"Hey guys, I want you to meet Arina."
Ashton, Michael, Calum, and I all turned to the location of Luke's voice in the studio. We had been waiting an hour and a half for Luke to show up so the guys could play the final cut of the album for me. They wanted me to hear it before it got leaked. Which would happen any day now. The four of us took in the sight of Luke and some random girl next to him. He sure had a type if I wasn't already aware. Tan skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and tall. I was starting to think Luke had all these lookalikes locked in a closet until he was ready to display them to the world.
I felt frumpy next to her in my random t-shirt, jeans, and boots. My hair was in a loose ponytail and concealer under my eyes was all I had energy for when I woke up because Ashton didn't give me enough of a warning to actually put in an effort into my appearance. He had seen me a lot worse though, so I wasn't exactly worried about what he thought.
Arina was all dolled up in a full face of makeup and her hair in a lazy french twist. Her outfit looked planned months before this day and her heels made her almost the same height as Luke. And it was hard for anyone to be the same height as the behemoth himself. No offense.
"We're going steady." Luke said with a tight smile. I couldn't tell if he was happy about that or not. He was hiding something behind his bloodshot eyes. In the last two weeks something had definitely changed in Luke's demeanor. I thought I knew my best friend, but I was starting to think I was losing touch with him. It was no wonder a lot of my texts and phone calls were going unanswered or sent to voicemail. I guess we were growing up. Nothing wrong with that, I just wanted to know what was going on with my best friend, if he was even my best friend anymore.
We all waved to Arina as Luke introduced us by name. It wasn't like this girl cared anyway. The blank look in her eyes said her mind was elsewhere. The couple took a seat on the leather couch. Or rather, Luke sat on the couch and the girl took a seat on Luke's lap, causing her mini skirt to ride up her thighs even further. We were all a couple of inches away from seeing more than we bargained for today.
"What happened to Alya?" I said quietly behind clenched to Ashton. I folded my arms over my chest as we stood over the audio board. Alya was actually decent. I loved the little bit that I got to know her. She was sweet and gentle and polite and funny. Naturally beautiful inside and out. Arina looked like she struggled with that.
"I have no clue. I was going to ask you the same thing." Ashton replied in the same tone, resting his fingers over some of the knobs. He looked slightly confused, like he didn't know what knobs he was touching.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, Luke!" The girl planted a wet kiss to Luke's lips before taking her sultry strut to the bathroom. Luke's lips were left covered in the girl's cheap lip gloss.
"Where's Alya?" Calum finally asked once he heard the door shut. He didn't look up from his phone though. Calum was always off in the corner on his phone quietly, not bothering a soul.
"She went away for school. Figured I'd move on and find something better." Luke shrugged his shoulders as he stood from the couch, causing Ashton and I to grimace. Luke looked pretty douchey with the lip ring and the hair styled five inches high. And the blue eyes didn't help his case any further, but he was a sweet boy. He had a big heart and loved deeply, so his nonchalantly attitude towards Arina was something new to us.
"Doesn't sound like a Luke kinda thing to say." I scoffed, shaking my head. I hoped he could sense the disappointment.
"Cut me some slack, Kozma." Luke retorted in annoyance.
I snapped my head towards him, cocking an eyebrow at him. It seemed like he was losing touch with himself and reality and his friends so quickly.
"Don't get an attitude with her, Luke." Michael defended, shoving Luke down to the couch again.
"Or what, Mikey?"
"I'll suck your dick." Michael pointed his forefinger at Luke to intimidate him, but we all knew he was joking with Luke. No one could really be mean to Luke out of fear of hurting his feelings. Luke and Calum were the more sensitive of the group, Luke was just more vocal about it than Calum. Calum hated to admit when someone hurt him. He didn't want to seem weak. That was why he stayed quiet often.
"Oh," Luke stood back up. "I'm so scared." He said sarcastically, feigning fright as he waved his hands in the air.
"You're suck a prick." Michael muttered. Luke knew how to get under Michael's skin.
Luke rolled his eyes before starting towards the exit. I wasn't used to this new Luke or whatever this was, so I didn't know if he was going to come back or if he was going to leave and let us wonder what was going on.
"Geez guys, can you relax?" Calum locked his phone and tossed it to the side. Calum also hated to argue.
I put my hands up in defense, claiming my own innocence along with Ashton. "All I'm saying is...shit is weird."
"Sucking dick isn't weird. We all do it." Michael stated.
Ashton groaned, rubbing his temples at Michael's comment. "Luke and this random girl are what's weird, not sucking dick."
"Can you guys stop talking about sucking dick?!" Calum shouted.
"I'll suck yours if you don't shut up, Cal." Michael threatened.
