The Mean Boys (Book 1)

Author's Secrets: Chapter 9 (Luke Goes to Hospital)

Calum Hood

Stepping out of the room, Autumn and Ashton said that they were going to start cooking pizza for our group. Using this opportunity, Michael and Luke thought that now would be the best time to tell me about the Burn Book.
          "Look what I found," Michael called. "Calum, check this out."
          I walked over to Michael and stood behind him, resting my arm on his shoulder. He flicked through the silver stained pages. Luke walked over and stood behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder. Michael stopped on a page that had Autumn on it. 'Won't admit to crushing on a geek because of her reputation' was written at the top of the page, but underneath the photo of Autumn was 'This is the biggest bitch you could ever meet.'
          "Is that the Burn Book?" Luke asked. "I haven't read that in for ages."
          "Why is Autumn in the book?"
          "Why would she not be in the book?" Luke asked.
          "Because she's your sister." I answered in a 'duh' tone.
          "Well, I wrote that when I first met her."
          "Obviously not, Luke. This is, like, months after you met her."
          "Well, like, she was more popular than me and she had this huge crush on Ashton, but she wouldn't do anything about it because she was afraid of being a loser. Ashton wasn't in our group back then, he was a loser and had no friends."
          "But that's not how things are now."
          "I just wanted to make Ashton and Autumn happy. Ashton is popular now, he has friends. As much as we tease him, we love him. Autumn wants to be with Ashton, but she's still being a bitch about the whole situation."
          "That's sick," I mumbled, taking the book from Michael. "You used him and you put your sister in this book, which I gather is a book about insulting people."
          "What's your point?" Michael asked, taking the book away from me.
          "You're being mean for fun."
          "I am mean, so it's not really for fun."
          "You need therapy."
          "Halfway there."
          "Is Ashton in the book?"
          "No, dude, calm the fuck down."
          "Fuck you both. I'm telling Autumn about what you said, about this book and otherwise. You're being mean and rude and-"
          Luke sighed loudly, turning me around so that I was facing him. I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him, not impressed with his current demeanour. Chuckling away at my demeanour, Luke took a step backwards and rested his hands firmly on my shoulders.
          "Calum, baby, ya need to loosen up a little. Ain't nobody gonna wanna fuck ya ass if ya so uptight all the time."
          Shrugging Luke's hands away from me, I asked, "Are you purposely trying to annoy me with that accent?"
          "Yeah, pretty much," Luke chuckled, pulling me into a hug as I pouted. "Come on, baby. Don't be so uptight."
          "'Ain't nobody gonna wanna fuck ya ass if ya so uptight.'" I mimicked.
          Luke scoffed.
          "I do not sound like that."
          "'I do not sound like that.'" I mimicked, placing my hands on my hips and gasping after pushing Luke away from me.
          "You're so turning into a mini Luke."
          Michael chuckled, patting my back.
          "Am I?"
          "Don't worry, Cal. The world of Luke is amazing." Ashton informed me, rolling his eyes and as he walked into the room with Autumn following behind him.
          "And how would you know that, Ashton?" Luke asked.
          "Because you're so cool and sweet and cute and awesome and punk-rock and amazing and-"
          "Ashton, are you sure you're not gay?" Michael asked.
          "I'm... What? Mikey! Why would you even ask that? I was joking."
          "It was a simple question. It's not like I was asking you to kill yourself." Michael replied, shrugging his shoulders.
          "I've already tried, asshole!" Ashton cried. "Stuff you."
          "Hey, at least I can swear." Michael retorted.
          "At least I don't fuck for money."
          "It was one time!"
          "You know that being a prostitute is illegal, right? You could go to prison for that."
          "Oh, here we go, again. Off with the 'you could go to prison for that' phase," Michael chuckled in anger, pushing Ashton away from him. "At least I know how to eat food."
          "I do eat!" Ashton cried. Everyone looked at the floor. "I do eat! I-I do!"
          Ashton looked heartbroken. Running his hands through his hair, he looked around the room and just screamed before falling into my arms. I dragged him over to Luke's bed and placed him on it. I pushed his arm, which made him roll over. He had fainted. I looked over at Michael and Luke. They ran over to Ashton, Luke immediately holding the small blonde boy in his arms.
          "Ashton?" Luke asked. "Wakey, wakey."
          "Oh, god," Autumn mumbled, her hands in front of her mouth. "What's wrong with him?"
          "I-I think he fainted," I answered. "But he fell onto me, so he shouldn't need ice."
          "Luke?" Ashton asked, reaching up to touch something.
          "Ash, you fainted," Luke chuckled in relief. "You're not gay. Don't worry."
          "Lashton feels." Michael whispered to me.
          "What?"
          "It's Luke and Ashton's name put together."
          "Yeah, I got that part. What does 'feels' mean?"
          "Where something is so cute and meant to be. Like, Lashton never really happens, it's not real, but because their being all cute now, you have to love it."
          "Oh."
          "You're such a dumb person. Haven't you learnt slang?"
          "I know what 'lol' means."
          "The meaning?"
          "Lots of love."
          "You got it wrong. It's 'laughing out loud'."
          "Oh."
          "Ashton, I think you need to go to therapy." I heard Luke think out loud.
          "Why would I do that? I'm fine."
          "At least go to hospital. We need to get you checked out."
          "I'm fine, I remember what happened. My head just feels a little woozy."
          "Ash, I really think that you should speak to someone about your eating disorder. If it's making you faint, then you really should talk to someone."
          "No, I only fainted because I yelled. It's fine, this always happens, like, everyday after school."
          "Everyday?"
          "Yeah, it's normal."
          "That's not normal, Ashton. You need to ask someone for help. You're probably dying."
          "Shut up, you can't say things like that!" Ashton yelled, standing from the bed.
          "Chill, man! I was just saying. If you have a problem with me, then you should probably leave."
          "You make me sick. Just saying."
          "'Just saying.'" Luke mimicked.
          "So..." Michael trailed off.
          "Who wants some alcohol?" Luke's mother rushed into the room holding five glasses of some weird liquid.
          "Anyone want to have sex?"
          "For Calum's sake! Just go pick up some random slutty boy. Calum doesn't want you! None of my friends want you!" Luke exclaimed, standing up and pushing his sister out of the room.
          "So... Alcohol?"
          "Thanks, Mum." Luke thanked.
          "Thanks, Mrs Hemmings." Ashton and Michael thanked together.
          "Thanks." Autumn thanked.
          "Calum?"
          "Um, no, thanks."
          "Can't you drink alcohol? It's not real. It's just lime, but don't tell Michael."
          "I can't drink it anyway. I only drink water and milk. Anything else will make me small and weak."
          "Calum, I know for a fact that you are not going to turn into a fat person like Michael or a weak person like Ashton."
          Luke scoffed, sitting on his bed whilst drinking lime.
          "Hey! I'm not fat! I'm bulky!"
          "Whatever. You look fat to me."
          "You're just jealous that I'm cooler than you."
          "You wanna start a fight, bro? Come at me!"
          "You know what, Luke? I'd beat you up in a heartbeat."
          "You wanna test that theory?"
          "No, because I'd probably start laughing at how weak you are and how you always wear those pathetic green glasses during serious moments."
          "Yeah, w-well, you have... You have no hair!"
          "Yes, I do, it's on my head."
          "Fuck you!"
          "I hate you, too, buddy." Michael chuckled.
          "I'll fucking kill you, bitch!"
          "You, too!" Michael grinned. "Honestly, you're, like, five. I don't think you know what you're doing."
          "I knew what I was doing when-" Luke cut himself off, looking at me.
          "You wanna finish that sentence?"
          "No, I don't. I don't want to hurt anyone else."
          "You know what, Luke? You're a cool guy. You have nice legs, you're musical, chirpy, fun, blonde, blue-eyed, happy-"
          "Looks like he can surf, but cannot." Autumn giggled.
          "I still hate you all." Luke huffed, crossing his arms.
          "Stop being mean, Luke!" Ashton yelled, walking over to Luke and slapping him.
          "Ash-"
          "Save it, Luke. You're so mean to everyone! Why can't you just learn that people have feelings? We're not all robots like you. You need to stop being an arsehole for once and actually be nice!"
          "He's right, Luke." I agreed with Ashton.
          "Ash-"
          "No!"
          Ashton punched Luke right under his jaw. Luke's mum and sister were no longer in the room. Michael rushed over to Luke's side, picking up his broken body. I kneeled down next to Ashton and held his shaking body in my arms. He cried against my neck. Michael placed Luke on the bed and picked up the phone from the bedside cabinet. I knew he was calling an ambulance. Luke just sat there in shock...until he passed out.
          "I-I'm so sorry, C-Calum! I didn't mean to hurt Luke! I love him! D-Did I kill him?"
          "Of course not, Ashton. It's going to be okay. You didn't hurt him that much. Luke's a big boy. He's just..." I looked over at Luke. He was 'resting' his eyes. "He's just sleeping right now."
          "Is he gonna hurt me? Is he gonna hate me?"
          "No, no. Don't worry, Ash."
          "He is, I know he is."
          "No, he's not. I'll talk some sense into him."
          Ashton nodded, letting Autumn take him into a hug.
          "Calum?"
          "Yeah, Michael?"
          "I don't suppose you know how to help Luke, do you?"
          "Don't move him. Don't touch him. Just leave him alone. Don't even talk to or about him. The only thing you can do is check his pulse."
          "How do I do that?"
          "Put two of your fingers against his wrist or neck."
          I watched as Michael checked Luke's pulse.
          "It's really slow."
          "Um...mouth-to-mouth? Try that."
          "What? No!"
          "Move." I muttered to Michael as I left Ashton and made my way over to Luke.
          "He's probably gotten a broken jaw, just leave him alone!"
          "He was punched in the neck, Michael! He can't breathe!"
          "I'm pretty sure that's something to do with needles put into his throat, you'll block his tubes or something!"
          I straddled Luke's almost dead body and pinched his nose. I ever so carefully parted his lips and started blowing air into his mouth, to his tubes and lungs. I didn't know whether this was supposed to help him in any way, but I knew waiting five minutes for an ambulance to come was not the way to go. I checked Luke's pulse. It was slow, but not slow enough to die. I was suddenly pulled off Luke and thrown to the floor.
          "Oh, god, where are they taking him? Why does this shit keep happening?" Autumn cried, holding onto her crush.
          "I don't know, Autumn, but we need to calm down," Michael stated, patting Ashton's back. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have made fun of him. I shouldn't have laughed at him or teased him. I should've just left the conversation alone."
          "You can't blame yourself, Mike. It was a chain of events. Luke's an angry person, you always have to be right, Ashton is very emotional, Luke feels the need to protect Calum and I'm just clueless."
          "He doesn't have to protect me." I muttered as we all joined Lovella and Mrs Hemmings outside.
          "What's going on?" Ashton asked, his voice raspy and face red from screaming and crying.
          "Two people can go in the ambulance with him," Mrs Hemmings stated. "I'm joining him. Autumn, I'd like for you to drive-"
          "No, Autumn can't drive. She's unstable from what's just happened. She's crying and her brother is in that van," Ashton muttered, holding Autumn. "I'll drive, I have my licence."
          "Michael, Autumn, Calum, Lovella, you'll all fit in the car with Ashton. I don't want you kids getting into an accident or fighting, so I'm trusting you, Ashton."
          "You can trust me, I promise."
          "And I don't know what happened, but I'm sure that you'll all be questioned."
          "Where's your dad?" I asked Autumn.
          "He's at work." Autumn shakily breathed out.
          "Mrs Hemmings, I want to go in the ambulance with Luke. Is that okay?"
          "Calum, sweetheart-"
          "Luke is my boyfriend."
          Luke's mum nodded at me.
          "We best be moving, now."