Paralyzed ▹ Luke Hemmings

14

The bell rang above Luke's head for 3rd period to begin. Luke was already in his seat at the front of the classroom. He had walked straight to his government class during break so he wouldn't have to speak to anybody. People were still talking to him about the fight he started with Ashton almost two weeks ago, and Luke still wasn't used to all the attention. Quite frankly, he hated it.

He watched as the rest of his class flooded through the door, talking amongst themselves and occasionally kicking the leg of Luke's desk without looking back to see what they had mindlessly rammed their toes into. Luke kept his head down but looked up every so often, wanting to stay shielded from Ashton but also open to say hello to Sam.

The moment he spotted her bouncing through the entry way, her blonde hair styled up in a tight ponytail, she gasped and ran towards him with an excited smile on her face. Ashton walked in right after her, but proceeded to his desk at the other side of the room after giving Luke a look of disgust.

"Luke!" Sam squealed, pulling up a chair so she sat beside him. She unfolded a ball of paper she had been clutching in her small hands, and shoved it in his face. "Look!"

Leaning back to get a better view, Luke squinted his eyes to see what she had to show him. It was the chemistry quiz he had helped her study for last week. Mr. Stevens must've looked at this one, because Luke didn't recall ever grading Sam's.

"Whoa," he gasped when he noticed the score at the top of the page. "You got a B?!"

Sam's beaming green eyes widened as she vigorously nodded her head, bouncing her knees up and down. Luke gave her a big smile as he held up his hand for a high-five. "Sam, that's awesome."

"It brought my grade up! Luke, I'm almost at a C," Sam said eagerly, setting her hand over his. "I might actually pass first semester."

"Might?" Luke frowned, followed by a scoff. "Oh please. You'll pass for sure. I know you will."

Luke couldn't help the delight that filled his heart as it fluttered in his chest. She was so damn happy about her grade, and her smile was enough to lift his spirits for the rest of the day.

As Sam went on to thank Luke for all his help, Luke could sense Ashton staring at them from the other side of the classroom. He glanced out of the corners of his eyes and met Ashton's gaze, and then quickly looked back at Sam, pretending as if he wasn't aware of Ashton's watchful eyes.

Suddenly, Ashton shoved himself out of his chair and angrily walked over to them.

"...Anyways, I wanted to ask you something," Sam said, brining Luke's attention back to her. "There's this party tonight, you know, the ones that Ashton always throws at his house. I was wondering if you wanted to come..."

She trailed off as Ashton yanked out another chair and pulled it right up to Luke's desk, straddling it with a huff. "Yes, Luke. Why don't you come to my party tonight?" he inquired, smiling at him innocently. "I'm sure Sam would love for you to attend. I'm sure everybody else would, too."

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "Would you quit it?"

"What? I'm just being friendly. Isn't that what Mr. Peterson wanted us to do?" Ashton turned back to Luke and clenched his teeth in a vain smile. "Why don't you come tonight. Come on, it'll be fun. Everyone's gonna be there."

Luke sunk down in his seat, afraid. "Uh -"

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to," Sam snapped at her boyfriend, pushing his hand off her thigh. "I was just asking him."

"No...I'll go," Luke spoke up, clearing his throat. He glared at Ashton out of the corners of his eyes. "I'll go to your party tonight, Ashton."