i love you, but.. // lierra

4

Somebody Else - The 1975

"How was the date with that guy from the band?" Luke asks as he and Sierra are waiting for their order at a small café. It's their tradition: at least once a week, mostly on Sundays, all three of them, more often than not with Cory, go to this café and order pancakes with ice cream. Although today Calum decided to skip and meet up with Feye instead. Isn't very nice of him.

The café isn't popular as it's far from the centre, although it is good, so there aren't many customers at this time of the day. It looks bright and modern, with lots of tables for two and a few bigger tables near the windows. The staff is mostly students and young adults; even the manager is a girl younger than Luke. The atmosphere is quiet, there's calm music in the background with no heavy beat—just the artist's soft voice and the lyrics sung along with a guitar or piano accompaniment—so Luke definitely insisted on making this place their tradition.

"Ugh, him.." Sierra rolls her eyes. "He's so full of himself. He talked about what a great voice he has and how their band is cool because of him. Didn't ask a single thing about me and kept telling me how hot I am. Like yes, I am hot, but that's not the only thing about me, you know?" she exclaims. Sierra gets quite gesturous when she's talking about something that really offended her.

"What did you do then? " Luke asks, smiling. He knows she's a renegade who wouldn't let it slide.

"I left halfway through." She huffs. "And before that, I told him to text me when he stops thinking like a 13-year-old. Which is never, so.." she shrugs and sips her orange juice. She doesn't want him to text her again.

"You should aim for quieter guys. You can boss them around, you love it." he replies, laughing. He doesn't think that her standards are high, but maybe she's looking for someone to reach them among the wrong guys.

"Maybe I want to be bossed around." She says, looking him straight in the eyes. She doesn't really mean it, but teasing him is fun.

"Oh, keep your kinks to yourself, please. I don't wanna know any of this." Luke replies, half joking, but his face frowned.

"Why not?" She notices he started playing with the rings on his fingers, which means he doesn't like the topic and is probably anxious. The waiter saves them by bringing their orders. They try to get something different every time, but today they went for their favourites: Luke got strawberry ice cream, and Sierra got the chocolate one.

They eat in comfortable silence, enjoying the quiet atmosphere and just observing the people around them or even outside the cafe, until Luke freezes looking at the entrance.

"What?" Sierra asks, already looking around. She wasn't even looking at him, but the sudden silence and the lack of the sound of his spoon hitting the plate made her pay attention.

"That's.. It's Michael." Luke whispers, his eyes still fixed on a guy walking into the place.

"Who?" she asks, confused.

"Michael, he was my first boyfriend. And the only one who didn't dump me. I broke up with him." he replies and gets back to his food, trying to look as if he doesn't care.

"Why?"

"I was scared of a relationship. We were very young, 14 maybe, and obviously both boys, so the pressure of everything was too much. I couldn't handle it." he says.

They watch Michael and a girl come up to the counter and order two milkshakes. Luke hesitates for a few seconds but decides to call him anyway. A small chat won't hurt anyone.

"Mike! " the guy looks around, trying to understand who said his name, and as he sets his eyes on Luke, his gaze softens. He's glad to see him.

They both get up and hug each other, and somehow it's not awkward at all. It's not that Luke expected it to be weird—they ended on good terms and remained friends until the end of high school.