Something Bad

Chapter Twenty-Five: Knock 'Em Dead, Benny!

Chapter Twenty-Five: Knock ‘Em Dead, Benny!

I let out a long yawn, tapping my fingers anxiously on the counter of Luke Daniels’ kitchen. He was just staring at me curiously, amused by actions. Continuing to drum my fingers over the smooth countertop, I let out a sigh, pursing my lips together. “I’m bored,” I finally announced.

      “I can see that, Liv,” Luke smirked. “Do you want me to make you food or shit?”

      “You can cook?” I asked in disbelief. This was Luke Daniels, after all. He didn’t exactly strike me as the “culinary-inclined” type. 

      Luke just stared at me for a brief moment, and then shook his head, laughing. “Hell, no! I’m really great at using the microwave, though!”

      “Well, that kind of sucks,” I said, slowly inching my way over to where he was.

      “And why does it suck, Livy?” he questioned, moving over to the fridge in order to look for something.

      I stopped where I was, about a yard away from him, and shrugged my shoulders easily, answering him. “Because I can’t cook either, so who’s going to be the domestic one in this relationship?”

      “Oh,” he stopped what he was doing for a moment, “that does seem rather problematic. Do you, uh, like kids?”

      “No. They’re annoying and short,” I shared my viewpoint on the young individuals. Thankfully, I had dodged a bullet never having to interact with children due to my family and the way I lived, but I just knew that I wouldn’t like them. I wasn’t exactly the biggest “fan” of people in general; so little people couldn’t be much better.

      “Well, so are you, but I still like you!” Luke retorted. I slapped him on the back, agitated that the words had actually come out of his mouth.

      “You are such a freaking pain sometimes!” I groaned, throwing my head back so that I couldn’t see him.

      “Only sometimes? Oh, c’mon, Liv! I thought that I was a pain all the time!” Luke complained in a joking manner. I didn’t say anything in response to that, because right now, he actually was being one of the biggest pains I had ever encountered, and I didn’t really feel like talking to him at the moment. After a few minutes of silence from both of us, Luke suddenly spoke once again, though in a more serious tone than I had ever heard from him before. “Uh, Olivia, can I talk to you about something?”

      I glanced over to him, and his gray eyes were pleading and calm. He looked nervous—an emotion I had become an expert in distinguishing. Slowly, I nodded my head, and he took hold of my hand, guiding me over to a small seating area a ways off from his kitchen. He sat down on a couch, and I sat down right beside him. Our eyes were connected, and he took a deep breath. Shit. I had a hunch that I knew what was coming. He was a senior. I was only but a junior. Of course this talk was inevitably going to come.

      Before he had a chance to break the news to me, I spoke up, saving him from the words. “Luke, if this is about college, I completely understand if you’re going to a place out of state, or if you’re not going at all—”

      “Liv,” he interrupted, but I kept going anyways.

      “Really, Luke, it’s fine. Go wherever you want to school. I’ll be happy for you with wherever you choose to go,” I urged.

      “Liv,” he sighed again, but yet again, I cut him off.

      “Luke, I swear, I’ll be fi—” And before I had the chance to relay that encouraging thought, he shook his head, crashing his lips onto mine. It was definitely an effective way to shut me up, and one that I didn’t particularly mind. Our mouths moved in-synch, and before either one of us could take it a step further, Luke backed away, leaving me breathless. Literally, I couldn’t seem to find my breath.