a letter to elise || lrh

chapter 17

November 12, 2015; Thursday

Luke stopped talking to me.

It was like as if he disappeared into thin air. It's been nearly two weeks since the incident and no matter how much I try to get him to talk to me at school, he wouldn't say anything--basically, ignoring me altogether. I sighed, dropping down on the couch. I was clueless on how to get him to talk to me again but I guess I just have to bear with it for now. I clutched the box my mom handed me a while ago before she went out--probably seeing his stupid guy, telling me that it came on mail today and was a gift from my grandmother. I ran my hands through the cover before opening the lid, revealing a camera sitting neatly in the middle of the spacious box. I raised an eyebrow at it. Why would I even need this?

We've already memorized the steps and everything's going well except my strained friendship with Luke. Hell, were we even friends in the first place? I placed the box beside me before hoisting myself on the kitchen counter, looking around my surroundings. Admittedly, I couldn't think of anything to do that did not involve him. It was sad how fast our friendship lasted and much to my dismay, he didn't go with his brothers during our moms' zumba class last Friday. Of course, Jack and Ben made up some weird excuse as to why he wasn't present.

Speaking of the brothers, I learned that Ben was moving out of their house to pursue a photography career in Europe.

I was about to make my way up stairs when a piece of yellow paper taped on the cream wall beside the phone caught my eye. It was a list of telephone numbers my mom probably made which listed a couple of emergency numbers and some of her friends, including a guy called Allan, her old friend Mrs. Summers from across the street, and of course, the Hemmings residence.

My heart did a back flip when I read the numbers written beside their surname. I didn't know what took over me but as soon as I finished reading the set of numbers, I found myself grabbing the phone, pressing it against my ear and dialing their said number.

I couldn't contain the nervousness and the excitement I was feeling. "Hello?" A deep, slightly-cracked voice answered. Of course, it was all too familiar to me.

"Luke?" I called out, slightly hopeful that he'd finally talk to me. The person on the other end stopped breathing and all I could hear was the deafening silence in the kitchen. And obviously, the call didn't last long because he immediately hung up on me when I called out his name again. I sighed, trying it again. I dialed the numbers I pressed on earlier, in hopes that he'd finally give me a chance to explain to him what happened.

It took about three rings before a woman's voice answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello, um, is this the Hemmings residence?"

"Yeah," the woman on the other end said. And that's when I recognized the voice. It was Liz'.

"Uh, hey, Liz. This is Elisiana. May I speak with Luke?" I asked hopefully while I chewed on my nails, waiting for an answer. It took about thirty seconds of silence before I could hear a couple of shuffling and the phone being put down on a hard surface. I waited for a couple of minutes before Liz returned, slightly breathless. "Um, Elisiana?"

"Yeah?"

"Luke's, um, busy, uh, yeah. He's sleeping, er, call back later," Liz said quickly before she hung up, leaving me there clutching the handset against my ear, the loud beeping noise protruding my ear drums.

November 13, 2015; Friday

I sighed, looking over at the two boys chatting with a smile on their faces. I glanced at my mother and Liz who were talking about the political disadvantages of our nation and here I am, playing with my lasagna, thinking about what Luke was probably doing right now. I let out a huge puff of air filled with disappointment, looking over at the empty chair across from me.