Luke is currently hiding in the kitchen under the table.
"Luke! Get back here!" I holler.
"No! I'm not finishing that movie!" He's curled up in a ball with his hands covering his ears and his eyes shut tight.
"It's not that bad!" It's bad.
"I don't trust you anymore! Please, turn it off!" I sigh as I give in to his command. I turn the movie off and walk out to him.
"Come on. It's off." I look down at him. He glares up at me.
"Fine." He crawls out from under the table. Once he's fully stood up, he towers over my 5'6 frame with his 6'4 shadow. "You no longer have my trust." He says before he turns on his heel and walks back to the living room. I laugh as I follow.
"I'm tired. Let's go to bed." I state. It's only 6:45.
"Why? It's not that late."
"I'm just tired. It's been a long day."
"How? All you've done is watch TV." He's right. All I have done is watch TV. Normally I would do my homework. Homework...Shit!
"Luke!! I need the homework and notes from today!" I shout. He jumps at the sudden burst of noise.
"Oh yeah." He stands up and goes to his backpack. He opens it up and takes out...a shirt?
"Luke, why do you have a shirt?" He looks up at me.
"Oh. I kinda knew I'd be staying the night." He turns back to his bag and pulls out his books. "Here." He hands me all his notes and everything.
"Thanks." I take it gracefully and jog up the stairs to my room. "Remember to turn off the lights when you come up. And lock the front and back door and windows." I yell down to Luke.
"Yeah yeah. I know. I'll be up in a bit." He hollers back.
I sit down in my desk once I'm in my room. I open up Luke's notes and grab my notebook. I'm stunned on all the notes he took. He took as many as I would. If only he'd do this every time we take notes.
I begin to copy the notes down and the homework assignments. It takes some time to do but I finally finish copying and the homework assignments at 9:00. I put my books back in my backpack and Luke's books on the edge of my desk.
I walk into the bathroom. I remove my makeup and wash my face. When I'm rinsing my face off, Luke walks in. He grabs the toothbrush he keeps here and starts brushing his teeth. I dry my face off and follow his lead. We finish brushing our teeth and walk back into my room. Luke goes in my closet and comes back out with a pair of pj pants and an old band tee.
"Have those always been in there?" I ask. He nods his head. "Stashing things in my house, eh?" I laugh. Luke nods again. He's tired. He usually goes quiet when he's tired.
He quickly changed in the bathroom as I change in my room. I put on a pair of black shorts and keep my tank top on. Luke walks back out, tosses his black skinny jeans and blue t-shirt in a corner and flops down on my bed. He pulls the covers up on himself and scoots all the way over to the wall. I laugh as I get in next to him and lay down.
****
I wake up the next morning at my normal 5:30 time. Luke is still asleep. Yesterday was Thursday, one of his shower days. I'll let him sleep in then.
I get out of bed quietly and walk to the bathroom. I take off my pj's and set them on the sink. I turn on the shower and get in. I do my usual shampoo and condition before rinsing and getting out. I dry off with my towel and wrap it around my body. Next, I brush my hair and blow dry it. I walk back out to my room expecting Luke to still be sleeping. He wasn't still sleeping. He was sitting up, checking his phone. I make sure my towel is secure and walk in.
"Morning." I greet. He looks up. He doesn't look the best.
"Hey." He croaks. He looks back down at his phone. I grab a bra and underwear and head back to the bathroom.
As I'm standing in my bra and underwear, brushing my teeth, Luke knocks on the door.
"One minute!" I say as I spit my toothpaste out and rinse my mouth. I slip my robe on and open the door. Luke pushes past me and goes straight to the toilet. He kneels down, lifts the lid up, and just lets it out. I gasp as I watch my best friend puke into the toilet. I walk out to the hallway closet and grab a towel. When I get back to the bathroom, I hand him the towel to wipe his mouth off. I fill a a glass with water and hand it to him.
"You're not going to school." I say. He lets out a small laugh.
"Thanks mom." He says jokingly.
"Go lay down on the couch. I'll get dressed and meet you down there." He follows my orders and goes downstairs. I sigh as I flush the toilet one more time to get rid of the excess. I put on a sweatshirt and a pair of grey pj shorts and walk downstairs. I get downstairs and go to the kitchen. I pull out a big bowl know as 'the puke bowl'. Gross I know. I had it to Luke and step outside on the front porch. I pull out my phone and call Luke's mom.
"Hello?" She answers.
"Hey Liz. It's Catherine. I'm calling to let you know that Luke just puked in my bathroom and he's obviously not going to school."
"Oh no! I'll call the school and let them know. Are you going to stay home as well? I can call you in sick as well."
"That would be great. Thanks Liz!"
"No problem! Take care of him! Let me know if anything else happens."
"Okay. Thanks again! Bye!" I hang up and walk back in the house. Luke is laying there almost lifeless. I grab a blanket and throw it over him. "I'll make some breakfast." I say.
The only response I get is a groan. I know he can't stomach much right now. He needs something soft. I'll make pancakes. He can eat tiny bites with no syrup or anything.
I finish making the pancakes and walk out to the living room. I hand him a plate of a cut up pancake. He frowns.
"Oh, you thought you'd be getting a brand breakfast? Nah man. You gotta eat light. Or you'll puke again." I say as I take a bite of my chocolate chip pancakes. I made him just regular pancakes.
I'm eating my pancakes when someone knocks on my door. I get up and walk over and open it. As soon as I open it, I slam it shut.
"Who was it?" Luke asks.
"No one important." I respond.
"Hey! Open up!" I sigh as I open the door again.
"What'd you want Ashton?"
"I'm here to check up on my boy." He says as he pushes past me. "You made pancakes?"
"Yes. I did."
"Cool! Can I have some?"
"Now why would I give you food?" I snarl.
"Please?!?!"
"Fine." I mumble. He walks to the kitchen and starts opening pantries, trying to find the plates. He finally finds them and grabs one. He grabs a fork from the open drawer and puts a pancake on his plate. He drizzles syrup over it and walks back into the living room.
"Kitten, this is good!" He says as he swallows his first bite.
"Thanks." I say dully. "Now please hurry up and leave."
"Why are you kicking me out Kitty?" He pouts.
"You have school."
"Oh yeah!" He finishes quickly and walks to the front door. "See ya later Luke! Feel better!" I hollers. Luke just groans.
I stand at the door waiting for him to leave. As he walks out the door, he turns back to me and looks me up and down.
"Damn Kitten, you look great." He smirks. I roll my eyes.
"Leave." I say as I start to shut the door. Before the door clicks shut, his hand stops it and pushes it open again. He leans in close to my face, again.
"You know Kitten, you do look great with this outfit on. But I wonder how great you'd look without it."
