Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

5. Not Okay

Ariel's POV

I finally mustered up the courage to ask Luke to come over to my house this afternoon to work on our project.

And what does he do?

Says he could never be into someone like me.

I don't need to ask myself what that means, or even why he'd say that. But how one person could go from being nice to a total douche so quickly is beyond me.

I walk home alone, wallowing in my hurt feelings. No matter how much I dislike Luke, no matter how mean he is to me, what he said still hurt. When I arrive home, I see my brothers dark gray Honda Accord parked in the driveway. I smile and leap up the three front steps of my house. I open the door and the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafts my way. "Cameron? You home?" I ask, slipping off my shoes and tossing my backpack aside. "In the kitchen!" he yells back.

I walk into the kitchen to see my brother wearing a flowery apron while making cookies. "What are the cookies for?" I ask as I plop down in one of the kitchen barstools. "My favorite little sister." he says with a lopsided smile as he hands me an already baked cookie. "Delicious." I say. I lick some remaining crumbs off my lips and stretch across the counter to grab another one, but Cameron slaps my hand away. "Paws off the cookies, little sis." he says and then slides another try of cookie dough balls into the oven.

"How many are you making?" I ask. "As many until this bowl is gone." he says, tilting a half - full bowl of cookie dough. "OK then." I say. "How was school today?" he asks after wiping his hands on his apron. I had completely forgotten about the whole Luke thing until he brought it up, but it wasn't his fault. He didn't know. And having my brother around now that he's finished college always puts me in a better mood.

"Can I tell you something? You have to promise that you won't get mad or overprotective and try to find the guy, OK?" I ask wearily. "Did someone hurt you, Ariel?" he asks, slamming down his wooden spoon. "No, not really. Not physically anyway. I just need someone to talk to about it." I say, sitting up straighter. "Why don't you talk to Zoey then?" he asks. "I guess I could, but I feel better talking about it with you, since your a guy, I guess." I say.

"'A guy I guess?' What does that mean? I am a guy!" he says protectively. "Well, I'm only questioning because of the apron." I say. "Men can wear aprons." he says pushing out his bottom lip in a pouty way. "Oh of course. But as I was saying..." I start, and proceed to tell him everything about Luke and our project.Meanwhile, Cameron makes his cookies while simultaneously listening intently to what I'm saying.

"I just wish I could know what he's thinking. You know, if maybe he doesn't mean to be a jerk or if he really is one at heart. Maybe he didn't mean what he said." I assure myself. "Ariel, don't do this to yourself. You're obviously too good for someone like him. Don't try to belittle what he said to you. It doesn't matter if he meant it or not, he said it. And that means that he was thinking it, even if it was a joke. He sounds like a textbook ass. Stay away from him, please, for me." Cameron says. "Thanks Cam. You really know how to make someone feel better and smile. You're right. I'm better than that. I'm better than him. And I promise, once this project is over, Luke Mason will never get the chance to get to know me better." I say.

Cameron smiles at me. "I'm proud of you, sis. Sticking up for yourself." he says. He turns his back and starts to wash off one of the trays, so I reach across the table, snatch a cookie, and then dart upstairs. "Hey!" I hear Cameron yell from downstairs. I laugh and then close my door, eating and enjoying my cookie. I open my backpack and fish out my textbooks before starting my homework.

~~~~~~

I walk into school the next morning with Zoey, looking out for Luke so I can avoid him. And it works successfully, until first period, which isn't that long from the time school hours start. He arrives at my desk, hands shoved in his pockets, hair tousled in an attractively manicured way, and biting his lower lip. He clears his throat to get my attention, even though I could already feel his presence beside me.

"What do you want, Luke?" I ask, keeping my focus on my planner. I continue to scribble down tonight's homework quickly, hoping he might go away. "I want you to look at me." he says. I keep my focus straight on my planner, but stop writing. I squirm and nearly jump out of my seat when he crouches down next to me and whispers softly in my ear "Look at me," sending chills through my spine.

"That got your attention." he says smirking while standing upright. I finally look up at him. "Shut up." I say, fighting a smile. "What do you want?" I ask again after a minute of him not saying anything. "I wanted to apologize." he says. "You don't have anything to apologize for." I say, turning back around in my seat and continuing to write the assignment. "Yes I do, what are you talking about? I said I could never be interested in you and it obviously hurt your feelings-" he starts, but I cut him off.

"Luke, I don't care what you say. I've already given you a second chance because we're partners and we have to work together until this project is due. But after this project is done, I want nothing to do with you. Your apology, truly, means nothing to me. Even if you are sorry, if you were joking, even if you didn't mean it, you were still thinking it. It still came as a response to my question, which by the way, had nothing to do with feelings but instead had to do with our project. I was inviting you over to my house to work on our project, and instead you made a crude comment that, yes, hurt my feelings then, but now does not affect me in any way. So please just leave me alone other than when we work on our project, OK?" I say. He just stands there with a monotone expression on his face before he answers.

"No, Ariel. No, it's not OK."