A Touch of Luke

2

"You can sit right there, Mr.Carter,"

A moment after briefly hearing the teacher speak, I felt a presence beside me. I looked up to see the new boy, Luke who was taking up the seat beside me in another one of my classes.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I groaned, running a hand down my face.

Luke grinned, leaning back in his chair. "Nice to see you again, love. What was that you were saying about not having to speak to me again?"

I gave him a dull look, not in the mood for any of this today. I was tired and had so much to do after school and all in all, just wanted to sleep.

I decided to ignore him and pay attention to the notes on the board that I started writing down when Luke leaned over to me.

"Do you have a pencil?"

I turned to look at him, quickly noticing it was a very bad idea to simply turn my head because now my face was way too close to his.

I felt like I was getting sucked into his very light brown eyes.

I scooted my seat away to put some distance between us and cleared my throat. "Nope." I resumed back to jotting down notes.

"Oh come on, love," he pouted out his bottom lip like a little child. "Help the new kid out."

I ignored him but he didn't get the memo.

"What about a pen? A marker? Hey, I could even use a crayon as long as I get these notes done, right?"

I snapped my head to him when he didn't stop rambling. "What is your issue, man? Can you possibly find someone else to annoy?"

Luke sent me a cheeky smile, "Do you have a pencil?" It was as if all my words had completely washed past him without him even hearing them.

I sucked in a breath as I reached into my bag and then dropped a pen on his desk.

However, it seemed to have worked because the rest of class Luke Carter left me alone to write my notes in peace.

"So," Luke happened to walk out of class by my side and still decided to not leave me alone.

I sighed, continuing to walk without looking at him, seeing as he wasn't planning on leaving me in peace. "Lunch, right? Where is the cafeteria?"

"You're headed in the right direction, buddy." I spoke glumly, making it evident to him that I was not interested in holding any sort of conversation with him.

Maybe I was being a little harsh but I wasn't having the best morning and something about him rubbed me the wrong way.

His confidence was great up until it starts to slid into the cockiness territory which ruins it. He smirks so much, I get very close to punching him because of how annoying it is. He's annoying and persistent in the worst way, doesn't get the hint to leave me be. He speaks in a tone that sounds mocking, as if he just knows he can get anyone he wants which is what ruins it because he has no humility.

When we got to the cafeteria, I was hoping Luke would find elsewhere to go but instead, he sat down right beside me.

My eyebrows pulled together, "Is there nobody else you can please with your charming personality?"

Luke shrugged, grinning. "I'd like to charm you, love. I still haven't gotten a name, by the way."

I looked at him tiredly, "Keep trying."

"And who must this be, Marie?"

Luke smirked instantly, "Marie. It suits you, love."

I glared at Jamie as she sat down across from us joined by Remy, Mario, and Todd.

"This is Luke," Remy spoke. "I'm Remy, by the way. This is Mario, Jamie, and of course we have Todd." Remy didn't fail to send Todd a fake smile but he was hardly paying attention.

Sometimes I wondered if Todd had anything going on in that head of his. If he even had a brain at all.

"So," Jamie leaned forward. "New kid, huh? Where'd you come from? What brings you to New York?"

"Los Angeles. Just needed a change of scenery, I guess." He kept glancing at me as he spoke, a grin playing on his lips.

"Marie,"

I looked over to see Monty walk over to me. He didn't fail to flip Mario off, but in a joking manner. Boys were going to be boys, after all.

"Here," he handed me a water bottle and a salad. "Eat. I'll see you later."

"My guardian angel, Mont." I shot him a smile as he laughed and walked off.

As much as I looked out for my siblings, they always looked out for me just as much which I adored and appreciated more than anything.

"Who's that?" Luke asked. My plan was to ignore him but he continued, "Your boyfriend?"

"What?" I exclaimed, my eyes going wide. "No! That's my younger brother, idiot."

"Oh," Luke mumbled. His cheeks went pink in embarrassment.

"Gross," Mario scrunched up his face. "I'm the other brother, by the way. The better one. I heard you're joining the football team."

"Yup," Luke nodded. "Apparently your quarterback got suspended so after seeing my old school's record, coach was pretty happy to have me join."

"So, party tonight?" Todd asked, looking up from his phone and deciding to take part of the conversation.

"I'm in," Remy grinned. "Might as well."

Jamie frowned, "I don't know..."

"What about you, Luke? We'll show you the ropes and how sick our parties are," Todd grinned like a little child, his eyes lighting up with the idea of going to another party.

Man, he needs to get out of his shell and experience the real world for a change.

"Are you going, love?" Luke turned to look at me.

I blinked, glancing at Mario for a moment. "Uh, no I don't think so."

"Marie usually sits these ones out," Todd continued yapping. "She's too busy tak-"

"Studying," Mario (thankfully) cut Todd off.

"Right," I nodded cautiously. "I have other things I need to do."

After school, I had to take Macy to the doctor's to get her vaccines caught up before being back at school to pick Monty and Mario up from football practice. Then I had to go home and make sure we had everything ready for dinner and school the next morning while at the same time, finishing a math assignment I needed done for tomorrow.

"Are you not going to tell him?" Remy and I were walking to our next class together after lunch when she gave me a concerned look.

I shrugged, "Do I have to?"

Remy shrugged as well, "If he sticks around, he's bound to find out eventually. We've spent our whole lives with everyone in this school, they all know about your family situation. You wouldn't want him finding out from someone else, is what I'm trying to say."

I nodded slowly, my chest feeling heavy having to worry about this. "I know. It's just... nice having someone just know me as Marie Celestino, just another high school girl and not the girl who carries a bunch of baggage and needs to take care of her whole family."

Remy frowned, "You are just Marie Celestino, a girl who is stronger than anyone I'll ever know. I'm sure he won't look at you any differently."

"You don't that, Rem." I gave her a sheepish, halfway grin. I knew she was trying to help but it was exhausting having everyone look at you like you're fragile and broken already.

I know I've been through a lot but as much as Luke might not be my favourite person, he's a fresh pair of eyes who treats me differently because he doesn't really know me.

What's the harm in keeping the real Marie Celestino hidden for a while longer?