Shadows in a Window // Luke Hemmings

chapter 3 • punished

"I'm really sorry those girls were so mean to you." The blonde boy tells me as he brings our drinks over to the table.

"Why are you sorry?" I ask him unsure of why he is apologising to me.

"Because they were only here to see me, I'm pretty sure they didn't even buy a drink. I'm sorry." He tells me as he apologises once again.

I find it surreal that I'm seeing a male apologise to me and be sweet. I know there are still nice guys in the world I'm just not use to it.

"What do you mean?" I ask him confused as I take a sip from my drink to satisfy my rumbling stomach.

"You do know who I am right?" He asks me becoming confused himself.

I just shake my head and can't help but feel a little bad because I don't know who he is.

"I'm sorry, I don't." I speak up as I look up at his face and study it for a moment trying to work out if I've ever seen him before.

"It's fine, don't be sorry." He tells me with a crooked smile.

"My names Luke by the way." He says as he holds his hand out to shake mine.

I hold out my small hand to meet his. As he softly shakes my hand I notice him looking down at the bruises on my wrist. I pull my hand away quickly and hide it under the table as Luke just stares at me for a moment trying to work out what the bruises are from.

"So um, since you know my name I think you owe me your name in return." He says with a grin and for the first time I notice a dimple
on his cheek.

"I-It's Jessy." I stutter out feeling nervous.

The attention he is drawing from all the teen girls in the store is only making me more anxious.

"That's a pretty name." He tells me causing for the first time a smile to rise on my face.

"So she does smile." He adds seeming proud that he made me smile.

My phone buzzes and I glance down to check on it as I read a text from Ryan.

*Where the hell are you? Get home now.*

My body immediately tenses up as worry sets in. I'm so frightened that he will find out I'm talking to this boy and if he does I can only imagine the consequences I will have to face.

"I-I have to go." I speak up nervously.

"You've have barely touched your drink though." Luke points out and I know he can senses that something's wrong.

"I just need to go. I'm really sorry." I tell him as I collect my things and stand up from the table.

"Well it was nice to meet you I guess." He says a little awkwardly.

I just give him a small nod before turning on my heels and leaving the store.

My feet hurry home in a panic as I worry about what I am going to be faced with when I get there.

I burst through the front door with the groceries in hand as I rush to the kitchen to get dinner started for my boyfriend.

"What took you so long? Do you even know what the time is?" Ryan interrogates me as I unpack the groceries to distract myself from the panic I'm in.

"I spent the day cleaning up the house a-and by the time I got to the shops they were pretty packed." I reply nervously hoping he will buy my story.

"Babe you seem so tense." He says as he steps closer to my body, only causes my nerves to greaten.

"Relax." He adds softly as I feel his hot breath run along my skin.