$3.49 ♦ luke hemmings au

Chapter 1: Sweater Boy

I woke up in an unfamiliar place. It took me a few moments to recollect my thoughts and figure out what I was doing in a small room on a tiny bed. Finally I had realized that I was here in my college dorm.  It was only the first day here, but it had already seemed like forever. I should be used to this, it was my second year at the University of Minnesota. Still, I could already tell that this year was going to be long in general.

I slowly flipped my feet over the side of the bed and pulled myself out. My roommate was, so far, no where to be seen, but i guess I was okay with that anyways. I didn’t really mind being alone.

Shuffling my cold feet across the hardwood floor i made my way over to the door on the other side of the room. Slowly, I pulled it open, careful not to let anyone see me in my short pajama shorts and small t-shirt. Everyone seemed to be busy and had a place to be, while my classes didn’t start for another 4 hours. It was only 8 AM anyways, and I was not going to be one to take a class before the sun was completely up and I was fully awake

I made the short walk back to my little bed, flopped down on it, and just stared at the ceiling for a while. I decided to pick up the book i was currently reading, and read that to pass the time until I had to actually get ready.

Only 20 minutes later, the door flew open revealing a short girl with messy hair and big glasses. She was holding a paper, and had a somewhat confused look on her face.

“Are you Kristine? Please tell me you are because this is the third dorm i’ve been to and none of them are apparently the right one and-”

“Yes I’m Kristine, and I assume you are Sierra?” I questioned while I closed my book and sat up.

“Oh good, good. I wasn’t here yesterday because my flights got messed up and it’s all a big mess but i’m here now, and I actually have to leave for class now because I’m probably going to be late.” She said in a rush.

And with that she was gone, and I was left sitting there wondering what just happened. I eventually opened my book back up and started reading again.

♦♦♦♦

One thing I had realized early on about college is that there is a quite a bit of walking involved. It was only September now so i didn’t have to worry about the cold yet. Minnesota was still pretty warm at this time of year. Sure it’s no California, but it was still a nice place.

My feet were quite sore by the time I made it to my first class which happened to be Fiction Analysis. I couldn’t lie, I was pretty excited for this class. It was obviously a bad decision to wear these crappy sandals I had only worn a few times, but hey I eventually made it with a few blisters along the way.

I made my way up towards the front of the classroom and took a seat. I had about 10 minutes till class started so I had some time to waste. I took my phone out of my bag and just checked a few things.

Class was now about a minute away from starting, when I heard a loud group of boys walk in. I turned around only to see some obnoxious football jocks jump in and sit down in some seats near the back. I already knew that the professor would not like them.

I went to turn back around, but something caught my eye. In the very back of the room in the spot right next to the big window was a boy. He sat there with his head down looking deeply into a book that I couldn’t make out as to what it was. He wore a big black sweater with the ends wrapped up in his closed fists. The rest of the outfit was basically the same, with his black skinny jeans and vans.

It was odd because something about him intrigued me, but I was not exactly sure what it was or why. Maybe it was the way he was so focused in his book, or how he slightly tapped his foot to the beat of whatever music was flowing through his headphones.

I suddenly realized how hard I was staring when I saw his eyes flicker up to mine. I quickly flipped my head around before he had the chance to react. I wondered if he was looking at me. For some odd reason I hoped he was.

Soon after, the professor walked in. He seemed to be in his mid 30’s and was on the shorter side.

 “Hello students. My name is Mr. Wilson. I am going to be teaching this course all year, and we are going to start today by handing out the syllabus..”

He continued to talk about rules and expectations while he handed out the papers we needed. He already seemed to be annoyed with the jock boys, and I could tell there was going to be lots of trouble with them throughout the year.

I looked over the syllabus and this year seemed intense, it was a two semester class after all. We were reading five books and doing a project for each. Mr. Wilson asked some students to read the syllabus out loud. I tuned them out, although I probably shouldn’t because he was cold-calling people.

I heard the professor call on another student. I didn’t notice at first until the kid didn’t start reading. I turned around and Mr. Wilson was staring at Black-Sweater Boy.

“What’s your name?” Mr. Wilson questioned.

 The boy fidgeted with his sweater sleeves. He stared straight ahead but wouldn’t make eye contact with the teacher.

 “Ah, I’m Luke,” he finally answered.

 “Okay, Luke, could you please read the fourth set of bullet points? Bottom of the front page.”

 Luke was quiet for a minute.

 “I’m not really good at reading out loud, sir.”

 “That’s okay, this will be good practice then,” Mr. Wilson pushed him. 

Luke tugged at his sleeves. Honestly, I feel bad for the kid. He looked really nervous, but I really just wanted to tell him to get it over with and read! I was considering volunteering in his place, but then he took a shaky breath and began reading.

 “Project expectations,” he began, “rule one: during most projects you can work with a partner. Choose your partner, uh, wisely. If you can’t work, um… efficiently or cooperatively you may be asked to work alone…”

 He was right, he did suck at reading out loud, but doesn’t everyone? He stumbled his way through all six points. When he finished I looked back at him. His face was red, his knuckles were white, and his clenched fists were shaking. His eyes flickered up from his paper and surveyed the room. He met my gaze. I gave him a quick, sympathetic smile before turning back to Mr. Wilson. I was really tempted to turn back around but I knew if I did he might be a little creeped out.

 An hour later Mr. Wilson started to wrap class up.

 “So I’ll try to learn all your names by the end of the week; no promises. This is college so we’re jumping in right away. I’ll see you all again on Wednesday, so then we will begin our Sense and Sensibility unit. By Wednesday please check out the book. If that’s a problem talk to me after class. Or if you have any questions. Class dismissed,” he waved us off.

 I quickly grabbed my things (just a notebook, pencil, and pen) so I could maybe talk to Luke.

“Why would I want to talk to Luke? You don’t know the kid, and why would he want to talk to you?” I thought, “why do I care?”

I decided that I have nothing to lose talking to him, but by the time I turned around Luke was already heading out the door. I yelled a quick, “thank you!” over my shoulder to Mr. Wilson on my way out. I jogged out into the hallway of the English Literature building, but everyone was coming out of their classes now. The hallway was flooded and there was no way I could find Sweater Boy.

We are both super excited for this story, hope everyone likes it

- lauren and natalie :)