Below the Sky

Chapter 15: Abigail

Chapter 15: Abigail

Once again, me and Luke were running. We went for a run every morning, but every time we got out it seemed to blur together.
I panted beside Luke, struggling to catch my breath. Since that very first run when we saw Maya it was getting easier and easier every time. Still, Luke was a much stronger runner than me, and kept having to fall behind so he wouldn't lose me.
"Do you want to stop for a second?" He asked me.
"Ya sure," I gave in to my body's craving for a rest. I knew that if I was going to get any better I shouldn't give up, but it couldn't hurt that much to stop just for a second.
We steered ourselves over to the side of the road, and stopped. Luke pulled his leg up, stretching out his quad. I followed him, doing the same.
I'd been living with Luke for about two weeks. It got better everyday, with my homesickness fading slightly, and our relationship growing stronger. I thought that Luke felt the same, that we were becoming closer. Every day was so similar. Me and Luke would wake up at the crack of dawn, to go for a run. After our run, we'd usually chill until lunch, then doing something else in the afternoon. Once the sun had sunken far below the horizon, the entire family would join together for dinner. I will admit that though I missed my Mom, and Caleb, so badly, staying with Luke wasn't all terrible. Still, moving into the dorms in the fall couldn't come fast enough.
The reason I thought this way was that living with Luke was kind of boring. I'd been staying with him for a while now, and he still hadn't brought me into town. He didn't follow through with his promise to go meet the rest of Maya's family, and he just wasn't that exciting. His life was the same routine everyday, and though it was peaceful, and somewhat enjoyable, I would be ready for a change when fall comes around.
After a minute or two Luke motioned for me to start running with him. I groaned, not wanting to run anymore, but still reluctantly followed him.
"Hey Luke," I said, panting.
"Ya."
"I've been here for two weeks already, and you haven't brought me to town yet, why?" I asked.
"There's no straight forward answer to that question."
His responses irritated me, the question was pretty simple if you think about it. "That doesn't answer my questions," I shot back at him.
"Well, the truth is, I don't really like other people that much."
"I figured that much," I said, "if you don't really like other people that much, why did you sign up for the Student Helper program."
"I didn't sign up for the Student Helper program, my mother did. She thought that it would be good for me."
I stopped running for a second, stunned. "Okay, still, why haven't you brought me into town?" I insisted.
"Look, Abby," Luke suddenly stopped running, and turned around to face me. He stared into my eyes, and the emotion I saw in his face spoke more than words ever could. "The truth is, after everything that went down with Lila, I haven't really been up to going anywhere social, like the town. I've kinda just locked myself away for this entire summer."
"What exactly went down with Lila, go into detail," I was intrigued. If this mysterious Lila girl was the reason why I wasn't getting to see this place that much, I wanted to know why.
"Because, because I did something to her. I don't know. I've liked Lila for forever, and about a month and a half ago, I finally worked up the courage to ask her out. I guess I must have gone a little too far with her without her consent, because we haven't spoken since."
I stopped dead in my tracks. Luke's description was "going too far," but I knew that he probably sugarcoated it slightly. Was my roommate, who had been kind to me so far, a rapist?
"Luke, what exactly did you do to her?" I asked, still astonished by what he had just admitted. So Luke told me the entire story, or at least, his side of the story. He told me of the rain in the woods, and the kissing, and how his dream Lila and reality Lila were completely different people and it bothered him so much. He told me the entire story, and when he was finished, I didn't know if I should feel bad for him, or Lila. My heart knew Lila was the victim of this though, even if I wasn't sure I wanted to admit it.
When Luke was done telling the story, I stood there, looking like a fool.
"So, are you going to say something," he said.
I finally came to my senses, "I can't believe you Luke. Seriously, I thought you were all sweet and kind, and now I learn this!"
Luke almost looked like he was going to cry after I yelled at him. I didn't care though, he deserved it. I wasn't sure what I should do after that, so I just turned my back on him, and ran. I knew that if Luke decided to follow me he would be able to catch up to me easily, way too easily, but I didn't care. Or, I did care, I really didn't want him to follow me back home, I just hoped with all my might he would decide that I needed some time before approaching me.
My legs were shaking, and I wanted to collapse, but finally I made it back to Luke's house in one piece. I figured I wouldn't be able to walk for days, since I had just sprinted all the way here, trying to avoid Luke. I didn't mind though, I had made it home, and Luke wasn't right behind me.
When I walked in the door, Luke's Mami called out to me. I said a short greeting to her, then stalked to my room. I then semi-slammed the door, not wanting to be too loud, and threw myself onto my bed. I was just so frustrated with Luke, and myself, and my life.

"Abby, can I come in," I sat up on my bed, angry that Luke had caught up to me so quickly. For a minute or two I didn't reply to his request, then I thought I guessed that he could open the door at least.
"Fine," my tone was harsh, but I didn't care. He deserved it.
Luke nudged the door open, and poked his head in the room. "I feel like we should talk," he said.
I crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at him. With no response, Luke just walked the rest of the way into my room. I noticed that he was standing a respectful distance from me.
"Look, I know that you're upset with me from what you learned, but you should know, it's not entirely what you think. I mean...I don't think I raped Lila, okay."
I felt my temperature rising, and the anger clearly was shown on my face. Luke was saying that what he did to Lila wasn't actually that bad, but I didn't believe him. The guy's perspective of what actually happened is usually sugarcoated.
"Did you touch her without her full consent?" I asked.
"Well..."
"Did you, let's say, kiss her, without an enthusiastic yes?"
"Well, I mean..."
"Or, perhaps, did you just hold her hand, without her saying you could."
"Look, Abby..."
I held up a hand, cutting him off. "I know what you're going to say, you're going to say that Lila didn't necessarily say that she wanted it, she just conveyed it through her body language, yes?"
"I mean, I guess that's sort of what happened," Luke said.
"That is not consent, that is rape, and before you try and deny it, please leave my room."
Luke gaped at me, a look of absolute shock on his face. His skin had a pale allure to it, and I got the feeling that might possibly pass out. However, without a second thought, he turned on his heel, and stomped out of my room.
I got up to go close the door after Luke had finally left, and noticed something sitting on my floor. It was a piece of paper, small, and folded up very small. I picked it up off the floor, and brought it back over to my bed, where I opened it.
In small, scrawly handwriting, there were words, spelling out I'm sorry. I started to smile to myself, knowing that Luke had done this, but then stopped, remembering his true nature. I knew deep down that what Luke had done to Lila was probably more out of desire, and his need to be with her, but I was still mad. Maybe, someday off in the future, he would come to his sense, but I doubted it. A lot of people never realize what they do to others is evil, and some do, but it's not for a long time. A part of me wanted to try and show Luke the nature behind what he had done to Lila, and the trauma he'd caused her. Another part wanted to pack my bags, and run as far away from this place as possible. Either way, I knew that for now, I just had to stay put.