the buddy system / lrh 🍒

2:the zoo

Katherine wanted to puke, but she didn't know why exactly.

Maybe it was because she had to be buddy's with Luke Hemmings for a day. Or maybe it was because a sixty year old woman was driving a huge ass school bus like a psychopath.

Either way, she felt sick and it wouldn't go away.

"You look dead" Luke stated, making her glare at him, though she refused to even talk to him. He was the reason they were stuck together anyway.

For all that Katherine knew, if he had just kept his stupid mouth shut, she could have been sitting in this godforsaken bus with Calum, someone she actually enjoyed being around.

The blonde frowned at her lack of response, a scowl beginning to spread across his pale face. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a quite violent jolt of the school bus stopping in front of the zoo gates.

Overreacted groans sounded the air, only to be silenced as the old, frail looking lady hobbled her way into their sights. The air hung silent and awkward amidst her presence. Sure, she was old, obviously, but when angered, she could even scare Luke away, and he was practically fearless.

Well, either that, or he was just reckless, which made sense too.

Mrs. Reynolds cleared her throat, looking at the crowd of annoyed and still-half-asleep teenagers as a whole.

"Okay, it is now 7:30 am, we'll be leaving here at 2:30 pm." She reminded them all in a slightly happier tone that the one she had used with Katherine and Luke.

"And if you are even the slightest bit late, i will leave you" she deadpanned, causing the air in the bus to suddenly still with awkwardness and the fear of having to walk two cities home.

"But of course, have fun!" The old woman added in the cheeriest of tones, as if their unspoken fear brought her joy, which Katherine understood. They were all pretty much huge pricks.

And so the crowds of students shuffled out of the bus, appreciating at least one day more than usual of actually physically being away from school.

Immediately, Katherine stood to look for Calum, her eyes scanning the crowd desperately.

She stood up, making her way out of the bus as soon as she saw Calum move away with Michael Clifford, the air headed idiot that served as Luke Hemmings' best friend.

Luke groaned, following suit of the short red headed girl that anxiously moved through the crowds, pushing and shoving at whoever she had to, that is, until she ran into Mrs. Reynolds, or, as Luke liked to refer to her, Satan personified.

She looked at the both of them expectantly, her mouth etched into an unamused scowl and her arms crossed across her chest as if she knew all of their silly antics.

"Don't think that you two are off the hook" she said simply. "You're still each other's buddies and if i find out that you aren't together, i will fail you for the semester."

The two nodded as Mrs. Reynolds flashed them a surprisingly reassuring smile.

"It'll be fun, just follow the system."

--

"It'll be fun, just follow the system" Luke mimicked in his best Mrs. Reynolds voice. "Follow the system, my ass."

Katherine rolled her eyes, scanning the map in her hands silently as the blonde continued to whine like a baby beside her.

She refused to talk to him, and it had worked for the past twenty minutes, which initially surprised her.
The only downside? They haven't moved at least one step away from the front of the zoo.

Luke frowned, waving a hand in front of her face.

"You can't ignore me forever" he said after finally understanding what had been going on, and for once, he had made an actual valid point.

But Katherine was stubborn and an asshole so its not like she actually gave a flying fuck. Besides, it would be a sin to admit to Luke Hemmings that he was right. He wouldn't ever shut up then, even if he died.

"Yeah, i fucking can" she responded before making her way to the nearest attraction, with Luke following suit, mumbling curse words under his breath.

--

Katherine took back what she said.

No, she fucking couldn't.

Luke Hemmings was a very difficult person to ignore, mainly because he refused to give up. And he made it even more difficult for Katherine when all he talked about was Dolphins.

Dolphin this, dolphin that, i wanna see the fucking dolphins! It pissed her off to the point where she wanted to strangle him.

And the worst part was? The dolphins were nowhere to be found. Why? Because this zoo was a maze and certainly bigger than what they had expected.

"Katherine" Luke stated as they made their way out of the indoor Gorilla exhibit.

"Yes, Lucas?" She finally responded, eyes still glued to the map in her hands, which, though detailed an colorful, was absolute shit.

"Oh! You can talk!" He exclaimed. "I was beginning to thought you went mute for me" the boy explained, eyes fixated on the girl he was following through the dark halls leading out of the huge ass exhibit.

"I mean i do take girls' breaths away with my beauty."

Katherine made a gagging noise, stopping and turning towards him, annoyance etched onto her face, evident even in the darkness of the exhibit. "What the fuck do you want?"
She questioned.

"I want to see the dolphins" was all he had to say before she snapped.

"Thats all you've been saying for the entire fucking day! Like when the hell are you gonna give it up Hemmings? Do you have like this weird fetish for dolphins or something? I swear to god you are such a pain in the a-"

Luke covered her mouth, ignoring her ramblings muffled ramblings as he listened closely to his surroundings.

"What the fuck are you doi-" Katherine demanded, looking up at him as if he was a crazed lunatic.

The blonde boy lifted a finger up to his lips as the sound of a creaking gate closing sounded and soon after, the sound of a car driving off before the two of them were left in utter silence.

"I think were fucking locked in."