Allure | Luke Hemmings

Chapter 8

Alex’s POV

“I say we do it 20’s style!” Jessica smiled lovingly at my mom while her daughter, Malia, pulled at her checkered dress to catch her attention.

I giggled. “Like the party scene in The Great Gatsby?” Jessica, Nina, and my mom cocked their head to the side in a synchronized move. I rolled my eyes.

“Ever heard of the book?” I turned to look at Nina, and she shook her head, meaning she had no clue. “Scott Fitzgerald?” I looked over to my mom, who shrugged.

“You know the movie? That one with Leonardo DiCaprio on it-” I was cut off by my mom.

“Is that the one where he is always wearing fancy suits and looking like a filthy rich man? He looks so charming wearing elegant attires.” Giggling again, I nodded.

My dad’s birthday is in two weeks and my mom said it would be a great idea if we organized a surprise party to celebrate his 50th birthday. We had hired an event planner, but she wouldn’t be coming until next week so we had plenty of time to find a theme to go with, and the 20’s seemed like a great idea.

“Alexandria?” My mom barely calls me Alex, most of the times she likes going by my full name because she said that calling me by my nickname only made her think of a boyish version of me. Leave it to her to be skeptic about a name.

“Mhm?” I watched as Malia ran around the house, carrying a teddy bear that was bigger than her small frame. She is only 5 and Jessica brings her three times a week because her husband works everyday and she can’t pay a full week nanny. My entire family loves little Malia, so we are more than fine with having her in here. I consider her the little sister I never had.

“You should invite Luke to the party.” My mom gushed and then turned to face Nina. “And bring over his friend, the one with rainbow hair. You guys are dating, right?” I couldn’t help but chuckle as Nina blushed.

I knew my mom didn’t dislike Luke unlike my father, in fact she really loved the kid, it was kind of creepy actually.

“Yeah, I will tell him.” I nodded and my mom smiled.

“I love that kid. Do you remember the panicked look on his face when he brought you home the other day?” She chuckled, telling the story to Jessica once again.

I did remember what happened that day though.

“Alex?” A soft voice woke me up from whatever was going through my head.

Squinting my eyes open, I found myself laying on Luke’s lap as he stroked my hair softly, making it harder for me to wake up even though he had been calling my name several times already. I groaned, sitting up from my previous comfortable position.

“You’re awake!” Luke chimed in. I nodded while stretching my arms. We were still on the subway. How long did I sleep in?

“I guess I am.” I rubbed one eye with my hand. “Why aren’t we home yet?”

Luke chuckled nervously. “Well…I kind of fell asleep, too.” He put up his hands in surrender.

“What time is it?” I noticed we were the only ones in the cabin.

Luke took out his phone and unlocked it. I took a quick look at his background, and noticed Calum, Michael, Ashton, and Luke himself, sitting together on the edge of what seemed to be a bay.

“It’s almost 2AM.” Luke stated, and I began to panic..

“Shit.” I muttered. “Shit. Shit. Shit…I had to be home at midnight!”