wasting time » lh ; mc

fifteen

:: 15 ::

       The thing about Luke, is that he may like how being a hockey player's son gets him attention, but he doesn't like the kind of attention he gets. No matter how much he says he willingly uses his father's name to get him friends, that's the exact opposite of what really happens.

Without the mention of Andrew, there's only ever been a few people he's gotten along with. Even bringing up his father, some people just don't care—well, they care, but not so much as to just be around to say they're friends with someone who happens to be related to a sports star.

So, when he finds someone who goes for the latter approach, it excites him. Especially when they know a thing or two about hockey and don't just try to impress him to get on his good side. Luke doesn't even care that much about the sport, despite what people think. He knows about it, knows when things are wrong, but that doesn't mean he cares as much as Andrew.

If it were Luke's life as much as it was his father's, he wouldn't be home at all. Just like Andrew. If it were Luke's life as much as it was his father's, he'd be home sometimes, but wouldn't stop talking about himself. Just like Andrew.

But that's not who Luke is, and he cares about how people's days were and he likes to hear about what others did on their own time.

Which is why Luke is smiling to himself while on the phone with Penelope—the girl he met at the school's hockey game—as she talks about what she was doing over the weekend. The girl lived on a farm, Luke had figured out. When Michael snapped at him and told him to leave, Luke went to hang out with Penelope like she had asked.

Luke ended up letting out a really pathetic squeal when he realized he had pulled up to a farm. His mom, who sat next to him, had laughed and told him to get out of the car.

They didn't do much, just sat against the shed and talked while Luke tried not to ask about the animals or farm every five seconds.

"Yeah, my mom made my sister clean out the pigs," Penelope laughed. "She hates working on the farm. Doesn't like getting dirty."

"But your pigs are so cute," Luke replied with a pout. "If you ever need help, you could always call me."

"Oh, yeah, I'm totally making the boy I'm interested in clean up pig pens with me," she said, Luke imagined with a roll of her eyes.

"Interested in?" Luke teased. It was different when Luke actually found someone attractive; suddenly he was actually confident, for whatever reason. He's still not sure why the change in attitude even happens, but it helps. A lot.

When he flirts, Luke doesn't just do it to lead anyone on. If he knows how it feels to have fake-something, why would he make someone else feel that way?

Again, Penelope giggled, "I guess you're alright," before Luke heard shifting on the other end. "It's almost midnight, Luke. We'll be walking corpses at school tomorrow."

"I'll see you then, Penny," Luke bid goodbye. A feeling was bubbling inside of him and, damn, he felt good. That hasn't happened in a while, and it almost felt foreign, but Luke liked it. He really, really liked it.

       At school the next day, it felt less like a Wednesday and more like a Friday. Or, maybe that was because Luke was just in a good mood. He hadn't talked to Michael since he went to check on him yesterday, which wasn't normal for the two of them anymore. If Luke was really going to admit it, Michael was becoming his best friend. He knew Michael had Calum, so it probably wasn't the same for him, but Luke didn't mind.

Speaking of Calum, that's who Luke saw Michael with when he got to school this morning. They always hung out in the cafeteria until the warning bell sounded, so it wasn't a surprise. But, Calum looked concerned and then he looked upset and then he looked pissed off—all while Michael seemed to be talking about something. The boy had bags under his eyes and a crease in between his brows, he was either taking whatever Calum was yelling at him or simply ignoring it. Luke couldn't tell.