Where You Belong (Luke Hemmings)

-Chapter One-

If today's the day I die
Lay me down under the lights
Let me fall in love
Let me save a life
And let me lose my voice
Singing all my favorite songs
Let me stare up at the stars
'Cause it's where we all belong
The Cab played softly in my earphones while I sat on the bus looking out the window. I watched the scenery and tried to block out the rowdy noise of the popular kids at the back. It was Friday, and I could hear Calum Hood talking about a gig they were playing at that night.
Trying not to look obvious, I strained to listen to what Calum was saying. Calum was in a band. Not that I cared, it was just that that band also contained Michael. And my neighbour Ashton.
And Luke.
I sighed. You would have thought after ten years I would have gotten over my crush. But no. Luke has only spoken to me five times since the very first day we met. And I remember every single conversation; the first time, he asked me to kick him a ball in Grade 2, then in Grade 4 he said my drawing of a horse was "cute", in Grade 5 I bumped into him and he said "sorry", in Grade 7 he asked me to pass a worksheet to him and last year he was practicing with the band at Ashton's house and we had accidentally gotten their mail. All the other guys said "hey". Luke said hi.
Stupid that I remembered.
The bus jerked to a stop and I grabbed my bag and swung it over my shoulder. I stood up and walked to the front of the bus, thanking the driver. Calum got out behind me. We never spoke. He headed right to Ashton's house while I went left to mine. I opened the front door and dropped my bag by the couch before making my way to the kitchen. I could hear Michael's engine rev past my house and I looked out the window. Michael is a year older than us so he's already got his Ps. He got out of the car and headed to Ashton's garage. Luke's mum must be dropping him off. I grabbed a doughnut out of the packet on the counter and grabbed my bag and headed up to my room. I could see the street from my room. It was about 4:15 when a car pulled up outside Ashton's house.
Dressed in black skinny jeans and a red flannel, Luke climbed out of the car. He grabbed his guitar from the backseat before waving his mum off. I watched him as he walked up the driveway completely unaware he was being observed. I watched him until he disappeared into Ashton's garage.
I sighed and put my earphones so I could focus on my English homework. I don't know how long I'd been working when I heard the front door open.
"Hi mum," I called down to her.
I got up and bounced down the stairs where my mum was sorting the mail.
"Bill... bill... bill... oh and one for the Irwins. Honestly you would think the Irwins live here for the amount of their mail we get. Em, would you mind sending this over for me?"
I picked up the envelope and nodded. "Sure."

I had butterflies in my stomach walking over. I looked down and realised I was still in my uniform. I groaned internally. Norwest's uniform wasn't  particularly flattering and I probably looked like the biggest dork. I walked up the stone driveway and saw Mrs Irwin wasn't home yet. Which means that I would have to go into the garage and give it to Ashton. Great.
I could hear the beat of the drums from the garage and my blood heated as I stepped closer. I walked into the garage and stood there awkwardly since they hadn't seen me come in. It took them about 10 seconds before Michael looked up and said "Uh, Ashton."
Ashton looked up and smiled. He got up from behind the drum kit and a sigh of relief nearly escaped my lips as I saw he was in his Richmond High school uniform.
"Hey Emily, what's up?"
Luke looked up as Ashton said this but then returned to tuning his guitar.
I looked back at Ashton.
"Oh. Um your mail..."
He broke into a grin. "Again! Emily if you wanted to see me you could have just come over. You don't need to steal my mail to use it as an excuse." He winked.
"Oh um..." I stared at my shoes. I knew he was joking but I could feel Luke watching our exchange.
Ashton sensed my discomfort. "I was just kidding. Thanks for bringing it over." He took the envelope from my hand.
"S'okay," I mumbled. I turned to go.
"Hey Emily you doing anything tonight?"
I turned to face Ashton. "Um I don't think so."
"Good. We're doing a gig tonight and it's a BYO audience, so we're trying to get as many people as we can. You interested?" Ashton looked hopeful.
It meant seeing Luke tonight. I smiled weakly. "Sure."
"Great." He gave me the address. "Oh, and you should bring your friend, what's her name-"
"Aleisha."
I looked at Luke who quickly turned his head down.
Calum called out "Yeah of course Luke would know."
I looked down at my fingers, unsure of what to do.
"Yeah, whatever. See if she can come along too. The more the merrier." Ashton beamed. "The gig's at 7."
"Okay." I turned and headed home, my brow furrowed. Luke knew Aleisha. Well of course he knew her, they went to the same school. But Calum's comment after... The familiar feeling of jealousy returned to the pit of my stomach. I sighed and pulled out my phone.

To: Leish
Ashton's band is playing tonight. Wanna go support?

She responded almost immediately.
Sure! I'll come over now to get ready.

I smiled. Aleisha pretty much lived at my house. And she definitely wasn't the quiet girl she used to be. At least not with me. I unlocked my phone and looked at the time. 5pm. That gave me an hour and a half to get ready before we had to leave.