Streaker.

14

"You're going to pass out, Luke, knock it off." Ashley said, gently slapping Luke on the knee. He was rocking back and forth on his chair, his breathing heavy and uneven, while everyone else in the classroom went about their usual business.

"I got two hours of sleep last night, two." Luke stressed, looking back up at Ashley. His eyes were burning and they hurt to even keep open, and he felt like he was going to faint any second now. "I have a huge Chemistry test today and a mountain of homework to make up when I get home. I'm gonna die."

"You're not going to die." Ashley sighed. She glanced around the English room again, making sure that no one was paying attention. "This is your fault, you know."

"I know, I know." Luke groaned, rubbing his eyes again. "God, I'm so stupid."

"Why did you stay up so late?" Ashley questioned. This wasn't the first time he'd come to school practically in tears because he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. He could barely function on only a few hours of sleep, but it was something that was completely out of his control.

"I couldn't sleep." Luke groaned. "I tried but I had a bad dream and then I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep again."

"Aw, you had a nightmare." Ashley pouted. Luke felt like she was making fun of him, so he just sighed and looked down at his lap.

"It's not funny." He said, shaking his head.

"I know, I don't think it's funny at all." Ashley said, but Luke still thought that she was being sarcastic. "I'm sorry that you couldn't fall asleep, Luke, and I wish that I could help you but unfortunately I can not."

"You can write me a fake doctor's note to get out of school for the day." Luke pouted. He rested his head in his hands and sighed, trying hard to keep his eyes open.

"Just ditch." Ashley shrugged. "I can ditch too and drive you home."

"But I have a test." Luke answered quickly. He knew that Michael ditched class all the time and Ashton used to leave school early all the time, but Luke had never ditched school before and he didn't plan on starting. He'd had a pretty good attendance record for these last four years of high school and Luke didn't want to mess it up right now just because he was too stupid to get any sleep the night before.

"You can make up the test." Ashley said simply, shrugging again. "Did you even study for it?"

"No, I never need to." Luke said slowly. He rubbed his eyes again, trying to do something, anything, to wake himself up a little more.

"Okay, Luke. I'm not going to pressure you into doing anything that you're not comfortable with - "

"Oh my God, are we gonna have sex?" Luke mumbled tiredly, not even seeming very enthusiastic about this.

"Shut up!" Ashley groaned. "Wouldn't you rather take the afternoon off, go home and sleep a little, then come back tomorrow and retake your test? Or do you want to take it while you're, like, a zombie?"

"I do not want to take my test while I'm a zombie." Luke sighed. "I can't ditch, though, my mom will get mad at me."

"I can call you in. You said it yourself, I sound very motherly, the lady at the office will totally believe that I'm your mom." Ashley smiled. Luke could tell that Ashley had done something like this before, either with her own friends or just herself.

"I don't know, Ashley." Luke said, hesitating a little. He'd never cut class or left school early before and the whole thing made him really nervous. What if he got caught? "Maybe I can just take a quick power nap in the library during lunch - "