"Dude, get that shit away from me."
It's lunch time and Michael's making a gagging face at Luke, who's holding a kale and lime smoothie in his hand.
"It's good for you," Luke frowns, taking a sip of the green liquid. "Right, Joss?"
"That's right," she beams, taking a sip of her own identical green smoothie. She's really into healthy food and is always trying to convince us to try weird food trends. Like kale smoothies, and chia seed pudding. I'd rather a donut or a simple fruit salad any day.
Luke's tongue licks a drop of green smoothie away from the corner of his mouth, "Yum," he says enthusiastically. I'm pretty sure he's actually teasing Joss but I don't say anything. "Do you want a sip, babe?"
He hands it out to me and I screw up my nose, "Nope, I don't want to catch any diseases from you. Who knows where your mouth has been."
The words are out before I can stop them and Luke gives an awkward chuckle, while Joss and Michael stare at us. Uh, oh. That's not something you say to the boy you're dating. To make the silence worse, I can't think of a single thing to say. Could the damn bell for class just ring?
"Baby," Luke says, saving me from the awkward silence. "You don't have to play hard to get anymore. I'm all yours."
He holds the drink out to me and I take a sip - and, actually, it's not too bad - "Sorry, baby," my insides are cringing with every pet name exchanged between us."It's just that I - "
"You hid your affection for me for so long, it's a habit now?" Luke tilts his head to the side in a cocky manner, almost laughing when the bell finally goes.
"Yeah, something like that," I mutter, as he presses his lips to my cheek.
I sit alone in Government, as usual. When Luke found out I picked it as a class, he teased me saying that it was a nerd class. And I teased him right back, saying that I might like nerd subjects but at least I hadn't had two chlamydia scares in the matter of one month.
Anyway, I sit alone at the back of the class because all of the smart kids sit with the other smart kids, and no one else I hang out with chooses subjects like Government.
Mr Yomati sets up his laptop, projects a mind-map onto the board and then tells us to copy it down in our notebooks. Unlike the rest of the teachers at this school, Mr Yomati doesn't believe in students using technology for class notes. Having to write everything out by hand is my least favourite thing about this class.
Still, it doesn't take me long to copy it down - I work surprisingly fast when I don't have anyone to talk to - and so I pretend to be researching my essay topic from phone, but really I'm staring at a text from Joss.
From Joss: how come i never knew you liked luke? i'm supposed to be your best friend
With a loud sigh, I shake my head. Nice one, Luke.
I feel like we've spent all week creating more lies to cover up this giant lie and it's already exhausting. At least tomorrow is Friday, and then I can spend the weekend not having to pretend to date Luke.
I'm honestly starting to think this was all just a big mistake. Joss and Michael seem suspicious of us, and aside from the initial interest from Calum when Luke and I walked into school holding hands, I haven't been on his radar any more than usual.
Maybe we should just stop this now before it goes any further.
From Joss: were you embarrassed or something? what else have you been hiding from me?
Another sigh. This time Janis Michael's turns around and glares at me. She has thick black hair and even thicker black glasses. She thinks everyone hates her because she's the smartest girl in our class, but really, she's just an intolerable person.
"Whatever drama you've got going on, can you sigh a little quieter? Some of us are actually trying to get some work done," she says, before turning around again. See what I mean?
To Joss: I was just scared, I guess. You tell Michael everything. Sometimes it feels like we can't have any secrets that are ours only.
That's actually a pretty honest answer. I mean, aside from the whole Luke thing. Sometimes I feel like I can't tell Joss certain things because she repeats everything to Michael. Plus, he reads her text messages sometimes, so I've had to learn to censor those.
Only after he read one too many of my Calum fantasies. Talk about embarrassing.
From Joss: :(
From Joss: i'm so sorry ruby
From Joss: i'll try to be better at keeping secrets okay?
I sigh again, almost a little louder just to bother Janis Michael's.
To Joss: Okay :)
To Joss: I'm happy you're my best friend :)
And against my better judgement, I send one last message.
To Joss: Let's go on that double date soon
My dad has the afternoon off work so he picks Alfie up from school and then they go out to do the grocery shopping. This means I have an entire afternoon free with the whole house to myself, something that almost never happens.
The first thing I do is have a shower. Actually, it's the second thing I do after eating the two strawberry donuts that were in the fridge. I wash my hair while blasting Fall Out Boy and singing at the top of my lungs. When I get out, I wrap the towel around me and walk into my bedroom, and practically drop the towel when I see Luke sitting on my bed.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I scream as Luke looks up from his phone. "You can't just sneak into my room like this!"
A stupid smirk crosses his face after his eyes trail down my body. Typical boy. I hug the towel a little tighter. "Do you have plans this afternoon?"
"Actually, yes. I've got the house to myself and I'm planning on spending the whole afternoon eating snacks and watching Netflix."
Luke's eyebrows raise, "You've got the house to yourself, hey?"
"Yes, and don't get any perverted ideas. We agreed on no sex."
"I know the rules," he laughs. "But I could leave so you can...," he pauses. "Take care of yourself, if you like. You seem a little tense."
I roll my eyes and dig my fingers further into the white towel. I'm literally dating a sex addict, I swear. "Did you break into my house just to annoy me?"
"Oh," Luke stands up, seemingly remembering why he climbed through my window in the first place. "I need you to drive me somewhere."
"What? Why?"
"My car is undriveable."
"What happened to it?" I frown.
"The tires were slashed."
"Are you serious? Which of your crazy one night stands did that?" This isn't the first time Luke's tires have been slashed. This is actually the forth time.
Luke bites into his lip, "I did it."
What? "You slashed your own tires?"
"I thought it would make this more believable," he shrugs.
I'm actually speechless. He should have just stuck with the story that he told Alfie about his car not working at the moment. "You're such an idiot."
Luke sits back down on the bed and I walk over to my dresser, getting out a fresh pair of denim shorts and a loose black t-shirt.
"So, you'll give me a lift?"
"If you get out so I can get dressed," I say, gesturing towards the door. "Where am I driving you to?"
And then a huge smile crosses Luke's lips as he answers, "Calum's."
YOU ARE READING
Hoodwinked | Calum Hood AU
Fanfiction"That's never going to work, you idiot." It's her senior year and Ruby has vowed to tell her long-term crush, Calum Hood, exactly how she feels. But when things don't go to plan, she skeptically takes on the help of Luke, the boy next door, who beli...
