Letting Him Save Me || ✎

Chapter 6

Stella Garbor POV

I had gotten home from school and checked the chore chart to see that Lukas and I had dish duty after dinner.

"Great." I muttered.

I've been trying to avoid Lukas at school and on the bus after the hand-holding debacle, but now we're both back at the house, it's gonna get a lot harder. I'm not quite sure what it is I'm avoiding, but Lukas doesn't usually show much emotion and for him to have a sudden interest in me is weird.

There's something in the water that the males have drank today.

I turn around and am met with the sight of Lukas standing at the stairs looking at me.

"We have dish duty after dinner." I tell him.

He nods with a small smile, " I know."

"Okay." I said.

We stood there in an uncomfortable silence before I walked past him towards my room.

Before I reached out for my doorknob, there's a grip on tricep and I'm pulled around to face a serious looking Lukas.

"If Logan tries anything with you again, just try to scream. I'll do my best to get to you. Okay?"

"Alright." I nod and he lets me go and I head into the room and lay on my bed with a huff.

"Long day?" Asks a voice.

My head shoots up in the direction of the voice, "Haley?" We never talk, what the fuck. "I thought we don't talk?"

"There's a first time for everything I guess. Besides the twins got each other, Lukas and Max are besties, and John's a fucking loner, so it only makes sense that we become friends or at least talk." She says.

"Uh, I guess." I said laying my head back on my pillow.

"Long day?" She asks again.

"It's been, weird. To say the least." I said staring at the ceiling.

"Weird how?" She says as she shifts positions to be on her stomach to rest her head in her hands.

"Are we close enough for that yet?" I say as I move to match her position and face her.

"No one's close in the system. You just take a leap of faith and then you never see them again because they're ripped from their current home and moved to somewhere that you'll never see them again." She responds nonchalantly.

"Has that happened from experience or just guessing?"

"First one." She responds, rolling her eyes.

"Wanna talk about it?" I ask, wanting to comfort her. I knew how she felt. I too had once made a friend in the system and right as I felt that I could trust her, she was yanked and I was alone again. That was the point where I didn't let anyone in. I put up my walls and closed myself off.

"What's there to talk about? We've all been through it no doubt." She says, letting a sarcastic huff leave her lips.

"True." I nodded in agreement.

"Okay. If I talk about it or whatever, will you tell me what's been so weird about today?" She bargains. 

I thought about the deal and decided that there isn't much to lose by talking to her. One of us will probably be moved soon anyway. 

"Fine. But you first."

"Okay fine. My first foster home I was placed at after my dad abandoned me I was 12 and I was roomed with a girl named Kaylee. She was a few years older than me. Eventually she became the older sister I never had or knew I wanted, but she got adopted and I haven't heard anything of her since." She said with a shrug. 

"I'm sorry. I'm sure she cared a lot about you."

"Anyways, your turn. Tell me all about your weird day." She urges.

I exhale and start to tell her, "So this morning when I went down for breakfast, Logan tried something with me and out of nowhere Lukas comes completely to my rescue and when we get outside he confessed that he always thought I was pretty, I guess. He also held my hand but you interrupted that one, thank you by the way. And I don't know when I saw him a couple minutes ago things felt, different." I said all in one go.

"Wow." She laughed. "Way more interesting than my story. Jesus fucking christ. You're like a dude-magnet today. Are guys usually like that around you?"

"Not at all. They usually don't know I exist."

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Haley Maxwell POV

I didn't really care about her day, or about her really. I just had to know what was going on between her and Lukas. I liked him, and I would have him eventually.

Stella wasn't a threat before today. As far as I knew, Lukas didn't pay Stella any attention, but when I saw them through the window this morning, I knew I suddenly had competition. 

Stella's that girl who's so fucking beautiful. So fucking beautiful, but she doesn't know it. And when she doesn't know, she's harmless.

So that's what I have to do. I have to keep her just under my shoe, under my control, so I can get what I want.

And the only reason I have to do this is because she's pretty. Much prettier than me.