Secrets » Luke Hemmings

Chapter 9

M I X E D    S I G N A L S

+

ELENA'S POV

The next day after I overheard Miles and Iris talking, I walked to Miles' room because I knew I had to do something about his anger towards Iris. Even though Iris hates me and so does he, I thought that maybe some good can come out of it. Miles showed how much he really cares about being with Iris last night, and I don't want to let that be overlooked. Especially because Iris has been waiting so long for him to like her back. I'm not going to let him think she likes Luke so he can run from this and move on like how he would if it were any other random girl. Iris is not some random girl.

I rise out of bed and pull on a pair of short athletic shorts and a black hoodie. It's always sort of chilly in the house, even if it is summer. Whenever Luke's not around, it feels like winter. We never do anything without him. That's not the point, though. I pulled on my clothes and exited my room.

I took my time while walking down the hall to Miles' room. For some reason, I felt like I was walking right into a fight. Trust me, after being the nerdiest, shyest girl in my grade during high school, I know how it feels to walk into a confrontation in which I'll most likely get yelled at. People used to yell at me all the time in school, blaming me for just about everything they possibly could. This is one of those times.

When I reach the door, I use my knuckles and knock gently on the it, closing my eyes for a moment as I knock to remind myself that everything is going to be okay. I can stick up for myself. I hear Miles' voice react to the knock. "Come in!" He calls, probably thinking it's Luke, not me. He'd probably say 'Go away!' if he knew it was me.

I turn the door knob and open the door slowly, peaking my head in first and then stepping all the way into the room. I bite my lip nervously. I feel an outburst coming on at any second. My heart is racing and I'm not sure if I'm shaking or not. This is pathetic. "Can I sit?" I ask, still standig very close to the door. I feel like a mouse that just walked into a pit of snakes.

"I guess," Miles' voice holds a bit of annoyance to it. He doesn't even look at me, just looks down at his phone as if I wasn't there. That's a good sign. He probably knows I'm scared so he doesn't have to do anything more. I can tell he's mad at me and doesn't want me around. He probably thinks if he acts cold I'll just go away, but I won't.

"Okay," I respond, walking over to the bed and sitting down. I only sit on the edge of the bed, knowing I need to make this conversation short and sweet to avoid an argument. I know I'd end up crying if I stayed and fought with him. After pushing all these thoughts away and wiping my palms on my thighs I look over at Miles. "We need to talk about last night." I blurt out.

"What about it?" He questions me, not even bothering to look up from his phone. I don't think he's even doing anything on it. He just wants to show me he really doesn't care.

I take another deep breath, thinking about what I really want to say. "Well I mean, yesterday I was telling you about how Iris has liked you for the longest time and all that shit. You disregarded it all last night when she said one little thing about Luke. You got upset and walked out on her because she said he was hurting me. I don't understand that. So if you're wondering why I'm in here, you kinda hurt my best friend's feelings. I don't like that, at all. In fact, I won't tolerate it. Especially since I know that you like her. She doesn't like Luke in that way. I'm not sure if he likes her in that way, but i know you probably do. You know she hates me right now because she thinks I fucked up your guys' chances of getting together? Yeah, well, she does. I tried to comfort her last night after you pushed me and left her on the couch, but she pushed me away. I don't know how she made that connection to blame me, and I don't know how you connected her saying Luke's name to her liking him, but that isn't what's going on." I can feel myself getting angrier and angrier as time goes on and I tell myself to stop before I piss Miles off to the point where he snaps at me.