Appearances are deceptive (Luke Hemmings Short Story)

Part One

“Hey, what's up ?” Your friend's voice made you jump in surprise and drop your keys on the floor. “Wow, someone's on the nerves today!” She tried to joke as she bent down to pick up your keys. You gladly took them and thanked her before opening your locker.

“Just had a bad night and a long day ahead of me” You sighed. It was finals week and you couldn't be more stressed or anxious than you were for the last few days. It got to the point where you barely manged to swallow anything because it simply made you want to puke just to look at food. You almost killed yourself from studying every day for the last months but it still felt like you didn't study enough now that the moment has come. It was the first day and you couldn't wait for the week to end so you could go to Maccas and stuff yourself with food to catch up all the meals you skipped.

“You need to relax!” (Y/F/N) said, patting your shoulder and then she froze, her eys getting lost in the vague behind you. You followed her gaze, peeking over your shoulder only to meet a pair of blue eyes staring at you. You knew very well whose eyes it was. Those belonged to Luke Hemmings. You didn't know much about him though, he was the mysterious guy nobody really talked to. Did you ever hear his voice ? You couldn't remember, he was always sitting in the back of the classroom, and all you could tell was that he never did his home works and just kind of sat there, not taking any notes and barely listening – if not having his earplugs in and thoroughly ignoring the teacher. He's said to be a bad boy – and according to his tattoos and piercing and the cigarette which seemed to be glued to his lips, you believed it – and some people even whispered on his way that he was a criminal and already went to jail. Silly, right ?

“Do you know him ?” (Y/F/N) asked you. Of course everyone knew him, but yet, nobody really knew him.

You shook your head as a response, your long brown hair flipping along your head's motions, then focused back on (Y/F/N).

“So, what are you going to do when all of this is over ?” You asked, trying to sound enthusiastic, but only managing to put a weak smile on your lips.

“Probably taking you to the SPA because you're so tensed up that you're holding in your breath.” She joked. “And don't forget prom night” She winked at you, but you didn't react. “C'mon, everything's gonna be fine! You're going to rock this test, you 're the best student in English!” She only wanted to lift you up and reassure you but the only thing you could think about was that now, it was absolutely out of question for you to fail this test because you had the best grades in this class and you couldn't disappoint your family and teachers. You swallowed your saliva and smiled.

“Yeah, you're right. No need to worry.” You lied, the fakest smile plastered on your face.

“Great ! Now keep this in mind: at the end of the week, we're free!” She sang the last part while walking away, giving you the thumbs up and heading to her exam room. How could she be that careless ? Why couldn't you be like that ? Of course you had to be the stressed one. It took you all your strengh not to put out your inhaler.

“She's right you know” A voice interrupted you in your thoughts and made you drop your stuff – again. You never heard that voice before, but it hit you how deep and smoky it was. It sent shivers through your body. How could a voice be that sexy ? You turned around to see who talked to you, and saw the same blue eyes as before. Only inches away from your face.

“People need to stop doing this!” You exclaimed, trying to slow down your heart beat – the poor thing is going to fail you one day.

“I didn't mean to scare you-” He scratched his neck awkwardly.

“You didn't” You trailed off, a little too fast to be convincing, causing him to smirk. “Sorry but... what do you want ?” You asked, inwardly slapping yourself for asking such an impolite question. Plus nothing prevented him from speaking to you, after all, you shared the same class since freshman year. He bit his lower lip, his teeth playing with the black lip ring pierced through it.

“Just- wishing you good luck ?” It sounded like a question more than an answer. “And I- I wanted to say that... your tattoo, uhm, it's really cool and... well I think it suits you.” He mumbled, slightly uncomfortable. You looked down at your own forearm and trailed your fingers over the fresh tattoo. It was your parents' present for your eighteenth birthday. It was a black rose intertwined with elvish symbols.

“Does it mean something ?” He asked, obviously making an attempt to start conversation.

“No- I mean yes!” You stammered. Luke took you aback by coming talking to you, and now he was casually talking to you about you tattoo ? Gosh, your level of anxiety just reached a whole new level.

“It's elvish. It's written Anar Caluva Tielyanna” You explained, though it most definitely didn't make sens to him. Luke raised an eyebrow and a small smirk crept on his flawless face.

“Lord of the rings, ugh ?” He chuckled lightly, making your cheeks turn red. You couldn't believe he got the reference ! Now he must think you're a geek! Though it relaxed you a bit to know that he understood and didn't just walk away from you weird creep with elvish letters on the forearm. It made you smile, and you stressed down a little bit.

“Impressive” You acknowledged and closed your locker. “I have to go now.” You stated, your hand put a strand of your insanely long hair behind your ear in a mechanical gesture. Oh no ! You did not just do that (Y/N) ! But Luke's smirk proved you wrong, he noticed the move. Too late.

“Okay, uhm- bye !” You rambled awkwardly and then left.