adulation | l.h.

Twenty eight

Luke's POV

"Drew, you need to stop." I said, as Ashki was still hidden behind me from her basically insane brother. "It was you." Drew screamed at me. "You made her like this," he repeated, before I took Ashki out of the school.

I looked down at her, running my hand through my hair and glancing back to make sure Drew wasn't following us. "I know he's your brother but I'd really rather you not talk to him," I said, trying to remain calm.

"I can't stay aw-" "Would you rather get hit again?" I asked rather rudely. Her lip trembled as I realized I was scaring her.

"It's just that you've already hurt yourself too much, no one else should have the right to lay a finger on you." I said, pulling her farther away from the school.

I knew she liked the dance studio, and that dancing was her escape.

So I took her there.

I'm not going to say anything about whatever happened to her dad, like Drew had mentioned. I might lose her trust, and I've worked way too hard for that.

I'm not about to give it up, either.

Ashki's POV

I walked into the dance studio, finding it empty. I turned to the mirror, and remembered what Luke did.

"You gonna punch it?" Luke's distorted reflection showed in the cracked mirror. "It hurts, but helps a lot." He said. "You need to have strength to shatter glass. I don't have strength." I sighed beginning to walk away, but Luke stopped me. "You are the strongest person I know." He looked at my scars on my wrists.

"Do it," he encouraged, stepping back.

I punched the wall mirror, but the shatter mark looked like nothing compared to Luke's extremely strong punch.

"Damn." I cursed, as he held my hand, trying to calm me down.

"Hey, don't be upset about your brother. Or any of the bullshit. Okay?" He said, wiping away a remaining tear.

"Hey, remember the first day you gave me dance lessons? And the first day I gave you guitar lessons?" He said, trying to calm me down. "Now we both are like professionals. You could even join my band." He attempted to get me to laugh, but I wasn't feeling it. "What can I do to get Ashki back?" He asked quietly.

"Sing?" I suggested, as he laughed. He grabbed his guitar reluctantly, and started strumming.

"Do you hear me? I'm talking to you. Across the water, across the deep blue ocean under the open sky oh my. Baby I'm trying." His low voice rang, motioning to me. "Uh...boy I hear you in my dreams I feel you whisper across the sea. I keep you with me in my heart. You make it easier when life gets hard." I sang quietly.

"Lucky I'm in love with my bestfriend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be coming home again." He sang in his angelic voice, looking at me with eyes that could melt any girl's heart.

What is going on?

I know I liked Luke, but all of a sudden I feel...like I really like him. Like...I wish he would've been the one to help me when I cut, not just to silence myself. He would've kept me myself, he's just like that. Even if he doesn't like me the way I like him, at least I know he considers me a best friend.

That he took to prom.

And kissed in a closet.

Twice.

He peered up at me, smiling.

Yeah, there's something wrong with me.

He strummed the last chord, then moved closer to me.

My breathing hitched.

"You know Ashki, I wasn't kidding when I said what I did in that closet." He said.

He sat next to me, playing with my small hands in his.

"What about that other girl? You never really explained that." I asked quietly.

"Okay, so I kinda made that up." He said. "I wanted to impress you, and I really just wanted to talk to you, so I followed you here that first day of second semester. When I said I wanted to impress this girl with my dance moves, I was talking about you." He explained, never looking away from my gaze.

"Im sorry." He apologized. "I just wanted to get to know you. You seemed interesting...and mysterious. Ugh, I'm bad at explaining things." We laughed, as he continued. "Don't hate me," he said quietly, almost as a plea.

"I'd never hate you." My voice dropped to a whisper. He started leaning in, closer and closer.

I didn't back away, like last time.

My phone went off,

again.

I looked over to it, annoyed. Luke laughed behind me, as I rolled my eyes. "Drew's getting suspicious. I've gotta go." I grabbed my bad quietly.

"Bye Ashki." Luke said, as I waved.

•

Lying awake in my bed, I thought about what Luke said.

He wanted to impress me? Why?

I'm not mysterious. I'm downright antisocial, that doesn't make me interesting.

Does he really like me?

Is he playing me? Maybe Drew was right, maybe he's just that kind of guy. Maybe I shouldn't trust him.

But something tells me I should.

And it's about time Luke knows what happened to my family last year.