DERANGED

Eight: Admit It

Lexi's POV

I sat down in the cafeteria, setting my laptop down on the table. I grabbed my lunch from my bag and took a bite of the green apple. I opened my laptop and went to the online Psychology textbook. Luke wanted help studying again which I didn't mind doing at all. We've been hanging out a lot too between classes and on the weekends. I was scrolling through to find the chapter for the homework we got today. 

"Is there anyone sitting here?" 

I turned to my left to see a blonde haired boy with a guitar on his back standing at the table next to me. 

"No." I smiled. I watched as he sat down and pulled the acoustic guitar out of its case, and resting it on his leg. He plucked some strings, a technique known as finger picking. 

"You're good." I subconsciously said out loud. He looked up at me. 

"Thanks." He laughed. "I'm Paul." He held out his hand. 

"Lexi." I introduced myself, shaking his hand. 

"Do you play?" He asked. 

"Yeah, I've been playing since I was 12, but I didn't bring it with me to college. I didn't think I would have time for it." I answered. 

"I just started a few years ago, but I wish I'd started sooner." He stated. 

"I should've brought mine with me." I thought out loud. 

"Here. Play something." He said, handing me the guitar, causing me to smile. It rested on my right leg as my fingers went to the fretboard. I started to play one of the only songs that was engraved in my memory- Two Ghosts by Harry Styles. I started to pluck the strings, and before I knew it, minutes had passed and that was the end of the song. It felt like I'd never stopped playing. 

"Damn." Paul said, causing me to look up at him. 

"Thank you." I smiled, feeling my cheeks heat up, handing him the instrument back. I'm not even gonna lie, he's attractive. He started to play a different song, this time using barre chords. (A/N sorry for all the guitar terms, but they're not crucial to the chapter hahah so you don't need to know them) 

"I never learned how to play power chords." I commented, remembering how I should've taken lessons like my parents wanted me to, yet I relied on YouTube and various guitar websites. 

"Really? I can teach you." He quickly answered, stopping what he was doing. 

"Oh, no you don't need to do that." I shook my head, but before I knew it, the guitar was back on my lap. 

"Paul." I said, looking at him. 

"Lexi." He mimicked. I tried not to smile but failed miserably. 

"So let's say you're gonna play a C chord. You're gonna put this finger here and that one there..." He said, moving my fingers to the correct places on the guitar. "And that's C." 

I slowly ran my hand down the strings, the sound not coming out how I expected, causing us both to laugh. 

"Well, you'll just have to get the hang of it. It's tricky." He said, running a hand over his short hair.

"Here I'll show you G too." He did the same as before, his hand on mine moving my fingers to the right position. I strummed just like last time and this one sounded a lot better. 

"Yeah, there you go!" He smiled, as I smiled back at him. I realized his hand was still on mine but I didn't want to move it. 

"Hey..." I heard a voice only a few feet away and turned to see Luke standing there, his backpack over one shoulder. He looked down at our hands.

"Hi Luke." I greeted, Paul letting go and taking the guitar back. Luke sat down at the chair across from me at the table. 

"This is Paul, Paul this is Luke." I introduced the two, Luke giving Paul a look that I couldn't quite read. I turned my attention back to my laptop and opened the homework packet to the tenth page, and I could see Luke doing the same out of my peripheral vision. 

"You play guitar too?" Paul asked, and I looked up to see him looking at Luke. 

"Yeah...?" He answered, a confused look on his face. "How'd you...know?" 

"The calluses, on your fingers." Paul shrugged, taking me by surprise that he noticed such a small detail. 

"Oh... right." Luke said, looking back down to the homework. Paul left for class a few minutes after, saying he would see us around before disappearing into the halls. I heard Luke sigh in frustration, causing me to look over at his paper. He was on question three, whereas I was just starting number eight. 

"Cerebellum. What does it do?" I asked him, hoping he would get it. 

"It...it controls basic motor skills." He said, his blue eyes making contact with my brown ones.

"Yeah." I smiled, as he looked down, writing down what he just said. We worked in silence for awhile until we finished, as it was a short assignment. 

"Luke, you're jealous." I finally realized. He sighed as we both packed up our stuff. 

"Am not." 

"Yes you are." 

"No I'm not."

"Luke! Just admit." I laughed. 

"Nope." He said popping the 'p'. 

"Do you wanna just hang out since we're done classes for the rest of the day?" I asked him, changing the subject, as we walked down the hallway. 

"Yeah, of course." He said genuinely, causing a small smile to creep onto my face. We walked out the doors and the cold air practically hit us like a brick. 

"Holy shit, why's it so cold?" Luke muttered. We walked across campus towards the dorm buildings and although we'd only been walking for a minute or so, I was practically shivering. 

"C'mon, the faster we get there, the less time we'll spend in the cold." Luke said, grabbing my hand as we began to walk faster. It was almost as if our hands were like puzzle pieces, fitting together perfectly. We crossed the street after a few minutes, the dorm building now right in front of us. 

"Fine, I am." Luke said and it took me a second to realize what he was talking about. 

"I knew it." I smiled smugly to myself, causing Luke's cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. 

---A/N---

I know Paul Klein would not be in college if this took place today but let's just pretend. 

Just like we're pretending Luke is the Luke from 2014. 

:)

L E X I