“Miss Howell, what are you doing out here in the parking lot during school hours?” I hear a stern voice ask from behind me. I hadn’t realized I was still standing in the middle of the road staring after the shadow that had been Luke, tears falling from my eyes.
“Ugh, sorry sir, I just uh forgot my assignment in my car,” I stammer, fitfully wiping the tears away from my face as I turn to face my psychology teacher.
“Well hurry up and get back to class so I don’t have to write you up for skipping,” he answers, “here, I’ll write you a note,” he continues softly, seeing my distraught face.
I nod my head, not trusting my voice at the moment, and slowly follow him back into the building. I should have just left school when I had the chance, but there’s nothing I can do and I can’t miss another day. I shouldn’t be here going to class though while Luke is out there going through a large range of emotions. I need to make sure he is okay.
“Are you okay?” Emma asks as walk into biology and take my seat. I just turn and stare at her, I mean I know she didn’t understand what was going on but she had to notice the effect Ashton’s words had on Luke. “Is Luke okay, did you talk to him?” she continues whispering after she realizes I’m not going to answer her first question.
“I don’t know, I don’t know what to do,” I murmur, rubbing my hands over my face before putting my head down on my desk.
“Well why don’t you text him or something?” Emma suggests, still oblivious to just how much meaning the questions Ashton asked Luke had.
I shoot up, I totally forgot I now have Luke’s phone number. I glance towards the front of the class to see that the teacher is fully engrossed in his lecture before pulling out my phone and setting it in my lap.
Me: Luke please talk to me.
I wait approximately thirty seconds for a reply before typing out another message.
Me: Please Luke, at least let me know that you’re okay. I’m so sorry Ashton said that, he had no right to.
Again I wait for about a minute and when I get no reply I start sending numerous texts at one time. I know I may be a little excessive, and if Luke ever does talk to me again he will definitely delete his number from my phone but I just need to know he’s okay.
I text him about twenty-five times in total before realizing he just isn’t going to reply so I sadly put my phone back in my pocket, turning to face the teacher.
“I’m sure he’s okay,” Emma says, trying to comfort me. I don’t even turn to look at her. Yeah she knows something is wrong, but what she doesn’t understand is the fact that her boyfriend is the cause of Luke’s sudden change in behavior. She doesn’t know about Luke’s past so there is no way she can fully understand what’s happening.
When the bell rings I hurriedly leave the class so as to skip more questions from Emma and make my way to my next class. As I walk from class to class in a daze I can’t help but picture Luke in a wreck or something on his motorcycle. There is no way he would make it if that thing were to get into a wreck.
Finally, the final bell rings and I quickly run to my car so I can go home. To my surprise there is another person at my car. Michael.
“Um hey, what’re you doing?” I ask skeptically, looking as Michael leans up against the driver side door so I can’t get in.
“Well I came out here to tell you that tomorrow I’m coming over to your house so we can dye my hair,” Michael starts, giving me a smirk.
“Wait, don’t we have school tomorrow?” I wonder aloud, I didn’t really worry about the other part of Mikey’s statement because he almost always asks for my help with dying his hair.
“Today is Friday you dummy….dang, you really are out of it,” he answers with a small laugh. I don’t really say anything in response, he is right I’ve been out of it all day.
“Anyways I came here to ask if you’re okay,” he continues quietly, looking down at the ground and kicking at some gravel with his worn out black converse. Mikey has always been the quieter one of the group, making me and him closer; he is always the one that I call at night when I want to talk about my parents always leaving me. He is the only one in our group that doesn’t really have a great family life so he understands how I feel more than the other ones do.
“Yeah, I’m alright I guess,” I reply, shrugging my shoulders and trying to smile but it just comes out as sort of a grimace.
“Obviously you look spectacular, hey give me a ride home and we can talk about it,” Michael laughs, pushing himself off of my car and walking around the front to the passenger door. I click the unlock button so he can get in, while I get into the drivers seat. As much as I keep thinking I don’t want to talk about what’s going on, I actually really need to talk to someone and Michael won’t say anything to anyone.
“So what color are we dying your hair tomorrow?” I ask as I pull out of the school parking lot and get onto the road.
“I’m thinking green, I haven’t done green in a while,” Michael shrugs, looking over and giving me a grin. I honestly don’t remember if he’s had green hair before or not. It changes so often it’s hard to keep track of it all.
“What happened to the whole ‘I’m keeping it black for a mature senior look’” I chuckle.
“It got boring. Now quit changing the subject. What was the deal today?” Michael asks, turning to look at me with concern etched clearly on his face.
I sigh, trying to think about how I want to answer his question. It’d be so easy to just tell Mikey everything I know but I can’t do that.
“I don’t know, Luke kind of has a bad family life I guess and his sister, kind of um, left them and it’s hard for him. Ash shouldn’t have said those things to him, I don’t know how Ashton knows about his family, but it was a jerk move,” I murmur, staring ahead at the road instead of looking at Mikey who I know is taking all of this in.
“Ellie, do you think Ashton has something he isn’t telling us? He’s been acting weird lately,” Michael suggests.
I don’t really know what to say, on one hand I think he is but on the other hand I could never imagine bubbly Ashton hiding something from his friends. Michael and Cal, heck even I, have always looked up to Ashton and for him to be hiding something this whole time would be devastating.
“Okay, forget Ash fro the moment,” Michael sighs after he sees that I’m not going to answer that question, “has Luke told you the whole story about his family problems?” he asks. I turn to face him, this question has shocked me.
“Um no, I don’t really thing he’s ready too,” I murmur.
“I think Luke has some issues that none of us know about, and I don’t mean like being in a gang issue. I also think though, that you are the only one that can get through to him. Luke likes you; he actually smiles when you’re around, every time you guys are beside each other you guys have to touch, he doesn’t look as empty when he’s around you,” Michael informs me.
I look back towards the road, I don’t really know how to answer him. I’ve been speechless for most of this ride. “So what should I do?” I ask quietly, my voice cracking.
“I think you should help Luke. You need to be there for him, maybe you can bring him back,” Michael states simply.
“Why do you care so much?” I ask, not in a rude way. I just don’t really understand why Michael has taken this sudden interest in how Luke feels.
“Well first of all because I care about you and I can see how much you like Luke, and secondly from how little I’ve hung out with Luke he is a pretty cool guy,” Michael shrugs again.
Michael and I spend the rest of the ride to his house talking about the rest of our friends and school, leaving the subject of Luke. As we pull into his house I see no car in the driveway. “Where’s your mom?” I ask, as Michael grabs his book bag and starts to get out.
“She probably took the night shift again, who knows,” he answers, as he opens the door to get out. Michael only lived with his mom, and she took almost every shift as a nurse at the hospital that she could get to support the two of them. “I’ll text you tomorrow when I’m on my way over,” he yells back to me as he walks up the driveway to his house. I nod my head and give him a wave as I pull out and drive to my house.
As funny and sarcastic as Michael can be he is actually a really good advice giver. I pull into my driveway and sit there for about five seconds before realizing what I need and want to do. I put the car into reverse and am about to pull out when a black Range Rover pulls in behind me, trapping me in. I groan as I look in the rearview mirror, why the heck is Ashton coming here right now?
“What do you want Ash?” I groan, getting out of my car to see him stepping out of his own vehicle.
“I just want to stay sorry for what I did earlier, it was uncalled for,” Ashton murmurs, coming over to stand sheepishly in front of me. It’s weird that even as he seems nervous he still exudes an air of confidence.
“Why are you apologizing to me?” I question, my eyebrows raising.
“Well you seemed to take what I said hard too, so I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to Luke too,” he murmurs, looking at me with sincereness in his eyes.
“Well it was kind of a shitty thing to do, talking about his family, his sister like that,” I say angrily before I can stop myself. I am in his face now, my voice raising as I get angrier.
“Wait a second. What has Luke told you about his sister?” Ashton asks, the sincereness leaving his face and now being replaced by anger of his own, and some other emotion that I can’t quiet place. “What do you know? What’s Luke told you?” he yells, getting closer to me so that I am pushed back against my car door.
“He hasn’t told me anything. I just know she isn’t around, Ashton please calm down,” I say quietly, my voice trembling from the fear in it. Ashton stays in my face, the muscle tee, his shaggy hair falling over his bandana, and his black eyes are enough to put fear in me.
“Oh okay, well are you coming to the party tonight? I can give you a ride if you want, I’m going to pick Emma up now,” Ashton grins, the look of anger completely leaving his face in a split second as he turns back into his cheerful self.
“Um no I cant’, I’m still grounded and my parents are coming back tonight,” I stutter after a few seconds. How can his mood change that quickly?
“Okay well I’ll talk to you later Ellie,” he grins, giving me a wave before getting back in his car and driving away. I’m still leant up against my car, the fear still in my body over what just happened. I need to find out what Ashton’s deal is.
I stand there for a few seconds before remembering my original plan. I get back in my car and drive the few miles down the block before pulling into the old blue house on the corner. I take a deep breath and exhale before turning my car off and getting out, noticing the familiar motorcycle as the only other vehicle in the driveway.
I walk quickly up to the door before I can change my mind about what I’m about to do, and knock. After a few minutes of waiting I can see that nobody is going to come let me in so I turn the knob myself and see that it is unlocked.
“Luke,” I call out shyly as I poke my head in the door.
Author's Note: Hello everyone! So thank you so much for over 1,000 reads I can't believe it!! Pleaes continue to read, vote, and comment on this story so I can continue getting it out there!! So, I know this chapter is a little boring but it's building up to something exciting in the next chapter!! Be ready for some LELLIE (thanks to @Elle_Jay for the ship name) feels!!
Sooo, please comment and vote on this chapter if you like it! I love reading all of your guys' comments, they crack me up and are amazing! I always try to reply back as well! So, I will upload the next chapter when this one gets 12 votes!!! xoxoxo -Aly :)