Eighteen

Third Encounter:

Third Encounter

"Eighteen" by HeyItsVegas

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"I'm right here.

When you gonna realize?

That I'm your cure, heartbreak girl."

- Five Seconds of Summer, Heartbreak Girl

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SUMMER POV

Summer sighed as she shut the door behind her, glancing back out the window to see Luke walking down the block. Jessica, her roommate, continued to chew her ear off.

"You better watch it, blondie," Jessica was saying. "Do you want to repeat what happened last time you were caught flirting with another man? Those bruises still haven't healed have they?"

"I wasn't flirting with Jason, he's my coworker for god's sake!" Summer spat, her cheeks turning red. "It's not a crime to get coffee with a cubicle mate."

Jessica backhanded her across her left cheek, and tears sprang into Summer's eyes. "Shut up," Jessica sneered. "You don't want me to tell him what you're up to, do you?" Fear flooded into every particle of Summer's being. "I saw you making puppy-dog eyes at that new neighbor of yours."

"I was not," she began, but bit her lip when Jessica raised her hand again.

Jessica flipped her hair over her shoulder, a triumphant smile on her face. "By the way, rent's due tomorrow. Don't forget to pay it." She walked away and sat down on the couch, where she spent all day. Not working, not doing anything productive. Then making Summer pay the rent and all the utilities, and for all the groceries.

Summer wanted to scream at Jessica. Wanted to call her every dirty name she could think of, tell her to go fuck herself, get in her car, drive away forever and let Jessica rot in this place with no money, food, or electricity. She hated Jessica with every fiber of her being.

But she wouldn't dare to say any of that; as much as she hated Jessica, she feared her. And she had one unbreakable tie to her that Summer could not bring herself to sever no matter how hard she tried.

Summer walked to her room and shut the door quietly. Her back hit the door, and she slid down slowly, curling into a ball on the floor. Tears burned her eyes as she thought of Luke's smile.

It had been so long since she'd had such a friendly face in her life.

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LUKE POV

Luke arrived at Ashton's ten minutes late.

"Luke! We were thinking you weren't coming." Ash asked as he opened the door. Luke shrugged, trying to look relaxed when he felt anything but relaxed upon thinking of her again. "Sorry, I was... talking to someone. Got held up."

"No big deal, mate, come in," Ash stepped aside to let Luke in, and closed the door behind him. "We're playing Super Smash Brothers."

Luke sat down between Ashton and Cal, saying, "I call playing Link!" The guys antagonized which character was the best for a good ten minutes as they played. "It's clearly Mario," Calum was saying, even as he was losing terribly, "He's the original." Everyone laughed as he was the first to lose all his lives. He sulked as they battled it out. Mikey was cast out soon after.

Ashton won, and Luke grinned, "Best three out of four?" "Deal," Ashton agreed, and the two played head to head.

"Hey, did you see that brunette girl in our chemistry class?" Calum asked Mikey as they waited for the two-person tournament to end. Mikey shook his head, "Nah, which one?" "The girl that sits in front of us to the left a bit."