try hard // luke hemmings

Chapter Fourteen

A couple trips to the moon later, I woke up when it was dark outside. I was alarmed, finally coming down from the high I had been for most of the day. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed wearily. Charlie wasn't anywhere, but I stood anyways. I slipped on my jeans; I knew I didn't sleep with anyone, because I remember changing and going to sleep.

I slipped my hair into the ponytail on my wrist. Once my shoes were on, I continued out of the house, in search of the door.

At the front porch, I found Charlie. He saw me and wrapped an arm around me, casually. "I need to go." I say. Charlie looks to me. After planting a kiss on my cheek he says, "I'll look for you at school tomorrow, okay?" I nod yes and walk away.

Except, I don't know where I am.

I continue walking anyways, heading to the gas station that's on the corner. Once there, I sit on the curb and pull out my phone, clicking Samuel's number. I press the phone to my ear and wait  while it dials. "Hello?"

"Sammy? It's Chey." I say when he answers. "Chey! Where were you today?" He asks, worry etched in his voice. "Uh. I ditched," I say, running my hand through my hair. "What? You don't seem the type!" He exclaims. I give a light laugh, kinda tired. "Yeah, well. I did. Anyways, I need a favor." 

"Yeah?"

"I need a ride home."

"Oh. Where are you?" He asks. "Umm, the gas station on Oak Place and Jones Road." I say, standing to look at the street signs. "Oh." He says again. "What are you doing there?" I sigh, sitting on the curb once again. "I came with Charlie."

"Charlie Who?" 

"I don't even know his last name," I sigh, closing my eyes. I was totally crashing. "Yeah, I don't want to call my mom, can you pick me up?" I ask. When did I become this person who asked other people for favors? It's like I was the drunk friend, booty calling everyone.

"Yeah. I'll be there in fifteen. Don't move and don't talk to anyone." Samuel instructed before hanging up. I sat back down on the curb, disgusted by myself. Meth. What was I doing?? Doing meth was worse than anything I'd ever done. You know, besides the obvious. My head stayed in my hands until I heard a voice.

"Chey?" I look up into the face of my savior. "Samuel!" I cry, wrapping my arms around his neck. He hugs me into him and lets me squeeze the air out of him. "God, let's get out of here." He says, walking us to his car. I slide into the passenger side and shut my door.

"Why did you go somewhere with Charlie Who?" he asks, shifting the car into traffic. "I don't even know. I was bummed that Luke wasn't here today, which is stupid because I hate him and his friends annoy the hell out of me, but then I realized that that was literally the only time someone paid attention to me without offending me."

"You miss people's attention. That's not something to be afraid of." Samuel says. "No, it's just... Samuel, Luke asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes, because I can't deny that I'm attracted to him. But then I went and gave my number to Charlie Who in front of Luke. I ditched school to be with Charlie because Luke wasn't here.'' I honestly had no idea why I was telling Samuel all this. Words just came easy around him.

"Oh, honey. This is why you're better off as a loner." He said, jokingly of course.

But wow, how that stung. I leaned back in the seat. I couldn't believe it. He saw the distressed look on my face and quickly tried to fix it. 

''Chey. No! That's not what I meant! Listen-"

"No, it's okay. Forget it, you don't understand." I pressed my cheek against the window and stayed silent the rest of the trip. When we get to my house, we sit in silence for a bit. "Samuel. I'm sorry. it's just that there's so many issues in my life and I don't know how to explain them all to you without dumping a pile of crap you don't want on you." I finally say.