Alone Together (The Strokes Fanfiction)

Earlier

August 25th, 1994

 "Good morning class"

 "Morning..." the answer was a robotic, vague unison of 14 year olds.

 "This is Luke Striker," the teacher enunciated "it is his first class here at school and I'd like you to welcome him as a..."

 All the teenagers in the classroom automatically lost the attention towards their teacher; apparently everyone had other things to do certainly more important than respecting the arrival of the curly new boy. The Sci-Fi comics weren't going to write themselves. There was an important trade session of the most recent collectable cards to organize, the designing of more effective paper planes was becoming a priority to the class clowns and the art of blowing gum bubbles needed essential practice to be properly performed. Everyone was in on something else. Everyone, except one girl at the back of the class, whose eyes were fixed on the new guy.

 "He can sit with me Miss" the girl said with a smile that portrayed ambiguous intentions.

"Thank you Megara, but I think Luke would rather sit with one of the boys?"

The whole male collective of the class stared right at the kid for the first time, some eyes curious, some eyes uninterested, and just a few of them excited.

"It's okay Miss, I can sit with her" Luke said innocently and gestured towards Megara. She smiled the widest of smiles.

The teacher hesitated, but then shrugged and encouraged him to take a sit.

Luke dodged satchels and bags, all scattered along the paths between the desk rows heading towards the Megara's place. But on his way, he accidentally bumped against the elbow of another girl, with long smooth hair. Apparently, she was writing something quite important, since she turned with an annoyed grimace to protest. But then she saw Luke. Their eyes locked for an instant. She turned her head back to the page, blushing and trying to hide her face behind the hair locks that messily fell on her work. He smiled a shy smile and continued to his new place.

 "I'm Megara," her seat companion beamed "normally Margo sits here, but she's on a trip with her dad. It can remain your place 'till she comes back... if you want" she pursed her lips and smiled without undoing them, then blinked repeatedly at him. She was gorgeous, but she had this conceited manner of speaking that kind of ruined his first impression about her. At first Luke thought he was probably being a little bit judgmental. Perhaps she was better than a narcissist pain in the neck. And as the weeks went by; he found out that she actually was narcissist pain in the neck. She was a snobby, mean girl, with (he had progressively deduced) a worryingly obsession with him. Since Luke didn't give her the attention she craved, the girl treated him like a miserable piece of trash. On the other hand, his male companions were great. They included him in the soccer tournaments, the card trading, and the vast majority of them were friendly and hilarious. His best friends were the ones who shared the same love for music he did.

Then there was a girl. The girl, the one he bumped against his very first day of class. Her name was Jacoba, but she hated it, so she only responded to 'Cobie'. She was crazy about Red Hot Chili Peppers. She painted her nails all the same color except the ones on her thumbs. Sometimes she would chew pencils a bit too much. She was beautiful to Luke's eyes. Megara gave her a really hard time.  

He hadn't plucked up the courage to say hi to her. Every time he tried to approach, he would feel his legs shaking like canned jelly and his heart almost pumping out of his chest. So one day it occurred to him that instead of talking to her, he could just write her. So he took a piece of paper and a black pen and scribbled out:

 Hi. I'm Luke, the new kid in your class, the one with the curls that ruins your stuff by bumping against your elbow :) You have nice hair. I'd like to see what you are always working on the free periods, only if you don't mind.

 Luke left the note in Cobie's locker. Surprisingly, the next day he found a note in his. He read:

 Hi Luke, I'm Cobie-

 Hi heart flipped over.

 Hi Luke, I'm Cobie :) I know who you are. I really like your eyes. Casually I've been thinking about cutting my hair any time soon. I hope that doesn't disappoint you. Of course I can show you my work, but only when it's done. There's no resentment with the elbow thing, so we're cool.

 Of course there was no resentment. Since that boy nudged her strongly enough to take her mind out of her writing, she had developed an unexplainable crush for him. She watched him play soccer from the library's window every Wednesday. She would get lost in his emerald green eyes during his lectures. She would draw little hearts with his initials on her math papers to then cross out the evidence. She was mad about him.

 The kids kept on exchanging letters, then glances, but never dared to speak. Just prolonged stares across the room, from time to time cheeky smiles to celebrate some of their letter's internal jokes; but not a single word. A month and a half passed by, and their letters gained much more length and confidence. They talked as if they knew each other since the very beginning of their life, but then again, not a word. There was this secret fear of facing as their real selves and actually disappoint the respective other. They were madly in love, but that brought incalculable fright. Till one night.

 I hate Megara Luke, I swear. I don't even know what I've done to her to treat me that way. She calls me fat... and other awful stuff too. She says I'm not worth living; she insults my family and mocks my name. She does this shit all the time. I'm tired as fuck Luke, you have no idea.

 Cobie, you are not fat, neither anything that that whore can say about you. You are absolutely worth living. Everybody is, even that hell of a bitch. I know you are tired, and I completely understand how you feel. I didn't change schools for nothing. But you've got to know that the only opinion that matters about yourself is well... your own. If someone doesn't have anything nice to say to you, then you should be absolutely oblivious to them. I think you are beautiful and funny and creative (I loved you last comic by the way). But you are whatever you want to be, and I'll always like whichever version of yourself you choose. Unless you are an ungrateful skank who has death wishes upon a whole community. (That last one was a joke, I'll still like you whilst you remain gifting me more comics).

 One day Megara announced there would be a party at her house the following Friday, and Luke made Cobie promise she would go. She was hard to persuade, but she did go.

That night Cobie argued strongly with her mom, but she went to the party anyway, just for Luke. She felt hideous, since she had been bawling and yelling, and kicking doors in her party clothes and make up. When she stepped into the party, Luke's heart almost stopped. He was dancing with his friends, but his mind went somewhere else, wondering if he would finally be able to talk to her.

Cobie sat on one of the couches, a bit tired and a bit excited about seeing Luke in nice clothes. Suddenly he sat down beside her and her whole world began to spin. Luke had sweaty hands and a frantic heart pounding adrenaline. She couldn't feel her legs, but she could feel the blood rushing to her face and a grin curving up her lips.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen" he said.

 Her heart melted

 "Your curls are incredibly cute" she replied.

 Then she kissed him.

 "You like me" Luke whispered, absolutely astonished but his insides bursting with an unbearable joy.

 "No shit Sherlock" Cobie's ironic reply made Luke crack up.

 Then they collapsed into their second kiss. And what it also collapsed when it happened was Megara's temper; as well as her heart.

And then everything got worse.