He's a Fighter & I'm a Runner

FIVE

Before my run, I got a call. It was from my mother. What the hell does she want?

I hesitantly clicked the answer button and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hello? Lila?" My mother's voice came though.

"Yeah. It's me." I let out.

"Great. How it going over there?" She asked, again with the small talk.

"Great. How's your life with your new boyfriend?" I spat.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend anymore. He's my fiancé!" She excitedly cheered.

That angered me even more. "Great. Now you can start a new life with him and leave me alone."

"Sweetie, don't talk to me like that! I'm not leaving you. In fact, Dave was thinking you can come visit whenever you want." She offered.

"No, thank you. I'm happy here." I curtly replied.

"Don't be silly, darling. Upstate New York has nothing on Manhattan." She insisted.

"You have no idea what it's like here." I spat.

"If you ever change your mind." She sighed.

"I won't." I hung up.

She angers me so much! She leaves me and my dad and thinks it's going to be fine and she can have me back. No way!

It was too late to go for a run, so I just got ready for school. I decided on some jeans and a sweater since today was supposed to be chilly.

The whole day, I was out of it. For my first five classes, I just sat there and was in a daze. I had other things on my mind. During AP GovPol, Luke kept staring at me like he was trying to figure out why I was in this mood. He looked like he wanted to ask, but didn't say anything, thinking it was not the time to talk.

Lunch rolled around, and for the first five minutes, I sat there barley touching my food. Luke nudged my arm. I looked up to meet his eyes.

"Are you doing alright?" He asked. My mind went to Dave Albright's slogan, and I was feeling a little angry now.

"I'm fine." I dismissed and looked back at my food.

"You can tell me, you know." He offered.

"I don't want to talk about it." I dismissed again.

He sighed but kept his gaze on me, trying to figure me out. His eyes were calculating, and I just hoped he never watches any news from the city.

"We should all totally go!" Sera squealed.

I was brought out of my daze. I looked up, confused. "Go where?"

"To a concert!" She squealed again. "Ryder Stall is playing at the concert hall, and you know what that means! Free alcohol!"

"We're all underaged." I mumbled.

"That's the best part! At the hall, they have a rep for serving to underaged teens!" She said excitedly.

Now that caught my attention. I need to forget about my phone call this morning, and some alcohol and fun with friends could do the trick.

"Well, I'm in." I said.

"Yay!" She beamed. "What about you Luke. I know you hate this type of music, but—" He cut her off.

"I'm in." He stated. Everyone just kind of looked at him shocked, as if there was no possible way he would go. He just gave them all a glare, and they went back to their normal routine.

"So, Lila, do you like his music?" Sera questioned.

"No." I honestly didn't. I hated top 40 radio.

"WHAT?!" Sera, Rachel, and Daniel all screamed.

"What? I just don't like it." I stated.

"Then, why are you even going?" Nate chimed in.

"I'm not going for the music." I noticed Luke's eyes focused on me, calculating again. He was trying to figure me out, but I won't let him.

"I still can't believe you don't like him." Sera shook her head. "Have you listened to his music?"

"Yeah, I have, and when I did, I told him I didn't like it." I mumbled.

"Wait! Do you know him?!" She started to squeal again.

"Yeah...something like that." I mumbled.

"Tell me everything." Sera squealed.

I sighed. "There's really nothing to it. He went to my high school, and during freshman year we went on one date, which ended in me telling him I didn't like his music, and we didn't go on another one after that."

"You went on a date?!" Sera yelled.

I rolled my eyes. "If you can even call it that. We just hung out basically."

"What was he like? You have to tell me." She begged.

"He's an asshole." I curtly replied.

"Come on, he can't be." She whined.

"If you want, you can meet him. I'll call him and tell him to meet us after." I mumbled.

"Oh, please! Please! Please!" She begged. I rolled my eyes.

I got my phone out and dialed his number. It rang, and on the first ring, he picked up.

"Hey, Lila. Why are you calling?" He asked.

Luke was leaning close to me, so there's no doubt he's listening.

"Some of my friends are coming to your next concert, and I wanted to surprise them." I mumbled.

"Oh, yeah sure. I'll leave passes for them to come back after the show. Will you be there?" He asked. It sounded like there was hope in his voice.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"Good. You can hear how good my music is now."

"I still don't like it." I mumbled out.

"Come on! You know, this is why we never went on a second date."

I sighed. "I'm sort of glad. Anyway, I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. See after my concert." He hung up.

"I hate him." I mumbled.

Sera was squealing and jumping up and down in her seat because she was so excited.

"I can't believe you know him! Do you know any other famous people?"

Yes.

"No."

"Thank you so much!" She squealed again.

"It's nothing. Just don't mention his name to me or tell anyone about my history with him." I was really uncomfortable at this point.

I usually don't do this. I don't call in favors. I just sort of let it slip.

Well, hopefully the concert will still be fun.