romeo + juliet ↠ l.h

5

"Hello." I greeted Luke, who was standing at his locker.

"Hi." He slowly said, shutting his locker and giving me a confused look.

Convincing myself to walk up and say hi wasn't an issue, it's just that I hadn't planned anything to say. What does one say to somebody their mom has referred to as 'the spawn of Satan'?

I stood silent for the longest time, just looking up and smiling at him. My mind was drawing a blank as I tried to think of something to say. I couldn't exactly come out and say 'our parents hate each other'.

"You were at the inferno, weren't you?" I said the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm surprised you remember." I couldn't tell if this was a jab or a joke. Either way, I brushed it off.

"Thanks for the water."

"You're welcome." He said, and then walked away.

He actually walked away from me.

I stood at his locker, slightly shocked and mostly embarrassed. That's what I get for taking Alice's advice.

Then the bell rang, signaling the end of another day. And I knew just what I was gonna do tonight.

•

I could feel the sweat running down my chest. The dance floor was super packed, providing me hardly any room to move. I was surrounded on all sides, people I didn't know danced and grinded up against me.

I felt a rush, almost like the high from a drug, but different than that. The flashing lights, the smell of alcohol, I felt... at home.

And that's when I realized I had a serious problem.

Any person that felt at home by the presence of alcohol couldn't be thinking straight. It couldn't have actually come to this.

I had to get out of there.

With cloudy judgement, I worked my way to the back of the inferno, the wall near the bar. I saw familiar blonde hair sitting, sipping a beer. I was too plastered to process how strange it was that he was always here when I was.

"You look like you're having no fun." I slurred, walking hazily to the seat next to him. I gestured to the bartender, ordering a shot of tequila.

"I'm having a lot of fun." Luke pointed out, grabbing the beer bottle and taking a small drink. The bottle was 3/4 full. He must not have came here to party. I, on the other hand, downed my tequila, as well as another one. Two shots couldn't make that much of a difference, right?

My head was spinning, I was drunker than ever before. If that was even possible.

Indirectly, I could blame Luke for this. He embarrassed me when I attempted to reach out. This was his fault.

"You said I was ungrateful."

"Yeah, well you are." Luke harshly stated. I turned and looked at him, searching for any kind of expression that would give off that he was joking. But I found none. He was dead serious.

"You're an asshole."

"I'm not an asshole," he started, "I'm just honest."

"I think you're just an asshole." I wondered if my voice sounded as funny to him as it did in my head.

"Just because I told you something nobody else had the guts to tell you, doesn't mean I'm a mean person." He tried to point out, but arguing with me while I was in the state I was probably wouldn't work.