Bully // l.h. // Book 1 of Bully Series

28. Well, Damn

“Wow this feels like déjà vu. Only backwards. But still as sucky as the first time.” I mumbled, watching as Kendra attempted to shove her suitcase in the trunk along with Wyatt’s. A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, and I took in the familiar smell of Luke’s cologne.

“You know they’ll keep in contact, Dae.” He murmured, resting his chin on the top of my head. I squirmed out of his grasp, pulling a face.

“Ugh. You know I hate when you do that. It’s bad enough that I had to deal with it from Wyatt for four years. Don’t you start.” I complained. Luke didn’t smile at my attempt to change the subject, and I sighed.

“I know. And I have you and the other boys here with me. But I wish I could have everyone.” I felt tears begin to form in my eyes, but Luke wiped them away before they could get very far. Luke understood exactly what I meant, and his hands found their way to my shoulders, squeezing them gently.

“Hey. Those two right there are not your mum. Alright?” He said, his voice taking on a more firm tone as he pointed to where Wyatt was making fun of Kendra for packing the car keys into her suitcase. “They’re not going to forget you’re here, and they sure as hell aren’t going to stop talking to you.” He paused, and I realized he was waiting for a response, so I nodded.

“I know.” I said, looking at my two best friends. Wyatt slammed the trunk of the car shut with a triumphant look on his face and turned to face me. His grin disappeared immediately and he crossed the space between us quickly.

“Don’t you start, Dae-bird.” He warned, which caught Kendra’s attention.

“No!” She yelled, jogging towards me. “I won’t allow this to be a cry-fest. “ She scolded. I nodded, letting out a short laugh at her choice of words.

“I’ll try.” I assured her. “Now, we need to get you two to the airport.”

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I sat on the couch, staring at the newspaper clutched in my hands. The headlining story seemed to taunt me, the black words screaming news I had yet to hear from the source himself.

LOCAL BAND 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER TO GO ON WORLD TOUR WITH POPULAR BOYBAND ONE DIRECTION

That wasn’t where the problems started, though. No, they started with the first paragraph of the article, where it was detailed just when the boys would be starting their tour with One Direction.

Two weeks.

And they wouldn’t be back in Australia for over eight months.

When the front door opened and four rowdy boys tumbled into the Hemmings household, I barely even flinched. I did, however, get up from the couch as soon as a certain blond-haired boy sat down next to me, passing the other three, fairly confused boys on my way to the kitchen. I didn’t say a word to any of them.

“Daeyna?” It was Michael who spoke first, as he was probably the first to enter the kitchen out of the four of them. I was leaning against the counter, facing away from them.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Luke’s voice sounded next, and that was what threw me over the edge. I whipped around so fast it was a miracle I didn’t get whiplash.

“You want to know what’s wrong?” I asked, my voice deadly calm. I could see immediately that the tone of my voice put all four boys on edge. It was one thing to have me yelling at them; it was something entirely different to hear me speak so calmly when something was so obviously wrong. Nobody said a word for a moment and I continued.