Pretending to Be Luke Hemmings

luke

"You've been seeing her, haven't you?"

My head snapped up to meet Marina's gaze as I sat on the couch, my eyes previously fixated on the television. Friends was on, and I could distinctly remember Lucy telling me that it was one of her favorite shows. I haven't gotten too far into the current episode, but I could already tell that I'm going to like it.

I let out a nervous chuckle, trying to remain as cool as possible despite myself. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you've been sneaking out constantly late at night, and arrive back here late in the morning," Marina explains, letting her lips pull into a smirk. "You've been seeing Lucy a lot."

I've been caught red-handed and there's no possible way that I could deny it. I sighed, "Fine, I have. What does it matter, anyway?"

Marina furrows her eyebrows, then proceeds to take a seat next to me. "Doesn't your late night visits to my friend who's currently masquerading as you might risk your prank being exposed?"

I shrugged. "I have important reasons."

She smirks again, crossing her arms. "Like what?"

"I'm not sure that I want to discuss this matter with you," I spoke, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Don't be so formal and just tell me," she says, rolling her eyes. "You can trust me, Luke."

I thought about it for a moment. I wasn't used to discussing things like this with anyone ever before; should I trust telling the best friend of the girl I like that I like her best friend?

My thoughts are obviously jumbled up.

"Well," I started, "Lucy doesn't like scary movies, and my mates made her watch one..."

"...So she was feeling frightened so you came to her rescue," Marina finished for me.

I nodded. "Then the other night she was feeling sick so I just wanted to help her out, I guess..."

"You know, there's a thing called Facetiming and Skyping."

I found myself saying without processing it in my mind, "Yeah, but it's not the same as seeing her in person."

"Luke," Marina spoke, raising her eyebrow at me, "do you have feelings for Lucy?"

My eyes widened and I shook my head, not wanting to admit it in front of her. "N-No, where would you get a crazy idea like that?!"

I felt my entire face heating up, and unfortunately Marina noticed. "You're blushing."

I huffed. "Find. Maybe I do. But it's not like she feels the same way, so what's the point?"

We both stay quiet for a few moments, until she said, "She could've texted me, you know."

I looked at her. "What?"

"She could have texted me to come over instead of you, but she didn't. She chose you," she explains. "If that doesn't say anything about the way she feels towards you, I don't know what does."

For some reason my heart started beating in my chest quite rapidly, as if an excited feeling was bursting through me. I tried to fight the smile off my face, but I really couldn't.

"You really think she likes me back?" I find myself questioning.

"I've known her for quite a long time, Luke," Marina chuckled. "I think I know my best friend right now."

After our conversation, I just couldn't stop thinking about Lucy. If she liked me back and I asked her out, it could put my prank plans into jeopardy. Trust me, paparazzi exists in Australia too. We shouldn't start a relationship now. It's not the time, anyway. And for some reason, that little fact breaks my heart a bit.