Vulnerable || l.h.

Two

After spending the first half of school thinking about the quiet blonde boy I had met he night before, I went to lunch knowing he would be sitting at the table I usually sat at with Ashton, Michael and Calum. Sure enough, when I walked into the cafeteria, all four boys were sitting there. I walked over and sat in the empty seat next to Ashton and across from Luke, his focus aimed at his lunch rather than me.

"Maddie!" Ashton said, cheery as always. "We were just talking about our game on friday night."

"Yeah!" Michael added. "It's gonna be fucking crazy!"

I chuckled as I took a bite out of my lunch. "You know I'll be there."

"You always are." replied Calum with a smile.

Luke remained silent. It was beginning to frustrate me. I mean, with friends like Ashton, Michael, and Calum, you would think he would have a more lively personality.

The boys continued their hockey talk until the bell rang, and we all headed to class. My next class after lunch was calculus, and I was the only junior taking it. I made my way to the back of the classroom and took my seat. Slowly, the rest of the students and our teacher came in. A few minutes later, the teacher began roll call. I recognized most of the seniors names and then something unexpected happened.

"Hemmings? Luke Hemmings?" the teacher called.

"Here."

I turned and saw that Luke was sitting two seats away from me. Confused and shocked, I almost missed my name being called. So he was quiet and a math genuis? Not your typical hockey player.

I stuck around after class to talk to Luke. He walked by me at first but I jogged down the hall to catch up with him. I tapped his shoulder and he turned to face me.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." he replied. Here we go again with the hey.

"You're taking calc? I thought I was the only junior in the class."

"Yeah I'm good at math I guess." He was such a chatterbox.

Luke started walking so I followed him. "A hockey player that's good at math? You, my friend, are a rare breed."

Luke gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah I'm real a diamond in the rough."

"I'm sure you had all the girls at your old school falling for you, I mean with your brains and athleticism and whatnot."

Another soft chuckle. "Yeah I guess."

As we walked I got a closer look at Luke's face and noticed something on his lip; a black ring. "I didn't realize you had a lip ring."

Luke pulled on the ring with his teeth, suddenly aware of it's presence. "Oh yeah, I got it a few months ago. It was an impulse thing."

"Well I'll add badass to your list."

"My list?"

"Yeah, you know, your list; smart, athletic, and now badass."

For the first time, I saw a smile appear on Luke's face. "So my "list" is the stuff that girls find attractive about me?"

"You could say that, yes."

"So you find me attractive?"

I suddenly realized that we were flirting. I felt my cheeks burning up. "No...I mean...I was just saying that you have qualities that certain girls would find attractive. I certainly don't know you well enough to determine if I find you attractive or not."

Luke looked at me with a smirk on his face, his lip ring tucked under his teeth. "Okay, whatever you say." Then the bell rang. "Well I gotta go to class. I'll see you later I guess."

By "later" I'm sure he meant at practice or at Ashton's house, which was like my second home, as well as the team's hangout spot. "Yeah, see you later."

As Luke walked away, a smile crept across my face and I realized that I couldn't wait until I could see those eyes, and that lip ring, again.