the propinquity effect

38

+ 38 +

Three years later...

"I think I'm going to do it." Luke said, tapping his fingers on the table as his chin rested on the opened palm of his hand. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes, not moving my head at all because the book I read was interesting.

"Do what?" I asked quietly, Luke and I were in the library, a tradition that we both decided to do after we got accepted in the same college. He nibbled on his bottom lip and looked around, as if making sure no one was eavesdropping on our conversation.

"You know.." He trailed off, like I was supposed to know what he was going to do although I had told him that I didn't know what was going on in his mind 98% of the time. "You know."

"No, I actually don't know." I told him, leaning back against the wooden chair and still trying to concentrate on my Geography textbook. Finals were fast approaching and I needed to study, Luke didn't have to study he was born with formulas and shits. He buried his face into his hands and sighed, like he gave up trying to talk to me.

"I think I'm going to propose Molly." He finally said. Molly and Luke had been dating ever since he admitted he didn't want to love someone that was't going to love him back. The two seemed to hit it off, except Molly got accepted in a college far away, in Adelaide. I closed my Geography textbook, putting my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't scream at him. "Why are you red? I said I was going to propose to Molly, not you."

"I know, Luke. I mean that's huge, have you bought the ring?" I asked, everything seemed much clearer. Luke excused himself from French tutor with me - I found something he wasn't good at and I aced French - the week before because he was going to visit his Mom. It looked sort of suspicious but I didn't bring it up. Luke dug into his backpack and pulled a turquoise box with a ribbon wrapped around it, Tiffany's & Co.

"I was only going to buy something that isn't Tiffany's & Co but my mom insisted." He played with the box, eyeing it up and down. I didn't know a lot of things about jewelleries but I knew Tiffany's was worth more than my life. He played with his lip-ring and looked at me, I could see the blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Are you sure about this? Marriage is a dangerous plus scary thing, you don't even know if you're going to pass your French Exam." I told him, tapping my fingers on my geography book. I was happy Luke finally found someone worth settling down, I wasn't too sure if he was going to settle down for the rest of his life. He was only 21 years old.

"Shut up, I'm in love with her okay and who are you to-"

"Stand between you and love. I've heard that so many times I might throw you with this if you say it one more time." Luke had told me numerous times that he was going to settle down; I had told him settling down was an adventure and might not be the best when he was 21. But he told me multiple times that I couldn't stand between him and eternal happiness, I guessed as long as he was satisfied.

"How do you think should I propose?" He asked, raising one of his eyebrow as he opened his maths textbook. The librarian eyed us suspiciously, she wasn't exactly sure if we were there for studying. "I don't want a cheesy one."

"Use pepperoni pizza, it doesn't have cheese." I tried to throw him a pun and he snorted, flipping to the next page of his maths practice. He could finish the whole book in 5 minutes without even making notes. Luke Hemmings was a genius but he couldn't spell 'vous' in French class.

"Very funny." He scratched his eyebrow from frustration, scribbling a factor tree on his notebook as I sighed. I didn't know what he should do in order for Molly to say yes. I wasn't there when my dad proposed to my mom.