Try hard // L.H.

Chapter 32

"Come on!" Ashton yelled out the car window, while also beeping the horn. All four of us were in Ashton's car, well his moms since we had to borrow the SUV because there was no way we could fit all eight of us in his small car

Ashton was in the drivers seat, Michael riding shotgun, which he had called dibs on before we even left. Cal and I were in the second row.

we watched as the girls came out of Addison's house and Calum and I got out so some of the girls could go in the third row

"Hey babe" I heard Calum say to Angela as him and her climbed into the way back. Michael rolled down his window as Meredith came around to his side and they, not surprisingly, started to make-out

"Alright hurry it up" Addison chided as she quickly kissed Ashton on the cheek and sat in the second row behind him. Meredith laughed as she climbed in next to Angela and Calum

When I turned around to hop into the car, I saw Aurora right behind me and a huge smile came over my face

"Hey baby" I grabbed her hands and pulled her into me, giving her a light kiss on the lips

"Hi" she gave me a small smile, not quite looking at me and bitting her lip

"Where have you been the last couple days? You didn't answer any of my calls" I asked her

"I know" she said "I'm sorry I was just...busy with stuff"

"Your family?" I guessed

"It's not a big deal" she shook her head, to dismiss it

"You sure?" I bent down so she would look into my eyes

"Yeah" she nodded and gave me a kiss. Then we got into the car next to Addison.

_

"Michael you are going to get us kicked out" I warned him, looking in the direction of one of the waitress who, thankfully, hadn't seen him yet, standing on his chair on one leg

"Get off the chair" Meredith said to her boyfriend "before you hurt yourself" this seemed to be enough for him to finally jump down and return to his seat, the correct way. I have no idea what even went through his mind to do that, probably just to make us laugh.

"Hi I'm Beth and I'll be your server for tonight, are you guys ready to order?" Suddenly a waitress was at our table. We all ordered our food and went back to talking

"I wish i would have had Mr. Pearson for chemistry" Addison said "I had Mr. Roberts and I'm going to fail" she groaned

"You'll do fine" Ashton said, slinging his arm around her and rubbing her arm

"I think the only reason I'm going to pass my history final is because of Mr. Anderson" Meredith said, spinning her straw around in her drink

"Let's not talk about it, my brain still hurts" Michael complained

"Poor boy" Meredith rolled her eyes teasingly

My hand found Aurora's during the conversation, she had been unusually quiet tonight and I tried to get her to look up at me

"Are you okay?" I leaned down to her ear, so only she could hear me

"Yeah, I'm fine" she told me, she seemed to be fascinated by the design on the table, cause that's all she would look at

"You don't seem fine"

"Luke, I'm just tired okay?" She said, peering up at me a little "I love you" she told me, almost as a after thought

"I Love You" I mumbled back and kissed her lightly on the cheek

After our food came and we were done eating, we all climbed back into the car and started on drive to the clearing. We stopped by Michael's house so he could grab his car, just in case we needed it or if some of us had to leave early

We grabbed chairs and blankets out of the trunk of Ashton's car and starting walking out into the field. Calum lit up the fire pit as we set everything up, the sun was still giving off a soft glow in the sky, but was gradually getting darker.

It was nice to have everyone together. All my friends who I cared about, the thought of this all being over soon was a weird and scary thought almost. I've been with most of these people for years, all through school and most of my life. This has probably been the best year

We where all sitting around the fire for a while, I was sitting in my chair with Aurora in my lap and a blanket over us when she said she was getting cold

"Remember the first party I brought you to?" I asked her, resting my head on her shoulder

"Yeah" she laughed "its when I started liking you"

"Really?" I asked "because I think I remember you yelling at me when I brought you home " I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her tighter

"Yeah, I did" she nodded "I'm sorry for that"

"It's okay" I smiled, kissing the back of her neck

"This has been a great year" she whispered, I don't know if she knew I could hear her or not.

"It has" I agreed quietly "I got my letter yesterday"

"You did?" She turned to look at me. I nodded "what did it say?"

"I got in" I smiled at her

"Luke! Oh my god!" She beamed, catching the attention of everyone else

"You finally tell her?" Ashton asked

"Yep" I smiled "I've been dying to tell you all day" I told her

"We got into the same college" she said

"We did" I kissed her cheek, she bit her lip

A little while later, around midnight or so we decided we should all go home. One by one we were all dropped off, Aurora got out of the car with me and I offered to walk her down the street to her house

"You know I trust you right?" She asked, as we Walked hand in hand, her hand shaking was what told me something was wrong

"Yeah, I know, why?" I asked carefully. She pulled me over to her driveway, the lights in her house were all off and we were all alone in our silence

"I have to tell you something" she said meakly

"What's wrong?" I held both of her hands. She took a shaky breath and looked up at me. Even in the dark I could see her eyes filled with tears, threatening to fall

"It's-Its about Aaron" she whispered and my heart sunk