DRE'S P.O.V
Someone sits in front of me, and without looking, I know it's Luke.
"Hey you," he greets, dropping his bag loudly next to him.
He shifts in his seat and makes a hell of a noise as he tries to get comfortable.
"Quiet, please," the librarian warns him from a distance.
Luke makes a face that somehow makes me laugh.
"I didn't say anything," he whispers.
He smiles, returning his gaze towards me.
"Why are you here?" I ask, going through a notebook.
"I'm here to study, just like you," he replies playfully, going through his bag, bringing out the single book he has.
I watch him, slightly amused as he searches the table for something.
"What are you looking for? I ask.
"A pen."
"You don't own a pen," I laugh.
Luke rolls his eyes.
"You're so unserious," I tease.
"Are you going to give me one, or not?" He laughs.
I search the table and hand him an extra pen.
He takes it, tapping on the table, not doing anything in particular.
"Well, you said you're here to study...study then," I say, folding my arms.
"You're distracting me," Luke blurts.
"How?" I ask, giggling.
"By doing—"
"Quiet, boy," the librarian yells at Luke.
I cover my mouth trying to drown my very loud laughter, and Luke struggles to contain his.
"We should leave," he snickers, almost choking.
I nod eagerly, gathering my books.
I follow him outside the library.
"God, the librarian hates me," Luke says.
"You think?" I ask, with a hint of sarcasm.
"Yeah, and it wasn't even my fault, you started laughing like a fucking hyena," he argues.
I snort loudly, laughing at his comment.
"See," he says, throwing his hands towards me as I prove his point.
A group of students walk past us, causing me to lower my voice.
Lunch will be over in roughly ten minutes.
The next class is general, one Luke offered.
We walk quietly, not saying much. I glance at Luke.
His head is straight, and he still has the glasses from yesterday.
"How's your eye?" I ask.
He shrugs. "It's okay."
"I...I told my mum," I say quietly.
A grave expression forms on his face.
I had promised never to tell anyone about what he was dealing with.
Mum only knows Luke doesn't like his father. It'll break her if she ever found out what is really happening to him.
"You told her about my Dad?" Luke asks in disbelief.
"No, no. I told her your Dad is in town, so you'll be spending more time at our place," I say quickly.
I watch Luke's face soften a little. He stays quiet.
"But Luke," I start to say. "When are you going to get help?"
"I'll deal with it," he replies.
He looks ahead.
"Do you want anything?" he asks, gesturing at the vending machine.
I shrug, following him to the machine.
Luke gets a huge bag of chips and two sodas.
He offers me a soda, and I take it gladly, putting it away for later.
Luke puts an arm around my shoulder as we walk.
I can't help but notice the way people look at us when he does that.
Like they don't know already that we're best friends, and this is how we hung out.
Class is just ahead now. I go in first, and Luke follows after.
No one else is in class but us.
He takes a seat at the back, where he normally sits.
"Can I sit with you?" I ask him.
"Sure," he replies.
I drop into the seat next to him.
"What's wrong, Dre?" he asks.
Of course, he knows something's wrong; that's why he came to the library.
His fixed gaze is now on me, and I feel sad and angry with myself. Angry because I always come to him with all my problems, and any normal person will be sick of hearing them.
Any normal person— but never Luke.
"It's just...I spoke to TJ today," I say.
"What did he want?" Luke asks, his face turning sour, hearing his name.
"It was for tutoring, I told Hampshire I didn't want to tutor him. He overheard," I say.
"So, what did he say?" Luke asks.
"It's not what he said," I reply, leaving out the part where TJ called me sexy when I was angry.
"Then what is it?" Luke asks.
"Nate saw me with him; he's upset about it."
Luke leans back, waiting for me to go on.
"I didn't do anything wrong, did I ?" I ask.
Luke shakes his head.
"Is that why you weren't with him during lunch?"
I nod, pressing hard on my knuckles.
"Do you...Do you think I'm a whore?" I ask, my voice almost inaudible.
Luke is slightly taken aback by my question.
"Of course not, Dre."
"But I know you've heard the gossip. Your team mates... your friends don't you hear them say shit about me?" I ask, desperate for an honest response.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Dre. You're likeable and most times naive, people like to take advantage of that, don't let them," he says.
The door opens, and a few of our classmates walk in.
"Dre, did TJ say something to you?" Luke asks, completely out of the blue.
"Like what?" I ask.
"Anything that made you uncomfortable?"
"He said he wanted to talk to me," I say. "But that's it."
"Are you going to talk to him?" Luke asks.
"No, Luke, I'm not," I say.
Luke nods, waiting for the two guys to walk past us.
"Do you think I should talk to him? Is it a good idea?" I ask.
"I really don't want to influence your decision."
"You're not influencing anything, I haven't even decided," I say.
"What do you want? Do you want to talk to him?" Luke asks lowly.
I take a minute to think.
I'm happy where I am, especially with Nate.
Talking to my ex, and not just any ex —TJ.
Things won't go well if I did
"It's better if I didn't," I say. "I don't want to ruin what I have with Nate. Speaking to TJ will ruin that."
Luke nods in agreement. "But I think you should talk to him."