romeo + juliet ↠ l.h

25

It was nearly impossible to not tell Luke about his mom and I's talk. He deserved to know that someone was on our side. But sadly, she was right, and if he did know why she was keeping it from Andrew, he would immediately rebel.

This was left best as a secret, even though it killed me to lie to him. Or rather, not tell him the whole truth.

Luke and I cut it close this morning. My parents were both in New York City, so I wasn't rushing to get back inside after our morning meeting. Luke wasn't rushed because, well, he thought his mom was asleep. We lost track of time between kisses and albums and before we knew it, we were practically sprinting to go get ready for school.

It felt weird knowing Beth could probably see us. Had she watched us kiss? God, I hope not. That'd be so awkward.

Luke was right in front of me the whole drive to school, purposefully fucking with me as I drove behind him. Maybe we would have been on time if he hadn't driven 15 mph under the speed limit solely to piss me off. So, we both strolled into the Monday morning After- Grad committee meeting a few minutes late, as if we could make it even more obvious.

I sat down next to Josslyn before she could tell Luke she had saved him a seat. Petty, I know.

"Nice of you to join us." Mateo stated loudly as Luke pulled the chair next to him out and sat down lazily.

"Sorry, what did I miss?" Luke tiredly & unenthusiastically stated. I wondered if he had slept at all last night.

"Have you guys picked out a venue yet?" Jafari asked after looking at the to-do list Ashlyn had made.

"We can figure it out tonight." I offered, as I felt Josslyn's eyes bore into me. It took everything I had not to make eye contact with her.

"That's good with me." Luke said, smirking ever so slightly at me. I noticed his lips were swollen. Like the kind of '30 minutes of making out in the grass' swollen.

I pulled out my phone camera discreetly and examined my own. Not only were they more swollen than Luke's, I even had a tiny little lip hickey. Way to keep it on the down low, Emma.

But maybe no one else paid attention to Luke's usual lip size. If you didn't know they were different than before, you wouldn't know, right? Only one person would notice, and she happened to be sitting right next to me. With a direct line of sight to my teeny tiny lip hickey. Or bruised and swollen lip. Whatever you want to call it.

The meeting continued on, discussing food options and music options in minimal detail. We had another meeting Wednesday, and we could get more done then after we finalized a venue.

"I know a few places in the city, maybe I could tag along with Luke and Emma?" Josslyn interrupted.

No way. No way this bitch was coming with us. But I couldn't say that. I was nice girl Emma, never harm a fly Emma. Why did I become so possessive and bitchy when it came to Luke? What was he doing to me?

I locked eyes with her and smiled, but offered no words at her new suggestion. I'll let Luke take this one.

Except Luke didn't say anything either.

"Are you guys okay with that?" Jafari finally broke the silence.

"Totally." I faked enthusiasm, hoping I seemed genuine. "It will be fun!"

•

"I'm not kidding. I am turning into a crazy, possessive bitch." I sat on the bathroom counter as Alice french braided her hair and Morgan juuled in the stall, and I explained the events of the After-Grad meeting.