FIRST KISS (High School Romance - FYI - In need of redrafting/rewrites)

Chapter Fifteen

"Hey Mel, if I were ginger, would you date me?" Brad was yelling at me across the corridor between classes.

This was not the first of the me-and-Andrew-Phillips gossip that I had heard that morning.

"She loves a carrot-top," yelled one of the other guys.

"Aw, come on guys, leave the poor girl alone!" Luke was suddenly behind me, his arm around my waist as he started manoeuvring me through the other students who were milling about. A cloud of laughter and giggles followed us.

"Thanks," I said.

"You know, taking some guy to my pool house was not a wise move on your part," he said, letting go of me. His shirt was untucked and his black trousers were hanging so low on his hips that I could see the band of his boxers.

"Get a belt, Draper," said Mr Matthews, as he walked past us.

"Yes, Sir," said Luke, standing to attention and saluting him. I laughed, and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Matthews nearly did too.

"They'll forget about your karaoke-singing date soon enough," he whispered, focusing on me again.

"Yeh, but then it'll be the winter concert and everyone will be reminded when we sing together."

"Not if you blow them away. Then they'll just be jealous of how talented you are." He smiled and linked his arm through mine and walked me to class. "When is it?"

"Last week of November."

"Awesome. Are you doing a solo?"

"I am doing one. Then singing a few with Andrew, and with the Glee Club."

"Wow, you will be busy."

"We've done most of the work already. Now it's just fine-tuning."

Luke laughed. I wasn't sure what I had said was funny, but his laughter was such a contagious sound that I smiled anyway. Luke's laugh was like the giggle of little girl, but louder and more forceful. It was one of those laughs you could recognise from the other side of the dining hall. It made other people laugh.

"You want me to pick you up for lunch today?"

This was strange. Luke never offered to do stuff like that. It was a total Bryce move.

"Err...OK. Only if you want to."

"What class do you have?"

"Math. Room 4G."

"I'll be there. See you later!" He playfully punched my arm and started his weird shuffle-run down the corridor.

Math was not my favourite subject. I preferred arts subjects, like History and English Lit. The strain on my brain in a tough math class was exhausting. We had been doing algebraic equations and my mental faculties had gone into shut-down by the end of class.

I was glad Luke had offered to meet me, because then I would have someone to sit with. I wouldn't end up stuck with the Glee Club (some of them were OK, but they weren't really my friends), or with Andrew. Also, Luke provided protection against Bryce. He couldn't ignore me if Luke were there.

But when I came out into the corridor I couldn't immediately see Luke. I shifted my bag on my shoulder and pulled my socks up over my knees.

When I stood up straight again the crowds had cleared slightly and I could see Luke standing further down the corridor with his back to me. He was deep in conversation with someone. I took a step to the left, and sure enough, he was talking to Bryce. They were both leaning against the wall, and whatever they were discussing looked serious.