five max turned into about ten.
it wasn't a party, per say, but it was more than a crowd. luke sat on the couch nervously, sipping at a drink michael had made for him that included dr. pepper and something called fireball. he wasn't too fond of the way he gagged every time he took a short swig.
he had gotten his purity ring. it was elegantly simple, just a gold band with his initials engraved on the inside. his mum convinced his dad to allow him to have it, and it took much argument to finally take luke to the jeweler. he twisted the band around his finger as he eyed the people around michael's living room.
there were many different kinds of people here: a girl in his english class who hardly showed up, her boyfriend who'd dropped out, some kid who'd brought beer, luke's lab partner from grade six, a pair of twins that were wearing the same shirt and both leaning on the same guy, a girl named noelle who he always thought was strange, but the strangest of all, calum hood.
he had brought his friend as well, though luke didn't know his name and kept mentally rolling his eyes at his loud laugh. michael wasn't paying much attention to luke, which upset him, but he didn't call his mum to pick him up because he couldn't have her know he'd been drinking this fireball stuff. suddenly, one of the twins shouted, "let's play a game!"
there was no reason to shout, luke thought. there was music playing, but not loudly.
the other twin suggested kiss the bottle, but the one girl's boyfriend rolled his eyes, saying something about a sausage party. another person said something about circle of death, which was apparently a drinking game requiring drinks and a deck of cards. it was rejected when michael didn't have a deck of cards. they settled on truth or dare.
luke wasn't going to participate until michael forced him to get off the couch and sit on the floor with the rest of them. they began with the girl noelle asking calum if he would ever get his nose pierced, and he said maybe. it went along like that, useless questions being thrown around, dares that were boring like chugging a beer or something called, "chiefing the blunt," which luke found out was something he did not want to do. it was then his turn, and he was asked by the girl in his english class, "truth or dare."
"um," luke furrowed his eyebrows, "dare?"
the girl smiled mischievously, thinking for a moment. "i dare you to run around the neighborhood naked," she grinned, and he was horrified, demanding a new one. that killed the excitement that had risen after the first dare was given. "fine. i dare you to go get us some snacks, you wuss."
luke was hurt and embarrassed by the way she rolled her eyes. he sighed and got up, strolling into the kitchen. he already knew where everything was, as he'd been to michael's house hundreds of times. he opened the pantry and looked up and down, reaching for a bag of pretzels. he jumped when he heard a voice.
"need help?"
he turned around, his eyes wide with surprise. the boy that calum hood had brought was sitting in a barstool at the island, lighting a joint. it was clear he didn't actually want to help. luke furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, placing the pretzels on the counter. he just ignored the boy and let him smoke his marijuana.
"do you want a hit?" the boy asked, and luke shook his head without turning around, grabbing a bag of crisps. "are you sure?"
luke turned around fully, planting his feet and crossing his arms. "i meant it the first time i said no," he said, eyeing the boy. he hardly looked at him before, so now he was getting a good view of him.
he had dark, dirty blonde girls on his head, pushed back by a bandana. he had a structured jaw, and dimples on either side of his mouth. his eyes were hazel, and luke was always fascinated by hazel eyes, liking how they were both green and brown at once. he wore a loose white t-shirt, a flannel around his waist, and black jeans with some black boots. he had tattoos littering his arms, though luke couldn't get a good view of them.
"your loss," this stranger said, placing the little white joint between his lips and inhaling. "you don't smoke?"
luke shook his head, turning around and opening an overhead cabinet. the bowls he needed were up high, too high. he could hardly reach them. the boy behind him was obviously watching him, and it made him uncomfortable. he stood on his tippie toes, reaching for the bowls until he felt a warm presence behind him, the smell of weed intoxicating his nose as the boy grabbed the bowls with ease. luke turned around, astounded by the lack of space between them. he took the bowls from the boys hands.
the boy backed up half a step. "nice ring," he said, and luke slid past him to the counter where he'd placed the chips and pretzels.
"thank you," he said. as he ripped open the bags, he noticed the boy follow him to this counter and lean against the oven. "it's a promise ring."
the boy's smirk faltered. "to your girlfriend?" he asked curiously, and luke blushed. the blonde shook his head and assured him the promise was between him and god. "god? so you're saving your virginity for some dude in the sky until, what, marriage?"
luke became angry. dropping the bag on the counter and turning to this . . . stupid boy, who he didn't know the name of, with a red face. "yes. i am saving my virginity until marriage. it's a sign of commitment to god," his voice shook. "i'm sure you haven't an idea of what i'm talking about."
"i like you," the boy said.
luke's chest heaved, his heart pounding. "what?" he mumbled, backing up a step. "you don't even know me."
"i'm ashton, you're luke. i know you. i think you're adorable," this boy, ashton, said. he stepped forward again, reaching up to run the back of his fingers along luke's jawline, but the younger boy wasn't having it.
he jumped back. "what, are you gay or something?" luke all but yelled. ashton raised his eyebrows.
"i wouldn't raise your voice like that to me, if i was you," he tutted. "but who i like in bed doesn't matter to you, luke. if you think gays are an abomination, then you and your ideals are a piece of shit."
luke was steaming, but he was also intrigued. of course, he never thought anything against being gay considering he was still open to the fact that he might be. he didn't, however, like that ashton assumed he was like the type of religious advocates that thinks god hates gays. he could never really hate anyone, especially not an entire population of people.
"when you're done putting words in my mouth, i'll tell you all about how politically incorrect you're acting towards me," luke grumbled.
ashton scoffed. "we're not talking about politics, we're talking about religion. but if i had to guess, your mummy and daddy fed you all their conservative bullshit, too, right?"
luke had to stop himself from slamming his head on the fridge by how stupid this boy was.
it was quiet for a moment while luke slowed his breathing and ashton collected himself. the older boy settled with smirking at the blonde boy, grabbing a crisp and popping it in his mouth. luke yanked the bowls away and trotted into the living room, where he found the twins sitting with their eyes closed. apparently, someone asked if twin telepathy was real and they were demonstrating. truth or dare was abandoned.
"'bout fuckin' time," the guy who was originally sitting between the twins sighed.
this time, when luke sat on the couch, ashton sat next to him. not close, really on separate sides. this made luke nervous, not understanding this punk boy's sudden interest in him. he glanced at him to find him already staring.
"what?" luke whispered harshly.
"just looking at a pretty face."
though he'd said it quiet enough for only luke to hear, this caused red to splatter his cheeks, making him feel like a little kid about the situation. he brought his knees to his chest, picking up his gross mixed drink and bringing it to his lips. ashton watched luke take a swig, then the most adorable grimace cover his expression. this caused a small smile to form on ashton's lips, though luke paid him no mind.
by the end of the night, everyone had left except calum and ashton.
luke assumed it was because calum seemed to take a liking for michael. not romantically, just very friendly. they found that they had a very similar sense of humor and apparently shared an interest in marijuana, currently smoking their second blunt together. ashton just kept quiet, scrolling through his phone and sneaking secret glances at luke.
"is it cool if ashton and i just crash here? it's a little late for us to go back to mine," calum said, and luke furrowed his eyebrows. why on earth would they stay out then? michael agreed, though, insisting they order a pizza if they were going to have a, quote unquote, slumber party.
with a smirk, ashton said, "i'll pay on one condition."
calum grinned, apparently knowing the mischievous look in his eye better than anything, glancing at luke. michael asked what it was. luke hardly paid any mind to the three and was more focused on tugging at a loose string on the couch. he pursed his lips in concentration.
"i want luke to get really drunk," ashton said, and luke turned red. "i want to see the kid plastered."
"i -" luke began, but didn't know what to say.
michael caught on. "i don't think he's comfortable with that," he said, but the way he said it made luke feel incredibly pathetic. it made him feel like a little kid, one who wasn't capable of taking care of himself.
luke furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed the drink that was sat in ashton's hand, and, with regrettably no hesitation, chugged it. it tasted like ass, very thick and made his throat slick with heat. he coughed and stuck out his tongue in disgust. ashton watched the action, amused and intrigued by the small boy.
"i'll call the pizza place, then."