before the pain | luke (JATP)

XVIII

When lunch came around, the table the boys and Mila used to sit at was empty, Mila sighed as she placed herself at her seat. She opened her turkey sandwich and her apple juice, eating in silence. The rest of the cafeteria was loud and screaming, because of the October weather, the whole school was now inside to eat.

"Can I sit here?" Mila looked up seeing Luke having a small smile on his lips, she nodded slowly as he placed himself in front of her opening his lunch box.

"You shouldn't worry about Alex, he will be fine" Luke spoke, which made Mila almost drop the half turkey piece that was hanging from her mouth.

"You asked him... if he liked me?" Luke continued, as he looked into her eyes, her eyes filled with guilt as she nodded slowly, Luke chuckled.

"Well I hope he liked me, we broke up some weeks ago" Mila's eyes widened as she coughed getting choked on her turkey.

"You and him?" Mila asked surprised, Luke laughed gently and nodded as he put his fork in his pasta salad, which according to Mila had too much dressing for Luke's own good.

"Well... why did you break up?" Mila asked carefully, Luke took a deep breath leaning back in his chair as he looked at the curly-haired girl.

"He was too emotional... I couldn't handle it in the end" Luke said before beginning to eat, like this conversation about his ex was casual. Which for him it was, they broke up weeks ago.

"I'm sorry" Mila whispered looking down at her turkey sandwich, Luke sighed feeling pity that she thought it was her fault, that it was only her and him at the lunch table, he put his hand on hers.

"You didn't know" Luke and Mila's eyes met and a small smile formed on their faces, yet Luke quickly removed his hand as her smile made his heartbeat fasten. He chuckled awkwardly, before taking a bite of his lunch.

Mila tried to continue her smile until she saw Aera, Oliver, and Liam at their usual table, Luke followed her eyes seeing them.

"Didn't you and Aera used to be best friends?" Luke asked. Mila nodded slowly. Mila and Aera's eyes met, Aera tried to smile at her, yet Mila just looked back at Luke, who seemed a bit confused, yet didn't dare to ask, therefore he changed the subject.

"So you play music?" Luke asked with a gentle smile, Mila shrugged. "I haven't played in a long time" She admitted, taking a sip from her juice, yet before Luke could ask her anything, the bell rang and class began again.

"See you tomorrow" Mila smiled to him before taking her stuff and heading to her next class. Luke sighed leaning back in his chair, he wanted to ask her about her stories, her songs and why she stopped playing, yet he simply walked to class and tried to focus on his teacher telling him about English history.

Mila walked over to the blue car when school ended. When Reggie came, Mila wasn't surprised by the fact that Alex was nowhere to be found. Reggie sent her a smile before opening the car, so she could place herself in her usual front-row seat.

"Hi" Reggie almost whispered, as he started the car, Mila was about to ask if they shouldn't wait for Alex, yet Reggie was already halfway through the driveway. "Hi" Mila answered instead, she looked out the window, not knowing what to say to him, this on the other hand didn't suit Reggie.

"Alex walked home earlier today..." He answered, Mila simply nodded. "He is a very emotional person" Mila nodded again, not answering him, Reggie bit his lip looking over at her before focusing on the road.

"Want to just drive for a little?" Reggie asked with a soft smile, Mila looked over at him, she noticed his hair was hanging and his clothes were looser today, she nodded slowly as Reggie began driving off the highway and down a road she didn't know. After driving for a while, they found themselves on the top of a hill, looking down on California.