Free Fall. // l.r.h.

Step 5: Stand Up to Them

The incessant blaring of our alarm clock informed me that 5:15 AM had rolled around again. "Lindsey, get up," I said, flickering on the light.
"Hm." Her voice came groggily, as if she had absolutely no intention of leaving her bed.
"Come on, we have to go today."
"Hm." She rolled over, facing away from me.
I rolled my eyes. "It's been two days, we can't keep the kids out of school any longer. Get up."
She sighed. "Fine. But since we don't have any way of getting there, you have to ask Luke to give us a ride."
Oh no. "What? Why me?" I squeaked out.
"Because this was your idea."

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I stood on Luke's porch, rocking back and forth on my feet from heel to toe. He came to the door with matted hair and a letterman's jacket with his last name embroidered on it. I couldn't help but smile at the particular pigment of crystal blue that filled his eyes as the sun shone through them.
"Hello?" He was waving his hand in front of me when I was brought back to reality. "Do you want something?
"Uh... I- well, we need a ride." Great job, Harper.
He closely looked at his watch, as if it wasn't worth wasting his time to speak to someone like me. "So what's in it for me?"
I was so taken aback by the question that I swear I nearly fell over. "E-excuse me?" His eyes stared straight at me. Wow, he's serious. "You're failing trigonometry." He finally broke eye contact, biting his lip as he stared down at the dark blue Converse on his feet. "I'll tutor you if you'll give my family rides to school."
I saw his pride building up behind his eyes. "Can't." He began to close the door.
"Wait!" It slowly reopened. I stared daggers into him point-blank. "My mother and father left us two days ago," I said bitterly. "You're telling me that you won't do this one stupid little favor for me? Are you really that selfish?" I looked over my shoulder at Lindsey standing with Maggie and Eli, adjusting their coats in the harsh wind. "For the kids, Luke."
I turned back to see something new hanging in his eyes. Compassion.
"Matthews... I had no idea. I'm sorry." I shrugged it away. "I'll take your family. We can meet after school and go over math." He grabbed his keys and walked to his car.
When he reached the shiny red sports car, he opened the door to the backseat, motioning for Maggie, Eli, and Lindsey to get in. I sat in the passenger seat beside Luke. He turned around, flashing a wide smile at Eli and Maggie. "Hi guys, I'm Luke. I don't know if we've officially met before. Looks like I'll be your driver for a while."

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Lindsey and I parted ways, her walking down the third wing and Luke and I walking down the second wing. We'd made it halfway to Mrs. Shephard's room in deafening silence when I saw Jace and Emma in the corner of my eye. Jace crossed over to my side and Emma followed, fingers interlocked with his and one hand clinging to the back of his jersey.
"Well, would you look who it is?" he sneered. "It's the geek freak here to ruin all our fun." I kept my head down and continued waking forward. "Hey," he demanded, grabbing my face to look him in the eyes. My heart was thumping so loud I was afraid Luke would hear it from behind me. "I know you hear me. Why don't you try talking for once?"
Tears rimmed my eyes. "I... I--"
He cut me off, finishing my sentence. "Wanna have another anxiety attack in the bathroom." His tone was shrill and dripping with mockery. Emma giggled, clinging to his arm more.
"That was what you were going to say, right?" she asked as she stared at me.
"Babe, she doesn't know how to talk. Don't wast your time on this pathetic--"
I felt an arm on my shoulder. "Wow, Jace, maybe if you were that aggressive on the field, you might actually make a touchdown." I looked up to see Luke's face fall dead serious as he glared at his teammate and held me close to his side.
Emma snickered again, this time at Jace. Luke raised his eyebrows. "What're you laughing about Emma? You're one tardy short of being booted off the cheerleading squad. Maybe if you two would have your make out sessions after class, then we'd have time to have this conversation. But for now, I suggest you both get to class."
He pushed passed them, and we continued to our classroom. "Thank you," I whispered.
"It was nothing." He shrugged.
And he might've been right. It might have just been nothing. But to me it felt like the world.