~Ophelia's POV~
My dad finally decided to go ahead and fly back to whatever pit of hell it was that he had come from, leaving the house to just me, granny, and my mom again. Finally, he was gone and I had no intention of seeing him again. I felt like I had aged ten years since he'd been here these past few weeks, just impatiently counting down the days before he'd be leaving. And now that he was finally gone, I felt like I could breathe well again. Having him around made me feel suffocated.
Because he was gone, I found myself in a very good mood when I woke up early on Thursday morning to get ready for school, feeling much more upbeat and happy than usual. It wasn't like me to be so excited this early in the morning, but I couldn't help it.
I practically bounced out of my bed and into my bathroom after I shut off my ringing alarm, noticing how much lighter my shoulders felt. Before, even having to do so much as look at him stressed me out to no end, so it was refreshing that all that stress was being let up now. I felt excited and relieved that he was gone, that I no longer had to deal with him trying to fool me anymore. He'd probably just go right back to pretending like I didn't exist and then continue to live his life, which was far more than fine with me. I didn't want anything to do with him.
After I showered and did my makeup I got dressed in a simple pair of dungarees and put a green t-shirt on underneath it before I slipped on some white sneakers. I just left my hair down after I brushed it out and grabbed my backpack before I left the house to go to the bus stop.
I walked into the school once we arrived, making my way down the hall and over to my locker. After I had put all of my books into my backpack from my locker, I put my backpack on again and slammed the locker door shut. When I had made sure that I had all of my books in my backpack, I walked up the stairs and towards the cafeteria, where I joined everyone else at the table while they ate their breakfast.
When I approached the table, Luke glanced over his shoulder to look up at me as I pulled out my chair, looping my backpack over the back of the seat. Some part of me had expected to see Stella sitting on the other side of him, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, gorgeous." He greeted me smoothly, taking advantage of the lack of Stella's presence. She'd never let that nickname slide if she were here to hear it.
"Hey." I muttered, having given up by now on scolding him for calling me that. I knew that there was nothing I could say to him that would make him stop, so I just accepted it.
Saniya spared me a glance, her cheeks stuffed full of whatever it was that she'd been eating from her tray. Whatever it was, she seemed to have eaten it all in one go because there was none left now. "Phe!" She exclaimed through a mouthful of food, making me scrunch my nose up in disgust. "Niya, that's gross." I pouted, scooting my chair in under the table when I sat down.
She covered her mouth and sent me an apologetic look, swallowing the food she had in her mouth. "You got here early." She mentioned when her mouth was no longer full, taking a drink of the strawberry milk she had. I wasn't sure how she could stand to drink strawberry milk, to be honest. To me it tasted gross, but to each their own, I suppose.
"Yeah, the bus ride took less time than usual." I said simply, shrugging my shoulders as I gave her a small smile. I ran a hand through my hair and diverted my gaze to Blade, who was just staring at me from where he sat on the other side of Saniya. It wasn't really uncommon for me to catch him staring, but he still never failed to get embarrassed when I did, his cheeks tinting a slight pink. The smile he gave me was shaky and adorable, quite the opposite of how he looked. At first glance, Blade appeared intimidating but was actually quite like a teddy bear.
"H-How was your weekend?" Blade asked me, leaning into the table more as he looked at me curiously. I smiled to myself at the thought of it, perking up a little more as I braced my arms on the surface of the table in front of me. "Pretty good." I said casually. "My dad went back home." I added as an afterthought, the mention of my dad making Luke look down at me. Despite the fact that I could easily feel his gaze on me, I didn't look up at him, instead keeping my gaze on the unsuspecting Blade. It was clear that Blade had zero idea about the bad blood between my father and I. "Sorry, Phe." He pouted at me, further confirming my suspicions.
Regardless, I just smiled at him, deciding it wasn't important enough to correct him over. "It's fine." I said dismissively, shrugging.
The rest of breakfast seemed to pass by painfully slow, which may or may not have been purely because Luke spent the entire time just looking at me, as Stella had never showed up to prevent him from doing so.
Everyone got up and headed to their first periods when the bell rang, though Luke stuck behind with me at the table since we were going to the same place. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and looked up at him out of the corner of my eye, not surprised to find him already looking at me. "Is there something I can help you with?" I frowned, being a little more catty towards him than normal. I wasn't sure why, but after the night he'd spent with me in my front yard, I felt embarrassed around him. He had shown me a side to him that I was sure Saniya had told me he didn't have, a side that made my stomach fill up with butterflies.
Still, I should have known that that wouldn't last with him. "Oh, I can certainly think of a couple things that you could do for me." He teased, making my cheeks warm. It still surprised me when he showed how little shame he had.
"L-Let's just get to class before we're late." I stuttered, fiddling with the strap on my backpack as I looked away from him. He chuckled and I squealed when he suddenly swung his arm around my shoulder, pulling my shorter frame up against his own towering one. My cheek squished up against his side and I stumbled a little bit from his sudden action, which accidentally made me push him back against the cafeteria table.
With a soft grunt, the table scooted a bit from the impact, his arm now wrapped securely around my waist. "S-Sorry!" I gasped, placing my hands on his chest as I tried to back away so we weren't so close. However, he gripped tighter at my waist and didn't allow me to move. "You know what I realized last night?" He asked me in a low hum, a blush creeping up my neck as I felt the warmth of his breath on my ear. "No." I whispered, absentmindedly fisting the fabric of his shirt. If I wasn't mistaken, I could've sworn that I saw him smirk for just a split second. "We never traded phone numbers." He told me, pretending to pout sadly.
I blinked up at him, trying to tune out the way that my heart pounded in my ears. "Huh?" I asked, taken aback. If I'm being honest, that was perhaps the last of things I'd expected him to say. Maybe I'd just assumed it because he had done it so often now, but I was half expecting that he'd say something flirty.
"Your phone number. I want it, Ophelia." He repeated in a clearer voice, looking completely serious as he stared down at me. I bit my lip, considering his request. "My phone number?" I echoed softly, furrowing my brows. "But why? It's not like you need it." I said, narrowing my eyes at him. Although I had grown significantly more comfortable around Luke, I was still admittedly cautious around him and I found myself still trying to keep a little distance between us sometimes.
"Well, I do, actually, and you need mine as well. How are you going to text me to come join you in the garden at night if you don't have my number, hm?" He hummed, his warm hand tracing up the curve of my spine. There was a playful smile on his lips and a mischievous look in his blue eyes, waiting patiently for me to respond as I just stared at him dumbly. I had almost forgotten that he wanted me to do that, and I couldn't help but to feel a little embarrassed now that I was reminded. My tummy fluttered with more butterflies that battered up my insides, a warmth in my cheeks.
"Fair point." I admitted, releasing my tight grip on his shirt. "B-But shouldn't we be in class right now? I mean, we're going to be late!" I stammered, trying to grasp onto any excuse I could.
It really wasn't that I didn't want him to have my number, but I guess I just was still subconsciously trying to keep my distance. However, he wasn't having it. "We should, and yeah, we probably will be. So I'd go ahead and hand your number over if you want to get there anytime soon." He suggested casually, like he wasn't going to make us late to class just for the sake of getting my phone number.
Huffing, I gently wiggled out of his hold, digging into my front pocket to grab my phone. "Fine, we can trade numbers." I agreed, going to my contacts so that I could add his number once he gave me it. "Okay, gimme yours." He pretty much demanded, waiting impatiently with his phone in his hand to put my number in.
After I gave him my number and he put it into his phone, I shoved my phone into my back pocket and he gave me a smug, satisfied grin as I strode past him quickly. "Thanks, gorgeous." He teased, slinging his arm around my shoulder as he walked beside me.
I blushed a little and shook my head, ignoring the gazes of onlookers whose attention we caught while passing them in the halls. "Not like you were giving me much of an option." I said back, my voice soft. He just snickered, completely shameless. "Figured I might as well force it out of you sooner rather than later. It was gonna happen eventually." He reasoned, peering down at the side of my face.
When we reached first period, I shook his arm off of my shoulder and he pouted, pretending as though his feelings were hurt. "Seems like someone still has a little problem with me." He said playfully. For whatever reason, it made me smile. "Just be quiet and go sit down." I sighed, a little bit of a smile still on the edge of my lips.
Luke smiled and shoved his hands into his front pockets, staring down at me. "Alright, alright." He hummed. "But you can expect me to text you if you don't do it first."