𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 ; lucas zumann

[26]REAL LIFE

LORIE HAD PLANNED TO TAKE KAYA'S ADVICE, she really had, but there wasn't really a chance for her to talk to Lucas on the way back. Nick drove back, and Lucas sat shotgun, leaving the rest of them out on the back. When they got back to Yale, everyone had loads of studying to catch up on so they all parted ways.

Kaya went to the library and Amybeth had a plane to catch, so Lorie was left all alone again. For some reason she didn't actually have any studying to do, so she decided to take a walk around the grounds. It was 5pm, so the sun was setting.

She pulled on her fluffy black coat over her top and skirt and put her earphones in before leaving the building.

Half way through 'Like Smoke', by Amy Winehouse when her phone died. She thought about going back and charging it but couldn't be bothered. The moment she pulled out her earphones she could hear laughing. The grounds were mostly deserted for the exception of a few studying students sitting on the lawn together. It wasn't their laughter.

Lorie recognised one of the laughs, and it sent chills down her spine. As she turned the corner, her eyes fell upon a sight she didn't know she would dread.

It was Lucas and a girl named Jenny from their English class. They were clearly having the time of their lives, Lucas taking photos while Jenny pranced about on the lawn looking endearingly stupid. A sickening feeling washed over Lorie.

Before the two lovebirds could notice her, the girl snuck off quickly, a heavy lump of sadness in her throat.

This was crazy. Lorie shouldn't be so upset about some harmless flirting. She kissed Lucas once, and had regretted it since then. Lorie probably didn't even like Lucas like that, so why did the thought of him with somebody else shake her up so much.

Maybe it was because she was an awful person and had enjoyed having Lucas wrapped around her little finger. She could tell he liked her, she'd known it since the day they'd met at the bookstore but she hadn't said anything. Maybe she was that twisted that she enjoyed being loved so much that she would allow Lucas' feelings to get trampled on.

Whatever the truth was, Lorie didn't know it. All she knew was that she was getting her heart in a knot over some dumb boy she kissed once. The girl headed back to her dorm room, her piercing blue eyes slightly watery. Not teary. Watery.

***

"Hey Lorelei," Kaya said softly as she came in that evening from the library. "You okay?"

Lorie was sat on her bed watching Titanic on her laptop and bawling her eyes out. She hadn't even got to the sad part yet.

Lorie sniffed, feeling utterly pathetic.

"I'm fine, it's just Jack and Rose," she said, wiping her eyes. "You know how I am."

"Yeah, I do actually," Kaya crossed her arms. "And I know that you never cry in movies."

Lorie looked down at her knees guiltily.

"What's wrong?" Kaya asked, sitting down on Lorie's bed and putting a hand on her brunette head.

"I don't know," Lorie said truthfully. "I saw Lucas and some girl on the grounds earlier and... I don't know why I feel like this. I didn't mean to fuck everything up."

"Oh Lorie," Kaya said, stroking the girl's hair. "You didn't fuck anything up."

"I keep feeling like I've been replaced, but I don't even know what the girl would be replacing me at," Lorie said, wiping her eyes. "I don't even know what I am to Lucas."

"I know why you feel like this," Kaya smiled. "You like him."

"He is really pretty."

***

Lorelei has expected to feel different now that she had admitted she liked Lucas, but really it was exactly the same. She didn't feel any sense of relief, no feeling that the truth had set her free. If anything, she felt more down in the dumps. Lucas and this girl Jenny were an item now, and they were annoyingly cute. Clevver News had moved on from Lorie completely and was onto raving about how pretty Lucas' girlfriend was.

The worst part about Jenny was that she was totally nice. She made an effort to come and talk to Lorie and engage her in conversation. She had even invited her to her birthday party on Saturday in her parents lake house not far from campus. Yeah, they had a lake house. Lorie didn't want to go at first, but Kaya convinced her to go just to show Lucas what he was missing. Plus, a party's a party, and Lorie loved laughing at people that had lake houses.

Along came Saturday, and Lorie was getting dressed up. She wore a silk yellow oriental print two price and her shaggy sleeveless coat. Her brown hair down and was straightened and eyes were covered in dark eyeshadow as usual.

"How do I look?" Lorie asked Kaya as they were leaving.

"Like a girl boys would die for."

That was close to what Lorie was aiming for, so she was pretty happy.

Surprisingly, the party was pretty small, with only Jenny's closest friends, strangely Mia wasn't there. That made it even more weird that she'd invited Lorie and Kaya. Also it was embarrassing because, thinking it was a big house party, the best friends had thought they could get away with not bringing a present.

Lorie plonked down on one of the red couches beside Kaya.

"So," Kaya said. "What are we doing?"

"Well," Jenny smiled mischievously. "We were just about to play 'Never Have I Ever' with shots."

Yawn. This was what Lorie did for her fourteenth birthday party.

NOTE: sorry for the late update guys :(

qotd: do you watch reign?
aotd: oof it's amazing!!!