I sat outside waiting for my bus. It was freezing out and my lack of a jacket didn't help. I grabbed a cigarette so I could focus on that and hopefully forget about the fact that I'm about to freeze to death on the sidewalk.
As I was about to sit down, I heard footsteps coming towards me. I turned my head and saw Luke walking down the sidewalk wearing sunglasses and a black, loose hoodie. "Luke?" I asked as I stood up straight. He looked at me and smiled slightly which melted my heart entirely. Not gonna lie.
"Hey, Nick." He said quietly as he got closer. He took off his sunglasses and basically hissed at the morning light even though it was pretty cloudy. His eyes looked red and sore, he was clearly hungover. Luke's eyes wandered around until they focused on the pack of cigarettes poking out of my bag. I rolled my eyes and handed him one along with a lighter.
"Here, take my last one." I said bitterly. Luke nodded with the cigarette between his teeth while lighting the other end. "What are you doing here anyway?" I asked him after flicking the rest of my cigarette onto the pavement.
"Well, I didn't want to go to school so I decided not to. Then I went to the gas station up the street, got a few things, and remembered you lived down here. So, here I am." He explained and finished with a tiny grin.
"Well, I'm planning on going to school so although I'd love to, I can't hang out." I said disappointingly. "Your parents don't care if you ditch?"
Luke kept focus on the ground and exhaled. "Wanna go somewhere?" He asked awkwardly, brushing off my question. I looked down the street and there was still no sign of my bus.
"Whatever." I shrugged with a laugh. What harm can come from missing one day of school, honestly.
"Okay. Follow me." Luke smiled and turned to walk down the way he came. I followed behind him, unaware of where we were going or what was going to happen.
Luke had this careless energy all the time. He didn't care about getting fucked up the night before an exam, he didn't care about what might happen, he never focused on the future. He only cares about now. To Luke, there's not enough time. He lives in the now so he never misses a moment and never thinks "what if." And I've always admired that about him.
We stopped at a building I assumed he lived in. Luke and I walked into the elevator and he pressed the button for floor 15. "When you were a kid, did you used to jump in the elevator and it felt all weird?" Luke asked as he began to jump up and down childishly.
"No." I laughed while Luke continued to jump around like a hyperactive toddler.
"WELL DO IT!" Luke screeched at me. I started to jump along with him and I had too much fun, honestly. We were two teenagers jumping around looking like two year olds in an elevator.
The elevator stopped and let us out on the top floor. "Is this it?" I asked. I was confused by what Luke was trying to do.
"Not yet, you'll see. C'mon!" He said quietly so the people living on the floor wouldn't be disrupted. I followed Luke to a stairway, which was very cold. He ran up the stairs and kept looking back every few steps to make sure I was still following him. "Hurry up, Nick!" He yelled down from the exit.
"Don't rush me, Lucas!" I scolded jokingly as I met him at the exit.
"You ready?" Luke asked with a smirk. I nodded quickly. "Okay, erm, close your eyes!" He said excitedly.
"You're not gonna rape me, are you?" I asked accusingly.
"Just close your eyes, dammit." Luke sighed. I shut my eyes and covered them with my hands. I heard Luke open the door and felt the cold air rush in. "We're here!" Luke yelled excitedly. I opened my eyes and looked out to see the empty top of the apartment building. "This, Nick," He started as we walked out onto the roof. "Is my favorite place."
"This is so cool." I said in awe. I followed Luke as he began to walk over to the other side of the roof. He lead me to an old, beat up couch looking out to the skyline. I sat down after him and we both just looked out for a bit. The sky was grey and the skyscrapers were surrounded by the low, thick fog.
"Want one?" Luke asked pulling out a view small travel-sized bottles of vodka.
"Luke its like eight in the morning." I said shocked as he stopped unscrewing the cap of one to listen to me. He gave me a small shrug and started to uncap it again. "How did you even buy these when you're underage? Where?"
"Okay, calm down Miss 20 Questions. I got them at the gas station before I went to see you. And I never said I bought them, I said I got them." Luke said with aggravation.
"You stole them?" I asked quietly like someone would hear.
"I don't see the big deal." Luke shrugged after swallowing the majority of one of the bottles. "Have one, c'mon." He held one out for me. Part of me didn't want to take it, I didn't feel good about it.
"I don't know, Luke." I said nervously. Luke finished the first bottle and moved onto his second.
"Nick, you gotta learn to live a little." He laughed like it was nothing but to me it hurt.
"There's a difference between living a little and being a careless, irresponsible dick." I said while I grabbed my bag and walked to the stairway door.
"Nick, I'm sorry." Luke said as he chased behind me. "Wait, Nick, please."
I stopped walking for a second and breathed deeply. "I have to go, Luke." I sighed and went into the stairway.
I guess I didn't love Luke's carelessness as much as I thought.
(part 3 is Luke's POV)
