He's a Fighter & I'm a Runner

SEVENTEEN

I was wrong to hope.

Late at night, I got a text from my mother.

I won't stop until I get what I want.

That had my mind going crazy. Thankfully, I was worn out from shopping, so I fell asleep quickly, but my thought drove me crazy in the morning.

I worried about everything. I worried about my dad feeling hurt if I visited her. I worried about her taking extreme measure to get me. I worried about Dave and his son. I worried about the life I left behind and my life here.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I was running way too fast. I wasn't thinking about the pain in my muscles. I wasn't thinking about my pounding heart. I wasn't thinking about how my lungs burned.

I only noticed when arms wrapped around me—warm, comforting arms. Only then, it stopped. Only then, I came back to reality. Only then, all the pain rushed back to me.

I started coughing—hard. I couldn't stop. I felt hands rubbing my back and arms holding me up.

"Lila! Lila!" A familiar voice yelled.

Once I finally stopped coughing, I got lightheaded. I leaned on Luke's chest, letting my heartbeat and breathing to slow down and his arms wrap around me.

"What the fuck, Lila?!" Luke yelled. "What were you thinking?!"

"My mind was somewhere else." I mumbled.

"Whatever it is that's bothering you has to stop! You could have passed out or worse!"

I started to feel better, so I leaned away from him and met my eyes with his.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Come on. I'm dropping you off at your place."

I only nodded and followed. He didn't say anything the whole ride. I knew he was right though. I had to stop what was bothering me. Once he stopped in my driveway, all he said was see you at school. I hesitantly made my way out of his car and up to my house.

"Hey! Lila! How do you do the wave again?" Ryan asked from my right.

"You bring your brush up then down a little, and then fill in the underside of the wave. Then, make the shading and highlight like mine." I told him.

"Okay. Thanks." He bit his lip while focusing on painting. He's kind of cute like that.

I continued painting. Today was seascape day, so I chose to do an ocean with one boat in the distance. The main piece in my painting was the moon. I chose to do it at night since I could paint the moon. I was proud of my work. There was this loneliness to my painting that I couldn't describe. It was a loneliness that I liked though. Maybe it was the lone boat under the moon in the middle of a huge ocean, but the painting gave me a calm yet uneasy feeling. Hmm.

I looked over at Ryan's to see something completely different. His was full of light and colors. It gave more of a fun feeling.

The teacher called five minutes, so I went to wash the brushes, and Ryan went to put the painting away to dry. There was not a doubt in my mind that he took a photo of it.

Lunch came around, and I was getting nervous. Luke and I didn't speak in GovPol because our teacher moved the desks apart for the day for a test.

As soon as I sat down, he spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine now."

"Did you drink enough water? It should help." He asked.

"Yeah, I did."

"Luke! Check out my painting! I'm getting better!" Ryan yelled across the table.

"Where's Lila's?" He immediately asked.

"Right here." Ryan swiped on his phone and gave it to Luke.

A blush covered my cheeks as he examined it. I wanted him to like it, and for some reason, if he didn't, I would be upset.

"Can I have this one?" Luke asked me.

My blush got deeper. "Of course, I have too many paintings." I shyly replied.

"What about mine?" Ryan whined.

"No one would want your paintings." Rachel teased.

His face instantly fell. "Hey, I like your paintings. They're getting much better." I tried to make him feel better.

The happiness in his eyes returned.

"Are you going to Cole's party?" Ryan suddenly asked.

"I don't know. I was thinking about it."

"Okay. Well, you're going." Ryan declared.

"Wait, What?"

"You're going."

I rolled my eyes. "If I'm going, I'm drinking, so I'm going to need a ride." I said hoping Ryan would drive me, so I could let loose for a bit.

Ryan opened his mouth, but Luke's voice interrupted him. "I'll take you since you're on the way."

No, I'm not. I gave him a confused look, and he gave me a look that told me not to argue, so I just agreed.

I stared out the window in my math class thinking about the party. I was trying to picture what I could wear when I heard my name.

"Lila, why don't you show your work for the class." My teacher suggested.

Fuck.

I looked down at the blank sheet of paper in my notebook. Damn.

"My work is really messy, so can I just rewrite it on the whiteboard?" I asked politely.

"Sure, come on up."

I left out a sigh of relief. I quickly copied the problem from the screen and solved it right then and took my seat.

As I walked back, I noticed Luke had a smile on his face and was looking right at me.

"Smooth." He whispered as I sat down.

"I know." I winked.

I wonder, what does Luke want me to wear to the party.