He Was P(L)uke

16

We all have bad days. Days in which things don't seem to go right at all. For instance, being lied by someone you trusted. Not getting a promotion when you've worked hard enough. Or simply realizing you're not living the life you once wanted to live. We all have those days. And I was having it.

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that bad things happen. Big things too. And good things are part of that too.

"Want to get some ice cream?" Ashton asked, really trying to cheer me up. "It could help get your mind out of all this."

"No, thank you." I sighed. He nodded and kept driving. After Luke had blurted out that inconvenient affirmation and I threw up after that, Ashton rushed me out back to his car. And while he drove, my mind drifted back to my school days.

Oh boy. We all hate those. Waking up freaking early, having to rush all through the house looking for clean socks, and not even eating your food, more like gulping it. And that's just the beginning. The beginning of stress, anxiety, bad grades, good grades, hate, bullying, friends, gain, loose, deaths and over all... Love.

Luke Hemmings was my entire life. Every single moment that passed by, I could feel my heart beating faster when I saw him. I dreamt about him every night. Every song on my iPod reminded me of him. And that's love sickness, I know. But then I realized, I hadn't lived my life at the fullest. I had stopped myself to see him down the corridor, when at the end of the hall they were giving free cupcakes. I had lowered my grades in biology to look at him with big puppy eyes, when I could have an opportunity of studying science. I had stopped caring.

"You know what?"

"What?" Ashton asked carelessly.

"Stop the car." He quickly halted the car and turned to me with a confused expression. "We're going to eat some hot dogs!!"

-/-

"Another one! Another one!" The whole fast food restaurant screamed as I filled my mouth with hot dogs. A huge smile on my face and teary eyes due to the amount of food that entered my throat. "One more one more!!"

"Dude, careful there." Calum yelled amused, placing a strand of stray here behind my ear.

"I'm going to be okay." I baffled. I'm sure they only heard half of what I said since my mouth was full, but they got it.

"Keep going!" A girl behind me yelled. I held my finger up before swallowing my thirty-second hot dog.

"You're going to die if you keep doing that." Michael yelled, sliding on the seat in front of me. "I'm going to do the same." And he did, stuffing his mouth with hot dogs. We reached noon, full stomaches, and me throwing up on the sideway with Ashton yelling in the phone behind me.

"I fucking told you we're okay. No you didn't just heard anyone throwing up, it's a cow." He yelled at his father through the phone. Calum shook his head while he danced to the music Ashton's car was playing. And it all felt right.

"Hey dude." Michael called besides me as I kept puking my guts out. I turned to him with a dumbfounded face and bloodshot eyes. "Kiera is really fat." I chuckled, cleaning my mouth with my sleeve and sitting besides him. He shook his head and continued "I mean it. For a woman who's about one or less months pregnant... She's awfully fat."

"I've noticed that too and told Jack." Calum added while he still danced. "You guys wanna know my dance moves? First you put your hand on your-"

"No no." Ashton asked frustrated, ending the conversation he was having on the phone. "What did Jack said?"

"You have to dance with me or I won't tell you." He said with closed eyes, moving his hips in circles while 'Kiss Me Again' played in the background.

"Okay." Michael said rolling his eyes and standing up. After he helped me up with a tired look on his face, Calum began 'teaching' us.

"So you out your left hand, while the other stays in the hip. Then you begin rolling your hips in circles until you feel the flow." He said with a grin as we did the same. He quickly got his camera out of his pocket and filmed as me, Ashton, and Michael danced with huge smiles on our faces.

"So are you going to answer us?" Michael asked. Calum kept recording as he shrugged and said "Jack never told me anything. I just wanted to see you dance."

-/-

"How are you today?" The doctor asked. Calum had dragged me by force to see how the baby's checkpoint went. Yeah I know I had puked the day before, and I was ill for eating all those hot dogs like a pig. But I didn't wanted to stay home, more with my parents yelling or 'singing' as they say. Anyways...this Hood family we speak about, they are all too close for comfort. Like, someone is sick and has to go to the hospital. They all go together. Or someone has an exam at school, they all wait outside the classroom until the person finishes. Or even worse, somebody has to attend to a funeral, they all literally arrive together.

"Jesus, I'm okay." Kiera groaned. Luke squished her hand, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Stacy, who almost sat on top of Kiera's growing stomach, turned to look at me with sympathy. I rolled my eyes, and placed my head on Calum's shoulder.

"Okay, ready to know the sex of the baby?"

"Yes." They all spoke at the same time. Like Calum, Stacy, Kiera, Luke, Mandy, Brielle, Kate, Mrs.Hemmings, and a nurse, all placed on a room could join a choir and win the prize of most coordinated team on the Universe. That's how coordinated they were. Geez!

The doctor smiled, applying the blue slime on Kiera's stomach, and then dragging a white object while Kiera squirmed at the contact with the cold material.

"Are you sure you all want to be-"

"Yes." They all answered again in unison.

"Okay-"

"Yes." Fucking coordinated family.

The doctor shut her fucking mouth so they couldn't speak again. And as she rolled the object on Kiera's growing stomach, our anxieties grew together. I almost threw up of how nervous I was.

"So, there's two good news."

"Yes." They repeated.

"One, you're having a baby girl!" She exclaimed. Kiera beamed at Luke, a wide smile on her lips.

"Yay!" Mandy did a silly little dance from her place in the corner of the room, making us all laugh.

"And second, you're also having a baby boy."

"No." They yelled, including me, at the doctor in unison. Calum turned to me and passed me a paper bag and whispered 'I bought it from Gucci, just in case you need to puke'.

"Yes." The doctor said frustrated leaving the room quickly.

"No." They kept yelling, me laughing at everything with Calum recording.