The next day I walk into English all sluggish. I think inviting him over for dinner is possibly the stupidest idea I've ever heard. He would hate that. Everyone would hate that. Our family dynamic is the worst thing ever to exist.
Luke sits down next to me once again and doesn't say a word. He just takes out his notebook and gets things all situated. I notice him beginning to draw something. I try not to say anything.
"You good?" I hear a low voice ask me.
I look next to me and I see him staring back at me. He keeps his head pointed upward and only looks down at me. He scratches his chin.
"You're tapping your hand on the desk and you look preoccupied."
I notice my rapid tapping and I immediately stop.
"My brother is suspicious." Is all I say.
Luke doesn't really say anything to respond. I'm not too sure he knows what to conclude from that. I wouldn't know how to respond either.
I take a deep breath. "They want you over for dinner."
He curses under his breath and sits back in his chair. "Well is that what you want?"
I pause. I mean could dinner get any worse? "I guess so."
—after school, Friday —
I pile into Raven's car. She drives me over to a house that is about five minutes of walking from my house. As we approach the driveway, people who are already there get out of their cars. A couple new faces—guys and girls.
Raven runs up to the other two girls and hugs them. I follow alongside her. Everyone walks into the backyard and down a small slope. Then we approach a door underneath the deck. Raven opens the door and we walk into this living room with a pool table, a sitting area, and a tv. There are some guys playing pool with Luke who has a cigarette in his mouth.
We didn't talk at all for the rest of the week. We went back to ignoring each other. It was so obvious that we were next to each other, we just did our best to not acknowledge it. At lunch, I'd notice Luke would sometimes be staring at me without realizing. But that was about it.
The girls stand aside and watch.
"This is Suzanne and Jillian. We all went to middle school together. Guys, this is Bea. She's from America." Raven smiles.
We all exchange a hello. The girls seem very nice, but I feel a bit left out because Raven clings to them more than she does to me. I awkwardly stand their with my arms crossed while watching the guys play pool.
At about 7pm, we all sit on the couches and open up the bottles. On our couch sits Jillian, Nate, me, Raven, and Suzanne. The other couch has a guy, Ethan, Luke, and two other guys.
Everyone appears to be pouring their own drinks. Some have punch with their alcohol, others have coke, others sprite. Luke subtly slides me a cup with sprite and something in it. He must've picked up on my cluelessness. I send him a smile of thanks. Then he pours some straight alcohol into a solo cup, filling it up.
I take a sip and initially hate the taste. My nose scrunches by default. As time goes on, I try harder to focus on the sprite than the alcohol.
"Bea, have you ever had a boyfriend?" Suzanne asks.
Heat rises to my cheeks. I giggle. "Um, no..."
Everyone in the room lets out a "What?!"
"I'm a reserved person. And I was homeschooled." I try to justify.
Jillian jumps in. "Have you kissed anyone?"
I begin to get nervous. I glance at Luke to see if he sends me any queues as of what he has told people. Instead, he takes a chug of his drink and gives me the same blank expression as everyone else. I realize if I answer yes, they probably wouldn't know who.
"Oh yeah, definitely." I say into my cup.
Ethan changes the subject. "So what did you do at the party?"
I shrug. "Oh, you know...walked around for a bit, talked to some people, and then went back up stairs after some time."
"Where did you sleep?" Raven questions further.
Luke quickly stands up. "I'm going to go make some cookies. Bea, come with me so I don't hurt myself please."
YOU ARE READING
Psycho | Beatrice
Fanfiction"Luke," I cry. He interrupts me. "I need you to trust me. Please. I love you and I would never hurt you. We're going to get out of here."
