Damn, You're Cute (Michael Clifford)

Chapter 55

School on Monday went by easily. People didn't walk too slowly in the hallways and my locker opened on my first try every time. I also didn't get sick from Michael like I thought I would, so I was able to focus completely on all my subjects. And what made it even better, my teachers decided today would be a relaxing day, full of minimal power points and mild homework.

In my free time during the day I encouraged Caroline to confront Ashton about their problem since she hadn't yet. I don't think she understood that if she didn't tell him what was bothering her, he wouldn't know how to fix it. She brushed me off a few hours ago, claiming that she'd do it when she was ready.

As I stumbled out of history, my last class of the day, with annoying chatter from other girls at my heels, I saw a tall blonde boy rounding the corner at the end of the hallway- Luke. It was my chance to talk to him again since the party.

"Hey, Luke!" I yelled, earning stares from people around me. I ignored them and headed toward him since he stopped at my voice. "Thanks for waiting," I slowed down from my jog once I reached him.

"No problem," Luke told me kindly with his hands stuffed in his pockets, and nodded toward the classroom door I just came out of. "How was last period?"

"Agonizingly slow, but easy," I shrugged while holding my all books in my hands. I noticed he wasn't carrying any. "You?"

"I skipped," Luke said without a care, which made me curious. He wasn't one to ditch class, especially with his mother as a secretary of the school. "Abigail asked me to."

"Oh," I slowly nodded, not bothering to tell him that he shouldn't listen to her because Michael convinced me to skip quite a few times too. I wasn't in any place to tell Luke of bad influences. Instead I hesitantly asked, "How is she, by the way?"

"Good, thanks for asking" Luke grinned when he thought about her until another thought popped into his head. "She thinks you all hate her."

"Well..." I trailed off teasingly, even though it was true. Luke smiled a bit, but wasn't as amused as I hoped. "She doesn't have to think that. I'm sure she'll grow on all of us. It's like I told you the other day. As long as you're happy, so am I."

"Thanks, Leah," he said sincerely. "But we all know that's not how Michael feels."

"I'm working on it," I promised because Luke's face was full of disappointment. "Look, you can't expect him to be all for this so soon! He needs time and quite frankly, I'll give him as much as he needs."

"I know it's not easy, I'm sorry," Luke scratched his head, shifting from one foot to the other.

"He'll deal with it eventually. He doesn't really have a choice," I commented which made Luke grimace.

He suddenly took a few steps back and quickly said, "I was actually on my way to grab my calculator from the math room. Abigail and I going to meet up after school, so I better get going."

Before I could reply, Luke gave a slight wave and began to split off into a different hallway with his head ducked down. Luckily, I caught his arm just in time with a guilty expression on my face.

"Wait, Luke," I paused, letting go of him as he faced me with his eyebrows pulled together. "I didn't mean it like that. Just be patient with Michael,"

"Okay," Luke said quietly, trying to agree for my sake. I knew Luke deserved as much support as Michael but he had his own girlfriend for that.

I twisted my fingers before nervously saying, "We're still friends right?"

Luke didn't miss a beat and said, "Of course, why wouldn't we be?"

"I don't know," I looked down, feeling extremely silly now because Luke looked puzzled at my question. "I was afraid that you thought I didn't want you around because of Abigail or that I was only taking Michael's side."