Rejects // Punk Luke Hemmings

>Chapter Thirty-Eight<

The rest of the week passed by without a hitch for the most part. I helped Luke with his shoulders, and when it was finally time for him to take the bandages off for good I couldn't have been happier with the results. Diana had done better than I could've imagined.

It was now Saturday around noon and the whole gang was piled into Michael's car. It was just big enough to fit all seven of us. That number was made of Malaya, Eve, and myself, along with Luke, Michael, Calum, and Ashton. Apparently on Wednesday night Ash asked Eve on a date, to which she obviously said yes.

It was still a bit odd to think that he had saved my life...

"Here we are," Luke announced from beside me. The others started unbuckling their seat belts as Mikey parked the car. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked with confusion. There was nothing but trees out here. Trees and old concrete.

"You'll see," he just grinned. Getting out of the car, I walked around to take his hand in my own, leaning lightly against his arm. "Come on."

Once everyone was out, we started into the woods. The trees were pretty far apart, dappling the ground with late afternoon light. What I would give to take a picture or draw this moment right now.

"Almost there," Luke whispered and twined his fingers through mine. He kissed my hair, making me smile.

Then I saw where we were going. An old metal rod stood in the cracked cement. It looked like it used to be a sign, but the only thing remaining was the post. Behind it, there was a rectangular hole in the concrete, and I could see steps descending into the inky black below. Was it a tunnel?

"Time to to get the full Sydney teenager experience, Kara," Ashton said from behind me. I turned to roll my eyes at him, making Eve grin.

"He's right though," Michael mused and smiled at me. Malaya nodded, and I just smiled at how cute everyone looked. Mikey had his arm wrapped around Malaya's shoulders, and she had hers wrapped around his waist. Ash had Eve on his back, her arms clasped around his neck loosely and her feet clasped in front of him. I knew that she probably wasn't all that heavy, but judging by Ashton's arms it wouldn't have been a problem either way.

The only one who was alone was Calum. I felt a pang as I saw him watching the ground, a few paces behind the others as he carried a large bag, the contents of which I still didn't know. For once he wasn't making snide comments, and I felt for him. Once upon a time, I was that person, the awkward single one in a group of people who were dating. Like a seventh wheel.

"Careful on the stairs," Luke warned a we came to the old stone steps. They dipped in the center from who knows how many years of use. I just prayed they weren't slippery.

"So what's the story behind this place?" I asked quietly as Michael pulled out a flashlight. Turning it on, the powerful beam sliced through the shadows, illuminating our decent.

"Fifty-some years ago, this used to be a town. Everything around us wasn't there," Mikey began excitedly. "Now, this town was a pretty big train stop. It gathered a lot of business from the railroads, so when the subway was developed they thought it was a great idea, so they started one of the first underground railways in all of Australia."

"These townspeople though," Eve continued as Michael paused. Our progress down the stairs was fairly slow as they were pretty narrow and steep. "They still lived in mainly wooden houses. So one day, this is where the story gets unclear, a house caught on fire. Then the next house, and the next. Pretty soon, all that was left were the stone parts of buildings and ashes."