Men's Socks - Luke Hemmings

s e v e n

Tuesday 6th November

I walked over, empty handed except for the cupcake in my left hand. I had decided not to buy anything today -- I didn't even need anything. I just came to speak to Luke, and today to give him the cupcake I made yesterday.

They didn't actually taste that bad.

"Here's your cupcake." I hand it to him, where he waits patiently like a schoolboy. He looks at it eagerly and picks the cherry off and eats it straight away. I grimace, not even liking the look of them.

They're too sweet.

"They're good. I thought you said you couldn't cook?" Luke smiles, after taking a huge bite and getting white icing round his mouth, "these are actually really good. I believed you yesterday, Gee."

"So you like them?"

"Definitely!" He put up a thumbs-up sign, as if to back up what he said. He finished the small cake, "you not buying anything, today?" He asked shocked.

"No, I just came to give you the cake and talk to you. I didn't need anything." I reply looking at my fingers and scratching the remains of the black nail polish off my nails.

"You came to talk to me?" I nod, "you're too sweet."

"Like glacé cherries." I smile, "anyway, Luke. I have a question for you."

"Fire away." He licks the sticky icing from his fingers and looks at me expectantly.

"Why aren't you in school? I mean you look about my age, right?" I ask. I've been wanting to ask him this, and he's either really late every morning or doesn't go to school.

"I do go to school, but just for the afternoons. I wanted to drop out but my mum wouldn't let me. She's a maths teacher." He replies, "how old are you then?"

"I'm sixteen, and yourself?"

"Seventeen."

"Cool. So, uh I'm glad we had this talk." I mutter off, mumbling to myself and waving to Luke. I'd just made everything unnecessarily awkward, "see you tomorrow, Luke."

"You too, Gee." He laughs, rocking back in the chair.