That Boy With The Beanie

Sometimes...

He smiles at me, but I can, somehow, smell the tension. Tammy’s phone buzzes, and she slips it out of her pocket. The awkwardness is still in the air, as Tammy checks the, what I presume to be, text.

“Oh, I gotta go Charles” She states. I hate the nickname Charles, which has lingered around me over the school years. Tammy has especially been obsessed with the name. Tammy, short for Tamera, has had the name Tammy forever. She smiles at Luke, then at me, and the tension slowly drains away as she starts to walk away.

“Bye” I say, even though I know she is out of hearing range. I wonder if I should question Luke about the weird and awkward situation, but I decide it was probably nothing, so it doesn’t matter. Luke enters the house once again, which follows me, than I shut the door and put on the latch. I follow Luke and we take our seats at the table once again. Mum is basically done with her meal, and I am stuffed from that McDonalds. Luke finishes his meal then we excuse ourselves. Mum says she will do all the washing up to which we both say “Thanks”.

“Where are we going then?” I say as I head for my coat and shoes. Luke does the same, but seams spaced out.

“Huh?” He replies, a look of be wilderness takes over his face and he looks helpless in his own thoughts. I repeat the question and Luke just shrugs. He has no idea what I said, but I just leave the house anyway with him. I lock the door and we walk, not hand in hand, away from my small house. Luke seams saad, and I swear he was crying at one point.

“Luke” I say, after 10 minutes of walking “Are you ok?” I hear the words spill out of my mouth and I regret them immediately.

“I’m fine” He says, his voice slightly broken “Just thinking” That’s deep

“Oh ok” I respond, and the silence traps us once again. After another 5 minutes of silence, and not nice silence, Luke slows down slightly.

“You know” Luke says, his voice sounds slightly happier, but still broken

“Yeah…” I respond after Luke stops talking.

“It’s nice to think” He says, almost whispering “Sometimes…”