Looking For Now↣l.h

16. Drive

"Cora. Cora, it's time to get up." A soft voice whispers in my ear, kneeling next to my bed. At the sound I jolt straight up and turn to face the disturbance; Luke.

"Fucking asshole!" I spit reaching behind me to grab my pillow and throw it in his face.

"What the hell was that for?" He grumbles picking my pillow back up off the floor. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to give him my most annoyed glare.

"For blowing off counseling the day before our damn outing that I wasn't even sure if you would come back for. For not showing up at all yesterday. For not telling anyone whee the hell you were. For waking me up an hour and a half before I usually wake up. A-and for being a jerk!" I struggle to keep my voice low so as not to alert Walter. Luke cannot expect me just to pack up and leave right away after he left me with so many unanswered questions yesterday.

He opens his mouth like he wants to explain himself, and then closes it again. I study his face daring him to give me an explanation, when I notice something odd; he has a black eye.

I tilt my head and lean in a little closer to get a better look at his face, and I see a faint blood stain under his nose.

"Luke?"

"Cora?"

"What were you doing yesterday?" I whisper, every ill thought towards this blue-eyes boy has disappeared from my mind. I can't be mad at him when he looks like he just got beat up.

"None of your business, Cora. Can you please just pack up so we can leave? We have to leave earlier than planned, and by that I mean as soon as possible."

"Why the sudden rush? We weren't supposed to leave until after lunch I thought." I point out, scrunching my nose in confusion.

"Just don't worry about it, okay? There was a change of plans, and we are leaving now. Get ready and I can help you pack." He instructs lowering his gaze to look at the blank floor.

"Fine. I'll pack, but I'm expecting an explanation on the way." I mutter under my breath and swing my legs over the edge of the bed.

I catch Luke letting out a sigh of relief; he obviously didn't expect me to go with him so easily.

"Are you okay?" I ask him when I notice a crease of stress etched between his brows.

"Never better." He remarks sarcastically. I cross my arms and glare at him for a few seconds.

"Well we've got a long drive for me to annoy the answers out of you." I smirk and walk over to my dresser to start packing.

"This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?"

"Of course it is." I flash him a grin earning an eye roll and a pouty lip from him.

***

"How long is the drive again?" I ask after about an hour of driving. We've been pretty quiet most of the way, just listening to the 1975 CD playing in the background.

"For the third time, it'll take about three hours." He groans, but keeps his eyes focused on the road.

"This van isn't as bad as I thought it would be either. When you said institution van I figured some rickety white van pedophiles drive. This is just like a normal van." I shrug my shoulders gazing out the window at the trees flying by.

"Glad to know it meets your van standards."

"I think it's about time you told me what all of the rush was about." I point out, letting him know that I haven't forgotten the fact that he woke me up much earlier than I would have liked to wake up.