Ella had stalked up to Luke's desk at the start of school the next day. He looked weirdly surprised when he saw her.
"Are you avoiding me?" She asked, upfront.
"No." He lied.
"Okay, great, want to go bowling with Alexis, Devon, and I tonight?" She asked.
"Um," He looked down, contemplating it.
"As friends." She clarified.
He looked back up. "Sure. I get off work at six pm, can I just pick you up?"
"Yeah." Ella said, going back to her desk.
*****
She was waiting at her porch step for Luke at 5:50pm. Mike had interrogated her beforehand but she shrugged him off.
She chose to dress casual, a t-shirt and jeans. She was kind of cold but she didn't wanna risk going back in, knowing Mike's obsessiveness would annoy her.
Luke pulled up and she got in the car, gently closing the door after her.
"Hey." She said. "Alex and Dev are already there, so we'll just join their lane."
"Okay." He nodded. His jaw was set and he didn't look to be in a good mood.
The rest of the car ride was awkward. She regretted asking him to come, but why would he agree to come if he didn't wanna hang out with her?
When they finally got there, Ella hurriedly walked out of the car, not bothering to see if he followed behind. She stalked right up to Alexis's lane, recognizing her black afro from a few meters away. She looped her hand through hers and pulled her to the restroom, not bothering to say anything.
"Luke is being super strange." She whined, as they got in.
"What do you mean?" Alexis frowned.
"Well I kissed his cheek at Jake's party and he's avoided me ever since. But for some reason he still said yes to coming today." Ella said, earning an eyebrow raise from Alexis.
"Maybe he feels awkward around you now? I know you've kissed before but a kiss to the cheek could be more intimate for him. Do you have feelings for him?" Alexis asked.
"No! I just think he's cute, that's all." Ella denied
Alexis gave her a deadpanned look. "We've been here too long. Let's go back before they suspect us."
Ella went back to the lane, picking up bowling shoes. She saw Luke tying his own, with Dev next to him, talking to him. She decided she was just going to pretend as though nothing was wrong.
Halfway through their game, Ella was losing in last place by a landslide. Luke was first, then Alexis, then Devon.
She had basically given up, grabbing a red ball and stalking up to the lane, haphazardly rolling it down the aisle, watching in disappointment as it rolled to the right and hit only one pin. She sighed as Alexis laughed at her for the fourth time.
She went to grab another ball when she felt someone right up behind her; Luke pushed his hard chest into her back as he handed her the ball, wrapping his hand around hers with the ball. "You're throwing it wrong." He said. She could feel his chest vibrate with his words. "I'll show you how."
She was suddenly very aware of his body heat and how close to her he was. He wrapped his hand around her forearm, swinging it back to demonstrate the right way for her to roll the ball. At the same time he pressed his leg into hers, pushing it forward, while the other leg stayed back. He smelled good and she could feel her face heating up at their sudden close proximity.
He gently launched her arm with his hand, sending the ball down the lane until it hit all nine remaiad ning pins, earning her a spare. He pulled back then, rubbing the back of his neck.
She turned towards him; "Thanks." She stammered, "How are you that good?"
"I used to play on the Wii a lot." He said, nonchalantly.
Ella still came last place, but by the time they finished the game she just wanted to go home anyways. Alexis had made a huge deal of the bowling incident, as Ella saw when she received an iMessage from her, in a group with Sam and Jess saying:
"you ladies will not believe the amount of SEXUAL TENSION i just witnessed between our el and luke parker."
She rolled her eyes at that, deleting the notification.
The bowling alley was closing so they all got their shoes and left.
"Bye guys!" Alexis waved, walking to the other side of the parking lot.
Ella followed Luke to his car. She felt awkward after he had been that close to her, even though it wasn't the first time.
She got into the car, putting on her seatbelt. She looked at him when he didn't start the car.
"Er," He looked lost for words. "I'm sorry." He finally got out, as she stared at him. "For ignoring you for a few days I mean." He followed up.
"Why were you?" She had to ask.
"I'm not really sure. It's just that... well it's kind of embarrassing."
"Just tell me." She needed to know.
He sighed, looking down in embarrassment. "When I go to school, or to parties, or even to the football games, you're the first person I look for in a crowd. I've only known you for a few months and I feel like I'm attached to you. I didn't want you to realize how attached I was, so I didn't talk to you. It was stupid. I'm just afraid and didn't know what to do."
Wow. She could add abandonment issues to the list of issues she suspected Luke to have.
"So why did you agree to come? If you were ignoring me." She questioned.
She saw his cheeks turn pink, and he mumbled something.
"Huh?" Her eyebrows scrunched up.
"I didn't want you to ask anyone else." He said in a clear voice, although it was slightly shaky.
"Oh." Her eyebrows raised up, and she could feel her own cheeks turning pink.
He looked up at her then. His brown eyes were full of a vulnerability, similar to the look she had seen months ago in his car.
"You scare me." He uttered. "You make me feel weird."
"You make me feel weird too." She confided in him. She didn't notice, but during their conversation she had slowly leaned closer to him, across the middle compartment of his car.
This was something she became aware of when he lifted his hand up and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, keeping it there. He leaned in slightly, hesitantly, his eyes seeming unsure, as he stared into hers. She could feel a slight flutter in her chest.
He took his hand out of her hair, cupping her cheek. It was warm and felt nice. She couldn't help herself as she pushed her body closer to him, their faces coming closer, until their noses almost touched.
Their eyes remained locked, and she was overwhelmed with how good he smelled, and how beautiful he was. She bit her bottom lip and it caught his attention, his eyes leaving hers for just a second, darting down to her lips, before coming back up. Her hands felt useless in her lap, so she bought one up to caress his warm, stubbly cheek.
He leaned in for a final time, and she could feel his lips move against her own when he whispered, "Can I kiss you?"
Her chest felt like it was going to explode.
"Kiss me." She uttered, surprised at how steady her voice sounded, as she felt the complete opposite inside.
The corner of his mouth turned up slightly, into a cute smile before he finally pressed his soft lips onto hers, sending her heart into a frenzy. She immediately kissed him back, pushing herself closer, wrapping both her arms around his neck.
The kiss was just starting to get passionate, their lips separating and meeting again in a tender manner, when her loud ringtone interrupted them. They both jumped away from each other, startled at the sound.
"Fuck. Sorry." She wanted to throw her phone in the garbage and swear off phones for the rest of her life in that moment.
She checked the ID and saw 'Stupid' as the contact name. She picked up right away.
"Hey, Mike. What's up?"
"Where are you? Jake told me about your date. Mom and dad are both home, I covered for you and told them you were at Sam's house."
Of course her parents are home the one time she actually wants to stay out late.
"Okay. I'll be home soon. Thanks."
"Sure. See you soon." He hung up.
She shoved her phone back into her pocket, looking up at Luke. He was staring at her in a way she couldn't explain. She held his gaze for a moment before he looked away.
"I'll drive you home." He said monotonously, waiting until their seatbelts were on, before pulling out of the parking lot.
*********************
vote if you liked this chapter :*
unrelated but where are my killua stans at ?
currently rewatching hxh for the fifth time - any show recommendations? (ive seen most of whats on netflix)