Lost Boy

2

Luke

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Luke sat up groggily and looked at the clock, shutting it off.

5 a.m., great.

As Luke rolled out of the bed, he realized he had a piece of paper in his hands. He stuck it in his pocket and promised he would read it later. As he got up, Luke was surprised to see that there was already a large van in the driveway.

The teenager grabbed his bag, threw on a lightweight jacket, and headed out to the van where he was greeted by his mom, a driver, and his three band members.

"Ahh, there he is. Looks like little Lucas has just rolled out of bed," Michael teased.

"Haha, very funny," Luke laughed sarcastically. He contemplated reading the note now but decided to read it later, in private. He didn't want the others to know about it unless it was important.

Who leaves a note in somebody's hand while they're sleeping anyway? How did it get there?

Luke was internally questioning how the note had gotten into his room, much less his hand when the van pulled up to a large arena. Luke and his band members piled out of the vehicle and began speed walking to the back entrance, hurrying so that they didn't attract any attention.

Once they got through the doors,  they quickly found their dressing rooms and entered into their specified areas. Calum and Michael were to share a room and Ashton and Luke were to share a room.

They boys began to get ready but Luke slipped into the bathroom to read the note that was burning a hole in his conscience.

He unfolded the paper carefully, making extra effort to get rid of any crinkles so that the words were clearly legible.

"Hey, uhm, whoever this is. I'm Sydney and chances are, if you're reading this, you are my best friend's soul mate. Write your full name down on this piece of paper and a generalization of where you live and keep it with you at all times for the next week. Thanks."

What?

Why would he write his information down just to keep it with him? What did they mean by soul mate? Luke rolled his eyes and decided not to write anything on the paper yet. He wanted to ask one of the boys for their opinion first.

"Hey, Ashton!" Luke called as he emerged from the restroom.

Ashton looked up and raised his eyebrows as if asking What?

Luke slipped the piece of paper into Ashton's large hands and told him how he found it.

After examining the paper, Ashton looked up, "Man, have you ever heard of ASMF? Its that weird thing that some Americans believe happens on your sixteenth birthday.  You like, take form of your soul mate and if your conscience is strong enough, you can remember things and potentially meet the love of your life."

Luke stared at him like he was going nuts but, hey, Ashton was already nuts. 

"Man, I think you should do it. Write down the stuff and keep it with you. I'm a bit curious to find out if this really works," Ashton whispered to Luke as they began to get dressed for the show.

Luke wasn't too sure about this idea but hey, if Ashton thought it would be okay, shouldn't everything be fine? Luke grabbed a pen and scribbled down his name and the street name on which his house was located. He tucked it away in his pocket and silently vowed to keep it with him at all times. 

After the show, the boys came back to their respective dressing rooms and prepared to go out for a late lunch. Once they arrived and had ordered, they sat down at a table in the corner and began to eat. Not much talking was going on so Luke decided he should say something. Since he had been thinking about the note all day, that was what had come out of his mouth when he began talking, whether he wanted it to or not.

"So, I got this note last night. It said something about my soul mate. Ashton said it was that thing that Americans believe in. Whats it called? ASMF?" Luke splutteerd out subconsciously. 

All of the three boys stopped eating and turned their heads towards him. Some things were said that went along the lines of, "Are you insane?" and, "What did the note say?" Michael was staring at Luke so intently that he thought his head might have just popped off and rolled across the floor.

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. Forget I ever said anything," Luke mumbled into his meal. 

"No, Luke, I think it's pretty cool. Tell me about the note," Michael replied trying to figure out if Luke was being serious or just messing with them. Luke scrambled to get the wrinkled sheet of notebook paper out of his pocket and reached it across the table to his band mate.

Michael's eyes scanned over the paper and he passed it around the table to Calum when he was finished.

Now that all of them had read it, Luke was waiting for a reaction.

"Dude... thats some creepy shit," Calum whispered, handing the paper back to its owner.

It was Michael who spoke next, "I think you should just keep it with you. You never know... it could be real."

Luke was shocked. He assumed Michael would take the opportunity to make fun of him for thinking that it might mean something, but thats the opposite of what was happening. This was a rare occurrence and Luke was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"You really think I should? What if its from creepy fan who wants my address?" Luke sputtered, wanting Michael to keep reacting in a positive way.

Michael chuckled and shook his head, "How would it have gotten in your hand if they didn't already know where you live."

Luke felt stupid for saying anything. He always seemed to ruin a conversation by saying something he didn't think through. He sighed and laughed as the band got up to throw their trash away and leave to their bus.