caught☽ luke | ✓

Seventeen | Exhilarating

It was a sunny day when Luke decided to bring Samantha to the rope swing behind the school that Audrey had first taken him to. He didn't know why he wanted to bring her there, but for some reason he felt like he had to. After all, they were dating.

After two months of Audrey being gone without a trace, Luke gave up on looking for her. He'd found a sense of comfort in Samantha, and was starting to feel like he was finally moved on from Audrey.

They walked hand in hand to the large rock that was big enough for them to sit on. Looking out at the sunset, they scooted closer together and fell silent.

Ever since Audrey left, Luke decided that skipping school wasn't what he wanted to do. Now, he couldn't wait until he got to school so that he could meet Samantha at her locker. Then, he couldn't wait until lunch so that he could sit next to her and hold her hand. Finally, he couldn't wait until the end of the day when he'd be able to kiss her and take her wherever they wanted to go because he finally had a car of his own.

"Have you ever been on it?" Samantha asked, referring to the swing.

Luke nodded. "Only once."

"Was it scary?"

"Not really. It was more like, exhilarating."

"How?" she questioned, looking at Luke skeptically.

"Well," he started. "It kind of makes you feel like you're flying, you know? It makes you feel free."

His mind couldn't help but picture the way Audrey looked when he saw her on it. He remembered wanting to feel as free as her, and he did.

Luke wanted to feel that way again, and he thought that maybe Samantha could make that happen.

"Well, I'd never be able to do it. It would be way too scary for me. Besides, I'd get my clothes all wet," Samantha said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, then stood up and walked over to the swing.

He examined the writing that Audrey had made before as a way to contact Luke, then looked at the drawings that hadn't been there before.

"Wait a minute," Luke whispered to himself, then crouched down to read the small writing on the wood.

"Luke, I know you probably hate me, but if you read this, please call me. You'll know where to go," he read, not loud enough for Samantha to hear.

He knew exactly where to go, but the question was, did he want to?

Samantha made Luke happy, but he knew that he'd never be able to forget Audrey. The way that she made him feel was something unforgettable, and he didn't think that anyone, not even Samantha, could make him feel that way again.

Then again, Audrey sounded desperate, like she needed help. Luke couldn't live with himself if something were to happen to her that he could have stopped.

"Luke, what's wrong?" Samantha asked, running her fingers through her long blonde hair.

"Nothing, sorry. Just a lot on my mind," he said.

"School?"

"Yeah," he lied. "School."

"Well, whatever it is, don't worry about it too much. You're the best problem solver that I know, so whatever it is, I'm sure you can overcome it."

Luke smiled and brought her in for a kiss, then grabbed her hand and walked her back to the school. After dropping her off at her house, Luke made his way up to his bedroom.

He didn't know what he was going to do, but he needed to make up his mind. He paced back and forth around his room over and over again until his eyes landed on the familiar blue painting hanging up on his closet that he forgot to take down.

Blue was her favorite color, and Luke was her favorite person.

He had to help her.

Luke tugged on his coat and left his house, not bothering to tell his mom where he was going.

He ran to the abandoned house and unlocked the door as quickly as he could, then opened it and closed the door behind him.

He looked around. No one was there.

He walked over to the counter in the kitchen and found a note with a phone number written down. Luke quickly dialed the number into his phone.

"You have reached the voicemail of Audrey Johnson. Please leave your name after the beep."

"Audrey, it's Luke. Call me back when you get this," he said, then hung up.

Feeling defeated, he sat down on the couch and closed his eyes, not knowing what to do. Before he knew it, he found himself falling asleep, wondering what could have possibly happened to the girl he'd fallen in love with.

It was three in the morning when Luke was woken up by his phone ringing. He quickly picked up, thinking it was his mom about to yell at him.

"I'll be home soon," he mumbled, sleepily.

"Luke? It's me, Audrey. Where are you?"

Luke smiled upon hearing her voice. "Audrey, oh my god, are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine, I'm just scared, Luke. My parents are fucking crazy, and I can't do this without you. I miss you so fucking much. I thought I could live here without you, but I can't. I think about you every day and everything here reminds me of you. I want to see you, Luke. Please come see me. Please."

"Audrey, I can't just do that. I don't have any money, and even if I did, I can't afford to leave school or my mom. You know that," he told her.

"What if I come see you? I can stay at your place for a couple days, it'll be just like what you planned before."

Luke frowned. "Audrey, it can't be like that."

"Why not?" she asked.

"I have a girlfriend."

As soon as Luke said those four words, the other end of the phone fell silent. His words had hurt her, and even though she'd hurt Luke so much, Luke felt terrible.

"Audrey?"

"Sorry," she said. "Uh, what's her name?"

"Samantha," he answered.

"Is she nice? Pretty?"

"Totally."

"Do you love her?"

This time it was Luke's turn to fall silent. Luke knew that he didn't love Samantha, especially in the way that he'd loved Audrey. He couldn't lie to her, but he knew he'd feel embarrassed saying it out loud.

"No," he finally admitted.

"Do you still love me?" she asked.

Luke didn't even have to think about his answer.

"Yes."

"I'm going to come visit you. I can stay at the abandoned house if you want, or I can stay with my sister, but I need to see you," Audrey said.

"Okay," Luke said. "But if you're going to stay anywhere, you can stay at my house. My mom won't mind if you sleep on the couch."

"That means a lot to me, dork. Thank you," she said.

"Just call me when you're close," Luke said.

"Okay. Goodnight, Luke. I can't wait to see you."

"Goodnight, Audrey."

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don't forget to vote and comment! thank you so much for reading and wow I'm terrible at updating lol sorry guys I'm trying to be more active but school is such a bummer :(