Secrets In The Garden / l.h ✔️

13

~Ophelia's POV~

"You're so handsome, baby." Stella giggled to Luke as they walked up to the lunch table with one another, clinging to his arm as she pressed herself up against his side. He didn't seem very interested in what she was saying—in fact, it seemed like he wanted her to let him go, but he smiled politely down at her. It was very clearly fake.

"What is he doing here?" Saniya asked sharply, glaring at the tall boy as he took the seat beside me, which was where Stella usually sat. "Don't be rude, Saniya. We're dating, of course I'm going to be having lunch with him." She responded as she sat down beside him, a frown on her face. Luke smirked as Saniya scowled and glared at him even harder, clenching her hands into fists. "That's not what I asked. You don't have to bring him here to have lunch with him." She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. Stella just rolled her eyes, ignoring her friend's complaints.

When Luke glanced over at me, a sly smile formed on his full lips and he leaned down to be closer to me. Frowning, I blinked up at him. "You look nice in that dress," He began, a playful glint in his eyes. "But I have to say I liked seeing you sweaty and blushing on Saturday, too." He purred, the innuendo not going unnoticed by me whatsoever.

Boldly, he brushed his fingertips against my knee, in the same place that he'd touched on Saturday when I had dirt on myself. I blushed red hot and felt Saniya's hand grip the bottom of my chair, glaring at him as she yanked me towards her more. "Paws off." She hissed protectively, nodding her head to Stella. "Especially since you've got a girlfriend right there."

Anxiously, I fiddled with the flowy skirt on my mint green dress, the gold floral pattern shimmering when it caught the light. I curled my painted toes in my open toe heels, refusing to look at him for a moment as I tried to calm my racing heart. "What's the matter, Saniya?" Luke cooed, his voice making me glance up at him to see the giant smirk on his face. "Are you still mad at me for breaking up with you?" He asked carelessly, and I took a cautious glance at my hot-headed friend. Like I expected, she looked absolutely furious. "I'm mad because you're trying to play two of my friends at once." She spat, sneering at him.

He was unaffected, still smirking. "Who said I'm trying to play anyone here?" He dared to ask. Saniya looked about ready to punch him, especially when he grabbed my seat and tugged me right back over to him. I didn't know what to do so I just sat there quietly.

"Playing with Stella is one thing because she's Stella. She's used to hopping from one to the next and she knows what she's getting into. But leave Ophelia out of this. Don't try to make her into another one of your play things. Don't talk to her. In fact, don't even fucking look at her because you'll never be good enough." She said threateningly, shaking with anger. I couldn't help but to duck my head, a little embarrassed that she thought that. It wasn't like I was perfect, just like he wasn't perfect either.

Luke raised a brow at her and smiled in amusement. "Try to make her into another one of my play things?" He echoed, snorting as he wrapped his arm around Stella's shoulder. She gladly leaned into his side more and then looked from me to Saniya. "As if he'd do that." She said with utmost confidence, rolling her eyes. "And even if he did, she'd be lucky to get laid by him at all." She added, making me frown.

Why does it feel like Stella is constantly taking any chance she gets to be mean to me? I've done nothing to her!

"Mhm." Luke hummed his agreement and leaned back in his chair, further hurting my feelings. Am I that unappealing that they think it'd be some sort of miracle for me to have sex with someone who was as handsome as him?

Saniya looked like she was about to have steam come shooting out of her ears, but I just gently nudged her knee with mine to get her attention. I smiled softly when she looked at me and her anger seemed to lessen a little bit. "It's okay, Niya. I told you he didn't have any intentions like that with me." I assured, and she didn't look entirely convinced about that but she nodded her head nonetheless. "Okay, Phe." She sighed.

"Since Stella and Luke are dating, shouldn't we all at least try to get along with each other?" I suggested hopefully, watching as she scrunched up her nose at the idea. She probably didn't think there was such a thing as getting along with him and, honestly, I didn't know if there was either. Luke didn't seem to care about her at all but she transparently held deep hatred for him.

"I have to agree with Phe. We'll probably be seeing each other a lot more, now that they're together." Noah added, and Idris nodded along with Kimberly and Zuri. The only ones who seemed unsure were Judah, Blade, and Saniya. "Please?" I asked her quietly, resulting in a loud groan as she lifted her head to look at me. "Fine, I'll try." She grumbled, giving in. "But I'm not promising anything." She added quickly.

I merely beamed at her, throwing my arms around her in a hug. "Trying is plenty good enough for me!" I chirped back.

**

"Opie!" Granny cheered excitedly as I came walking inside the house after school, shutting and locking the front door behind me.

"Yes? What's wrong, granny?" I asked her as I poked my head around the corner of the wall to peek into the living room. Like a lot of the time, she was sat on the couch, though she had a cup of tea in her frail hands at the moment. "Oh, nothing is wrong, dear." She smiled up at me and held her cup with one hand while she waved for me to come in with the other one. I walked over and sat down next to her, wondering what she needed to tell me that had her so excited.

"Your mom was finally able to get a hold of your dad. Isn't that great news, Opie?" Granny asked cheerfully. Although she seemed rather happy about this, the news made my heart drop. "Oh..." I trailed off awkwardly, frowning. "What happened?" I asked, unable to help myself from being curious even if I wasn't very happy now. My father was not my favorite person in the world, not by a long shot.

"He said that he misses you and wants to be more involved in your life." She told me, as if that was a good thing. Maybe to her and mom it was, but it sounded awful to me. "I don't care." I mumbled, looking down at my hands as they rested in my lap.

Granny tsked me and set her tea cup on the table before she grabbed my hand in hers. "Come on, Opie. Your mom said he sounded better—like he actually really wanted to see you again." She said hopefully, trying to get me to agree. I knew both my mom and granny just wanted me to have a father figure in my life, to be happy, but I was doing just fine without him. "Yeah, of course he did." I mumbled, frowning deeply. My father was the last person I wanted to speak to. I would sooner let Luke come over for tea with my granny, if I'm honest.

"Oh, don't be such a Debby downer." She chastised, patting me on the thigh. "I think it'll be good for you to see him again. It's been such a long time." She added with a smile, but I didn't return it. I just sighed deeply and pulled my hand out of hers. "That's nobody's fault except for his. He's the one who left." I reminded her, looking her in the eye. I wanted nothing to do with my father and I had no problem making that known, even to my sweet old granny. She and mom were just getting their hopes up again, so I had to remind them.

If my dad had wanted to really be in my life, he wouldn't have left. He wouldn't have ignored my calls when I was eleven. If he'd wanted to be in my life, he would have been. What it came down to, really, was trying. And my dad just wasn't someone who did that—not with me.