Luke's POV
"What are we doing?" Ashki asked, as I lead her outside, into the rain.
"You like the rain, right?" I asked, as she nodded, looking up at the cloudy sky.
"And you like to dance, right?" I nudged her shoulder, shaking her head.
"You can't be serious." She laughed, putting her small hands in the pockets of my jacket.
She didn't take the hood off, so I did for her.
"Im serious," I said quietly, as she looked up at me with her beautiful, dark blue eyes.
"Come on." I resisted myself from getting too distracted, taking her hand and spinning her around. She let a laugh escape her lips, she spun under my arm.
"Just like practice." I laughed, her hand resting on my shoulder.
"Staring contest?" I asked, she cocked an eyebrow. "Bet you I'll win." I smirked, wiggling my eyebrows.
I love hearing her laugh.
"Bet what?" She challenged, continuing to dance. "I'll go to lunch with you, and if you win I'll pay, and if you lose, I'll pay." I say.
"That's a bit redundant. But you're on." She said, blinking rapidly.
"Go." I said, as she kept her eyes open like normal, as I opened mine wide.
Her navy blue eyes pierced into mine, as I felt my eyes becoming dry.
"Ugh," I blinked. "Yes!" She shot one of her hands up into the air, laughing.
"How about, instead of me paying, we tell things about ourselves." I suggested.
She shrugged,
"Me and my brother used to play this game when we were little, and when we fell down and scraped our knees, or got the slightest injury, we'd try and cheer each other up." She didn't look me in the eyes.
"What was it?" I asked. Funny, its raining cats and dogs out here, and here we are, slow dancing and talking about our childhoods.
I'm fine with that.
"We'd list thirteen things that we love about life. It works a lot now, back then it just stopped me from pouting, but now it kind of blocks off the negativity my mind always seems to have." She said, glancing around at the empty street, that would surely be flooded by tomorrow morning.
"Okay, I'll go first." I said. "I love winter...everything about it. Uh,the smell of freshly cut grass, I really like the tale of the ugly duckling, the feeling of snow, movies, sweatshirts are my life, I'm not sure if you can tell." I said, her chuckling. "Listening to people talk calms me down a lot, beanies...singing alone. Obviously music, mist floating above water on autumn mornings remind me a lot of car rides to elementary school, back in Australia. I love superheroes, and making someone laugh makes me feel...important...I guess," I said, as she smiled. "Your turn." I encouraged.
"Well," she began, but thunder cracked above us.
"The gods have spoken." I whispered, making her laugh out loud.
"Lets go back inside." I pulled her back into the dance studio, and I realized how soaking-wet my clothes were.
"Alright, you never said your thirteen things you love. Go." I said, as she sat down, cross-legged in front of me.
"I always loved made up holidays, cold tile beneath my feet, the sound of rain could possibly be my favorite thing on earth, sweatshirts like you." She smiled. "Book stores are my second home, making faces on foggy windows, road trips, looking at clouds, poetry,adjectives,mittens, pointless drawings, and staying up all night while talking about unnecessary things, my favorite pastime." She nodded.
"Like we did at your house? When everyone else was asleep?" I asked, she blushed. She didn't respond, just shrugged.
Ashki's POV
Talking to Luke felt...right. It almost felt as if I were talking to myself, we were both shy and awkward.
"Luke?" My curiosity took over me.
"Hm?" He glanced up from staring at his hands.
Just him looking at me made me feel like I was dancing on air.
"If it's true you...knocked that guy out, why did you do it?" I asked, being my nosy, annoying self.
"The guy I used to know, he came up to me, and basically told me I shouldn't be alive. He said I was a mistake. A slip of society. That hurt, but he went on." He said, anger flashing across his face.
"He continued to tell me that I don't deserve anything I have. My friends, family," he continued. "Told me I should have stayed in Australia, and that my life meant nothing to anyone on the planet. Don't ask me why, cause I don't know either. He just...pissed me off. I lost it." He said, calming down a little. "It wasn't just one punch." He sighed.
"I was almost arrested." He didn't make eye contact, and I became anxious.
"Why?" I asked, barely above a whisper.
He glanced up at me, then down again before speaking.
"I almost killed him."
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adulation | l.h.
أدب الهواة"I loved him more than I could ever hope to love myself." ••• Ashki Waters is broken. She has been for thirteen years, but recently something made her finally realize what was bound to happen, and she now has scars she can never take back. Luke Hem...
