around. It's not Ashton, unfortunately, but instead its ... Michael? With red hair! He's pushing a cart that has a bunch of stuff in it, which is probably just things that people didn't want, and he nods his head at me, motioning for me to come to him.
I start in his direction, but a hand clasps around my wrist and I'm being tugged back, "Hey, where are you going? Who the hell is that?" Luke wonders, as he lifts his head to gaze straight at Michael.
I look at him, pulling my arm back. "I'll be right back."
He's still staring at Michael, "Do you even know him?"
"Obviously. He's my friend." Then, I hold up a finger pleading for him to wait a second and I hurry over to Michael. I've never really had a one on one conversation with him, but I know that he's always really kind upset, so I decide to go for being nice.
"Hey, you dyed your hair!"
Green eyes peer down at me from beneath a shield of red hair and he impassively blinks at me, "Yeah, so what? Why are you so excited?"
Well done, Annie. My smile fades and I quietly say, "It looks good on you."
He blinks, "Ashton thinks you hate him."
"What!" I almost shout, incredulous, "I don't hate him! I've been grounded, so I couldn't come out."
"Well, he sai--" He stops talking, and rolls his eyes before leaning back against the cart with a smirk. "So, you want to tell who the dick is that keeps staring at me like he wants to take a bat to my knees?"
Laughing, I turn to glance at an upset Luke who's glowering at us. I shyly lift a hand to wave at him, "Oh, that's just Luke."
Michael laughs, "Boyfriend?"
"Gross, no. He's just some guy."
"Just some guy," He repeats, "That's what they all say."
I can't help the eye roll, "I'm serious."
"Well, whoever the fuck he is, he thinks I'm trying to hit on you."
"No," I shake my head furiously. "He's just mad that I woke him up to come here with me."
"Watch this," Michael insists. He leans in towards me, near my ear and whispers, "Laugh like I just told you the funniest thing in the world."
I don't get what he's getting at, but I do as he says. With a smirk, he leans back and then slowly turns to look towards Luke. I follow his gaze to see an annoyed, Luke walking in our direction. Michael laughs lowly, "This should be fun." Then he grips my shoulder and throws an arm around my neck, while we wait for him to near us.
"Annie let's go," Luke says the minute he steps right up to us. "We're leaving."
"What's the rush?" Michael casually says, sifting his hand in his hair, yet again, and ruffling it so that it looks beautifully unkempt. How does he do that?
When his heated blue eyed gaze turns to glare at Michael, I almost think that Michael's idea might not have been the best after all. "Do I know you?"
"Nope." Then he smiles, surprising me because I've never seen Micheal smile! "Just returning your girlfriend. You know, the girls tend to fall for me. Wouldn't want that to happen."
"Thanks," Luke says sarcastically, not bothering to correct him, then he looks at me. "Are you done? Can we go?"
I nod, and then step away from Michael, "Tell Ashton I don't hate him, alright?"
He nods and then backs up, "I got to work. See you around?"
"Yeah, we can all hang out at my place this week."
He looks at Luke and smiles, "I look forward to it."
The minute he leaves, I laugh and turn back to Luke. He's slightly flushed, his eyes dark and smoldering underneath a stony expression and without looking at me, he grabs my wrist and yanks me down an empty aisle, before setting down the basket and backing me up against a shelf.
"What do you think you're playing at?" He demands.
I blink, "What?"
His eyes are a blazing oceanic blue and he closes them shut, before whispering, "Those assholes are not coming anywhere near you or my house."
Laughing, I nudge him, "Oh so it's your house now? Newsflash, I live there too."
"Do you think I'm kidding?" He sneers, grabbing my chin in his hand and tipping my head up. "Anastasia, I swear I wi-"
"Do what, Luke? What are you gonna do?" I scoff, shoving him back and quickly looking down both sides of the aisle to make sure no one saw, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Grabbing the basket, I stomp away from him and head over to checkout. He follows me. "Look, I'm sorry. I just don't want him to try anything on you, he looks like an asshole."
I cross my arms, "Well he's not who you need to be worried about, he's not the one I like."
Luke rolls his eyes, "You don't like either one of them."
"Yeah and how do you know that?"
"Trust me, you don't." He laughs, angrily.
Ignoring him, I hurriedly pay for the wood and stomp back to the car. Andrew is playing with my moms fingers and I slam the door before Luke even has a chance to get in.
"What's wrong?" Andrew asks, glancing at me through the rear view mirror.
"Nothing," I say. "Here's your change."
We wait for Luke and when he slides in, he makes sure that his knee doesn't touch mine, turning to stare out the window. I swallow, feeling upset for some reason and I grab my iPad, quickly unlocking it and clicking on my Photo app, so that I could distract myself.
--
When we get home, I'm not in the mood to sit around the fire pit and I'm guessing Luke isn't either because as soon as we get in the door we both stomp upstairs to our rooms.
"Wait, Annie?" Luke calls out from behind me.
I cross my arms over my chest and prepare to accept the apology that I know he's gonna say , because truth is I don't like when Luke is mad at me, but instead he says, "Which one is your favorite?"
I blink, "What?"
He stares at me, and leans back against his door, "Out of all those pictures I took on your iPad. You know, since you stared for almost the entire way home."
Blushing, I glare at him and rush into my room, slamming the door behind me.
--
LONG AN- I had serious writers block so this isn't as good as I hoped it would be. I'm trying to make sure all the characters I added stay relevant, so you know
alright and also I have a plan mapped out for this story and there will be 50 chapters so I don't want to jump to far in right now BUT what I can say is that there will DEFINITELY be some Lannie? action coming up in like the next 2 chapters lol
alright thanks for reading, and PLS PLS PLS VOTE :D love ya