in the crowd • luke hemmings

12. smoothies for the soul

"so, what will you be doing when you get back?"

lola's dad studied her from the other side of the dining table.

they were in the middle of eating breakfast; her mum was still asleep. she hated getting up early, but for lola and her dad, it had become a second nature.

"not much." she looked down at her french toast to hide the inevitable blush that she knew would appear. lola knew her dad, and she knew there would be no end of questions if he so much as sensed she wasn't telling him everything.

"not much? that doesn't sound like you." there was a teasing grin on his face and lola rolled her eyes slightly. the french toast had betrayed her and she'd been spotted.

"well, i have classes and training. the classes are actually going really well, i'm really enjoying them." she tried innocently to divert the conversation, because it felt way too soon to tell her parents about luke.

she didn't want to jinx it.

"i might have to roll down and join in some of these classes. put on my dancing shoes and bust some moves." lola cringed and laughed at her dad's attempt at dance moves, and finally took a bite out of the french toast she'd been hiding behind.

god she'd missed her dad's french toast.

"i'm sure the kids would love you." she giggled.

"i haven't missed that blush by the way." he side-eyed her through the vase stuffed with flowers. "care to divulge?"

"it's really nothing dad."

"it's a boy."

"dad!"

"i knew it!" he slammed his hand on the table in victory, a smug grin covering his face. "tell me all about him."

"there's not much to tell dad; not much has happened." lola couldn't stop thoughts of luke from invading her head, and she pressed her lips together to stop from smiling too wide.

"it better not be nate." her dad warned seriously, the smile momentarily dropping from his face.

weeks of seeing his daughter drift around like she was only half of herself was more than enough to put him off of nate permanently.

"it's not nate." lola reassured quickly, making her dad relax in his seat.

"then who is it?"

"well - his name is luke. he knows the guys from high school and recently moved back to our area i guess." lola had no idea why she suddenly felt so childish talking about luke - like she was telling her dad about her high school crushes all over again.

"we see each other quite a lot because of them, and we're going out when i get home."

"tell me about him."

tell him about luke.

oh god.

"well he's - he's very tall. like, really tall. he's quite quiet but i don't mind? when we talk it's really nice and when we give each other lifts to places we alternate who plays music-"

"good taste?"

"really good taste."

"good sign. carry on sweetheart?"

"he's obviously very good looking. he's blonde and tall and his eyes are so pretty dad; they're so blue." lola bit the insides of her cheeks to stop herself from gushing about just how attractive she found luke. she assumed her dad would be happier not knowing.