Opposites • Cake

7

Luke sat in the bleak waiting room of his therapist's office and watched as the world went by. With his headphones pushed into his ears and his music playing softly, Luke enjoyed the time that he spent waiting for his appointment each Wednesday afternoon because the therapist's office was one of the most interesting places he liked to sketch. 

He caught eyes with a girl of a similar age to himself as she bit her nails. She smiled slightly before looking away quickly. Luke recognised her, because every single week they had an appointment at the same time but with different therapists. So every week they sat in the same waiting room, surrounded by old, dog-eared copies of Heat and Woman's Own while Luke sketched the world around him. 

Luke's therapy sessions had become an important part of his life a few years ago when he had started, and he enjoyed the way that his therapist, Lucy, had gotten to know him and made him feel comfortable around her. Although he had Rosie to talk to, he wanted to talk to his therapist about things that were going on in his life. His weekly sessions were calming for him, and grounding when everything else felt like it was crumbling around him. 

"Luke?" A sweet voice called from the door to the office in the corner, making the boy look up from his sketch and close his book. Luke grabbed his bag and smiled, walking towards the red haired woman he felt he knew so well. He walked into the familiar room, taking a seat in the red chair next to Lucy's black one. 

"You look smiley today, Luke." Lucy commented, shutting the door behind her and coming over to seat herself beside the blond boy. 

"Really? I feel smiley." Luke said, feeling his cheeks twitch with another smile. Lucy returned the smile, she really did like to see Luke happy, she had spent two years seeing him upset and alone and she really did care about whether he was okay.

"That's good, any particular reason why?" Lucy smiled, tucking a long piece of auburn hair behind her pierced eyes. 

"I've made some new friends." Luke said cheerfully, playing with the bracelets wrapped around his wrist. 

"That's great Luke!"

"Thanks." Luke breathed out, he knew that Lucy would understand how happy he must be that he had made new friends, as she had been talking to him for two years trying to coax him into coming out of his shell at school and branching out to talking to other people. It was a real achievement of Luke's, and he was ridiculously happy that he finally had more friends that just Rosie. 

"So how did you meet your new friends?" Lucy questioned, writing a couple of notes on the pad in front of her. 

"Well, they've always been in my school but Ashton came and sat next to me in Spanish and I don't really know how I became friends with Calum, but it just kind of happened." Luke found himself blushing, realising that he didn't actually know if Calum would class the two boys as friends.

"That's lovely, Luke. I'm really proud of you." Lucy smiled warmly. They chatted for another 50 minutes before Luke's session came to an end. The end of his sessions always creeps up on him a lot faster than he expects and he finds himself telling Lucy he will see her same time next week and walking out of the building. 

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Luke sits on the bench outside the therapist's building, switching his phone on before checking the time. As his phone boots up, he is surprised to find a text from Calum waiting for him. 

can u come over and help with my coursework i have no clue what im doing

Luke typed out a quick reply. 

yeah but i dont know where you live

After his phone buzzed a minute later with an address, Luke began to set off in the direction of his own house, as Calum didn't seem to live too far away. On the walk to Calum's house, Luke found his mind wandering to the dark haired boy he had known for years, but only recently got to know.