Project Publicity || l.h

Chapter 22// Affliction

[ UNEDITED CHAPTER WARNING (not like I edit anyway lol) ]

Tuesday morning comes quicker than I'd expected. Logan had left in the middle of the night, while I'd been asleep. And thank god, too, because I'd had another dream about Luke. This time it was more like a memory. We were on stage again, at the first gig I'd ever been to, where he kissed me in front of the audience. I remember my skin feeling hot and clammy, and it wasn't because of the stage lights. It was because of Luke. Even with his mediocre kissing skills that felt emotionless and planned as a stage stunt, he'd whipped me up so bad I was speechless for an hour. It's a fact that Logan is a hundred times better at kissing; most of the time I couldn't follow the lead and he'd do whatever he wanted with his lips, and it still felt amazing. But Luke, no, he was different. It felt different.

In the dream, he had kissed me again. And he had told me, after it was over and the audience broke out into applause and the sweat dripped down his forehead, something that had me thinking for over an hour this morning.

"Jade. I care about you. You just don't know it yet."

What it meant. What it could mean. I'd never figure out even if I tried.

...

"Good morning," Cam called when I came downstairs for breakfast. He was weirdly calm as he packed his sandwich for school. And I knew right away he wouldn't mention anything about Logan, or that fact that he knew he slept over. He never questioned me, either. Sometimes, Cam seemed so mature it scared me.

After he'd finished packing his lunch, I ushered him into the car and drove him to school, instead of mom, who was so engrossed in her new painting. As a result, I get to school late.

Now, it's the beginning of third period, English, which I share a classroom with nearly everyone I know. I'm the first one to arrive. I sit in the empty classroom with my phone in my lap, reading Luke's text over and over again. I typed: 'I'm coming' and many times, my finger hovered over the 'send' button, debating whether to say it or not.

To go to his gig would mean having to face him.

To go out with my dad instead would mean I broke the promise.

I face the screen, typing as fast as my fingers could move. And knowing I'd change my mind if I waited any longer, I quickly press 'send'. And I regret it right away.

'Sorry, out with my dad. I'll keep the promise next time'

A group of giggling girls suddenly stumble into the room, making me look up from the screen. Behind them, of course comes in Luke, together with the one and only Tiffany.

He looks up, seeing me sitting alone in the classroom, and his laughter dies down. This is the first time in a while that we've had actual eye contact. His cheeks flush red, and he looks down at the ground. He's embarrassed.

Good.

"I'll see you after," I hear him say to Tiffany, and she gives him the sweetest of all smiles. With a kiss on his cheek, she's gone.

Luke and the girls settle down in their chairs, purposely farthest away from me. "You're so cool. And so...hot," a dumb blonde says, running her fingers through his hair. It reminds me of the time I took Luke to the mall, and I'd touched him there just to make Ashton jealous. And I look away, wishing I hadn't seen it.

A few more students trickle in, and they sit on Luke's side of the classroom. Admiring, loving him.

On the other side of the classroom, the girls are now pampering Luke as he tries to read something. I want to tell them to leave him alone, that he doesn't want them to be there. But then he turns around and gives them a grin. The sweet, dimpled grin he's been giving me since we were kids.