Close As Strangers~L.H.

Chapter 12

Luke's POV:
"Dude, what's up with you? You look hungover." Michael says
"I'm not, just, tired that's all."
"Really?" Calum says while looking over at me "How much did you drink?"
"I told you, I'm not hungover and I didn't drink."
Ashton finally speaks up "I've seen you countless times after you've been wasted, and I know you were last night."
"Alright, God! I drank some last night! I wasn't even buzzed!"
"Who'd you drink with? Usually we drink together." Michael says
I bite my lip "Umm, just a friend I've known for a while."
I see Calum look over at me and give me the 'You're so full of shit' look.
"I know who it was." Michael says, smiling
"Who?"
"You know who."
"No, I'm sorry, I can't read minds. Who do you think it was?"
"It was-"
"Guys, seriously, can we just eat?" Ashton says
"Yeah." I say
"Well I'm not waiting for you guys, come on Calum." he says
"You're fucking lucky. If he ever finds out, you're dead." Michael says
"Well he's not going to."
Mary's POV:
I lay on the couch in my pajamas. I feel a little better, but I feel bad too. Ashton will probably find out and I'll get Luke in trouble.
Ashton walks into the living room.
"Feeling better?" he asks
"Yeah."
"Good." he says. He walks over to the couch and lays on top of me.
"Ow Ash! You're not 10 anymore, you're a little bit heavier now."
"Oops, sorry." he says giggling
"It's fine."
"So, who did you go out with last night?"
"You know, just a friend I've known for a while."
"You know what's weird? Luke said the exact same thing today. Funny, huh?"
"Yep." I leave it at that
On Monday, things were a little awkward. I didn't want to bring Friday night up, because I wasn't too sure about everything. I managed to avoid Luke all day until math.
"Hey, where have you been all day." he says while sitting down and smiling.
"Um, you know, just in class."
"Well I thought you had skipped today. I was, I was worried."
Class starts and were not even fifteen minutes into it when he slips a piece of paper onto my desk.
Were in trouble, Michael's onto us and he'll tell Ashton. I really don't want him to find out, he'll kill me. -L
I write back:
I don't think he will. He's just being Michael, but we should be careful. I think Ashton's getting a little suspicious.
We decide that if we were to ever become a "thing" that we'd keep it on the down low.And we'll remain friends.At lunch, I sit next Calum and he sits next to Michael across the table. I'm eating my lunch when Michael starts to kick my leg.
"Ow, you little fuck!"
"Hey, is that any way to talk to someone who can have little Luke here be beat up by Ashton by saying one sentence?"
"Well, you need to stop."
He eventually stops after about the hundredth kick. I probably have bruises all over my shins now.
We decided that we wouldn't spend too much time together for about a week, but we'd text each other.
The week has gone by so slow, it's only Wednesday. I walk into school and want to cry.
I see Luke at his locker and guess who's there? Kaitlin. She's blinking her eyes and twirling her hair like the idiotic ditz she is. I see Luke smile and... I just can't take it anymore. I knew it was too good to be true and that this week wouldn't work out. I run past them to the bathroom.
"Mary! Mary!" I hear him yell
I ignore him and head into the girls room, where he can't follow me. I go to the very last stall and lock it, then sink to the ground. But he doesn't seem to care because I hear him come in a few seconds later.
"Mary!" I hear him yell. I can hear him shuffling, stopping every few seconds to look under the stalls.
He comes to my stall and knocks.
"Mary," he says in a soft voice "Mary, please open up."
I don't answer him.
"Mary, I know it's you. I'd recognize that bag anywhere."
I grab my bag so he can't see it.
"Mary."
I finally open the door.
"Hey," he says "hey don't cry, let me explain."
He sits next to me, leaving the stall door open.
"She came onto me. I tried to be nice and politely ask her to leave me alone, but she wouldn't."
I don't reply, I just keep staring ahead.
"Hey," he says. He tries to hug me, but I pull away "alrighty then, you leave me no choice but to do this." he wraps his arms around me and pulls me onto his lap, then hugs me.
We sit there for a while, until some girls walk in and give us a strange look.
"Let's get you cleaned up."
He takes my hand and leads me to the sinks, helps me onto the counter,then wets a paper towel to wipe my face.
"I have no idea why you wear that makeup, even if it's just mascara and eyeliner, you're naturally beautiful." he says
"Well according to society, natural beauty isn't true beauty. Liquid eyeliner and drawn on eyebrows are true beauty."
He gently puts his hand on my neck and starts to dab under my eyes.
"Well obviously society hasn't seen you without make up. If they did they'd change their statement about true beauty."
When he gets done, he stands there and looks at me while fiddling with the soggy paper towel. I try to look at him, but I end up looking away. My eyes flicker back over to him and he smiles.
"What?"
"It's just, nothing."
He takes my hand and I look up at him.
"Don't you think Ashton will see us?"
"Hopefully he doesn't."
We walk out of the girls room and everyone's still out there since we still have 20 minutes before school starts. They all stop and look at us, and I hear people snicker in the dead silence. It must look weird, a guy and girl walking out of the bathroom holding hands.
Then I see Ashton walk through the doors.
"Uh-oh Hemmings! You better run!" I hear someone say