lost ⇢ muke

luke

Why did Calum feel the need to do that? What did I do to him? Nothing. That's what I did.

I don't get it.

Taylor rang me 6 times since the party and I let it go to voicemail each time.

"Luke? Hi, it's Taylor. I, uh, call me back when you get a chance."

"Hey, it's Taylor again. Just wondering if you were okay.. I'm really sorry for what happened at the party even though I don't know what I'm sorry for.."

Those were just a few. They became longer each time.

Calum basically told my best friend and.. Ashton, that I'm gay.

He is the only person I've ever trusted with that secret and he does that because he's mad at me, for no reason.

"Luke? Are you ready yet?" my mum asks as she knocks at my door.

"Yeah, give me a second." I mutter as I rushed to put on my shoes.

"Taylor's here." she says and I heard her footsteps get more faint so I assumed she went downstairs. I sighed and grabbed my bag and phone before going downstairs, sticking in my earbuds as I did so.

"Breakfast?" she asks and I shake my head, walking out the front door to be met by Taylor who was sitting on the porch step, a cigarette in hand.

"Those kill you, you know." I say and she stands up, walking beside me. I left one earbud out and put my music on shuffle.

"Great." she says and shrugs and I glance at her before looking back ahead of me, sticking my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.

"It's cold." she says and I nod.

This is incredibly awkward.

"Do you want to explain? You never called me back.."

"I don't want to." I say and shake my head.

She nods slowly and stays silent the rest of the walk to school. It's still dark by time we arrive so I assume either today is going to be super cloudy or storming.

Preferably the latter.

"Who's that?" Taylor nudges me with her elbow and I look up from my phone, my gaze following hers.

What I saw make me stop dead in my tracks, my eyes trailing up and down the boys body.

"Luke?" she snapped her fingers in front of my face and I flinched, coming back to reality.

"I don't know."

Just then, Ashton walked up to me.

"New kid is a faggot. Best thing to do is ignore him if he talks to you, and be a dick the best you can to him, got it?" he asks but I wasn't really listening after the point of him calling the boy a 'faggot.'

"Okay." Was all I said before walking away from him.

- - - - - -

Turns out, green haired lad is super stupid.

Okay, maybe he isn't stupid, but I don't think he talks. Maybe he's been through something that distracts him from doing good in school.

In maths, my mum personally introduced me to the boy. I learned his name was Michael Clifford and we are in the same year, but he's a year older than me.

He didn't say anything to me. He didn't say anything to my mum, he said nothing to no one.

Taylor suggested he's mute, but I just don't think so.

I think he's shy.

But Ashton kept reminding me, every time he saw me, that I was to be mean to this boy.

I shouldn't let Ashton tell me what to do, but for some reason, I felt like this was my best option. I want to be like Ashton. He's so cool and so popular.. I mean, why wouldn't I listen to him?

After class, I noticed Michael talking to my mum, but I couldn't hear his voice.

When he walked away, I walked beside him so to my mum, it looked like I was just being friendly but as soon as we were out of her sight, I pushed him up against the locker and he let out a whimper.

"Shut up," I spat and immediately felt guilt building up inside of me.

He opened his mouth to talk but I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him away from the locker before letting him go and watching as he stumbled backwards into it before sliding to the floor. He scrambled to get up and ran off.

"Nice work, Hemmings." Ashton says from beside me and I turn to look at him.

What the hell did I just do?