A Whole New Freaking World

Surprise!

Thanks to my mom's paranoia, I get the rest of the week off.

Luke doesn't call, or visit, and apparently he hasn't been in school all week, but Dustin and Ian come over everyday after school. Kayla visits too, but only when the guys aren't there. There seems to be some sort of feud going on between them.

My mom won't let Kyle visit, and she won't tell me why.

I keep asking, but no one will tell me what happened at the party. Why is it such a big deal?

On Saturday, Luke finally comes to visit.

I hear a knock on my door, and expecting my mom, I don't bother to cover up. "Do we have some candy left? I ate too many vegetables this week. I need to unhealthy-size myself."

I turn around, and there he is, looking like a god. His mouth is hanging open, and his eyes wide.

"What are you doing here?"

He continues to stare before realizing what he's doing and closing his mouth. "You...might want to put something on. But I'm not complaining."

Then, I realize I'm only in a bra and panties and I scream.

"Why didn't you say something before?" I yell, and run into the closet to grab a robe. 

"I was having a two minute moment of silence," he calls from my room.

"You stood there for two minutes?" I face-palm and then quickly pull away. Every time I touch my face too much, I get acne.

When I'm dressed, I walk out of the closet. "So where have you been all week?"

He's lying down on my bed. "What do you mean?"

"I heard you've been M.I.A all week," I lie next to him.

"I had some things to deal with at home."

I wait for him to continue, but he doesn't.

"Is everything okay now?"

"Not really," he sits up, "so I heard your birthday's coming up."

I sit up too, "My birthday already passed this year."

"Well I heard it's coming up again next year. I wanted to get you a gift."

I smile. "Okay. What did you get me?"

"It's a surprise. It will be here in a couple minutes."

"Really?" I love surprises.

"Yeah," he smiles at my excitement.

I squeal and hug him. "Thank you!"

He hugs back and I actually feel butterflies in my stomach when he presses our chests together. I pull away slowly and he lets me, then he lifts my chin, and looks into my eyes. I hold my breath, and he guides my lips towards his, turning his head slightly. 

My mom knocks on the slightly ajar door, opening it slowly and we pull apart quickly.

"Av, your gift is here," she has the biggest grin on her face like she just won the lottery.

I run past her, and down the stairs. In front of the door, there is a brown box with holes in it. I pause when I'm standing right in front of it and the box moves. If there's a snake in here, and this is a prank, somebody's getting beaten up.

I swallow my fear and take the lid off the box, only for all the sides to fall and inside...

There sits a puppy.

There's a bow tied loosely around its neck, and it bounces as the puppy runs into my arms.

Luke sits next to me on the floor while I play with the puppy. "My friend's dog had puppies and I told her I knew the perfect girl who would take proper care of one. The next day, I got in contact with your mom, and we arranged it."

I kiss his cheek, and then have the puppy do the same. "Thank you. This means so much to me."

He smiles sadly. "I wanted you to have a companion, in case you remembered what happened that night and I wasn't around."

I stop rubbing the puppies belly and look at him, but I don't bother to ask because I know he won't tell me. "I think I'll call her Athena."

My mom comes down the stairs, taking pictures.

"Smile!" we do as she says.

After twenty minutes of just playing with Athena, Luke's dad calls for him to come home.

"I'm heading home now," he stands up. "I'll see you in school."

"Thank you again, Luke. You're a really great guy."

After opening the door, he turns back to me. "You wanna hang out tomorrow? You can bring Athena."

"Of course," I smile, and Athena barks.

"I'll text you."

He says bye to my mom and smiles at me one more time before leaving.

I wake up early the next morning and my mom and I go shopping for all the things Athena could possibly need, and more.

We get home at around two and she runs to greet us, quickly forgetting about me when she gets her new toys.

I want to look my best when I go over to Luke's tomorrow for some reason, so I take a quick shower(since baths are gross) and spend twenty minutes looking for the perfect casual outfit. I get dressed and curl my hair a little, taking my time putting on mascara and a little eyeliner. I don't like lipstick, so I put on a little chap-stick and I'm good to go.

I call Athena and when she finally appears, I put on her harness and we head out to Luke's.

"I'll be back for dinner mom," I call when I see her watching TV in the living room, and she waves me off, not wanting to miss her show.

Walking outside, I see Lexi walking a puppy almost identical to Athena. I never really saw her as a dog person before. Some people really surprise you.

"Ava!" she calls, walking up to me, pulling the puppy along.

Athena starts to growl for some reason, so I put her in the car before Lexi gets to me, rolling down the window so she can breathe.

"Hey. I didn't know you had a dog."

"I just got him yesterday. Luke gave him to me."

My heart drops into my stomach, but I force myself to smile. "Really?"

She giggles. "Yeah. He is so sweet to me. He said he found these two dogs, and he gave the other one to some slut he knows who likes dogs. He said she can't take care of herself, but she can take real good care of dogs."

Did you hear that? That was my heart, breaking.

"I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

She hugs me and I cringe inwardly. "Okay. Bye!"

"Bye," I get in the car, put Luke's address in the GPS, and drive. Athena seems to sense my discomfort, and she licks my face when I reach a stoplight. I laugh and pet her, but move her to the backseat just to be safe.

I call Luke when I get to his house, and ask him to meet me outside. He does.

"You told Lexi I was a slut?"

A/N

What do you think of Lexi?

What do you think of Luke?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and thanks for reading! <3

This chapter was kind of rushed, but I can't decided if I want to drag the story on for more chapters, or hurry it up to get to the point. There's a lot more Luke hasn't told yet, and Ava has family I plan to have visit.