when we collide ✰ l.h.

Chapter 9

"Luke!" I called across the house from my spot at our kitchen table. I bit into the end of my pencil, feeling completely consumed by the annoyance of my work I was in need of doing. It's been 2 weeks into the school year and I'm already struggling.

"Yeah?" He shouted back.

"I need your help." I whined, tossing my pencil across the table. I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my messy hair. It was the weekend and I was spending my Saturday drowning in school work, which Luke should also be doing, but he always waits until Sunday night to get things done.

"With what?" He was now speaking in a normal tone and was walking towards my designated area at the round table.

"Calculus." I stuck out my bottom lip, knowing that he was just as good as calculus as I was at breathing. Luke pulled out the seat next to me and rested his chin in his hand as his other arm rested on the back of my chair. I watched him scan over the textbook and questions as he familiarized himself with the content.

"Autumn, we learned this in the 11th grade." He said, now turning his attention to me. I looked back down at the book then back up at him and I was now realizing that I have seen the problems before.

"Yeah, but that was two years ago." I complained as I rubbed my eyes. It was barely 11 o'clock in the morning and I felt like I could pass out any time soon. "I barely remember anything from last year."

"You remembered that writing prompt from last year." He muttered, flipping a page over.

"Yeah, but that was an english class. Not calculus." I rolled my eyes at him since we were now getting off topic. "Can you just help me?" I pleaded.

"Alright, alright, alright." He spoke. Just then he started pointing out all of the simple rules and little things that I had to do and how to process it all and how to work it out on my calculator, but Luke was basically a walking calculator himself. Which had really only come in handy in times like this and when I didn't know how much to tip our waiter at restaurants.

Back in high school, I had basically lost my ability of being able to maintain straight A's and ended my years sitting right in the dead center of my class. I never thought I was very good at anything since I did have to retake biology and I nearly failed math twice. But as the years progressed I found a lot of things that I'm good at, maybe not academically, but it did make me feel better. As for Luke, he was quite smart and was the reason I did not fail those math classes. He finished near the top of my class and I was envious of him, but I was always brought back to how much of an actual idiot he was. But the good kind of idiot.

We'd probably been sitting on these uncomfortable wooden chairs for nearly an hour now and I was just about done and just about getting the hang of it since my memory started kicking in and I remembered a few things about the jumbled numbers and letters and symbols.

"Easy, right?" Luke nudged my shoulder with his own just as I dropped my pencil down on the papers.

"Yeah." I said sarcastically, stretching my legs out underneath the table.

"You'll get it." He assured. I leaned back in my chair and groaned as he shook his head at me. "Want to finish the rest real fast?"

"Can you do it for me?" I pouted at him once again in hopes of getting him to budge.

"Uh, no. But I will do something for you. What do you want?" He shuffled through the pantry in hopes of finding some type of meal I'm guessing.

"Whatever you're making." I sighed. I stood up to see him tossing a box of mac and cheese into the air then a horrible attempt at a catch, then raw noodles all over our floor. I stopped in my tracks, giving him a blank stare. "Was that our last box of mac and cheese?" His eyes went wide and his lips pursed together into a flat line.

"No." He plainly said, trying to sound as truthful as possible, but he was a terrible liar.

"Wow! That's so convincing!" I clapped my hands together as he rolled his eyes at me. A smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth since I was always in the mood to bug him.

"I can literally taste your sarcasm." His eyes narrowed at me as we began picking up the macaroni that was scattered all along the tiled floors. It had looked like a kindergarten class and just had art class.

"Yeah, but can you taste the mac and cheese? No." I scooped the pieces into my hand and into the trash can, earning a glare from Luke who was still picking up a few pieces.

"I hate you." He said, grabbing my ankle in an attempt to trip me. I stumbled over slightly yet was able to compose myself quickly.

"Do you really?" I questioned as he stood up and followed my actions. He took a step towards me while brushing his hands over his jeans to wipe off anything he could've gotten from off the floor.

"Shut up." He sneered now looking down at me from his normal height.

"Make me." I taunted.

To my surprise, he'd taken me by my sides, right under my ribs and had me pushed against the wall that was behind us. His chest was pressed against mine to keep me from escaping and a gentle smile that counteracted his actions.

A nervous feeling kicked into my stomach once I looked up at realized how close our proximity was. He removed his hands from my shoulders, placing them on either side of my head which made him lean in closer. His nose brushed against mine and I picked up my chin just the slightest amount to try to remove the rest of the space between us that I didn't even know I wanted gone.

My breathing sped up as he began speaking, making his lips just barely graze over mine with every syllable even with the smile he still wore.

"I am so in-" Before he could go any further, we were both startled by a loud thud from the room above us. We both looked up to the ceiling then back at each other but with more room between us than before. I cleared my throat, watching his eyes switch my lips to my own that were blinking back at him.

"Um, what were you saying?" I asked since the odd noise had interrupted whatever was about to happen. He looked down, taking a hand off the wall and rubbing his neck while I put both of mine behind my back.

"I am so in-indecisive?" He tripped over his words a little, which then again led me back to the whole thing of him being a terrible liar, but I let it slide.

"Indecisive about what?" I said as I watched him take his other hand from the side of my head and let it drop to his side. I'd still refrained from moving as I wasn't exactly sure what just happened.

"If I hate you or if I really hate you." He snickered, sticking his hands in his front pockets.

"You don't hate me." I replied, pushing past him as if nothing happened. He gripped my wrist before I could get any farther.

"Okay, no, but you're still annoying."

"'You're still annoying.'" I mocked. I yanked my wrist from his grasp, sitting back down at the table and let my thoughts wonder around as he silently sat next to me once again.

I'd never been attracted to Luke in a way that made me want to be affectionate and physical with him, but almost being kissed by him twice now is starting to change my mind about things. Of course I'd found him attractive and easy on the eyes as any girl would, but it was weird to picture myself kissing this boy. I didn't know if I was suddenly interested in what he was doing just because he was here for me at the time since Ellis is out of the picture, or if I was actually beginning to develop something that, I didn't know what, for him.

"Autumn." Luke snapped a finger in front of my face, breaking me from my thoughts.

"What?" I answered back quickly.

"Do you want to go?" He motioned towards the door as he threw on his hoodie that laid on the couch. I made a mental note to push him around again for leaving his stuff all around the house.

"Go where?" I shook my head slowly at him, not sure as to where he was taking me.

"To Cianna's." He cleared his throat as he grabbed one of my jackets as he already knew I was going to say yes. "To see what was going on up there." We finally caught each other's eyes, making it feel like there was tension in the room. I sighed and broke the stare by looking down at my tattered boots. I made another mental note to ask for new ones for Christmas even though it was 3 months away.

I nodded my head once and got up without saying a word. I grabbed the jacket from him and slipped it over my head without breaking our fixed stares on each other. We stood there for a few moments, just blankly watching each other as if we were waiting for someone to speak up.

Instead of talking as I had expected, Luke grabbed my forearm and pulled me to the door, leading me out first. I breathed heavily out my nose, still being able to see my breath even in the middle of the day.

When Luke and I were about 8, we spent the whole chilly seasons running around outside and catching colds for the soul purpose of enjoying the view of our breath. Fall and Winter were always our favorite times of the year, as most people enjoyed this time as well.

I kept blowing into the air, not even phased by the fact that Luke was taking a picture of me until the flash had accidentally gone off. I snapped my head towards him, seeing him with a guilty pout and wide eyes with his phone still in his hand.

"Let me see." I held out my hand, wanting to see the photo he took. Instead of the device being put into my hand, he tied his fingers with mine, looking down at our intertwined hands.

"Later." He gave me a sheepish smile as he led me to the stairs and wouldn't stop swinging out hands back and forth, something that you would do as little kids.

The feeling was enough to send butterflies through my stomach and get me giggling like a little school girl. Luke had seen me giddy before, but not necessarily because of him. It wasn't uneasy or awkward because it still hindered through my mind that this was my best friend and it shouldn't be weird that we were like...this. Whatever this was, or was about to be.