Chapter 8
Luke's POV
It was the afternoon after Sophie and I had argued on the London Eye and it seemed it was all the whole of our year could talk about. No one expected us to fight. In their eyes we were 'perfect for each other' and 'obviously in love'. I thought maybe this would fight would make people realise that we were just friends but no. Somehow it had gotten around that we were having a 'lovers tiff' but of course they all believed we would make up soon.
So did I.
But since the fight Sophie hasn't so much as looked at me. I thought we would have talked by now. Normally we would have talked by now but this wasn't like our normal fights. Normally we would have made up by now. Normally we would make up within a couple of hours.
I had never not talked to Sophie for more than a couple of hours, even when one of us was on holiday. We would always keep in contact via text, phone and Skype.
At the moment we had just eaten lunch in a park and were walking back to our coach which would take us to the Madame Tussauds - where they had life size wax models of celebrities - (It's a famous tourist attraction in London) and George was trying to persuade me to talk to Sophie.
"Come on man just talk to her." George practically begged.
"Maybe," I sighed finally, tired of resisting. He had been asking me to talk to her all through lunch and I was sick of it. I was sick of thinking about her. I was tired of imagining her, and her soft hair that I would never be able to tangle my hands in again. I was sick of imagining the feel of her perfect pink lips against mine, especially since I knew I would never feel them against mine again. I hated knowing I would never see the excited look in her eyes when I kissed her. I didn't want to think about any of those things and I most definitely didn't want to agree with Sophie and say that we should stop because I knew that I needed to feel her lips against mine. I needed her.
"Really?" George asked, his voice growing slightly higher as he thought he had finally cracked me.
"Sure, whatever" I sighed.
"Good," he said happily, "She is just over there," he continued pointing her out in the sea of students. My lips tightened into a thin line as I saw her chestnut brown hair hanging loosely around her shoulders.
"Not now," was all I said as all these emotions I couldn't interpret flooded my body.
"When then?" George whined.
"I don't know!" I snapped, "This is really none of your business George! This is between Sophie and I and I will talk to her when I want to! Why is this such a big deal anyway?" I growled, not wanting to raise my voice too loud.
"Because I know you, and I know that deep down you are worried sick that you are going to lose her. Also I know that if you two don't stop acting so stupid then you are going to lose each other and that will be shit for both of you because you are both too blind to see..."
"What?" I growled, "Too blind to see that we are in love with each other?" I shouted. I was tired of telling every single person in our year that we were not in love but I never expected one of those people to be George. He was meant to be my best friend!
"Yeah actually!" George shouted back, his face growing slightly red as anger flashed across his eyes.
"For god's sake..." I started.
"Yeah I know you don't love her," George sighed, "But just think about it," he continued, "Who is the person you want to spend all your time with? Who is the on your mind when you wake up in the morning and go to sleep in the evening? Who is the one who you can't get by with without talking to every couple of hours? Who is the one that you will do anything to make happy?" George said, looking intently at me.
"Jeez you really are a twelve year old girl," I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood and avoid the question.
"Yeah you've told me enough time," George smiled and I knew that things would be fine between us now. "But just think about it okay?" He added.
I nodded wanting to change the topic.
We were almost out of the park now. I smiled a group of girl who were sitting having a picnic near the gate and had been staring at George and I as we walked up the pebbled path. They looked about our age and one of them smiled back confidently before standing up and making her way towards us.
The front of the group of students had reached the gates and were filing out of the park, however, George and I were at the back of the group so had a good hundred metres still to walk.
"Hey," the girl chirped, in a very attractive British accent, when she reached us. Both George and I stopped and glanced at each other, George's eyebrow was slightly raised.
"Hey," we both responded in unison.
The blonde girls mouth fell open slightly as we spoke and I smirked, she obviously liked the American accent.
"You're American?" she asked.
"Yeah, from LA to be precise," I answered my smirk growing more pronounced as her smile grew slightly.
"So me and my friends were wondering if you wanted to join us? I'm Abby by the way," she chirped.
"Um..." George said, obviously about to decline her invitation.
"We would love too," I smiled. Her smile grew impossibly bigger. George looked at me, his eyebrows pulling together questioningly as we followed Abby to the group of girls sitting under a tree.
"What the hell?" George whispered angrily in my ear.
"They won't even notice we are gone. We can just meet them back at the hotel in time for dinner. Who wants to go see a bunch of wax work models anyway?" I chuckled slightly.
George started at me before a smirk slipped onto his slips and he shrugged.
We reached the group of three girls, four including Abby.
"This is Jess, Clare and Amanda," Abby introduced us. Both George and I smiled and they moved round slightly so we could sit down.
"Guys this is... Actually I don't know your names," Abby giggled, blushing slightly her green eyes sparkling but they were nothing in comparison to Sophie's blue eyes. I sighed; I really need to stop thinking of Sophie.
"I'm George and this is Luke," George said gesturing to me. A smile played at the corner of my lips as I noticed that Jess, Clare and Amanda's mouths all fell open slightly as they heard George's accent. The American accent was definitely a hit.
"They're from LA," Abby continued, smirking at her friends her eyes widening slightly.
"What about you guys? Do you live in London?" I asked.
"Yeah, we're just thought we would take advantage of the nice weather and have lunch here," Clare answered as her eyes flicked up and down me, "So are you two just on holiday?" She continued once she had finished checking me out.
"Yeah kind of. We are on a school trip just before our senior year starts," George answered this time.
"So wait that was your school?" Amanda gasped, gesturing to the now empty gate that our school had filed out of.
"Yeah," I frowned slightly at her worried expression.
"Won't they worry about you?" She asked.
"Nah, they probably won't even notice." I shrugged.
As if on cue George's mobile started ringing loudly. George smiled apologetically as he dug his phone out of his rug sack which was sitting on the ground in front of him.
"Hello," he said as he pressed the accept button. It was silent as the person who had called George spoke. He winced slightly and held the phone away from his ear. I gave him questioning look, but he ignored it as he put the phone back to his ear and started talking again.
"Do you think your school has found out?" Jess asked looking a little bit disappointed.
"I doubt it," I shrugged, giving her one of my 'Hollywood actor grins', well that's how Sophie described it. She had always been jealous of my smile. I don't know why though, I loved her smile and would do anything to make her smile. It could light up her whole face.
"Luke?" Abby said as she nudged me, a confused expression plastered on her face. I realised I must have spaced out as I thought about Sophie. I couldn't hide the slight tinge to my cheeks, "Sorry, I spaced out. What did you say?" I said looking straight into Abby's eyes - girls loved it when I did that.
"How long have you got then?" She repeated, rolling her eyes playfully. I leaned closer to her slightly - girls also loved it when I did that.
"Well we have to be back at the hotel at seven o'clock. The hotel is about half an hour away. So about three hours," I smiled.
"Good." She chirped happily, "We'll show you boys a good time, won't we girls?" She giggled just as George hung up the phone.
"The girls are going to show us around London, okay?" I asked George. He nodded in response before continuing,
"That was Emily, she noticed we were gone. Well more like Sophie noticed you were gone." He said, being sure to emphasise both the words 'Sophie' and 'you'. I chuckled, George always was stubborn. "Anyway, I got Emily to cover for us if the teachers did notice we had disappeared."
I smiled as I responded, "Good. Did you tell them what we are doing?" I asked, hoping he would say no. I didn't want Sophie to know I was hanging out with some other girls. She would take it the wrong way and I didn't want that happening, especially since I would much rather be hanging out with her.
"No, don't worry man. I wouldn't want Sophie to get mad," he said smirking. Damn, he knew me so well. "I just told her you didn't want to go see a lousy bunch of wax work models and you were still upset over fighting with a certain someone," he laughed.
I punched him in the shoulder, "You made me sound like such a pussy!" I whined.
"You are!" George said while still laughing.
"Shut up," I grumbled, but a smile still formed on my lips.
"So who is Sophie?" Abby piped up. I jumped slightly at the sound her voice. I had completely forgotten about her and the rest of the girls.
"Um..." I mumbled.
"His girlfriend," George interrupted me. I punched him on the shoulder again but slightly harder this time, before saying,
"No she isn't my girlfriend, she is my best friend," making sure I emphasised the word 'best'.
"Yeah but he wishes she was his girlfriend," George teased causing me to glare at him.
"Aw that's so cute," Jess cooed.
"But completely not true," I stated.
"Good," Abby smirked as she leaned slightly closer to me. Her perfume hit me and caught in my throat. I coughed as I tried to hide my disgust towards the smell of her perfume. Why would someone wear something that smelt that bad?
I smiled at her but I knew it didn't reach my eyes.
"So you guys ready then?" Clare asked as she clapped her hands together and stood up. Both George and I nodded and mirrored her actions.
"So where to first?" George asked as we followed the girls to the same gate which our school had left through.
"How about Camden then this club we know. It will be pretty much deserted but it's still a cool hang out." Abby responded as she moved so she was no walking next to me.
"What's Camden?" I asked, thinking it was some sort of sight like Big Ben.
"It's this shopping area, it's really cool." Abby said as she pressed her side against mine as we walked. I took a step to the left so there was a small gap between us but she soon closed it.
We reached the tube station pretty quickly and not long after we got on the tube we arrived at Camden.
Camden was awesome. We spent about an hour and a half browsing the stores. I knew Sophie would have liked it here. She loved shopping, especially in places like this. I mentally slapped myself for thinking of Sophie again. The atmosphere was cool to. The place was packed with people.
As we made our way to the station a necklace caught my eye. I paused to take a closer look.
"Luke we gotta go man," George called as he followed me to the little stall filled with different clothes and jewellery. "I don't think that's your style," George chuckled as I ran the simple silver chain through by fingers and played with the small pendant hanging on the end.
"It's not for me you loser," I laughed.
"I know you idiot. It's for Sophie right?" He asked. I hated that he knew me so well.
"Yeah, whatever. We need to go," I mumbled as I slung the necklace back down on the table and walked back over to the girls without looking back. I knew if I looked back I would go and buy it for her.
About ten minutes later we arrived at the club. We could only spend forty minutes there if we wanted to make it back to the hotel on time.
We followed the girls into the club without being checked for ID.
"How come they didn't ID us?" George asked. In England you only had to be eighteen to get into most clubs and drink, which was different to America but we were only seventeen and they didn't seem to blink an eyelid.
"They don't care around here. As long as you look eighteen they tend not bother," Amanda shrugged.
We walked down a dingy, narrow corridor which led to a small flight of stairs. By the time we reached the stairs we could already here the pounding music. We jogged down the stairs and turned a corner to see a packed club. To the right was a bar which was already crowded and to the left was what I was guessing was a dance floor but I couldn't tell due to the sea of moving bodies.
"I thought you said it would be deserted?" I shouted, to make sure I could be heard above the music.
"I thought it would be," Abby shrugged as she grabbed my hand and led me towards the bar.
Once we finally managed to order our drinks a table became free so we made our way over to it and started chatting.
We found out the girls were also seventeen and in their last year of school. Jess wanted to go into fashion, whereas Amanda and Clare wanted to go into business and Abby wanted to become an actress.
"Want to dance?" Abby whispered seductively as she leaned into my ear once I had finished my drink. I shrugged before agreeing. What harm could one dance do?
She grabbed my hand again and dragged me towards the sea of moving of bodies - I was right, it was a dance floor.
Once we reached the centre of the dance floor she stopped and turned to face me. She rested her hands on my chest and slowly started to sway her hips. My eyes widened as she moved even closer to me so our bodies were pressed together. I slowly slid my arms onto her waist but something wasn't right.
She wasn't Sophie.
I hated that I cared this much that I was dancing with some other chick and not Sophie. I shouldn't care this much. I shouldn't wish that it was Sophie I was dancing with. I shouldn't want it to be Sophie running her hands over my chest and pressing her hips to mine.
I smiled as I imagined dancing with Sophie. She wouldn't smell of cheap perfume - like Abby did - but of roses and vanilla. I imagined running my hands down to her waist and pulling her closer. I closed my eyes as I thought of how she would wrap her arms around my neck as a slow song started playing through the speakers. I smiled as I felt two arms slip around my neck. I grinned as I opened my eyes, but it instantly fell of my face when I remembered I was dancing with Abby - not Sophie.
I groaned quietly. I really needed to stop thinking of Sophie like this. She had never had this effect on me before.
"You like that huh?" Abby flirted causing my eyebrows to pull together into a frown. What was she talking about? But then I realised she must as of mistook my groan as one of pleasure.
I didn't respond as I didn't want to lie her and I couldn't really tell her that I was actually too busy thinking of my best friend in a completely inappropriate way to remember I was dancing with her.
When I felt her breath on my cheek I finally looked at her. My eyes widened as I realised how close she was to me. Her breath blew across my face. Well she moved quickly.
"Um... Abby..." I mumbled, not quite sure what to say.
"Shhh now is not the time for talking," she whispered as she leaned closer to me. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. Did people actually say things like that? I thought that was only the sort of thing people said in those really cheesy movies.
If Sophie had heard her say that she would most definitely be taking the piss out of her right now.
I suddenly remembered where I was when I felt a pair of lips against mine. Shit.
I leapt away from Abby. I can't believe I just let her kiss me. What was I going to say to Sophie?
"Um... sorry..." I muttered.
"I thought you wanted me to?" Abby asked a confused expression on her face.
"Er... I think George and I need to go..." I lied not having a clue what to say. I had never not kissed a girl back so I had no idea how to deal with this situation.
"You like her right?" Abby smiled as she grabbed my hand and led us back to the table, where George and the rest of the girls were sitting.
"Who?" I replied even though I knew exactly who she was talking about.
"Sophie, it's pretty obvious Luke." Abby chuckled. Wow she was taking this surprisingly well. I was expecting her to storm off and leave George and I stranded here without a clue how to get back to the hotel.
"She's my best friend, nothing more nothing less." I stated even though every time I said it I was starting to doubt it more and more.
"Whatever you say," She chuckled, "But if I was you I would tell her sooner or later because otherwise you are going to lose her. Don't be scared, from the sound of things she likes you too." Abby said reassuringly as we reached the others. I smiled in thanks as I sat back down next to George.
The rest of the girls were having a silent conversation with Abby to see whether anything happened.
"We should probably go now," George stated, not even bothering to ask me what happened. He knew me well enough to guess.
"Okay, we'll take you there." Abby smiled and we followed her back to the station.
*--*
As we walked towards the hotel we saw our coach pull up outside the hotel. Perfect timing I thought. The girls had left us at the closest tube station with very clear directions to the hotel, but first we had exchanged numbers. Even if nothing had happened with Abby I realised - once she had stopped flirting - she was actually a pretty nice person.
"Good timing huh?" I smirked to George.
"Yep," he smirked as well. We were both happy that we had got away with not one of the teachers realising.
We joined the back of the group of students as they trailed into the school. I noticed Sophie and Emily weren't far in front of us.
"Come on man, we owe them one," George said jogging slightly so he could catch them up. I trailed behind him, not knowing what to do. Yes we did own Emily one for covering for us but I still wasn't sure what to say to Sophie.
By the time I joined them, George was in the middle of his thank you speech. I walked beside Sophie awkwardly. When George finished she finally noticed me. I smiled as her eyes widened and anger flashed through her eyes. I guess this wasn't a good idea, she obviously still didn't forgive me.
"You idiot! How could you just run off like that? You know I was worried sick! I thought we had left you and George behind! I thought you were lost!" She shouted, hitting my chest to emphasise her point.
My eyes widened as she screamed at me but once she was finished I couldn't help but smile. A huge grin spread across my lips.
"What?" She asked, clearly confused from the expression on her face.
"I'm just glad we're speaking again," I grinned as I slung my arm around her shoulder.
"You are really hard to stay mad at," she grumbled but I could tell she was fighting to hide her smile.
"You love it really," I countered.
"Yeah I do," she sighed.
I couldn't wipe the grin off my face as we walked into the hotel. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I got feeling that everything was going to be okay.
AN: This is my longest chapter yet! I hope it makes up for last weeks rubbish chapter.
This story is nearly as 2,000 reads which is a lot for me so thanks!
As normal, sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Hope you like it :)