Teen Dad Series

Talk About Zoey (Luke & Ruby)

Ruby took a running start from the living room, down the hall, and into Luke's room. She leaped and landed right next to him on the bed, giggling as she collided with his pillow. He yanked it from under her and smacked her with it, causing more giggles to burst through her. 

"What was that for, Giggles?" He asked, laughing ashe she wiggled away from his outstretched hand. She was so ticklish, he didn't even need to touch her. 

"I have a very serious and important question for you and it involves school and an essay that I procrastinated on." She replied, blowing hair away from her face. She grinned as Luke narrowed his eyes. 

"When's it due?" He asked, already getting suspicious. Ruby was the worst/best procrastinator he's ever known.

"Tomorrow. So basically I'm supposed to write about my heritage and family and all of that. Don't ask, apparently I just have to prove to this teacher that I"m a good writer so she let me pick a topic that was personal to me. So I have one question for you and I need you to be totally honest with me." Ruby widened ehr eyes as she looked at her dad. He had a good habit of weaseling his way out of questions he didn't want to answer. She wasn't going to let him go so easily this time.

Luke scratched as his cheek, trying to judge how serious Ruby was being. He shrugged. "Alright, what's the question?"

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her voice got softer when she spoke. "How did you meet mom? Like, really. I know you saw her at a bowling alley, but that's all I know."

Luke looked down at the bills and things he'd been going through. They were all over the bed and his laptop sat on his lap. "Are you sure this is for school?"

"And personal gain. It's a win/win type of thing." Ruby tilted her head so she could see his eyes. "I'll never ask again, I promise. I know it's a sensitive topic, but you at least owe me this right?"

Luke smiled and shook his head. "I don't owe you anything, Ruby Bug." He threw his arm around her shoulders and sighed. "But you're failing this class so I guess I can do my part and help you." He laughed when Ruby began to make herself comfortable. 

"Go on, make me valedictorian." She hugged the pillow to her chest, gazing up at her dad with wide eyes. She looked five years old again. 

Luke stared ahead of him, wondering where he should start. "I mean, the bowling alley part is true."

"Of course it is, you wouldn't lie to three year old me. You waited until Santa became a big deal to do that."

"If I knew that would traumatize you for life to find out Santa isn't real, then I would've saved myself a lot of time and effort all those Christmasses before." Luke ruffled her hair. "Anyway, she was with a group of her friends and I was with your uncles and we were bowling--"

"Clearly." 

"Alright, Oh Snarky One, keep you comments to yourself." When Ruby mimed locking her mouth up with a key, Luke rolled his eyes. "I didn't find out until much later, but she'd talked to Ashton and asked about me. Basically, he set us up. Sort of. She was a take-charge type of person so a lot of it was in her control too." Luke glanced over to make sure Ruby hadn't zoned out yet. She was all ears. "So there was a fast food restaurant right above the bowling alley and you had to take this really old elevator to get up ther. I mean there were stairs but no one took them. Her friends wen up but she stayed behind and Calum told me to go over and talk to her."

"You said she made the first move."

"Well, technically she did but I had to be close enough for her to do that, right?" Ruby nodded. "They literally shoved me over and then left me there. They all went and sat in the car while I walked over to try and talk to her." Luke hesitated. 

"What?" Ruby asked, sitting up straighter and turning to face him. 

"I'm gonna go ahead and say that if you try what your mom did, I will lock you up in a tower for life." Luke said, suddenly getting very red in the face. Ruby burst out laughing.

"What did she do?"

Luke opened his mouth then closed it and shook his head. "I'm serious."

Ruby grabbed his arm and shook it. "Tell me! There is a grade at stake, man!"

"She pulled me into the elevator before I could say anything and kissed me." Luke had mumbled it all, looking anywhere but at Ruby. But she'd heard him perfectly fine enough. Ruby howled with laughter, falling into a pillow. Luke felt his face burn. "It's not funny."

Ruby sat up, nodding as she tried to calm herself down. "You're right. That's not funny. That's totally not okay. That is an invasion of privacy and she didn't even know you." She paused, studying her dad's expression. "But you totally like it because you were a teenage boy making out with some random chick in an elevator." 

Luke had to almost yell over her laughing. "You can go ahead and fail, it won't be my fault!" Ruby instantly sobered up. He could tell she really wanted to laugh though. "Anyway, somehow she'd gotten a hold of my phone and she put her number in it and told me to call her. So I did."

"What did she use as her name for your contacts?"

"Why is that important?"

"Because you just asked that question." Ruby widened her eyes, smiling from ear to ear. 

Luke looked down at his hands. "That One Elevator Chick." Ruby pressed a hand to her mouth to stop from laughing, waving for Luke to keep going. "We went out almost ever day after that, just to hang out."

"And then I happened." Ruby said, familiar with that part of the story.

"And then you happened." Luke confirmed. "And my life has been pretty great ever since." He shrugged. Ruby grinned and hugged him tightly. 

"Aren't I great?"

"You're something."