𝟏𝟏. 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐑𝐓
( CHAPTER ELEVEN ) — 𝐋.𝐏.
"You're gonna wake her up,"
"Get off me then!"
"Stop being so loud!"
"I'm awake," I mumble out, my eyes flickering open and adjusting to dark room. Letting out a groan, I look down to see myself covered under Julie's comforter, meanwhile she and Flynn were occupying the far end of the bed. Flynn being sat on top of Julie's back while the girl attempted to shove her off. "What're you doing?"
"Flynn won't get off me," Julie huffs but her words were muffled by the fact that her face was pressed into the mattress.
"She won't admit that she likes Nick!" Flynn justifies, folding her arms as Julie squirms underneath her.
"He's dating Carrie!"
"What's your point?"
"Wait- the white boy right? The blonde kid is Nick yeah?" Letting out a yawn, I sit up to lean against the headboard. Getting nods in response, I look to Julie who refused to look anywhere but kept her face down. "He's cute, I think I've spoken to him once. Really nice,"
"Well, Julie seems to agree," Flynn hums, a smile perking at her lips. Just as she was about to speak again, Julie grabbed hold of her wrists. In a few seconds, and a weird motion, she managed to flip Flynn down onto the bed.
"Sit on me again and I'm flipping you out the window next," She threatens, waving a finger at Flynn who was still processing what occurred.
"Defenestration," I add in quietly but the two of them turn to me with a confused glance. "It means to throw someone or something out of a window,"
"Luke was right about you being a walking dictionary," Julie snickers while I roll my eyes.
"Speaking of..." Flynn begins, sitting up properly with a clear of her throat. "We'll get back to Nick but I want to know everything that's going on with you and Luke,"
"Not you too," I groan, pulling the comforter over my face only for it to be yanked away. "There's nothing, absolutely nothing, zip, zilch, nada,"
"That's not what Alex and Reggie say," Julie butts in, a suggestive look forming on her features. "I'm just saying, when all of us think the same exact thing, it has to mean something. I mean Flynn saw you guys interact once before she found everything out and was already sure you had a thing,"
"I'm not having this conversation again," I snicker
"Yeah but—"
"No," I cut her off. Standing up, I wince at the head rush the fast movement gave me. Letting out a yawn, I cover my mouth but pause noticing the cream colored woven sweater that engulfed my hands. Turning to the mirror, I was able to see myself with a sweater that wrapped around my body. Unzipped but still noticeably big, one of the sleeves pushed up to my elbow while the other was fallen down to my wrist.
More importantly it wasn't mine. It was Luke's.
He wore it last night, I remember that but I don't remember at which point we decided that I would wear it. The last thing I could remember was being on the roof. The sun was starting to rise, the sky beginning to form a pinkish hue over the horizon and Luke was allowing me to use him as a pillow of sorts. He was telling me about the time he and the guys went cliff diving however long ago. I must've fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of him rambling.
Which means he put the jacket on me and probably carried me into bed.
Looking from the mirrors reflection, my eyes meet with Julie and Flynn's. Both of them had a knowing look on their faces, smiling the slightest bit. Lovely. Diverting eye contact, I quickly shift toward to door to leave the room.
"This still means nothing,"
. . . . .
Glancing around at the kitchen, I rock on the heels of my feet, not knowing where I was supposed to find the Cheezits. Julie asked me if I would get snacks while she and Flynn set up the projector in the garage to have a marathon of watching the old High School Musical movies simply for the nostalgia. She said the cupboard on the left is where I would find everything.
There were like thirty cupboards on the left. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but I don't want to snoop through their entire kitchen, that's weird isn't it? It felt weird.
Hearing the front door open, I quickly spun around in await of whoever to walk in. Quick footsteps progressively grew louder before a head covered with a cap popped into my view along with a previously white baseball outfit stained brown with dirt.
"Hi Indie, bye Indie," Carlos, Julie's little brother, says quickly, throwing me a small smile and wave before rushing up the stairs.
"Put your clothes in the washer Carlos!" Ray yells after him as he pulls off his sunglasses and tosses his keys on the table. Getting a muffled 'okay' from his son, his gaze flickers to me with a kinda smile forming on his features. "Hey kiddo, what're you doing in here?"
"I-uh, Julie sent me to get snacks but I don't exactly know where I'm supposed to look.." I mumble, gesturing out in front of me awkwardly. Ray only smiles, slipping past me and heading to a particular cupboard in the corner of the room.
Opening the wooden cabinets, a series of snacks came into view in a wide range of options. Oh.
Ray didn't turn around, rather he immediately reached up and began to take things off of the shelves. The bright red box of Cheezits I was specifically asked to bring was brought out first. Followed by a half opened bag of chips, an oreos packet, and lastly a single Twinkie.
"Cheezits for Julie, chips for Flynn, Oreos just in case, and I believe Julie mentioned that you liked Twinkies..." Trailing off Ray listed the items while I nodded, a small smile forming at my lips. Luke told must've told her. "I bought extras, help yourself whenever. No one really eats them anyways," He shrugs, pushing the snacks closer toward me on the counter top.
"Thank you Mr. Molina... and thank you for helping me," I nod politely as he raises a brow. "Ray, sorry, thank you Ray," I correct, remembering how he emphasized yesterday to refer to him as such because 'Mr. Molina made him feel old.'
"No problem Indie," He smiles, walking over to the fridge while I gather the snacks in hand. Just as I was about to leave, he speaks again causing me to stop mid-step. "Are you staying the night again?"
"I've been here for two days, I think I'd be overstaying a bit. Besides, I should probably wear my own clothes instead of raiding Julie's closet," I snicker, gesturing to my outfit that consisted of mostly everything that belong to her. Minus the underwear. I mean, it technically belonged to her but they were new in the package and would only be used on special period occurrences.
I was wearing the most unflattering pair of granny pannies. Although they are comfy... that wasn't something people needed to know but here we are.
"Well you're always welcome here, no matter what," Mr. Molina repeats for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. It was his reminder to me every conversation we had. I couldn't tell if it was out of pity because of what Julie told him or pure good intention and wanting to help.
I chose to believe it was the latter option for the time being to make myself feel better.
"Thank you Mr— Ray. I appreciate that," I reply. Getting a nod of acceptance back and a small wave, I take it as a dismissal and proceed to head out the door.
Careful to not drop anything, I inched closer to the garage. Music from within grew louder and louder with each step. The familiar piano intro to Breaking Free filled the air.
Holding back a smile, I pull open the door to see Julie and Flynn near the couch. Julie knelt beside the projector while Flynn was holding a water bottle and anxiously waiting for the song to being.
"Indie, come be my Troy!" Flynn nearly yells, running over to me and pulling at my hand. Managing to not trip over myself, I was dragged along with her taking the items in my hands and dropping them down carelessly.
"Flynn no—"
"Too late, Julie's busy so you're Troy!" She cuts me off, shoving a remote into my hands and stepping away to her place. Turning to Julie, I raise a brow as she laughs with a shrug.
"I don't sing," I say but Flynn rolls her eyes.
"It's High School Musical, everyone sings. Don't be shy, no one cares what you sound like," She reassures before tossing a hand up at the screen. "Go your part!"
Looking up, I wince noticing Zac Efron but reluctantly hold up the remote to act as a makeshift mic. At this point, the song was almost at the chorus already. Here goes nothing.
" We're breaking free
We're soaring, flying
There's not a star in heaven
that we can't reach „
Laughing through the words, I snicker as Flynn lets out a startled noise that I couldn't begin to describe. "I told you guys that I don't—"
"Shut up, you can sing!" Julie blurts out, her hands atop her head in surprise.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Flynn scolds before she reaches out and swats my arm repeatedly.
"Okay, okay, ow," Smacking her hand away from me, I take a few steps back. "Stop hitting me! I, personally, only sing in the shower. Julie's the actual singer here,"
"Indie that was like five seconds of singing and I was already gonna throw a pillow at your head for not mentioning the fact that you were talented," She deadpans with a small stomp of her foot. "Screw the movies, go on YouTube we're gonna have Indigo do karaoke instead,"
"I am not doing karaoke," I snicker, immediately shaking my head at the suggestion.
"One song. I won't play the karaoke version you can sing over it, deal?" Julie wages, already moving over to the computer, which I assume what somehow connected to the projector, and typing.
"I'm not a performer for your entertainment! That's awkward,"
"Fine! Julie will sing with you and I'll be the background dancer that steals the show, now deal?" Flynn states, raising a brow almost as if to dare me to fight about it. Probably not a good idea to disagree.
"Deal," I sigh gaining satisfied looks in return.
"Song choice?" Julie asks, fingers hovering over the keyboard expectantly.
"She looks so perfect," I blurt without a second thought. "It's the first on my playlist... a little basic but still gives me a serotonin boost,"
"Taste nonetheless," Flynn hums, bumping my shoulder and handing her water bottle to Julie to use. Nodding along, Julie seems to agree judging by her smile.
A few seconds passed with a final tap at the computer. The projector screen showed YouTube loading and then a teen Luke Hemmings appeared. The beginning guitar rift lead to Julie and Flynn immediately beginning to jump around.
Both of them began to scream out the sequence of hey's before I had time to react.
" Simmer down, simmer down „
Julie was smiling from ear to ear, holding out a hand for me to grab and gesturing for me to join in. Flynn on the other hand chose to push me into the music, literally. She shoved me closer to Julie and continued to dance around the room.
" They say we're too young now
to amount to anything else
but look around
we worked too damn hard for
this just to give it up now
If you don't swim, you'll drown
But don't move, honey „
Julie sings effortlessly on key. Dropping the water bottle down, she uses both hands to pull me close, eyes locked with mine and ignoring Flynn who was screaming the lyrics at the top of her lungs.
"Come on Indie," She encourages over the music. Rolling my eyes, I look to the screen just as the drums picked up. Taking a breath, I yank her with me to sing.
" You look so perfect standing there
In my American apparel underwear
And I know now that I'm so down
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now that I'm so down „
Dancing along with the two, my eyes shut with a laugh leaving my lips. It had been a while since I dancing around carefree, let alone with friends.
It wasn't until Julie let out a high pitched scream did I open my eyes. Watching as she scrambled to the computer and lowered the volume a fraction of the way, Flynn clung to my arm nearly knocking me over.
"What're you guys doing here?" Julie coughs, straightening out her clothes awkwardly. Flickering my eyes over the the garage entrance, I freeze up seeing how Alex, Reggie, and Luke were standing in place.
"Are the guys here?" Flynn whispers to me, eyes flickering around the room.
"They're standing by the door," I mumble back. Getting a nod in return, she clears her throat and stands up straight. Eyes focused straight across the room, Reggie raises a brow considering she had her eye line directed at him.
"We live here," Alex replies back sarcastically.
"Inds you never told us you could sing," Luke interrupts, blinking a few times to come out of his trance. "Why didn't you tell us you could sing?"
"Singing's not my thing. I don't sing as a performer and this was just for fun before you three interrupted," I shrug, attempting to move past the topic.
"Indie I got ghost bumps, you can sing," Reggie butts in, moving a few steps forward to get a better glimpse at the screen that had the music video still playing. "Hey this is kinda good. Who are these guys?"
"5 Seconds of Summer, the one with the bass is Calum. Then there's Ashton on drums, Michael on lead guitar, and lastly Luke who's the lead vocalist and plays rhythm guitar. This is an old video from 2014," Julie answers, pointing at each of the boys as she speaks with Reggie nodding along intently.
"Kinda like us, they even have their own Luke," He smiles.
"Are we just gonna ignore that Indie can sing? Like actually, angel sounding singing? Why are we not talking about that?" Luke reiterates, stumbling over his words as he moves closer to me.
"Shut up for a sec I'm trying to watch the bassist," Alex waves him off, eyes glued to the screen.
"Willie wouldn't like that," I tsk jokingly causing him to roll his eyes.
"What he doesn't know won't kill him... again," Alex snickers.
"Good dead joke," Reggie pipes in, plopping down on the couch while Alex follows in suit with a smile.
"Thank you,"
"What's going on?" Flynn asks, looking between Julie and I.
"I think we're gonna turn the guys into fans. Alex has a crush on Calum already," Julie teases, reaching down to turn up the music once again.
"As he should," Flynn hums, grabbing Julie's hand and beginning to dance to the beat once more.
"Inds," Luke's voice fills my ears at a much closer proximity than before. Turning my head, he was a mere few inches away causing me to raise a brow. "We have to talk about your voice—"
"Can't hear you!" I cut him off, swaying to the song as the drums picked up once more. "Music's too loud,"
"Indie—" Luke tries again but I use my hand to cover his mouth.
"There's nothing to talk about," I stop him short. "Now, are you gonna dance with me or what?" I add quickly, moving my hands down to his and pulling him closer to Julie and Flynn. Looking over my shoulder, Alex sat on the couch with an amused smile while Reggie was standing up.
"I'm still not used to actually seeing him," Flynn yells, voice shaky from jumping around.
"You'll get used to it," Julie waves her off with a laugh, watching as Reggie was doing a ballerina pose, completely contradicting the pop rock sound of the band in 2014. Alex decided to stand up, sass in his every step somehow and shooing Reggie away. Doing a Pirouette nearly perfect, Alex twirls around causing us to laugh.
Looking back to Luke, he was forcing back a smile. Our hands were still interlocked but he wasn't dancing one bit. Upon meeting my gaze, he formed a pout at his lips but ultimately his face contorted completely different once he noticed the video.
"Why are they all getting naked?" He says through a muffled laugh.
"Body positivity for everyone," Flynn answers, arms thrown up in the air before continuing to mouth the words to Julie, the two of them grinning at each other's stupidity.
Nodding back in reply, Luke shakes his head amused. With an idea popping into my head, I squeeze his hand causing him to look back at me.
" You look so perfect standing there
in my American apparel underwear
And I know now that I'm so down
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in arrow heart
And I know now that I'm so down „
"D-did you just sing to me?" Luke stutters out, eyes widening causing me to laugh. Processing the encounter, it takes him a second before I notice the slightest quirk of his lips. "When'd you get my name tattooed in an arrow heart? It's a little soon don't you think Inds?"
"That's the thing you question?" I snort while he nods. Deciding to go along with it, I hum as he adjusts our hands so they swayed back and forth. "Got it done last night if you must know, can't show you where though but trust me, it's there,"
"Should've known you're obsessed with me," Luke teases causing me to scoff.
"Says the one that's been attached to my hip since the night we met," I shoot back.
"Hey!"
"Dance with me," Is all I respond with, lifting our hands and swaying back and forth. Luke doesn't budge, his eyes staying focused on mine but the smallest of smiles was seen forming across his features. "We can talk later about the singing thing if you agree to dance with me,"
This time he did smile, grinned actually. In an instant Luke began to move along with me. His grip adjusted on mine and suddenly he was leading us. Doesn't surprise me that he can dance too.
"You guys disgust me," Alex tsks, shimming along side Julie who nodded in agreement.
"I think they're cute," Reggie smiles.
"Disgustingly cute," Julie offers as the other two nod back accordingly.
"Who? Luke and Indie?" Flynn asks, eyes flickering between us and Julie. "'Cause if so I agree. Like I want to throw up but also want to cry right now,"
"Dramatic," Alex hums. "I love it,"
"All of you are dramatic," I scoff, going to drop our hands but Luke refused. Instead he tightened his grip, pulling me closer to him in the slightest of ways. Raising a brow, I tilt my head to meet his gaze considering our close proximity. "And I'm supposed to be the one obsessed, huh?"
"See, gross," Julie gags jokingly.
"The song ended," Luke suddenly says, nodding over to the screen. "Don't you have to, like, choose something else?"
Rolling her eyes, Julie knows he said it to change the subject but walks over to the computer anyways. Flynn had followed in suit, mumbling something to her while Alex pulled Reggie with him after the two. There was only a mere few feet of distance between us and them but by the whispers and shared looks, I knew well enough what the topic of discussion was.
"Nice jacket by the way," Luke mumbles to me, his breath fanning my cheek and it was only then did I realize how close he was to me.
"Thanks, it's a friends... don't exactly know when he had me wear it though," I reply.
"You fell asleep when I started playing with you hair earlier. Then you started shivering so I managed to slip in on you so you wouldn't get a cold," He shrugs, a sheepish smile on his lips.
"And you carried me to bed?"
"Yeah, turns out the whole half-alive-when-we-touch thing actually applies to sleeping too. I fell asleep like, thirty minutes after you? Well, kinda, I guess I fell asleep but it didn't feel like it. I was just sitting there cause you seemed comfortable and it just happened. The guys came out and woke me up around 8 and I put you inside. Julie and Flynn were already up and I didn't want to wake you so.." Luke trails off. Feeling his thumb softly grazing over the back of my hand, I give his a squeeze before speaking.
"Well thank you," I start. "Honestly it was the best I've slept in a while,"
Nodding back, Luke let's out a small sigh before his eyes visibly lit up.
"What color are you feeling today Inds?" He asks in a soft tone. Upon hearing the question, I take a second before realizing what he meant. He remembered.
"Green, definitely green," I say with a breathy laugh. Nodding back happily, his eyes seemed to brighten up somehow. "How are you feeling today, pretty boy?"
"Pretty boy?" Luke quirks a brow but his smile grew.
"New nickname. Take it as a compliment," I shrug. Snickering, he doesn't question it further.
"Well a girl is forcing me to dance with her to music I've never heard of before so, so far so great," He begins, trailing off as his eyes lingered around the room causing me to shove his shoulder. "I'm kidding! Green, always green when I'm with you,"
Pausing, I freeze up hearing the words. Such a flirt.
"Are you always this flirty or am I special?" I tease but Luke takes a second, looking off as if he was contemplating a response.
"Only for you," He settles with. His tone teasing but his eyes seemed to gleam causing my stomach to do an involuntary flip. Oh.
"Well stop it before I blush," I snicker, shoving him away to brush past the topic jokingly but Luke clings to my waist before I could get far.
"You're forgetting something Inds," He hums into my ear. Spinning me around, the cheekiest of grins was shown on his lips. He seriously needs to stop looking at me like that.
"What exactly did I forget?" I ask, clearing my throat.
"I believe you're supposed to tell me a word of the day," Luke replies innocently, moving back to give us an acceptable amount of space, allowing for me to breathe properly.
"What type of word are we thinking of today?" I question while watching as he took a second to form a response.
"Maybe something that has to do with beauty yeah?" Luke offers. Raising a brow, I decide against asking and think of a word that fit his suggestion.
Beauty. Beauty. Beauty. What's a word that- Oh!
"Pulchritudinous," I smile, watching as his eyes widen.
"That sounds like a disease," He says in utter seriousness causing me to laugh.
"Pulchritudinous, on the contrary, is used for psychical appearance. Describing someone as pulchritudinous means that they're breathtakingly beautiful, heartbreakingly gorgeous. It's a high compliment when used correctly and as long as the other person knows the meaning," I explain the best that I could in the easiest terms.
Processing the information, Luke pinches at his bottom lip before meeting my gaze. A small smile causes his lips to raise before he clears his throat and straightens his posture dramatically.
"Well then, you're pulchritudinous Inds,"
— NIKO SPEAKS "
edited ( 22 july 2021 )
[ pre edited a/n below ]
buckle up fuck faces cause i have a
few things to rant about
1. stop stealing my shit.
plagiarism isn't cute. stealing my work
word for word, stealing my plot, stealing
anything that came from my book isn't
cool. i understand taking inspo, that's
perfectly fine AS LONG AS IM GIVEN
CREDIT. i've had multiple occurrences now
where i've had to talk to people about this
and i'm frustrated. i created this for fun
but it is all coming from me and what i
am able to think of. stop fucking stealing
cause i'm tired of being nice and i'll
probably just start mass reporting mfs 😃
2. be nice.
i get i was gone. i understand i was mia
and haven't updated and i'm truly sorry.
(i have my reasons) asking for updates is fine,
let's me know that people still care ab it
and want to know when it's coming but
the audacity of some of y'all-
stop being mean to me bro i'm sensitive.
some of y'all come off as very demanding
and plain rude. mind you i'm a 16 year old
who's in the middle of my junior year with
honors and ap classes while also being
mentally ill in america with a pandemic
ok give me a little leeway
anyway.. this chapter is a lot of shit
thrown into one?? i'm trying to move the
plot along properly and this gave a good
transition to what's to come (plus ray content
and carlos content coming soon cause
yk they deserve it and ray is the dad i
want but don't have)
if you've read this far thank you. i appreciate
you entirely. i appreciate all of you, i genuinely
do love y'all for reading it means the world
to me that you like what i come up with <3
since it's been a minute and last chapter
did really well w this:
How are you feeling today?
green: good/well
yellow: decent/eh
red: bad/need support