Love, Betrayal, and Deception

Who

I'm currently driving with my mind occupied. Why was Luke involved with that guy? Is he okay? I arrived at his house and sprinted to his door. I rang the bell a few times before someone finally opened it. Luke's mom looked so sad with puffy eyes. She just finished crying.

"Mrs. Jones, can I see Luke?" I whispered.

She nodded for me to come in. I went in to give her a long warm hug. "Things will be okay because Luke is strong like you," I reassured her.

However, it felt more like I was reassuring myself. She burst into laughter and thanked me, which I returned with a smile. I quietly stood in front of Luke's door, hesitating to go in because I didn't know if he wanted to see me or even talk to me in his current condition. But I'm worried sick, so here I am to confirm if he's okay. I opened the door slowly, peeking in.

I was not ready to see what was in front of me. "Luke!" I gasped.

He's casually leaning against his headboard while playing games as if he never got into a fight, not injured with bandages on his face and hands! I ran and jumped on his bed to hug him.

"Woah! Ow Mia! Calm down. I'm okay. I'm fine," he winced and patted me on the head.

I felt relieved, but I knew he was hurting more than what he was showing. His body sustained a lot of bruises, I'm sure. I sat back and glared at him for a good minute, waiting for an explanation.

Luke started rubbing the back of his neck, "sorry you had to see that, Mia. I know it was your first day at my school, and I'm sorry for ruining it."

"That doesn't explain what happened and why it happened," I crossed my arms, "I was so worried about you, and you're acting as if nothing happened... you're in pain!"

He looked at me apologetically, "I know, I'm sorry. I'll explain everything, okay? Please don't be mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you Luke? I'm worried about you! I'm sorry I wasn't there before it all happened, I wanted to walk to school today, but now I know that was a big mistake," I mumbled.

"Mia, it's not your fault. Don't worry, it won't happen again, so please don't stop walking to school. I'll be fine, and even if you came earlier, it still would've happened because you see..." Luke took a deep breath and winced.

"Are you okay?!" I panicked and placed my hand on his rib cage.

"Yeah... I just took too deep of a breath," Luke chuckled to lighten up the mood.

"As you were saying...?" I whispered.

"Oh yeah.. so you see Mia, what I'm about to explain to you, you can't tell anyone, okay? It's not because I don't trust you, but it involves people I don't want to get hurt again. I want you to know so you can be cautious of your surroundings as well," Luke said in the most serious tone I'd ever heard.

I simply nodded so he could resume. "That guy, his name is Corey."