Always and Forever

Wine, Not Lables

Okay. This is no big deal, right? I mean, I've been to birthday parties and some school dance after parties. They can't be that different, right? WRONG! Of course, it is going to be different. There will be beer, not soda, and who does Luke think he is telling me I will kiss someone tonight. "Just breathe, you can do this, get over him!" I tell myself one last time in the mirror as I pick out my outfit for tonight.

    My closet suddenly looks pathetic. I have always wanted to have cute clothing and be like those girls on Pinterest. Clothes sadly are expensive, and I hate shopping, so thrifting is... no. I take to Pinterest and find something I might be able to recreate. Luckily my mom places tennis.

    After shuffling through her drawers, I found a white skirt. Perfect. I pair it with a collard shirt and my old Stanford crew neck. "Close enough," I think to myself as the doorbell rings. Fuck. I scramble to find a pair of shoes I don't mind getting dirty and settle on my old Adidas from freshman year. I grab my lipgloss to try and get the door before my mom.

    "Hey, Margret! Did you know Luke was back?" she yelled from the front door as I am halfway down the stairs. Too late. "Give me a hug, Lukey! I can't believe I see the Luke Hemmings in the flesh!" She swiftly pulls him in before he could object, and I notice how charming he is. Nothing has changed.

    Luke Noticed my struggling to find my keys "Maggies? You ready to go."

    "Oh ya, just one sec.... Got em!" I smile at him and start out the door. But not without objections from my mom.

    "And where are you two off to" she winks at me.

Oh my god, this is embarrassing.

    Cool as ever, Luke swoops in, "oh, we are heading to my buddy's house, there is a little welcome back party being thrown for me, and I thought Maggies would like to come."

    My mom nods and tells me to be home by 11. She was surprisingly cool with it. She has expressed in the past that although she loves Luke like her own, she's glad he didn't 'influence me,' whatever that means. I kinda agree with her; I know if he stayed, I would have gotten into his group of friends, and they honestly weren't my type.

    He drives, thank god. I was getting a little nervous about this party. I mean, who knows what I could do while drunk. If I drink. Even though I have never been drunk, I'm not afraid to drink. More excited. The song playing through the speakers was "Freakin out on the interstate," my favorite, so I tried to turn it up, but just I reach up, he does too.

    Our hands slightly touch, and each of us pulls back immediately. We both giggle and try to talk, but it comes out as a bunch of jumbled words. Why are we so awkward suddenly. I shake it off as quick as I can to form a coherent sentence. "Sorry, I was just going to turn it up. I like this song."

    " Me too, great taste Maggies! I really didn't expect it from you" Luke has snapped back to his usual self, and I am thankful.  The conversation was always so easy for him. I envy that. He could say absolutely nothing, and I would still be completely enamored by his words. Luke did the talking. He is better at it, so I don't mind. The music, the wind, his smile, It was all perfect until he opened his damn mouth again.

" You know Maggies? I like this look you going on. It's... basic. But I like it. You will definitely be pulling the boys tonight." Again he always did have a way with words

"Thanks, I guess. Maybe I don't want to 'pull the boys,'" I said, trying to mock his deep voice.

"Okay, really? You are turning 18 in six weeks, and you haven't kissed anyone. Listen, I am not going to pretend to know if you like girls, boys, or both because honestly, I have never really cared, but now I need to know. Who are we looking for tonight."

How did he read me so well? I don't know if I should tell him or not. My sexuality is private, and nothing I have shared with anyone because I always found it hard to explain. But here goes nothing. "I like the wine, not the label" I really hope he has watched Schitt's Creek. We just sat there in silence for a few seconds as I watched the wheels turning in his head.

"Isn't that a line from Schitt's Creek? Did you just use a line from a TV show to tell me you're pan?" he almost chuckled when he realized what I said.

"Ya, I did."

"Cool, so can we be done with this conversation now bc? Again I honestly don't care who you want to have sex with. My only job is to find you a nice... person-" he winked at me, "to kiss you tonight."

I nearly passed out right there. This boy better stops right now. I chuckled and just went on my phone after that as Luke went on about various parties he had attended the last three years. I felt relieved he didn't care about my sexuality. Luke has always been the only person I could be completely myself with. Still, I also have ever had a secret, not even he knew. He couldn't know.

I hope I don't do anything stupid tonight.

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hello! I know this part is short but I will give you more soon! It's like 3:30 AM and I have a lot of school work to do tomorrow. I want to say I hate the first part but I'm lazy and won't change it :D. Luke was just so crude and that not how I see the character anymore. (just not that intense) IF you came from TikTok hello! I am happy you are here.

PS I wrote the first part so long ago. like I was in 7th grade when I came up with the concept and through the years I have added but I hate how it's written so IF the characters slowly change tis why.