He Was P(L)uke

5

"Oh hey Charlie. I'm puke." He said and waited for me to shake his hand. I shook my head and just shut my eyes.

Stampede [stam-peed]

noun.,

a sudden, frenzied rush or headlong flight of a herd of animals or people

That's exactly the opposite of what happened when I threw up all over this Luke Hemmings we've been speaking about. Everyone stayed quiet, looking over at us. Even Calum was there, with the freaking camera documenting my whole life.

"Damn, Judd." Ben slurred as he came towards us. My eyes were wide and tears began making their way down my cheeks. Dude, I had just thrown up over me and my damned crush. Before doing anything at all, I took a short glance at Luke. His eyes were wide just like mine, but I didn't expect him to be laughing. He chuckled loudly and threw his head backwards.

"Tell them." I muttered crying. "Stop ruining everyones lives and please just tell them."

He cleared his throat and exhaled a huff of air. He nodded as his eyes began getting red. "Ummm... I just wanted to say... That... I got Kiera pregnant." Shots were fired, people gasped and yelled, babies cried and lions roared. And just like that, my brows furrowed, as I felt a lump of vomit coming again through my throat. And BOOM again. People literally scowled at me with their looks and gasped loudly at the scene.

I covered my mouth and began sobbing in it and Luke just sighed and ran away, leaving me there. Calum walked towards me with a towel in his hands, and placed it over my face. Without saying anything, Ashley Moore, the school's slut, began yelling. And just like a stampede, everyone did too and ran towards the entrance of the ballroom. I clenched the dress with my fists and began sobbing. This can't be happening.

Calum came back with another towel in his hands, and began cleansing my dress.

"It's alright, Charlie." He said soothingly. I sank on my knees and sat crisscrossed on the cold tiles of the floor. Calum kept running the towel on my dress, making the orange slime to disperse around it. To my dismay, Jenna Keegan hadn't left the party and was looking at me with a judgmental face. My eyes dropped, and I began groaning.

"Jenna you can't walk around with that mask." Calum said and I laughed lightly. The old woman scoffed and walked away.

"Ready." Calum muttered and sighed. "It's okay, just breathe." He said. I shook my head and hugged him closely to my body. He began squirming away with horror in his face. "I love you, Charlie, but there's vomit on your dress and you smell like pure shit."

I giggled quietly as he smiled at me. Suddenly, Kiera and Stacy came out of the bathroom with worry-filled expressions. Stacy ran towards me with her jacket, and secured it around my shoulders.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" She asked worried. I shook my head and began crying again. She took my arm and made me stand up as Kiera looked at me with bloodshot eyes. I began hyperventilating. Calum stood up and tried to calm me down by doing breathing exercises with me. But then someone farted. A fart. A noisy and smelly little fart.

"Who was that?" Calum asked chuckling.

"I supposed it was you, mate." Stacy said pointing at Calum. He shook his head with a smile. Dude, it smelled awful. "Was it you, Kiera?"

"That doesn't matter." She sighed, and I could sense she felt insecure with us silently judging her. We all stayed quiet for a moment; Calum looking at the entrance, Stacy looking at her sister with confusion, and Kiera biting her lip. After a few seconds, I finally spoke.

"It's Luke's." I whispered. She shut her eyes as tears began rolling down her blush-covered cheeks.

"It's Luke's." She repeated. I shook my head and backed away from her. Since I was fifteen, Kiera had always asked me who my crush was. I would always answer 'Luke Hemmings'. Now, if I asked her 'Who's the baby from?' she would answer 'Luke Hemmings'.

Just like I did.

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Stacy asked confused. I shook my head and began sobbing again. Calum placed his arm over my shoulders and nuzzled his face on my hair.

"Let's go." He said.

"Stacy." Kiera said. "I- I am pregnant." Stacy smiled happily and went to hug her sister. I threw my head backwards and tried to stop myself from sobbing so much. Calum ran his tongue over his teeth and spoke.

"It's not Ben's, Kiera. Just stop this drama."

Stacy's face dropped as Kiera shook her head. Kiera sighed softly and looked at me in the eyes. I closed mine and began begging her to just shut up. My head was feeling light, and I wanted to throw up again. But I resisted. Just like I resisted the urge to hit Kiera on the face.

"Who's it, then?" Stacy asked. Kiera smiled sadly at her youngest sister and said "It's Luke's. Luke is going to be the father." Stacy gasped and slapped her sister across the face, then looked over at me and gave me a huge soothing hug. I closed my eyes and snuggled her embrace.

After a few minutes, Kiera and Stacy left, leaving me alone with Calum. But his father called, and told him he would be grounded if he didn't arrive home in two minutes. So I dismissed him with a side hug.

I walked to the entrance and sat by the stairs. I covered my face with my hands and let it all out. Sobs, cries, groans. This was the worst nightmare I had been part of. I wanted to wake up. Not only had I embarrassed myself in front of old friends and other people, but I also had just made a fool of myself in front of my platonic love.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"Oh Luke." I said surprised, sighing and looking over to my right. There stood Luke with his hands on his pockets as the moon lit up his face. "I thought I was alone. You were the one who farted, isn't it?" He chuckled and nodded. "You smelly little boy!"

"Do you want me to take you home?" He repeated as the smile disappeared from his face.

"No, thanks. My home is a few apples away. I should be leaving now." I stood up, him nodding lightly.

"It's okay, by the way. I mean, the whole throw up was okay" He smiled. "It's actually a pretty warm welcoming, you know? Oh and for the people... Let them say what they want. They're irrelevant to you and I."

"Thanks." I said confused. I breathed in and out, grabbed Stacy's jacket, and walked home.