Falling Slowly | Luke Hemmings

eighteen

I was now sitting in my calc classroom, Luke right beside me, as we slowly sat and watched people flow slowly into the classroom. Today was one of my unlucky days, because we had a test. Luke has really been helping me study over the past week, whether we were here, or at his house. I was now understanding everything more clearly, and I couldn't be happier. I really appreciated all the help from Luke because it was honestly helping. 

The classroom was finally filled up, not one empty desk sitting in the classroom. Even though I was confident about taking this test, I was still extremely nervous. I really wanted to improve my grade, and this test score would either lower it, or increase it. 

"You'll do fine," Luke said from beside me, placing his hand on my arm. 

I gave him a reassuring smile, letting him know I'm okay. 

-

 "Sooo?" Luke said, as we both walked out of the classroom side by side. 

"What?" I laughed, looking up at him. 

"How do you think you did?" He asked, nudging his elbow at my arm. 

"I actually think I did alright," I said, smiling with confidence.

"Yea Scarlet!" He said, placing his hand out so I could give him a high-five. 

"All thanks to your help," I said back, following him towards his locker. 

This became a regular thing for us, we would always walk to each others lockers after class had ended. I loved being so close to Luke again, it was a good feeling to have inside. 

"It's no problem, really." 

"You've helped me so much, so thank you," I said truthfully.

"Anytime," He smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. As he did that, I couldn't help but look around for Tanner. I haven't heard again from him since that night, and I wasn't planning to. I told myself that when I see him around school, I'm going to go up to him and really tell him how I feel. I honestly don't think he has been at school recently, because I know his locker is close to Luke's, and I haven't seen him at all with his friends. I already knew I wasn't going to call or even go to his house to talk, I wanted to do it somewhere were there were some people around us just in case if he lost his anger like he has in the past. I knew what I had to tell him, and I was going to say it no matter how hard he tries to change my mind. I finally told myself I needed to end it, because it was for the best. I couldn't just stay in a relationship where all he does his hurt me, physically and emotionally. 

"I'm gonna get going," I say, adjusting my bag over my shoulder. 

"Okay, call me later?" Luke asked awkwardly, looking down at the floor. 

"Of course," I said, giving him a shy smile. 

He didn't say anything else, just flashed me a smile. He reached out his arms, and pulled me into a tight embrace. I buried my head into the crook of his neck, as I let his arms wrap around me. We didn't stay like this for long, knowing that we were still at school surrounded by people. 

I un-wrapped my arms from his waist, and step a couple feet away from him. I turn around, giving him one last wave goodbye, before starting to walk out of the school.

I never realized how much I actually missed him until now.         

-

I finally arrived home about twenty minutes later, after getting through all the school traffic. It never usually took me this long to get home, but I guess today was just a little different. I luckily didn't have much homework to do tonight, so I finally got the chance to relax.