Another Life (Sequel to Toxic) - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 6

If you've ever seen those cheesy romance montages then you'll know what I'm talking about. My whole relationship with Luke was flashing right before my eyes in a matter of seconds, every single good memory I had with him. I got a flash of him on top of me when I lost my virginity, and then I saw him with his guitar in his hands in Brett's guest room. They just kept getting harder and harder to watch, and when his birthday flashed through my mind I shot up in a cold sweat.

My alarm was going off, and when I went to stop it I realized it had been sounding for five minutes before I woke up. I guess I was so consumed by the dream that I didn't even wake up to it. When I shut it off I fell back onto my pillow and took a deep breath. I knew that talking to him would bring up old feelings and memories, but this was getting out of control. It had been four days since our family meeting, and every single one of those nights was filled with nightmares.

They weren't scary or anything, just painful. And every time I shot up in bed my heart was racing and my skin was covered in sweat. I was exhausted after four days of poor sleep, and I was supposed to go to my 8 am lecture with Luke in only a half hour.

The emotional toll was almost too much for me this time around, and even though I stayed strong in the beginning it was getting to be difficult to keep myself together. I called my mom over the weekend while I locked myself in my room and vented to her about how hard it's been, but all she could do was send me some kind words of encouragement and pray for the best.

I still had feelings for Luke, and that was painfully clear when he asked me to give him another chance. I wanted to give it to him more than anything, but he didn't deserve it. And I didn't deserve to get burned again, especially when one more heart break would break me for good.

It was hard to be around him, or look at him, and especially talk to him. All he ever wanted to say was something to get me back, and I was worried that the more persistent he was that I would give in. That's why I locked myself in my room, to avoid being vulnerable around him after ripping that band aid off that night.

I'd rather go back to hating each other than this, and that said a lot. It's easy to hate someone, since nothing they do concerns you and they don't have the power to hurt you. Even if I could never really hate him, it'd be easy to pretend.

When I finally decided to roll out of bed I had already gotten myself into a sour mood. I'd been marinating in my thoughts all weekend while everyone else went out on Friday and Saturday and had a good time, so I wasn't expecting anyone to be as dead as I was. Even Mike apparently went out and had fun with them, probably since I wasn't there to bring his mood down.

I knew the gang wanted me around, but it just seemed like things were better when I wasn't. I did blame myself for most of the chaos, even if I didn't mean to cause it. It was just my presence that created all the tension.

I still planned on meeting them for lunch today since I was a ghost all weekend, but I just had to get through my first class. I didn't have time to shower, so I brushed my teeth and hair and slipped on a long sleeve tee with some jeans and called it a day. I grabbed my key card off my nightstand and slid it into my back pocket before heading out the door in a hurry.

I was most likely going to be a minute late, and that scared the shit out of me because this first professor was strict as hell. I'd probably get a sly comment thrown my way as I walked in, even if it was 30 seconds after 8 am. I opted to skip waiting for the elevator up to the lecture hall to save time, and I somehow managed to walk in with seconds to spare.

I was out of breath from sprinting up 3 flights of stairs, so I quickly took a seat where I usually did. It wasn't until he walked in right after me that I realized Luke wasn't even there yet. Last class he sat closer to me, and when I watched him coming closer and closer the professor started lecturing already. By the time he was sitting in the seat next to me, it was too late for me to move.