them.

he

"luke, just explain what happened please!" liz raised her voice.

"there is nothing to explain, don't you get that?" luke yelled back. the volume in his voice even shocked himself, but there was no turning back now.

"uh, yes there is! i get a call saying my son was being held for stealing and assaulting a worker? at a flipping fair?" liz folded her arms across her chest, and luke considered storming past her and up to his room. but this was still his mom.

he threw his arms up and let them fall to his sides. "yeah, i guess that's what happened. nothing to talk about mum."

"you guess? luke, you aren't making sense!" she shouted, obviously getting quite frustrated.

"what do you want me to say? you know the story, mom! do you just want me to say it out loud for your amusement?" luke tugged at his hair, probably pulling out a few strands.

liz laughed cruely. "yeah, luke. say it for my amusement. no! i want to hear it from your view."

"no you don't," luke mumbled.

"yes, luke. i do."

"maybe tomorrow okay?! just let me calm down," luke sighed, running a hand through his hair. liz nodded and he walked to his room without looking at her.

-

luke tossed and turned in his bed. why, why can other kids gets away with things and not feel guilty?, he wondered. he slammed his hands down at his sides, gripping the sheets of his bed. he was mad at cecelia, this was all really her fault. she just had to have that stupid stuffed bear. and that worker just had to be a pain and not give it to luke when he obviously won it.

luke jumped out of his bed, walking over to his bathroom and splashing water all over his face. he looked at himself with disgust. "you need to stop hanging out with cecelia," he told himself. "look what she's done to you."

"you will stop hanging out with cecelia," he said after a while of taking in all the flaws his body held. he squished his stomach and frowned. his shoulders were way to broad for his liking. his ears were weird. his teeth were too small. his nose was girly.

"you are going to stop hanging out with cecelia." the only reason he began pointing out these things were because she was the one to introduce them to him. she told him he should work out more, and should get plastic surgery on his nose.

for some reason, phoebe foster popped into his head. luke's heart rate began to steady. "phoebe wouldn't say those things to you."

obviously luke didn't know that because he'd never had a single conversation with her. he needed something to soothe himself. phoebe got the peace award, so what better use?

then he thought of danny. pretty, funny, sweet danny who needed some help with her friends papers. if he was going to hang out with someone younger than him, it should be her.

really, the kids in the grade below luke aren't that much younger than him. his birthday is in july, and he really should be in a grade below what he's in. his mother didn't want to hold him back, she thought it would make him look bad if he was the oldest. luke never understood the reason behind that logic. sometimes he wishes she did hold him back.

he turned back and got into his bed. he looked up at his ceiling. arrogant boy, love yourself so no one has to, he sang to himself. screw you, cecelia. you can choke on your misery.

and after that he fell into a blissful sleep.

-

luke woke up realizing it was sunday. happiness and sadness hit him like a bullet. happy because he had a whole day of nothing ahead of him. sad, because tomorrow he had school. also an added sadness, luke had to talk with his mom.