summer & luke // l.h. [ON HOLD]

when he sees her

+ august 2013
luke.

all time low was great for listening to in his garage at home, but it was shit music for trying to drown out the idiots at the back of the city tram.

luke pressed his headphones deeper into his ears.

tomorrow, he would bring some green day, or linkin park. or maybe tonight he'd get time to make a special playlist just for the tram ride, with as much loud drumming and electrifying guitar as possible.

he could get back to listening to all time low in november, after he got his driver's license. his mum and dad had promised him jack's old holden ute, and he was saving up all the money from his paper runs for a new inset sound docking system. once he could drive to highschool, luke could listen to whatever he wanted or nothing at all. and he could sleep in an extra half an hour.

'don't be so fucking stupid, as if that's a thing even,' somebody shouted behind him.

'it is, jackass! i saw him do it with my own eyes,' aaron shouted back. 'twist mid-air and scissor kick, straight into the mother-fucking goal. i saw it with my own eyes.'

'you're full of shit.'

'you're full of shit,' aaron said. 'let's ask luke then - hey! luke!'

luke heard him, but pretended not to. sometimes if you ignored him for long enough, he'd forget about you and leave you alone. being next-door neighbours with aaron wasn't his most favourite thing in the world, but it had its advantages. at least he wasn't bullied by him and his cronies, unlike the rest of the school population.

a wad of textbook paper hit his headphones.

'those were my p.d.h.p.e. notes, you asshat,' lola groaned.

'sorry babe,' aaron said. 'i can teach you all you want about human development. what do you want to know?'

'teach her the twist and scissor,' some guy yelled.

'LUKE!' aaron yelled.

luke gently took off his headphones and turned to the back of the tram. aaron and his mates were perched at the back, all looking at him. lola, his girlfriend, was squished up next him, playing with her long black hair. aaron towered above them all.

'luke, isn't that a thing? you know, the soccer trick. the one where you spin in the air and flick up the ball so you can scissor kick it into the goal?'

'maybe,' luke threw the wadded up paper ball back at lola and she caught it.

'but you've seen it?'

'yeah, i guess.'

'i fucking told you so,' aaron pointed an accusing finger at cooper.

'how the fuck would luke know shit about soccer?' cooper said.

'don't be such an idiot,' aaron said. 'his brother is jack hemmings, dumbass!'

cooper's eyes widened and he looked at luke carefully. luke smiled back at him. his second oldest brother jack was northridge college's resident soccer star. luke sometimes wondered if he was a little more outgoing, people might notice they were related. after a while, cooper leaned back, satisfied.

'i guess i can kind of see it. i mean you're both blonde and tall, so...'

'don't be so stupid,' lola clicked her nails together, and looked at luke, 'of course they're brothers. their mum has pictures up.'

'where?' aaron asked, dumbfounded.

'at her hair salon, duh.'

luke's mum had been cutting lola's hair since pre-school, when she'd first opened her backyard business. they both had the same hairstyle now, wavy layered hair, balanced with a perky fringe.