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Late | Luke
The week couldn't have gone any slower, I was impatiently waiting for Luna to come over on Friday night. I was excited to just spend time with her, but truly I was worried and wanted to know what was going on. Not once throughout the remainder of the week had it been bought up and whilst I wanted to respect her privacy, I really wanted to know. I could tell whatever was happening at her house was tearing her inside out, just yesterday she was barely functioning, and as we all sat in a circle on the green at lunch time laughing all she could do was stare into space, her lower lip occasionally quivering.
School hadn't started yet, but I was already hanging around the gym waiting for the changing rooms to be unlocked. Friday meant P.E first, and that meant I got to spend an hour with Calum and Luna. Michelle had come back to school after getting over her cold yesterday and we had finally made an effort to start learning to tango. Although, our skills were pretty terrible and we would need a lot more practise if we wanted to even pass the standard. I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the time, it was eight forty, meaning I had another twenty minutes to blow before class started. I looked over my shoulder at the gymnasium and shrugged, there was no point standing out here.
I wandered back across the green towards the administration block, my calculus teacher smiling at me as he entered the office. I headed around the back of the school, where the bike racks were located. It was completely empty and it usually remained empty, bikes not being the prefered transport to school, especially not now that it was winter. But there was one girl who always rode her baby blue bike with a basket to school nearly every morning, and I couldn't wait to see her.
Perching on the cold metal bars I grabbed my phone out to waste time, usually I would expect to see her shining smile by now as she was always an early riser and one of the first students to school but the past week she'd essentially been a walking corpse, only just making it to class on time. I offered picking her up on the way to school, despite it being out of the way, but she insisted she didn't want to make things worse with her parents by being picked up by a boy ... in a car. So instead I decided we could walk to P.E late together, atleast she'd get less heat from Miss Fern for being tardy.
At eight fifty-eight she pulled up, braking right in front of me causing pebbles to fly up at my exposed ankles. She pulled off her helmet and snapped it onto her bag straps before pushing her bike up between my legs in the little space for the wheel to sit.
"Boo you," I smiled and she returned it in silence. I watched as she pulled the safety lock from her front pocket and looped it through the wheel and around the metal pole, making sure to avoid my legs. It clicked and I hopped down, causing her to jump back at my sudden movement.
"You okay?" I hummed as I touched her shoulder and she nodded, the bell blocking out any sound she may have made. Her smile faltered as we walked towards the science block where her locker was situated and I stood by her as she sorted out her books and clothes. I watched her intently, she looked so lost and all I wanted to do was pull her away from society and hold her until everything was okay again.
Her locker door shut and she turned towards me, "shall we go then?"
I reached for her hand and she hesitantly looped in fingers with mine, "we shall. And we're only five minutes late."
"They'll only assume we were in the janitors closet," she giggled and I grinned. That's my girl.
"Well then, we might as well take our time, after all it took Calum seven minutes, so we still have two minutes to match his record," I winked as I swung my arm forward and hers follow suit.
"It'll take us two minutes to walk across the road," she smiled, "at least I came to school in my gym gear."
My eyes dropped down the length of her body, she was wearing some black leggings and a big gray sweater. At first glance this morning I thought she was just wearing her outfit for the day, but clearly I was wrong. I looked down at my attire, gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt. Basically my pyjamas, but I'd woken up late and couldn't be stuffed getting dressed nicely. Perhaps I could just wear this for P.E. after all, it was just dance and not outdoor sports.
Lunas grip on my hand loosened as we approached the gymnasium. I let go, understanding. We weren't officially together, and no one really knew about us unless they were our friend or were just really perceptive. I know Luna wanted to keep it on the down-low anyway, even if we were together, her parents were supposedly very social and knew many parents of our classmates. There was no doubt Luna would die if her parents found out about us through gossip before Luna herself.
We walked into the big room and a few people looked over at us, Miss Fern raising her eyebrow at us but ignoring our late arrival as she continued talking to one of the groups. As we headed towards the corner that Calum and Michelle were tucked away in, both desperately looking at us for escape, we were interupted by sneakers squeaking on the floor as footsteps headed towards us.
"Aw May, look they're matching, that's so cute!" Alexis chuckled, eyeing up the two of us, "gray and black, just as dull as them. 'Tis a shame really Luke, you had so much potential."
Her squinted eyes flickered over to Luna as she scrunitised her entire profile, "and you, little lunatic, watch it. You've been stirring yourself a big ol' pot of troublesome stew lately."
I opened my mouth to defend Luna, but was beat to it by the blonde herself, "go fuck yourself Alexis. You're only mad because you didn't get what you wanted for once, and instead I did. Just drop it, theres plenty of other guys in the school that you haven't fucked yet. Have you tried Eric Winson? I heard he's really good with his fingers, being the fastest typer in the state and all."
Raising my eyebrow I glanced between the two girls, and briefly at May who was just standing there bored out of her mind.
"I'm sorry hun, but I don't want your geeky sloppy seconds. Oh wait, you're a virgin, you haven't even had your sloppy firsts." Alexis pouted and batted her eyelashes before chuckling-- no-- cackling and walking off. May jogged after her, nearly tripping on her laces as Luna and I turned to each other and rolled our eyes in sync.
"Eric Winson huh?" I chuckled, "fastest typer in the state."
"Yeah it was on the news," Luna smiled as we continued our journey to the other side of the gym, "he just keeps digging himself further into a grave really. You know, in year 9 I actually thought he was relatively cool, like actually cooler than you. But I swear now everyone gags at the sound of his name."
"You thought Eric Winson was cooler than me?" I asked, coming to a stop in front of Calum and Michelle, "guys can you believe Luna once thought Eric Winson was cooler than me?"
"Anyone is cooler than you Luke," Michelle snorted, and Calum nodded in agreement. I frowned at my best friend and he shrugged, "sorry bro, but I have to agree with the prude on this one."
Michelle glared at Calum, "just because I don't want to hook up with you in the scummy changing rooms doesn't mean I'm a prude."
"Would you hook up with me in a five star hotel suite?" Calum nudged her and she screwed her face up with disgust, "God no."
"Well then," Calum put his hands on his hips and shook his head, "my original statement still stands."
"Boys, girls."
I snapped my head around and glanced at Miss Fern who was standing behind us, staring expectantly between us. "I don't see much dancing going on. I'm here to help if you want to work on some technique."
"N--"
"Actually that'd be really helpful ," Michelle interrupted Calum with a wide grin.
"Great," Miss Fern smiled, clapping her hands together, "let's see what you've got so far."
"Well that's the thing," Michelle responded, "we ain't got shit."
Miss Fern chuckled, "Michelle I think you should consider picking up English."
Calum nudged Michelle again and she swatted him away. From yesterdays lesson I had learnt that Michelle and Miss Fern were in fact cousins, so while in front of the class they maintained professional boundaries, in front of us they were more relaxed and casual with each other.
"Tango may appear very complex but it's really only a matter of repeating a few steps and jazzing them up a bit. Calum, you're a star soccer player, so you're good with your feet, c'mere and be the practise dummy."
Calum sauntered over to our teacher and awkwardly held her shoulders, not wanting to break the teacher/student boundaries. "Okay watch our feet you lot, Calum you're the male so you should lead. I want you to step forward with your left foot and I'll step back with my right foot."
Luna leaned on me and I smiled down at her as we stood watching our P.E. teacher become frustrated with Calums lack of dance skill. But she was determined to make him good enough for 'Dancing With the Stars' by the end of the period, so when she dismissed him to pair up with Michelle and revise his steps she kept a steady eye on his footwork.
"Ashwell, Hemmings."
"Yo," I quickly replied, not actually realising what I'd just said because it exited my lips unintentionally and in record time. Luna chuckled from beside me and I tapped her with my elbow.
"Any reason you were late?"
"I just arrived late to school," Luna said timidly, playing with the sleeves of her sweater, "Luke was waiting for me to arrive so I caused him to be late too. Sorry."
"I'll let it slide, also, is there any specific reason Miss Taylor and Justice keep approaching you? Should I take note of this or be concerned?" Miss Fern looked between us with a straight face and we both shook our heads. Luna and I both knew best not to involve teachers in petty drama. She nodded with content, "now get practising you two, I've got other messes to clean up around here."
As she walked off I turned to face Luna and grinned, "so do you remember any of the steps we have to learn?"
She shook her head, "not a clue."
Four and a half hours later were sitting in a circle with Calum, Michael, Ashton and Harley. Luna was happily sitting in Harleys lap nibbling away at carrot sticks and hummus as Harley groaned about how heavy her best friend was.
"Luke."
I turned to face Ashton who was the voice behind my name.
"I took your words to heart the other day."
"What words?" I chuckled, completely oblivious to what on Earth he was talking about.
"You know, about being a real man."
I scanned my brain for any memory about this potential conversation and found myself back in the library talking about osmosis and Cassie Tate and sex. I nodded slowly, "yeah, what about it dude?"
"You know Bethany right?" Ashton smirked.
"Everyone knows Bethany, Ash," Michael rolled his eyes as he balled up his cling wrap and chucked it into his backpack, "you basically forced her to grab your dick the other day."
"That was all a part of the act," Ashton snapped, "anyway I'm going to ask her on a date, like a real one. Milkshakes, a movie, maybe go over our lines together, get a little groovy."
"Aaaand you lost it," Michael snorted, unwrapping more cling wrap from a second sandwich -- which upon closer inspection I realised were just two pizza slices smacked together.
"Milkshakes and movie is the first date," Harley interjected, "hanging out at yours and going over lines is the second date."
"And then getting groovy can be the third date," suggested Luna and I couldn't help but smile as I watched her nibble like a rabbit on her carrot.
"That my friend, is how you be a real man," I winked.
Ashton fell backwards into the grass, "fuck man, that's like three whole weeks."
"Well you've got to get the first date first," Calum chuckled and Ashton extended his arm out to whack Calum but from his position laying down he was just out of reach.
"Calums right," Harley shrugged, wriggling from underneath Luna, "it's Bethany. She's so up herself it's not even funny, I don't think she'd ever lower her standards enough to consider a date with you. No offense drama boy. Ow, for fucks sake Luna move your boney ass before I beat you up."
Luna turned and pouted as Ashton scrambled back up so he was no longer staring at the cloudy sky but instead us, "you know what you're right, I'd have a better chance with Mrs Mawe, and she's married."
"And our English teacher," Harley gagged.
"She loves me," he winked, "all those high marks aren't because of excellent work, it's because--"
"It's because you're a schmoozing suck up," Harley interupted, "and the whole class knows it."
"We all know it," Michael, Calum and I chimed in and I chuckled.
"Some people are just good with words," Ashton shrugged, "Mikey, gimme a bite of that."
Michael pull his pizza sandwich away from Ashtons reach and frowned, "you just had a cup of noodles, an apple and five biscuits, fuck off."
"Not my fault I'm a growing teenage boy that needs to be fed," Ashton shrugged before collapsing onto his back again and looking up at the sky, "what's everyone up to this weekend? I've got the house to myself, no Harry or Lauren or Mum. Just me and the house. Ya'll wanna crash the place?"
I glanced over at Luna and she shook her head and I nodded at her. It was our weekend and we were going to spend it together, and I was going to figure out what was wrong with Luna and how I could help her. As much as I hated turning down an Ashton get together, I had to.
"Nah man," I sighed, "not this weekend. Luna's staying at mine."
"Yeah," she let out a breathy chuckle, "I need to be as far away from my house as possible, not next door."
"Well I'm keen," Calum shrugged, "Michael?"
"Sure man. Just the three of us, the cool ones, the three musketeers, the ones that aren't whipped as fuck," Michael winked at me and I leaned over the circle to shove his shoulder.
"Hey," Harley cried, "what the fuck am I supposed to do? I ain't got my best friend or my brother to annoy."
"You can come," Calum suggested and Michael snapped his head towards him and scowled.
"Uh, no she can not, especially not with you around sister-fucker. No girls allowed. Harley go smoke some dope or something."
"Speaking of dope," Ashton muttered, "what's happening with Zion? Did he get busted?"
Luna shuffled off of Harleys lap and into the gap between her and I, "no and yes."
I draped my arm across her shoulders and she looked over at me before elaborating, "the police miraculously did not trace it back to him. No one spoke a word about it, and no one mentioned him at all. Funnily enough he was absent on Monday and most of last week, so even so I don't think they would have suspected him immediately. Anyway the bust was on the news, and his Mum, Cayenne--"
"Still can't believe your aunty is called Cayenne and your Mum is called Rosemary," Calum sniggered.
"Shut up Cal," I grumbled.
"His Mum, saw the news report and figured it all out and he's got two weeks left here before he goes off to military school. She's hoping it'll sort him out, but really I think he'll have a lot of fun. Military school boys are typically gay right? So Zion will fit right in."
"I always forget Zion is gay," Harley hummed, "he's just so scary and intimidating from a distance but when you talk to him he's like a fairy on shrooms."
"Oh Calum, for the record I also have an uncle called Garlic, and three cousins called Thyme, Paprika and Cinnamon," Luna stated with a dead straight face and I raised my eyebrow with curiousity.
Calum screwed up his face trying to get his head around the ridiculousness of it all, but Luna burst out laughing, "I'm totally fucking with you. My uncles called Bob."
The bell signalling the end of lunch went off and we all clambered to our feet, I turned towards Luna and pressed my lips against her forehead, "I'll see you at your locker after school?"
She nodded, and turned away from me and headed over to Harley. I watched after her as they headed towards the science block and I trailed behind with the boys by my side.
"I'll see you losers later," Michael chuckled as he broke off and walked in the direction of the art block. I looked over at Calum and Ashton who were talking between themselves but before I could look away Ashton caught my stare.
"Hey Luke, honestly, when are you going to ask her out?"
I shrugged, "when the time is right."
a.n.
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thankyouthankyouthankyou
we hit the 5k milestone today, and broke 200 votes at the same time
totally totally totally insane, wowowow
canNOT comprehend that at all, this isn't even that good, is it?
anyway, thought i'd just do a nice little chapter to show development in luna and lukes relationship and just remind everyone of a few other things that have happened in the past bc ik there is so much going on that you may have forgotten about e.g. the drug bust.
i have been planning away ferociously recently, i have so many word documents for so many different things such as their timetables, the entire character list and i'm working on mapping out locations so i can make this totally accurate to sydney (where they live), theres an upcoming chapter that oh BOY i can't!!! no spoilers tho, you'll have to wait.
thank u sm for reading
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SOOOOO MUCH LOVE,
ty xo