American

1. luke

Luke had never been to America before.

Sure, he'd heard countless amounts of stories growing up, enough to make his head spin. It was all over the Australian news, almost 24/7-but whether it was good or bad news was the question.

"Oh, those Americans, they're in so much debt," His neighbors would chime, gossiping through the bushes of their perfectly manicured lawns. "They're so careless, you know? Children growing up too fast, every teenager doing drugs--did you know the ratio of teen drinkers have skyrocketed these past few years? Rotten America."

"Fuck America," the boys in his dorm would chant whenever they saw a Five Guys Burgers ad splash across their television screen. "We can't even get that over here."

He knew Australia wasn't perfect, either, but from the sounds of it, everywhere beat the United States. Luke was perfectly content with his little suburban town in Sydney, Australia, and the local university he attended to obtain his Business Statistics major, something he knew he could easily find a full-time job in.

Every company in Sydney needed a guy strong in the mathematics department, so why not Luke?

When he wasn't in class, he was in the library studying, working in a small bakery west of campus, or enjoying the occasional visit to his childhood home, which was only forty-five minutes from his dorm.

There he was drilled by the gardening neighbors about his non-existent social life as an Australian university student, praised by his mother for his high grades, and sent right back to work in the herb garden like he had never left for university at all.

In a weird way, Luke's life was perfect. Everything was in perfect place for his future as a part-time gardener, part-time baker, and budget analyst in his own home state.

Everything was going as planned until the incident.

It should be noted that sweet, innocent Luke played no part in it whatsoever. How was he supposed to know that there was a party going on at his dorm one night during his second year at university while he was peacefully studying in the library?

How was he supposed to know that some stranger OD'ed at said party at the same exact moment he fell asleep whilst reading How to Garden - Tips Every Gardener Should Know?

So, when he woke up the next morning, dazed and confused when the words "You'll be a happy gardener in no time" were smushed against his face, Luke received a call from his mother. His mother calling him was not out of the ordinary, as she called every Wednesday night at eight-o'clock, but it wasn't a Wednesday.

It wasn't eight-o'clock, either.

The warning bells tolled in Luke's head as he, still drowsy, looked at the caller id, but he answered anyways. It was his mother, he couldn't just ignore her.

"Lucas Robert Hemmings." She rasped the second Luke greeted her. "How could you?"

"What?" Luke replied, now wide-awake and racking his brain for what he might've done wrong.

No, I weeded the garden last week and watered Mrs. Emerrich's plants the other day. I showed up to work all week and received my paycheck this morning... Wait-damn. Is she mad about that B I got on the quiz the other day? Or--

"Don't what me, mister." Liz spat through the phone. "You told me no parties. Absolutely none."

This only confused Luke even more. "Party? Wait, what party?"

And thus inspired Liz to go on a rant, screaming at Luke so loud even the librarian fifty feet away gave Luke a dirty look.

Obviously Luke was in trouble.