Safety Pin • Luke Hemmings

Chapter 3

People used to tell me my mom reminded them of Kat Stratford in high school.
She was outspoken, loud, and always voiced her opinions. She loved rock music and got me into rock music myself.
The guitar I played was hers when she was in a band of her own in high school.
I wish I remembered her.

Now my mom might have been Kat, but my dad was no Patrick Verona. The only thing they had in common was being Australian. I don't know how my mom and him fell in love seeing as he was the soul thing my mom stood against. He was a businessman who was never home, alwasy working for hours on end. Never wanted to venture out of our town or go on vacation. Didn't care about the environment or the problems in our society.
He cared about money.
Something that differed Mom and him in two different directions.

My dad would spew "you're just like your mother" like an insult, a bad taste in his mouth when we would Argue. Like me being like her was so unbearable, that I should be like him.

Maybe Mom would still be alive if she was like him. If she valued herself more than she did other people.

I strummed lightly on the guitar that still had
Stickers from my mom on it. I had imagined that the guitar strap used to smell like her perfume at one point. I wondered when it had lost the scent.

A loud bang came from my window making me turn slightly to look at it. Nothing was there so I assumed it was the tree that was next to it.
I turned up the amp on the floor playing alittle louder before I heard the tap again.

I huffed and sat the guitar on the bed before walking over to the window.

Luke Hemmings was on the branch closest to the roof throwing small rocks at the glass.

I opened the window and stuck my head out, "what the hell-" a rock hit my forehead making me close my eyes in annoyance. "What are you doing hemmings?"

He let his legs fall off the tree hanging with only his arms as he swung in the window, not waiting for me to move. I fell backward onto the ground with him on top of me, knocking the breath out of me as he landed straight on my chest.

"Ow." I breathed out wincing slightly.

He wasn't bothering to get off of me, but just pushing himself up with his hands so he wasn't putting all his weight on me. He looked down at me almost confused or maybe it was a look of embarrassment.

"Your hair's red." He stated.

It had been red for a week now.

I groaned and rolled my eyes before pushing him off of me and Onto the floor before I stood up.

"What are you doing here hemmings?" I asked walking over to the window and closing it.

Luke rolled over on the floor until he was under my bed. "Hiding." He simply said.

I could hear him rustling under my bed, his flashlight from his phone spewing out from under the bed.

"From who?" I asked jumping on my bed and making it dip down enough to hit his head.
"Ow!" He yelled.

"We're playing hide and seek, loser pays for lunch. This is the last place the guys would look." He said from under the bed.

Something was shot into my room and I looked to see a pair of underwear now hung on my desk.
I dipped my head down, hanging over the bed,  my hands flat on the floor
Luke shined his flashlight in my face making me squench my eyes.
"Did you just slingshot my underwear you found under my bed?" I asked him unamused.
He laid on his back under my bed smiling at me, "Yes."

I heard the front door slam,

"Hey, Gigi!" Ashton's voice rang through the house.

"Shit," Luke mumbled pulling my arms that were hanging over the bed, making me fall to the floor for yet the second time today, before pulling me under the bed up to his chest.

I winced again, "What the fu-" Luke's hand slapped over my mouth as he held a finger over his lips with his other hand.

My heart raced. That was normal for ex-couples to still make each other nervous right? I'm sure it was because my heart was beating out of my rib cage as his face was inches away from mine giving me a serious look.

A knock on my door made me slightly jump. "Gigi, have you seen Luke?" Ashton's voice rang. Luke's hand gripped tightly on my bare hip holding me still as the door to my room opened.

"Great she's not even here," Ashton said as I saw his black shoes being walked into the room. He annoyingly groaned before his feet stomped out of the room.

The door eventually shut downstairs.

Luke's hand remained on my hip and on my mouth as he stared at me. It seemed to be the theme today, me and him just staring at each other.

I snapped out of it as I tasted his hand on my mouth making me push him off and roll out from under the bed. "You're going to kill me if you keep knocking me over."

"That's the plan." He said rolling out himself.

I jumped back on my bed sitting down on it, "How long are you going to stay? I've inhaled too much of your cologne today."

He rolled his eyes as he sat down on the rolling chair, spinning around. "You bought me this cologne." He seemed to regret the words as they came out of his mouth because he stopped spinning just for a second. "It's my least favorite one." He added.

"Same." I said, "bought it so you'd smell like shit."

I actually loved that scent. It was Luke's signature scent, the one where you would associate that smell with anyone with Luke.

"Glade were in agreement." He said almost awkwardly before starting to spin on my chair again.

The setting was now awkward as well, The air was thick.
"Get out." I said making him stand up abruptly, "Yep."

He walked to the window and opened it.

"You can uh... you can go out the front door." I told him.

He shot me a quick smile before swinging himself out the window, "And Why would I do that?"