balmy || l.h.

five

"Oh my god, Luke!" I yelled, running down the stairs to the foyer. I shoved him to the side and went onto the porch with Daniel, "I am so sorry about him!"

"Why? Because I wanna look out for you and make sure grimey little douche bags aren't showing up for my baby sister?" Luke sneered, arms still crossed.

I rolled my eyes, "You aren't even my brother! I'll be home later, goodbye!" Slamming the door on him I turned to look at Daniel and immediately composed myself.

"Hey," I blushed, smiling up at him. He chuckled and took my hand, leading me to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and then went around to the driver's side, starting the car.

"Sooo if he's not your brother, then who is he? And what's with the accent?" Daniel asked.

I shook my head, "I mean by law, yeah he's my step brother, him and his dad moved to America from Australia when he was super little, but his dad didn't marry my mom until he was 17. He's staying with us for summer break, he's going to be a junior at UCLA next semester."

Daniel nodded, "Oh sweet. I only have a younger brother, he's eight. Super annoying."

I giggled, "I can imagine."

We sat in silence for a few beats until Daniel broke it, "So I was thinking that new burger place that just opened looks pretty good, if you want to go there?"

I nodded and grinned at him. The setting sun shined gold against his skin and reflected like amber in his dark hair. His bicep flexed as he gripped the steering wheel, my eyes unable to look away, "Sounds amazing."

We reached the restaurant and he pulled into the drive through instead of parking. I looked at him, confused, "Are we not going in?"

He shrugged, "I thought we could get our food and park and eat in the car. It's more private that way."

That did sound pretty romantic. I agreed, telling him what I wanted. He paid for us and then pulled around into a spot.

The radio played softly in the background as we looked at each other, and he chuckled. I cocked my head, "What?"

He looked at his lap and then back to me, "I've just never been on a date with someone as pretty as you."

I felt my cheeks get hot and I pulled my legs up onto the seat, hugging my knees, "No way."

He nodded, "Yes way."

We talked about school, our hobbies, our favorite subjects, good movies, the works basically. We seemed to really be clicking, and I couldn't help but think finally something involving a boy was going my way.

We had finished our food and Daniel got out to throw our trash away. He got back in and I started to buckle my seatbelt when I felt his hand on mine, "Woah, woah, we don't need to go yet, let's just chill some more."

I released the seatbelt and smiled, "Okay." He grinned back to me with those perfect white teeth and I couldn't help but look at his lips. The smile faded and he leaned close to me.

Oh man here it comes. No, I have to tell him. "Wait," I said stopping him. He opened his eyes to look at me. I bit my lip, "I-I've never kissed anyone before..."

He shook his head, softly laughing, "It's okay, you'll get the hang of it." With that, he pressed his lips against mine and my breath hitched. Almost immediately his tongue was halfway in my mouth, his lips wet and sloppy against mine. If this is what kissing was like, I truly I hated it.

I felt nothing. Blank. Blah. Wetness, but other than that, nothing. Maybe that's what it was like though, who am I to know?

He pulled away and smirked, "How's that, babe?" I put on a fake smile and nodded, "Great."

He went in again, and I tried to kiss back as well as I could, not really having much to go off of. All of a sudden, his hands were on my sweater, pulling it off of me.

"No, no, wait Daniel, please don't!" I reached for my sweater while trying to cover my bra clad breasts.

He furrowed his brows, "Oh so now you're gonna be a tease, huh? Come on let me fuck that sweet pussy of yours!" I shoved him and he grabbed my arm. I screamed, but no one else was in the parking lot.

"Where do you think you're going?!" He yelled. I shook my head, "No, Daniel, I don't want to do this, just please let go!"

I finally jerked my arm out of his grasp and swung the door open, jumping out and slamming it behind me. He spread away after flipping me off and I looked down and shrieked, realizing I was still topless.

Pulling my phone out of my back pocket and went into my contact list. I couldn't call Andrew because he was already asleep since he worked early tomorrow, and I didn't want mom to lecture me. Hailey had some family dinner thing tonight. Oh god.

My finger pressed the phone icon of the person I wanted to deal with the least right now. I choked down tears, refusing to cry as I listened to the ringer buzz.

After a few rings he picked up, "Hello?"

I sighed into the phone and he asked another 'hello' before I gathered the words to speak.

"Can you-" my voice cracked. There was no stopping the water works from flowing. Through a small whimper, I spoke, "Can you come pick me up?"

"Jesus Christ, Nat what happened? I'm gonna beat that prick's ass-"
"No, Luke please just come get me. I'm at the burger place they just built."
"Yeah I'm on my way."

He sighed and I nodded, crying, "Please hurry."

I hung up and sat on the curb, both arms hugging my chest to create a sense of false cover. My tears streamed down my cheeks and onto my lips. They were salty and cold. I watched the headlights pass by on the nearby highway, car after car. The golden street lamp above me cast a dim glow on my surroundings and I couldn't help but think about how the only person I wanted to see now was Luke.