wasting time » lh ; mc

seven

:: 07 ::

       Okay, so things went a little smoother than expected. It was a pretty big thing to ask of someone, but apparently Luke's definition of a huge favor wasn't the same as Coach Clifford's. To be fair, though, Michael never said how easy it would be to convince him to help out the rugby team and making a fool out of himself trying to beg for his assistance wasn't something Luke wanted to risk—so he settled for sitting back and watching his poor hockey friend do it. And, sadly, it wasn't all that entertaining because Michael barely had to say anything before his father agreed.

But, they could exactly act on anything they (or Michael, really) had planned for it since exchanging numbers wasn't a level the two had reached yet. He really wishes it were to that point, though, because today really wasn't what he wanted it to be.

Being dragged to another press appearance by your father always shits on your mood, doesn't it?

Luke had been having a decent day: it was Saturday, he didn't have any homework for Monday and Michael was busy with workouts today and hanging out with Calum so he couldn't help Luke improve his sports abilities. This all meant that Luke could sit in the basement all day and replay all of the Ratchet & Clank games with no one to interrupt him.

Now Luke really wishes he had homework or Michael wasn't busy—or that he had other friends he knew well enough to hang out with. Because his father opened the basement door, yelled, "Luke! We're heading out to an appearance, hurry up!" from the top of the stairs, and left the content boy to groan at how quickly a sentence could ruin such a great, lazy time. Andrew Hemmings never has bothered asking if everyone was okay with something, Luke wasn't surprised to find out he wasn't starting now.

(And he really didn't want to wear the stupid loose pants that his parents made him wear to these things, even though they let him wear normal clothes—why can't he wear his jeans, too?)

He hated it. Luke hated how often his dad was out and his mom didn't even care because apparently she understood but Luke didn't and he really didn't want to—you're supposed to be there for your kid, aren't you? It doesn't matter if you're some out-of-date hockey star or a stay-at-home dad: they depend on you. And maybe he doesn't mean to be, but Andrew Hemmings is one of the most blindly egotistical, self-centered people Luke had ever met—besides Michael, of course—and shows more interest in a career he's been long retired from than his own kid's school day or their issues or their life.

Sometimes it was cool, yeah—but that was only because Luke somewhat got his father's attention because there were only certain times when the man apparently could manage to divide it between some stupid event and his own flesh and blood. He should probably cherish those rare moments more than he does.

Maybe Luke overthinks and takes a lot of situations involving his father to a whole new level, because other people obviously don't think of the Andrew Hemmings as anything other than humble and kind and a legend. And, yeah, Luke partially agrees with those things—of course he's a legend, but he's also a father. Whenever he has time to act like one its only because he has to tell his buddies about Luke and how talented he is when really his son is shit at everything. He's humble to a point but once he hits that point he's arrogant and Luke can't stand him. His father is kind but only when it's beneficial to him. That's why Luke gets most of the attention he does when hockey players are around or interviewers ask about him. It's because Andrew Hemmings just can't make himself look bad.

At this particular appearance, it wasn't any different than before. It was the same press companies filling up the steel chairs; Luke had seen them all before, just with different reporters. His dad was asked once in a while what it was like to have a small kid at the height of his career and then, of course, the man directed the question to Luke himself when Andrew answered with: For me it was motivating, but I can only imagine what it was like for Luke to grow up around everything.