Until I Met You

18 | "i just don't get him."

"I can't feel my stomach."

With a laugh, I sit up in my bed and furrow my eyebrows as I shoot Alissa a confused glance. "Can you ever feel your stomach?"

Alissa appears thoughtful for a moment, pursing her lips. After a moment of silence, she sighs and stretches her limbs out on my bed. "I have no idea. All I know is that I can't feel it right now."

I laugh once again, enjoying Alissa's company. We've just finished a movie marathon held in my room, and we ate so much junk food we should probably be sick. I suppose that's what Alissa is referring to when she says she can't feel her stomach, though my problem is quite the opposite. If anything, all I can feel is my stomach aching.

"Three hours in bed and you forget how to walk," Alissa jokes as she tries to rise from my bed and ends up stumbling. I shrug as my feet hit the ground, laughing as she wobbles.

Suddenly, I hear a scream come from Alissa, who is standing by my window with an expression of shock.

Curious as to what has my friend acting this way, I question, "What?"

"Your room faces my brother's room?" Alissa asks, clearly disgusted. I'm hoping she didn't catch a glimpse of anything too disturbing, looking out the window despite not really wanting to see Luke. I spot him lying in bed, wearing his glasses that somehow manage to only add to his attractiveness. His face is buried in a thick book, per usual.

"He is so weird," Alissa mumbles under her breath, peering through the window with narrowed eyes. "I just don't get him."

I refrain from commenting, as I often feel the same way about my sister. I also just don't want to talk about Luke, especially not with his sister. As far as I know, she doesn't know anything about what's happened between her brother and I. I kind of want to keep things that way. I'm not sure how she'd take learning that there was a point in time in which Luke was willing to give up everything for me, and I for him.

Too bad those times never collided.

"That's, like, all he ever does anymore," Alissa admits with a sigh, facing away from the window and perching herself down on the edge of my bed.

Wondering what she's getting at, I question, "What do you mean?"

Alissa snorts, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with him. It's like if he's not at lacrosse practice, he's at home. Just reading or some shit. I can't even remember the last time he had his friends over. When he gets a call or text, he just ignores it. I know we fight sometimes, but we used to have fun together, too. Now his door is always locked. It's just so . . . weird."

For some reason, as Alissa relays this information to me, I start to feel guilty.

"When did it start? Luke closing himself off, I mean?"

Alissa frowns for a moment. If she finds my question strange, she doesn't show it. "I dunno. Maybe two weeks ago?"

It may be selfish, yet I can't shake the feeling that Luke's strange behavior has something to do with me. At least, a little bit. I don't want to flatter myself or make it seem as if I'm more important to Luke than I formerly thought, but what are the odds that he becomes a recluse around the same time I chose Liam over him?

I purse my lips, lost in thought. I'm sure now that my plan to hurt Luke did work. When I agreed to be Liam's girlfriend, it wasn't necessarily because that was what I wanted. It was because I wanted to make Luke feel as terribly as he'd made me feel.

Now I know I've succeeded.

Victory has never tasted so bitter.

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"Why haven't you talked to Luke?"

Maybe I shouldn't be so straightforward when addressing my friends, especially when the subject is none of my business. Yet I can't help it. When I arrive at school and spot Emma, I just blurt the question without thinking. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about Luke. I still want to be a part of his life, but more than that I want his friends to be part of his life.

Emma blinks like she doesn't understand my question. When she opens her mouth to respond, she's cut off by the appearance of Piper.

Piper tosses her chestnut-colored hair over her shoulder as she rolls her hazel eyes. Clearly irritated, she snaps, "What haven't we talked to Luke? Hm, let me think. Maybe because he won't talk to us?"

I furrow my eyebrows, more confused than I was previously. I glance at Emma, silently asking if what Piper has said is true.

In response, Emma nods with a slight frown. The gleam in her blue eyes reveals that she is just as confused as I am, which only further unsettles me. I had assumed Luke's friends had been avoiding him, not that it was the other way around. I guess I didn't want to believe Luke would go to such measures as cutting off his friends just to make sure he's isolated from me. I mean, we share friends, which can lead to interactions between the two of us. Now he's shutting his friends out, and what reason could he have to do that besides to stay away from me? Doesn't he realize we're going to run into each other anyway? We're neighbors, after all.

"Did he tell you why he's avoiding you?" I ask.

Emma and Piper share a look. Clearing her throat, Piper says, "He didn't really say anything to us. He kind of just started ignoring me. But he did tell Peter that he needed space."

I can't help thinking that I've heard that before. What doesn't make sense to me is why Luke would say he needs space from Peter. Shouldn't he be trying to turn his friends against me and not him?

The boy is too confusing for his own good.

As if on cue, Luke suddenly enters the hallway. Our gazes lock for about a millisecond before Luke's eyes skirt away, like he can't handle simply looking at me.

I have a sudden urge to talk to him, because I no longer want Luke to hurt. If anything, I just want him to be as happy as I am. And maybe I'm happy with Liam, but that doesn't change the fact that I want the best for Luke.

I want him to be happy, and I think I can help with that.

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a/n: ew i have school tmrw.