Maroon :||: Luke Hemmings

Chapter 3: Keep Speaking To Me, but I Can't Have It

Cassie's POV

After class ends, I see Luke waiting for me. I pack up my things and head over to him.

"So, how did your first day go?" I ask.

"It could've been better, but that's okay. I actually had a question for you." I give him a slightly confused look.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Evelyn told me that you're really good at math. I'm really far behind and I suck at math, so I was wondering if some time this week, you'd wanna help me out with it."

"I'd be happy to. Just give me your number and I'll get back to you." I say. He pulls out his phone and I pull out mine so we can exchange numbers. After we do that, he leaves the choir room.

I make my way to the parking lot and see Aria and Evelyn waiting by my car. I quickly head over there and see that Aria doesn't look too happy.

"What took you so long?" She asks.

"Sorry, I was helping Luke. We still have plenty of time to hang out before my dad gets home." I say as I get into my car. My dad has never been too fond of Aria since he thinks she's a bad influence, but I would have to disagree. So everyday after school, we try to hang out unless my dad has a day off or he called in and luckily for us, Aria and Evelyn live pretty close to my house so they can walk home.

"I guess that's an excuse." She says as she gets in the car. Evelyn gets in too and I start the car.
As I'm driving home, I hear my phone start going off. I try my best to reach it, but I also have to keep my eyes on the road.

"Eve, can you get that for me?" I ask. She nods and digs out my phone from my backpack. "Who is it?" I ask.

"It's an unknown number. Do you want me to answer it?" I shake my head.

"If it's important, they'll leave a message." I say as I continue driving.

When I pull up to the house, I see another car in the driveway, one that doesn't look familiar to me.

"I thought you said your dad wasn't getting home until six?" Aria questions.

"He's not and that's not my dad's car." I say as I stare at it in confusion.

"I guess there's only one way to find out."

"What if it's a murderer or something. I don't wanna go in there and get us all killed." I say.

"Cass, I'm pretty sure if it was someone trying to kill you, they wouldn't park their car in your driveway in the daylight." Evelyn says.

We make our way up to the front door and when I go to put my key in, I notice that the door's unlocked. My heart is racing as all three of us walk in. As soon as I'm fully in the house, my phone starts going off again. I ignore it and continue walking in.

When I get into the living room, I see a woman sitting on the couch with her phone up to her ear. When she sees me, she hangs up the phone.

"Cassie, it's so great to see you again." She says with a smile on her face. Then it clicks, this is my mom. The last time I saw her was when I was seven and she was being hauled off to rehab. I never thought I'd see her again.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her.

"I called your father. I was supposed to wait until he got home, but I couldn't wait to see you. I missed you." She says as she stands up. She goes to hug me, but I step back.

"You think that after ten years I'd just wanna see you again? If anything, you ruined my life. You should've waited for dad to come back so he could tell you to get lost instead of your daughter having to say this."

"Cassie, you don't-"

"I mean it. Now get out before I call the cops." I tell her, feeling my eyes starting to water. I can see it in her eyes, she's not sober and I want nothing to do with her.

After standing in silence for a few minutes, she finally leaves the house.

"That was intense." Aria says.

"I think you guys should go." I say as I wipe my eyes.

"Are you sure? Cass, we don't want you to-"

"Just go. I'll be fine. I just wanna be alone right now." I tell them. They both nod and head out the door. I sit down on the couch, still in shock from seeing my mom after all these years. I hear my phone going off again and I pull it out of my bag to see who it is. To my surprise, it's Luke. I answer the phone, pretending everything is alright.

"Hey Luke." I say.

"Hey, sorry for calling, but I was just wondering when we could do the study thing. Turns out, I have no idea what I'm doing." I laugh.

"We can do it tomorrow if you want. I can give you a ride to my house or something." I tell him.

"That sounds good." It goes quiet for a moment before he speaks again. "I don't wanna sound like I'm intruding, but are you okay? You sound like you've been crying." I take a deep breath.

"Just some family stuff. I'll be okay, but that's for asking." I tell him. We wrap up our conversation and before I know it, we've been talking on the phone for over an hour.

When we finally hang up, I start watching TV while laying on the couch until my dad gets home. When he does, he walks into the living room and sees me lying there.

"You alright kiddo? You're usually in your room when I get home." He says, seeming concerned. I sit up and look him in the eye.

"When I got home, mom was here. She told me that you told her to wait until after you got home. Did you know that she was here?" I ask, my eyes filling up with tears again. He sets his stuff down and sits next to me.

"I had a feeling she wasn't gonna listen to me. Cass, I'm so sorry that she did that. I wanted to talk to you and ask you how you felt about your mom coming back before she did."

"So, are you two back together or something?" I ask him.

"No, but she wants to be in your life. She has a stable job and an apartment not far from here. She's really trying, sweetheart."

"If she's trying so hard, she wouldn't have shown up here high out of her mind." I tell him. His eyes go wide.

"She told me that she's been sober for the last three years."

"People like her lie all the time. Why you continue to believe her is shocking." I grab my stuff and get up, storming to my room. I slam the door behind me and feel tears streaming down my face. I grab my phone and dial Luke's number. I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust him.