A Touch of Luke

11

"Are you sure it's not too much hassle?"

Jamie gave me a dull look, "Are you kidding? Of course not. I have to pick Stella up anyways and she's in the same class as Macy. Plus, do you think they're going to complain about hanging out? They're together all the time anyways."

I laughed, giving Jamie a hug. "Thank you. I just want to make sure she's with someone since the boys have practice."

Jamie quirked an eyebrow, "I got to say, you're the last person I'd expect getting detention, Mar."

I rolled my eyes, "It's his fault," I nudged Luke. "He wouldn't stop talking."

"Hey," he defended. "The conversation was very much two-sided, thank you."

I rolled my eyes playfully, grinning. "Not something I would normally be happy with but man, Ms.Taylor is a pain in the ass. She really has no tolerance."

"She's old," Remy shrugged. "Tired of all our millennial bullshit."

"So you'll be done by the time practice ends?" Monty asked, standing by our lockers with the rest of the group.

I nodded, "Yup, then the three of us can go home together. Detention is apparently as long as your football practice."

"Coach really letting slide?" Monty turned to Luke, his tone in disbelief.

Luke shrugged, "I don't think anyone, including coach, wants to argue against Ms.Taylor so his hands are tied."

Monty nodded, "Alright man, I'll see you guys after then."

"So," Luke quirked an eyebrow, looking down at me as we started walking to the detention room. "You're a detention rookie, I take it."

"Hey," I pouted out my bottom lip. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Luke chuckled, swinging an arm around my shoulders as we walked. "Come on, love. Don't be ashamed of being a good student. I think it is very noble."

I rolled my eyes, still grinning at what an adorable i***t he was. "Way to make a girl feel pathetic."

"You know that's not what I meant, love."

"I know," I grinned.

"Sign in and take your seats," the teacher in charge of detention spoke tiredly as we entered the room. "I will be checking in every fifteen minutes so don't think of leaving. If anyone is up to any mischief, you'll be getting detention everyday for the next week so make this easy on all of us and just sit down and be quiet."

The teacher didn't say anything else, waiting for everyone to sign a paper before he headed out of the room.

"You really think he'd going to come back every fifteen minutes for the next two hours?" Luke asked as we went to the back corner of the room to sit down.

I shrugged, "Give or take."

He plopped down into a seat, "So... what now?"

I gave him a look of disbelief, "Now we sit here for two hours. You tell me since I'm the rookie."

The only other people in the room was a stoner who sat in the front corner with his headphones blasting rap music, and some other guy who's head was down on the desk, seeming like he was spending this time taking a nap.

Luke exhaled deeply, leaning back in his seat. "Well this is good?"

I narrowed my eyes, not expecting him to enjoy being in detention. "It is?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Why not, love? Now maybe I'll actually get to know the real Marie Celestino. What better time than while sitting in a dead classroom for two hours?" He seemed awfully cheery but his words only made my stomach twist.

I forced a fake smile when really I wanted to run out of the room.

There was a lot I had lied about, a lot I hid from him. I knew it was inevitable that one day he would learn some details about my life but...

I wasn't ready for that.

I wasn't ready for him to give me the sorry and pity looks like everyone else. For him to see me broken and damaged like everyone else did. For him to know I carried nothing but emotional baggage. For me to not be a normal person in his eyes any longer.

I also was terrified that he would hate me for lying to him.

I guess I wasn't helping myself by continuing with the lies but for now, it was the only thing I could do because coming out and saying 'hey sorry for the numerous lies I told you, I'm actually quite unstable' while sitting in detention and being stuck here for another two hours didn't seem like the most ideal way to tell him.

"So, love, what is there I should know about you?" He seemed truly interested which was comforting but scary at the same time.

I exhaled deeply, "Um... I got to be honest with you, pretty boy, you might be preparing yourself for much more than you're going to get because I'd say I'm quite boring."

Luke chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Anything about you will be amazing, love."

I tilted my head, giving him a dull look. I ignore the way he made me feel warm with small comments like that. "How about we start with you?" I diverted the topic instead. "Siblings?"

He shook his head. "Only child. It's just me."

I laughed, "Really? No other Carter charmers like you?"

Luke rolled his eyes but still grinned at me, "Nope. I wasn't always a charmer you know. I went through that whole 'I don't give a f**k about anything' phase. I thought I was being cool but I was actually just being a douche."

My eyebrow quirked upwards. "I'm sure all the girls thought that douchebag manner was charming, nevertheless."

Luke chuckled, "They might've. But I was an i***t for thinking that was cool."

I nodded slowly, "I get it. Boys got to be boys. Mario was like that at one point."

"Mario?" Luke scoffed. "Your talking about the goofy, laid-back Mario?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, the one and only. When he was a lot younger he was reckless and careless and did whatever the hell he wanted and didn't care who he hurt along the way. Nothing major but he was a d**k to everyone."

Luke's face went serious, "Wow. I did not expect that. So what changed?"

What changed was our father became more absent and abusive when he was present, Macy and Monty were only a few years old and someone needed to look out for them so Mario and I had to step up and be good role models.

After mom died and dad started going downhill, Mario started acting out and doing stupid things. It was his own way of taking out all the bottled up anger and hurt he had while at the same time, trying to get my father's attention so he would come back to us.

Eventually, he snapped out of it and realized that he was only making things harder and worse, that he would have to grow up faster than anyone else because we had two little siblings we had to take care of on our own.

"What changed?" I drawled out, staring at the wall. "Well, life hit him on the head and he snapped out of it when he saw he was only causing more damage than doing anything useful. He realized it was time to grow up."

That wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the complete details.

Luke looked at me with narrowed eyes as if he were analyzing me. "You keep them all in line, your siblings. You guys have always been close?"

"Yup. Mario and I had to stick by each other no matter what because we've always needed each other. He looks out for me just as much as I protect him. Monty is the quietest of the bunch but he has a big heart, it's just hard to know how he's ever feeling because he sticks to himself. I've just always wanted to be a good role model for Macy and have her know that she's always got her big sis there for her so I try to be the best I can for her. They're... my life, really. I love my siblings more than anything. I wouldn't let anyone hurt them."

I felt pathetic when I shut up because of the rant I went on. Luke, on the other hand, broke loose a toothy smile.

"They're really lucky to have you, love."

I shrugged softly, smiling a little.

"So," I cleared my throat. This topic was getting hot and I didn't want him to ask about my parents so I changed the subject. "You never really told me why you moved here."

He nodded slowly, inhaling deeply. "We needed a change of scenery. A new start, I guess. I wasn't the best kid at my old school. That whole douchebag thing I mentioned. The kids I grew up with changed into people I couldn't recognize anymore but we had been a group our whole lives so when they started doing stupid things, so did I. I was just part of a bad group. People who partied all the time, were reckless, did drugs, sold drugs, started fights with anyone."

Luke frowned a little, staring down at his hands as he spoke. I could tell he was hesitant to continue which only made me feel more guilty about all the things I was keeping from him.

"So that's the guy I was - the guy who partied and smoked and flirted with every girl who crossed my path. I got caught being high in class one too many times and was close to getting kicked out. The only reason I hadn't already gotten kicked out was because the principal was a good friend of my moms. My mom got a promotion opportunity to relocate here and the principal suggested this school so here I am."

"Luke," I mumbled softly, trying to get him to look at me but he didn't.

I pulled my chair closer to his and reached over to cup one side of his face, lifting his head so he would look at me. His eyes looked sad and ashamed.

I could tell it took a lot for him to tell me all of that.

I felt like the most shitty person right now. He trusted me to tell me all of that meanwhile I had been lying to his face and still not opening up despite the countless number of times he had tried to ask me if I was okay and about what was going on.

I shook my head softly, "You don't have to be ashamed. You're not that person anymore. Everyone changes."

Luke shrugged softly, placing his hand on-top of mine. Warmth rushed through my veins, my stomach feeling fuzzy from his touch.

"Good because I never wanted to be that person."

I smiled softly, "The you I know is almost too good to be true. You have a big heart, Luke."

He let out a breathy chuckle, "That's all I want to hear, love."

I let my hand drop from his face, feeling the warmth disappear. "Thank you for telling me all of that."

Luke smiled, "Thank you for listening, love."

The rest of the two hours, Luke and I sat there lost in conversation about shitty movies and food and cars and sports and just about any random thing we could talk about. We nearly ended up staying over two hours but the teacher walked in and told us all to get out of there.

All I knew by the time I got home was that Luke was much more than I had expected and I was a terrible person for lying to him when he trusted me.