Gotta Get Out (a five seconds of summer story)

Chapter 14

At the end of the day I get in my truck and pull up Luke’s address in my GPS and follow it all the way there. I don’t see any other cars in the driveway and assume that I am the first one there. I have absolutely no idea what to do now. I roll down the windows and turn the truck off and place my pink earbuds in my ears. I pull up one of their covers on YouTube and decide to listen to it. I close my eyes and let Luke’s voice fill my head.

I see you driving round town with the girl I love and I’m like forget you.

I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough

 I’m like forget you and forget her too

Said if I was richer I’d still be with ya

Then I feel the earbuds being yanked from my ears and my eyes being covered by somebody’s hands. “Guess who” I hear from beside me. I turn my head but the hands won’t let up. I hate this game because what if I’m wrong then I feel like a terrible friend for not knowing who. “Just tell me!” I say not wanting to guess. “Nope you have to guess.” The voice says. “Ugh fine then Luke?” I say earnestly hoping that I’m right. The hands are pulled away from my face revealing Luke. Thank goodness I got it right. “Creeping on my covers?” he asks looking down at my phone. I blush and say “Yeah I just thought I would study up before practice.” “Wow you were the first one to get here and you are studying. Maybe you should rub off on Michael and Calum and get them to step up” Luke says and we both laugh. I put my phone back in my pocket and climb out of my truck. I see Michael and Calum both pull into the driveway and we all walk into the house together. His house is modest and tastefully designed. Peoples’ houses say a lot about them and his house fits him pretty well. “Heyooooo!” Luke yells through the empty house. The house goes quiet for a moment. “Well I guess nobody is home” Luke says as he shrugs and leads us into the kitchen. The boys all help themselves to his food and I hang back not wanting to intrude. “Just help yourself to anything really. Bowls and plates are over there. Cups are over there and silverware is over there if you need it” He says to me sensing my hesitation. I join Michael at the pantry and grab a box of cereal and pull it out of the fridge. “Here pour me a bowl too. I’ll grab the milk.” Luke says handing me two bowls and two spoons. I pour two good sized bowls full of the cereal and Luke brings over the milk. Skim milk, I like this kid. I pour some milk into my bowl as he puts the cereal back into the pantry and pass him the jug when I finish. Calum has a slice of cold pizza and Michael has a pack of strawberry pop tarts. We all sit at the counter and the boys blow off some stored energy. “Ready to get cracking?” Michael asks clapping his hands together. We all voice our exclamations then race each other downstairs. “Okay one quick rehearsal then we can knock the socks right off this thing!” Calum says before they run the song through. As I’m watching I look around the room and see some of the most random stuff. There is a rubber chicken, a Halloween mask, some girly speakers and a bottle of some hairspray looking stuff. I pick the bottle up and read the label. It says that it is this hairspray that turns your hair red for like Halloween and stuff. Cool. “What do you have there Kaylee?” Calum asks eyeing the can in my hand. “Oh nothing” I say innocently as I take the top off and position my finger in the ready to spray position. “Just this!” I yell as I spray it all over Luke’s head. Luke yanks the bottle out of my hand and begins to drench my hair in it and we go back and forth until the can runs empty. “Ready to record?” I ask laughing because I realize that Luke will have red hair for the video. They laugh and I press the record button. They give a short intro then start the song. It was good, but they should probably spend a little more time learning the lyrics and less time goofing around. “Well let’s see it” Luke says reaching for the video camera. “Nope” I say simply. I grin at them sending a challenge and they grin back as if to accept the challenge. Next thing I know I’m at the bottom of a dog pile and the video camera is being forced out of my fingers. “Ouch guys you are going to break me” I squeal from the bottom of the dog pile and I hear the video being played. I patiently lie on the ground waiting for them to finish watching the video. “I’m pretty you guys punctured my lungs” I say as they get off me one by one. In reality it was my boobs that hurt but there was no way I was going to tell them that. “Luke I don’t want to shoot another one. I say we just keep the one we’ve got.” Calum says straightening up his hair. Michael agreed and Luke just shrugged his shoulders in agreement. “Hey Kaylee check this out” Luke says grabbing the guitar from off the chair. He plays something crazy on his guitar and I give him a round of applause. Next thing I know the guitar is being passed around and it has turned into some kind of strum off or something of that sort. “Can’t you boys keep it down!” I hear a female voice yell from upstairs. “Sorry” he calls as the battle dies. They all rush upstairs to greet Mrs. Hemmings. “Nice to see you boys and who is this?” she asks looking at me. “Oh yeah this is our friend Kaylee. She is new at school this year.” Luke explains to his mother. “New to Australia actually” I mutter under my breath. “Well it is nice to meet you Kaylee. You are welcome here anytime.” She says as we shake hands. “Thank you Mrs. Hemmings” I say politely. “Well Cal and I best be heading home. We have a Spanish project to work on.” Michael says before him and Calum give me and Mrs. Hemmings hugs. “Need any help with anything?” Luke asks his mother once the others are gone. “Actually if you wouldn’t mind helping to get some groceries out of the car that would be wonderful.” She says and we both walk out to her car and begin to shuttle groceries inside.