Bail | LRH

Chapter 6: the plan

Luke Hemmings

Dinner surprisingly went well, despite a few comments thrown here and there. I got to see where this girl lived, and a ton of shit they had on display for everyone to see. No surprise that her most recent medal was basically front and center.

We signed our contracts, got some free stuff, and then all of our families talked for what felt like forever before parents started saying they should probably be getting home. I headed to the bathroom before we left, and as I was exiting I caught the end of a conversation that piqued my interest. While I was hiding in the hallway I guess you could say I learned some sort of valuable information.

"And who's this, over here?" Calum's mom asked, most likely pointing to some framed picture on the wall. This family was all about plastering their faces on every wall they could. I assumed she was talking to Adrian's mom or dad, so I continued down the hallway.

"That's Brandon, and that's his longtime girlfriend. They've been dating since forever" Adrian said. "I'm surprised he hasn't proposed to her yet."

"And what about you?" Mrs. Hood asked.

"What about me?" Adrian questioned, not really understanding what Calum's mom meant. This intrigued me, so I lurked around the corner before making my presence known, eavesdropping on their conversation. I know it was wrong, but I couldn't really help myself.

"Any boyfriend in the picture for you?" Mrs. Hood clarified.

"Oh no, not at all. No exes either" No surprise there. She's too full of herself to take interest in anyone else. No one in the world could deal with that girl and her ego. "I just don't really have the time for any of that, you know? It's just a distraction. I don't really need another thing on my plate right now 'cause I'm not sure I could handle that. Plus It wouldn't really be fair to the other person if I couldn't always give them the time of day with my busy schedule, and I'm going off on a tangent you didn't ask for, sorry about that" Adrian apologized sheepishly. Interesting...

The little lightbulb inside of my head illuminated, and in that moment I devised a plan. It wasn't perfect, but it was a plan and I knew what I had to do. After I was satisfied with the information I just received, I walked out from behind the corner, looking as unsuspicious and nonchalant as possible. I made my way over to my parents and told them I was ready to go, and after that we thanked the Casey's for having us over, and we were on our way back home.

...

"Boys!" I said, slamming my hands down on the table of the ski lodge restaurant where my usual group sat for lunch after a couple hours of snowboarding. This action caused the three of them to stop what they were doing completely and give me their undivided attention.

"Yes?" Ashton asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow and leaning forward waiting for me to continue.

"I've come up with a plan" I proudly stated leaning back in my chair, impressed with my work.

"Okay?" Ashton questioned again, not following my lead. I don't blame him though because I was giving them absolutely no context.

"A plan for what?" Michael asked.

"A plan for us to get what we want." I said, pausing for dramatic effect.

"And what exactly do we want?" Calum asked this time.

"We want to win right? Or at least, we want a better shot at winning these upcoming competitions right? Especially with this new sponsorship, we gotta start pulling out a ton of wins and special awards so they know we're the real deal."