Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

Pretty Girls ⇼ Luke Hemmings

Want You Back.

Monday, the day I’ve been dreading. I’ve avoided class with Luke for a week and now, I had to face him. I couldn’t escape any longer. I was grateful that the only class I have with him today was Literature and Power, a class I also had with Mandy. She’d protect me, right? She has to. So, I did what mom always taught me to and took a long shower—curling my hair and applying makeup before putting on a white button-up blouse and a lilac skirt. Mom always told Gene and I to act like other people’s opinions don’t matter so that one day, they won’t.

But today isn’t that day and I know what everyone thinks about me. The girls look at me with pity, probably wishing that they told me Luke’s secret before he ruined my reputation. The boys looked at me with lust, wanting me because I broke Luke’s heart. But he broke mine, too. Were girls looking at him the way boys looked at me? Would Luke give into them? Should I care if he did? No, I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t help but miss him and with we were still together: Still happy and spending all of our free time with each other.

I stopped in the coffee shop before class, waiting patiently for my drink before I felt a hand on my shoulder. Before I could turn around myself, I was forced to meet eyes with Cass.
“Val,” she spat out and I gave her a small smile, though I wasn’t happy to see her at all.
“Cass,” I said right back.
“I want you to leave Luke alone.” Her demeanor completely changed as she glared down at me.
“I’ve been leaving him alone. I wish he’d do the same to me.” I rolled my eyes, unable to stop myself. After all this time, she just appears and tells me to get lost?
“Then why won’t he fuck me?” I was taken back by her language, but shrugged nonchalantly.
“I don’t know. Maybe you should ask him yourself instead of hounding me down.” I couldn’t stop my anger from boiling up as I grabbed my coffee from the counter.

As I walked away, Cass followed me outside.
“This is all because of the video, isn’t it?” she asked and I held my breath as I turned back to her.
“Yes, Cass. It’s because of the video. I broke up with him because of the video he took of me. He’s upset because of the video.” I ran my free hand through my hair as Cass’ brow furrowed.
“Not that video, dumbass.” She crossed her arms and I cocked my head.
“What video, then?” I badgered, suddenly feeling the need to know what she was talking about. Did he take more than one video? If he did, I’d be devastated. Even more than I am now.
“You haven’t seen it?” she asked, her face lighting up with humor.
“No?” My voice came out as more of a question and Cass just laughed.
“That’s… Hilarious. All that hard work for nothing.” With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away, leaving me confused.

I got to Biology early, but stopped in the hall when I heard Calum and Mandy’s voice. I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but I wanted to know if they were talking about the video that Cass brought up.
“Calum, that’s seriously fucked up!” Mandy’s voice was low.
“I know, babe… But… Luke doesn’t let his feelings show and it was a rare moment, so we just went with it.” Calum explained himself as I chewed at my bottom lip.
“When Val sees it, she’s going to be so upset!” Mandy growled.
“Then don’t show her,” he spat back and I’d heard enough, walking into the room before either of them could speak again.
“Val!” Mandy smiled a worriedly before pulling me into a hug. “You look great!” She complimented, but I just took my seat.
“Haven’t seen you in ages.” Calum smiled down at me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine.” I lied. I wasn’t fine, not at all. But like mom said, if I pretend it doesn’t matter then it won’t. Who knows, maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and forget all this happened. Maybe I’ll wake up and forget to even care about it. Calum and Mandy exchanged glances before they sat down next to me and our lecture started.

***

My nonfiction writing class breezed by. I pretended to jot notes down while my professor lectured, but I was really just doodling in my notepad, dreading the fact that I have to see Luke in just ten minutes. As my professor dismissed us, she called me over to her. I waited until all the students piled out before walking over to her.
“Valerie, are you a freshman?” She sent me a warm smile and I nodded. “Great. Listen, I’m really impressed with your work and I wanted to ask you if you’d be interested in becoming a writing tutor next year? I run the programs in the Center for Teaching and Learning. If you’re interested, just send me an email and we can sign you up for the appropriate training classes.” I smiled at her, feeling like my day had gotten ten times better before thanking her and promising to email, heading to lunch with Mandy.

***

“Have you seen it?” Mandy asked as she sat down in front of me.
“Yeah, have you?” Monica joined our table and I sighed.
“No, I have not seen the video. No, I do not know what the video is about. I just found out about it this morning and no, I’m not really interested in finding out more.” I rattled off all the answers I could think of before looking up at them. “And no, I don’t want to talk about Luke,” I added. Mandy and Monica gave each other a look before Mandy sighed.
“Well, I think you should at least watch it,” Monica told me and I rolled my eyes. Couldn’t they just leave this alone? I didn’t want to watch the video, no matter how curious I was about it.

“My professor wants me to become a writing tutor next year.” I changed the subject and mood drastically, a fake smile planting on my face. Ever since I heard about the writing tutor program, I’ve wanted to become one. I planned on talking with my professor about it, but she beat me to it. Just the fact that she noticed me in our large class gave me extreme confidence.
“Oh my god!” Monica gushed.
“That’s so great! We’re happy for you!” Monica added and we enjoyed the rest of our lunch with small talk and jokes.

***

It was finally time to go to Literature and Power. I wanted, more than anything, to leave class before Luke got there. I almost did, but when I began to gather my stuff, Mandy set a hand on my arm and pulled me down.
“It’s not worth it,” she whispered. “He’ll just show up at your dorm.” She was right. If I didn’t go to class, I’d still have to see him. But at least here, there were other people around and he wouldn’t get too emotional. The dreaded moment came, and Luke walked into the class. His tired eyes fell to me and he smiled, but I broke the eye contact by looking down at my desk. Before I had a chance to object, he was sitting next to me—the seat he’d occupied since the beginning of the term. My mouth felt dry when he turned to me.
“Val-” he began, but I got up and moved to the seat on the other side of Mandy, not wanting to deal with Luke. After class, I left before he got the chance to stop me and ran back to my dorm.

***

“Hey girl!” Lea smiled at me as she came into our room. I wanted to nap so badly, but I also wanted to wait up until Lea returned from classes. As soon as I came back, I turned off my phone and lied in bed, staring up the ceiling until Lea came home.
“Lea?” I asked, propping myself up on my elbows to stare at her. I was surprised, but glad, that Michael wasn’t with her. I don’t think I could ask about the video if he was. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I needed to know.
“What’s up?” She tossed her backpack on the ground before laying next to me in my bed. At this point, we should just combine the beds. I’d been sleeping in her’s with her since I left Luke. Then again, if we did, I’d have to sleep with Michael as well and I’d have to face the fact that Lea and Michael had sex on my bed, too.

Lea set her head on my shoulder, letting out a loud sigh.
“I’m exhausted.” She complained and I hoped it wasn’t because I was sleeping in her bed with her. She seems to sleep fine with Michael. Maybe she just had a bad night.
“Everyone’s been telling me about this video.” I finally admitted and she looked up at me, knowing exactly what I was talking about.
“I bet they have.” She sighed. “Want to watch it?” Before I could respond, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through Michael’s text feed and clicking on a link. “Mikey’s friend, Dee, she had to make a video for her editing class. Mikey told me that Luke stayed up all day and night writing this song, then the boys stayed up all night practicing. Sunday, they spent all day and night recording it. So, I guess Luke stayed up for three days straight—hell, he’s still up.” She told me while we waited for YouTube to load.

“Michael and Ashton skipped class today so they could catch up on their sleep. Calum went because Mandy was pissed about the video. I guess Luke went to class to see if you would.” I grabbed Lea’s phone from her as she set her head on my shoulder again and watched as a slow melody played and Luke began singing. I held my breath every time Luke’s face showed on the screen, recognizing the frat house in the background and taking in the lyrics. He seemed so happy to be expressing himself, but so upset about the context.
“I’m always gonna want you back, want you back.” By the end of the video, I was crying. I took a shaky breath and set Lea’s phone on my stomach before staring at the ceiling.

“Listen…” Lea broke the silence. “I’m not saying that you should forgive him, but-” she sat up, taking her phone back. “But people write about what scares them, and Luke wrote about losing you.” Her words struck me and I sighed, nodding without knowing what to say. “Are you going to talk to him about it?” She prompted, setting her feet on the floor
“I don’t know… I think…” How could I not? Luke isn’t someone who likes to talk about his feelings. How could I ignore them after he put them out there for the world to see?
“Do you want me to leave? I can go if you want to talk to him,” she offered, but was already pulling her shoes on.
“I guess.” I sighed for what felt like the millionth time as Lea gave me a supporting smile and walked out of our room. With shaking fingers, I turned my phone back on and sent out a text.

To: Luke
I saw the video. We need to talk.

Notes

Comments

I've just read this story in about 24 hours and all I can say is Oh My God! How have you written something (and someone) so perfect?

Lois22 Lois22
5/30/19

urgh I love this

Prinny1321 Prinny1321
5/29/19

@Alisha_PArrish101love
Arrogant Boys!!!

Can you tell me what the next One will be called please?

@Prinny1321
I promised I would finish it, and I'm finishing it!