F O U R | I M P R E S S I O N S
★ ★ ★
Sundays were the most boring of days as far as Ashton was concerned. All he did was pass the time with random video games, hardly entertaining.
Assuming that the boys were content downstairs watching TV, Ashton did not bother with going down to confirm his assumptions, but rather turned on his Sony and inserted the Minecraft CD. He was addicted, after all.
Ashton's phone vibrated inside of his pocket, notifying him of an incoming message. Removing his phone from his pocket he saw that it was from Calum.
Hellooooooooooo! Ash we are at Zen club, meet us there! I'm pretty sure you're making love to your video games, but whatever! see-ya -Cal xx
Ashton laughed at Calum's ridiculous statement and his fingers flew across the screen, typing a reply to Calum.
'Yo! I'll be over within 10 minutes! And yes, you guessed it right... I'm lame aren't I? Lol ' -Ash :p
Ashton was saddened by the fact that Mickey and Cal neglected to notify him when they had left. But then again, he had been asleep, so he supposed that was okay.
Switching off his playstation 4 he changed into slightly more appropriate attire: Black jeans, his t-shirt with the American flag across the front, and of course his favourite white beanie. He never forgot the white beanie.
Once dressed, he took his keys, and stuffed his phone and wallet into his pocket.
Pulling on his worn Vans, he stepped out into the corridor, locking the flat he shared with Mickey and Calum behind him. The corridor was empty, silent. Everyone would have still been sleeping, considering they were all elders or young children.
Ashton turned his back on the flat and ventured towards his car. He proceeded to drive towards the club that awaited him.
***
-later at Zen club-
"Guys I have something to announce" Ashton stood gathering everyone's attention.
"I think I might have found our lead singer!" He exclaimed once all eyes were directed to him.
"Oh really? Who is he? Or dare I say 'she'?" Calum asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"His name is Luke, Luke Hemmings" Ashton answered, a ghost of a smile forming upon his lips. Michael's expression instantly changed.
"What does he look like?" His eagerness was clear in his voice.
"Blonde hair, I think blue eyes...Oh! and he's tall as a giraffe." Ashton raised his hand as he spoke illustrating Luke's height for the boys to see.
"More details..." Michael ordered. Ashton nodded, taking another sip of his beer.
"Ahh, well he has a younger brother, Blaise or something..." Ashton waved his hands in the air dismissively.
"I want a younger brother..." Calum sighed, performing his trademark puppy dog face before swallowing half his beer.
Michael watched Ashton, glancing away quickly when Ashton caught him in the act. After a few minutes of laughter from both Ash and Cal, Michael decided that it was about time to go home.
"We're leaving..." Michael informed Ashton as he began dragging Calum towards the exit.
"Wait, what about me?" Ashton whined. He had no idea how he was going to get home after how much he had drank.
"I don't know, find a solution..." Michael shrugged and pushed Calum outside the club.
Ash followed them and stood beside Calum's car, waiting for Michael to give him a solution to how he would get home. But Michael refused.
"Man! We live in the same apartment! Why can't I come?" Ashton raised his voice.
Michael shook his head closing the window. He started the engine and drove away leaving a drunk Ashton on the side of the road, watching them as they went.
***
Monday began the day that Luke would meet with Ashton and his bandmates, Mike and Cameron. Luke, however, could not remember specifically who it was he was to meet due to a terrible memory.
He woke to the sound of his alarm, a loud pounding in his ears, warning him that it was already 9am.
Luke got up from the bed and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower, change and do his hair. Once done, he headed to the kitchen where Blaise and Liz were laughing about some secret of theirs. But Luke's attention was instantly averted to the plates stacked with pancakes before them.
"Morning!" Luke shouted, making his mother and little brother jump in surprise.
"Jeez, you scared me!" Blaise yelled back, on the brink of crying. Luke rushed to his side and patted his back lightly.
"Oops sorry. I guess I'm just too excited!" Luke smiled and sat down next to Liz.
"Don't do that again, Honey that's terrifying!" Liz ordered and got a quick nod from Luke in respond.
Luke started to eat the pancakes that were made for him, savouring every last bite. Food was his pleasure.
"Where's dad?" Luke asked and took another bite from his pancakes.
"He's back to work!" Liz beamed.
"You're kidding me, right?" Luke coughed, trying to process what his mother had just said. She looked at him, all joking aside.
"Oh you're not kidding..." Luke looked away and stared at the pancakes in front of him.
"You should be happy." Liz said after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"I am!" Luke responded way too quickly.
Liz just nodded her head and continued to feed her younger son. They all ate their food in silence until Luke decided to speak again.
"Mom I got to go, I'm late for something!" Luke informed Liz then rushed to the front door. Taking his car keys he closed the door behind him.
After starting the engine, Luke looked inside his wallet and retrieved a piece of paper Ashton had given him the other day, an address scrawled on it.
After a couple of seconds he found it and hit the highway. He drove for fifteen minutes until he found himself in front of the building Ash had described.
***
Luke walked down the hallway that supposedly lead him to Ash's apartment. Passing apartment 399, he turned to face 400. Luke knocked three times and was greeted by a black haired boy who opened the door.
Luke waved to the boy "Hi..."
"Hello!" the boy greeted, drawing out the 'o' as he gave Luke a cute smile.
"You must be Luke, come on in!" He opened the door wider and gestured for Luke to get inside. Luke gave the boy a small smile and went inside.
He bit his lip, unsure which of the two boys this one was. Perhaps it was Cameron...or perhaps the other one...
"Wait up! I'm going to call the guys, they're probably doing something dorky together" he told Luke and started to walk away, Luke chuckled and sat down on the couch.
Luke played with his fingers, examining the apartment around him as his boredom increased. It hung heavily in the air around him. What was taking them so long?
The walls were bright beige and the floor naturally wooden; a reflection on how beautiful the small flat actually was. He could not comprehend how three people were able to live so comfortably inside such a small flat.
Luke stood, his eyes landing on a portrait that hung upon the wall. Moving closer, he realize that the girl in the portrait was Penelopè. He smiled as he remembered the cute little girl he had met just a few days ago.
"Umm dude? What are you doing?" Someone cleared their throat, gaining Luke's full attention.
Luke turned to stare at the boy with red hair in front of him, smiling apologetically.
"I was looking at Penelopè's picture..." Luke admitted, his gaze falling to the floor.
"Oh..." was all the other boy said.
Luke sat back on the couch as the other boy sat next to him. Neither of them could shake the feeling that something was wrong. He looked familiar, like they had met before, but Luke couldn't place where or when exactly. He was about to ask when Ash made his grand entrance.
"Hey!" Ash yelled stepping inside the living room. The guy who had let him in followed closely behind. Luke waved to Ashton, patting the space on the couch beside him.
They all sat down and the conversation picked up as they talked about a variety of random topics. Throughout the conversation, however, Michael remained quiet, too quiet for him. Ash and Calum watched him, growing concerned.
They continued to talk and laugh throughout the day, getting to know one another. Luke felt as though he was finally able to fit in somewhere, as, for the first time, he began to develop friendships with people his own age. This was good news for him. Very good news.