Lucas ✔️

Thirty-Three

"How is it?" Cole asked, standing up as I entered the hallway with my hand held to my chest gingerly. Shax and Amy were next to him, neither standing up, looking at me with curious eyes.

"It's alright, nothing too bad, apparently." I shrugged and turned my attention to Shax and Amy with a raised eyebrow. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Ouch, that hurts Lilith." Shax placed his hand on his heart and faked injured whilst shoving his phone in his pocket.

"My beloved student nearly turned into a crisp, of course I had to see how she was doing," Amy said smoothly, standing up and towering over me as she tried to inspect it through the bandages. "Looks like no writing for you today, huh?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," I muttered lowly, narrowing my eyes at the wadded bandaged wrapped around my skin as tight as possible. I really had been looking forward to tutoring. The absolute last thing I need in my life right now is to be told I was being held back a grade.

Janie wrapped her arms around me loosely and let out a sigh, whispering in my ear, "thank god you're okay." I patted her on the shoulder softly with my unbandaged hand and waited until she pulled away.

"So... I've been sent home for the rest of the day," I said, turning to look at Cole. "Any chance I can get a lift home?"

Cole scratched his chin and looked sheepish before he held his keys out. "I can't take you, Mr. Carter will get me kicked off the team if I miss another class – you know how much he hates me. But, you can take my car for sure."

I held my bandaged hand up awkwardly and waited for it to sink in.

"Oh!" At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. "Oh my god, I'm such an idiot." He dropped his head into his hand and looked away from me, laughing awkwardly. I patted his shoulder and grinned at him.

"It's okay, we love you like that." I winked at Janie who placed her hand on his other shoulder as we both tried to make him feel better, each of us smirking as we did so.

"We can drop you off," Shax volunteered helpfully. "I wanted to ditch anyway."

I opened my mouth to say yes, gratefully, but Amy cut me off, looking at Shax with a roll of her eyes.

"Actually, no, we can't. Sorry Lil. We have work today." Short, sharp, precise. No words for argument. Shax bit his lip and nodded, as though he was surprised, sending me an apologetic look.

"I can drive you," Janie said with a grin, reaching out to grab Cole's keys from his hand.

"Oh, no, no, no," I said quickly, gripping her forearm tightly and shaking my head. "There's no way you're driving me home without a license."

"Please, I am so close to getting it," she said with a grin, pulling her tanned arm gently from my iron-grip.

"Not close enough," Cole replied smoothly, hooking the keys around in his hand and shoving them back in his pocket as the bell rang, ending my short-lived lunch break.

"How's she going to get home then, Cole?" Janie demanded, crossing her arms and eyeing him down as she flicked a lock of blonde hair over her shoulder.

"It's fine!" I said, pushing her away from me and towards Cole more, nudging my head at the hallway. "Seriously, I will sort it out! I can call a taxi or something."

"Sounds good," Amy said as she moved away, not the least bit worried about my well-being. Shax shrugged and waved goodbye, following her lead as they headed down the hallway.