them.

he

"and the award for most peaceful goes to...phoebe foster!"

luke clapped again, rolling his eyes at his principals fake, enthusiastic voice. his mind didn't comprehend that the girl called was the one he drove home just yesterday until his eyes watched her tumble over a chair. her brown hair was sent flying, along with the rest of her body. all the clapping stopped, and a volcano of laugher replaced it. luke felt his stomach churn. go help her, a voice in his head told him. he crouched further in his seat.

"c'mon luke, that was funny," cecilia, a small blonde girl, whispered into luke's ear. he turned towards her, and saw her face glowing with laughter. she was beautiful, that's for sure. that was probably the only sure thing about her.

phoebe made her way onto the stage, her cheeks darker than a sky without stars. luke noticed that her neck was purple, and she had a bruise on her cheekbone. he was near the front row, so his perspective on the stage was well. luke wondered what caused the bruises. his mind told him that she was obviously clumsy, and it was probably an accident.

luke watched as phoebe shook the principals hand, and the crowed clapped once again. luke kept his hands in his lap, focusing his eyes on phoebe. phoebe foster. luke thought it had a nice ring to it.

"that was defiantly a pity award," cecilia groaned, rolling her eyes. she was a year younger than luke, and in some of phoebe's classes.

luke narrowed his eyes at her. "what does that mean?"

"it means that they gave that award to her cause they feel bad. she's a good student, but she has like, one friend. i don't even know why in the world danny carpenter, you know her right?" cecilia stopped, and luke nodded. "yeah, that's phoebe's only friend i'm pretty sure. she's a charity case socially, and the teachers wanted to bump up her confidence for next year. i mean, can you blame them? she's not pretty, her body is all awkward, she has no personality-"

"well at least she isn't fake like you, cecelia," luke snapped, cutting her off. cecelias eyes darkened, and she sent a sharp frown at luke.

"why are you even sticking up for her?" she asked, changing the subject.

"because! all you ever do now is talk crap about people, and i'm sick of it! seriously, why can't you build someone up for once instead of tearing them down?" luke hissed, looking forward just as phoebe and the principal snapped a picture. he felt cecelia burning holes into the side of his head, and he crossed his arms. once her stare fell, luke grinned.

-

"that award ceremony sucked," calum, one of luke's good friends, said after wrapping an arm around his neck.

"tell me about it," luke said under his breath.

calum let go of his grip on luke and furrowed his eyebrows. "oh really?"

"cece flipped."

"again?" calum groaned, resting his hand on the bridge of his nose. "why're you even with her, luke?"

"im not. she's the one who tells me if we're together or not," luke shrugged.

calum put his hand on luke's shoulder and stopped him. "i think you've got a very wrong idea of what a relationship is."

luke shrugged calum off and sighed. "i dunno, she went on and on about how this girl only got her award because the teachers felt bad for her and i got angry."

calum raised an eyebrow. "okay...who's this girl?"

"no one, cal." luke reached his locker and began to exchange books.

"well, obviously it's someone important if cece is bugging out over her," calum said matter-o-factly.

luke finished getting the books he needed and slammed his locker shut. "she isn't important. at all. okay?"

calum shrugged. "alright."

luke rolled his eyes and laughed. "God, calum. stop being so stubborn!"

it was then calum's turn to roll his eyes. "at least i'm not a pushover, like you."

"was that supposed to be offensive, or...?"

"no luke it was meant to boost your confidence."

luke smirked and slung his arm around calum's shoulder. "oh, bud. we all know i don't need a confidence boost."

as calum and luke walked out towards luke's car, they spotted a familiar, clumsy brunette.

"speaking of confidence boosters, maybe she needs one," calum chuckled.

"ha, yeah. i bet," luke agreed, solely to change the subject. calum could sometimes be a little blind to people's feelings, and luke wasn't in the mood for a show.

"why don't we go talk to her?" calum suggested, poking luke's arm. "i know you wanna."

luke looked over at her. she was texting someone with one hand and had a book in the other. she looked up and glanced around the parking lot, probably looking for her ride. she spotted luke and calum, and luke looked away. "no, i really don't."

"c'mon, mate! she just saw us!" calum practically begged.

"no, cal. let's just go home," luke said sternly, pulling calum's arm.

calum jogged over to her, and luke threw his head back and groaned obnoxiously. "shut up luke," calum yelled back at him. luke sluggishly walked over to join calum.

"hey, you," calum said at the girl. real nice, cal, luke thought. she didn't even look up from her phone, either too embarrassed or not caring enough to do so.

"you're the one who fell right?" calum asked again. this made her look over to calum, and her cheeks to heat up.

"wha-i, yeah." she looked down to her feet, embarrassed.

"i thought it was pretty cool," calum said, and she looked back to him with happy eyes. "you defiantly made a name for yourself."

"really? thank-"

"no i was kidding," calum laughed at himself. "that was the most retarded thing i've ever seen. and our friend once tried to open a peanut butter jar with his nose," he wrapped his arm around luke.

phoebe's face morphed into one of self disappointment, a look luke knew all too well. her eyes met luke's and they made luke fill with regret. he should stand up for her. but he can't. and she kept looking, desperately asking him to help her out this one time it seemed. luke just laughed.

"sorry, klutz. we gotta run. hope you can find a ride before sundown." calum began to walk away. luke stayed and looked up to her. she was already staring down at him. he mouthed the word 'sorry', and she turned away and shook her head.

"c'mon, luke."

he looked once more at her and wished he could do something. but a thought is very different from an action.