Too Late

Chapter 2

Luke's POV

It's been three weeks since Y/N moved here. She's my new neighbour, too. Right. Next. Door. There's something about her, though. She's not like other girls. She was constantly on my mind, I'm not sure why, but she was. I would always notice something different about her each day.

Not only are we next-door-neighbours, but we're lab partners, too. Mr. Finely assigned her next to me. Well, maybe he asked for volunteers to get up and give Y/N a seat, and maybe I made my old lab partner get up and volunteer. But that's just a maybe.

Y/N and I have multiple classes together. Science is the only one I get to talk to her, though. English, sometimes I get to talk to her. But World Cultures, we sit on complete other sides of the room. She doesn't talk a lot, I've noticed. Then again, she doesn't have many friends. Just that Ashton kid. Well, I shouldn't just call him 'that Ashton kid,' we were best mates when we were 10. That was seven years ago.

A lot happens in seven years. People change, we grew up. Friends turn their backs on each other. I'm not sure why Ashton and I stopped being friends. It might've been when I started playing football, I'm not sure. Ashton and Y/N probably would be good friends. I'm glad they are. They're both sort of wallflowers. They both used to be lonely. I'm glad they have each other now. But they're just friends, which is good. To be just friends.

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It's first period and we're learning something about Chemistry. I usually would be listening and paying attention, but something was distracting me. I love science, it's the only subject I'm good at, but I can't focus on Mr. Finely at the moment. Y/N kept playing with her bracelets. It wasn't just a fun play sort of thing - it was more of a re-arranging thing. But she laid them out so the were perfectly straight, almost as to cover something.

Maybe I should just ask about it? No. I don't want to seem like a mad person asking why she played with her bracelets. Everyone does it. It's just odd to see the way she did it. Maybe she just liked the way it looked all lined out? There was just something there. I'm not going to drop it this fast though.

First period flew by quickly. Yet, Y/N speeded out of the room even faster. I wonder what that's about?

Y/N's POV

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since I moved here and started going to school at North Valley. In those three weeks, quite a lot has happened.

- Luke Hemmings is my next door neighbour, my science partner, and one of the three people I talk to.

- Ashton Irwin is probably my only friend.

- Emily Smith is the only girl I speak to, and even then, it's not about a lot. She just checks in and sees how I'm doing. I really appreciate it, but I hate lying straight to her face. I'm not 'good.' Or 'fine,' like I say I am.

I befriended Ashton, like Emily said to. I was glad I did. We both aren't loners, anymore. Well, we still are, but at least we've got each other. He isn't really the most sporty, but he's wicked at the drums. When I'm having a bad day, I'll go over and listen to him play. It's surprisingly soothing.

First period. Mr. Finely kept going on and on about some odd chemistry thing. I tried to keep up, but my thoughts got the best of me. I started to tense up as the voices in my head grew louder and harsher. I needed to do something, I couldn't keep all of these words in my head, but there was nothing to do.

I made sure my bracelets were even on my arm. Each band covered my wrist. I could feel Luke staring, I wasn't sure what to do. I needed to make sure everything was on right. First period ended quickly, and I sped out of that room. Only a few more periods until lunch.

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Lunch rolled around and I sat with Ashton, like always. He eyed up my bracelet covered up arm.

"There's two more bracelets than there were yesterday." He quizzically stated.

Letting out a sigh, "I know."

"You wanna talk about it?" The worry in his voice, no ones ever been that nice or concerned about me before.

"Later, not right here where any one could hear."

A few more minutes passed by, until I felt someone over me. My body tensed up, I knew what was coming next.

"Oh, look. It's Y/N and Ashton." This one girl said sickly sweet.

"Ha! It's the school loners!" Another girl said mockingly.

"No one likes you guys." I could feel the ice cold stare behind me. Soon, they came to the side of the table to talk. The voices in my head were back, and worse than before. The three girls just made it worse.

I promised myself not to cry. I needed to show them that I was stronger than that. I mean, I'm used to it anyways. It was going to happen sooner or later, I was just hoping it wouldn't be this soon.

Ashton finally got enough courage to tell them off. That really saved me, if they were there another minute, I would've burst into tears. They said all the things I was already insecure about, and they added some more things that made me more insecure than I was before. I think a tear finally shed.

"Shh. It's okay, Y/N. Don't listen to them." Ash tried to comfort me.

It was too late. Their words had gotten to me, and I hated myself even more. Sighing, I took one more bite of my sandwich and got up to use the restroom. Feeling as if everyone was staring at me, I kept my head down the whole time.

That was until I ran into someone...