Secrets In The Garden / l.h ✔️

34

~Ophelia's POV~

The entirety of the weekend at Stella's was unbearably uncomfortable. Luckily nobody knew what Luke and I had gotten up to, but the really awkward tension that was between Luke and Stella after their breakup was horrendous. I mean, she spent basically every waking moment glaring at him, and sometimes even at me, while he just completely disregarded her.

And Luke and I, well...things had been surprisingly normal between us, even after everything. I guess I had been expecting some type of awkwardness afterwards, but nothing had changed between us, thankfully. He was still flirty, which had resulted in a lot of glares from Stella for me and glares from Stella and Saniya for him. Now that Luke was single, Saniya was trying her hardest to keep me clear of Luke, unaware that I had already given in to the pull he had. If she knew that, she'd blow a fuse, which is why I made it a point not to tell her. This wasn't a big deal, anyways. I knew what I was getting myself into.

At least, I thought I did.

**

On Monday, Luke stopped eating lunch and breakfast at our usual table, on account of the fact that Stella, Saniya and even Zuri were all pissed at him. Nobody else really cared, not even me, but I guess he decided it'd be best to go back to the table he had with his actual friends on the other side of the cafeteria.

At first, I was a little bit upset, as I had become rather accustomed to sitting next to him. It felt odd to one day go from being around him to him just completely moving tables the next. Nevertheless, I adapted and got used to it. I wasn't going to force him to sit with us all, especially when he didn't seem to feel very welcomed by the girls, aside from Kimberly and I. The downside of him moving tables, however, was that I was left to Stella's wrath. After I had basically caused their break up, she really did not like me, at all.

Of course, Saniya had tried to soothe things over so Stella wouldn't be so angry towards me, but it was essentially pointless. There was just no use trying to get through to Stella—she was convinced that I had done something wrong that messed with her and Luke's relationship, making him not want to be with her. I wondered if she truly believed that or if she just refused to believe that she had been another girl he had humped and dumped after a while. Even if she had dumped him, he was the one who didn't care about that, while she was clearly bitter and not over it.

I didn't blame her, though. She had been hoping that she'd be different to him, just like all the rest of the girls.

"I can see the gears turning in that pretty little head of yours." Someone suddenly remarked as I sat in the student lounge area, on a stool at a tall table this time. My head snapped up and I saw Luke stood there, his backpack slung over one shoulder and his hands shoved deep in the front pockets of his pants. "Oh, um, hi." I greeted, unsure how long he'd been standing there for and how I'd not seen him before. "Sorry, I was just thinking about h—"

"Don't care, gorgeous." He cut me off, hopping up into the large stool across from me. I sealed my lips shut, shooting him a look. "You know, you're really rude." I noted, huffing as I leaned into the table, arms bracing on the surface. He just snorted and raised a brow, unimpressed. "You still surprised by that? We've established this several times now." He retorted, shrugging. I rolled my eyes and turned my head, scanning my gaze over everyone who was down here with us as well.

We were both quiet for a little bit, but I still could feel him staring at the side of my face as I refused to look at him and meet his gaze. "Ophelia," He said suddenly, trying to get me to divert my attention to him. Although I nearly looked, I managed to keep my head turned away, not looking at anything in particular. He didn't know, but he still had my full attention despite the fact that my eyes weren't on him. "Ophelia," He called again, sounding a bit more frustrated this time. Who knew that the ever emotionless player would get upset at being ignored. Then again, he was used to attention, especially from girls, so I guess it sort of made sense.

All of the sudden, he reached out and grabbed my wrist, his hold gentle on me yet I still couldn't pull my arm away. It was out of reflex when I looked over at him, a slight pout on my lips that made him smirk when his eyes met mine. "What's wrong?" He teased, still not letting me go. I frowned and gave up, huffing in defeat as I slouched in my chair. "I hate you." I grumbled, pouting.

At that, he smirked even wider. "Oh, yeah. I remember you really seemed to hate me when I had my head between your thighs."

My face immediately burned with embarrassment, recalling what had happened between us not only Friday night but also Saturday morning. We hadn't really spoken about it—though I had been a little bit tempted to ask—and I wondered if now was a good time to do so. "Th-That was completely different!" I stuttered, feeling flustered.

He chuckled and released my wrist, crossing his arms over his chest as he relaxed against the back of his stool. "Different, how?" He hummed innocently, raising a brow challengingly. I pursed my lips and fiddled with my fingertips, overly anxious. Were we really about to have this conversation in the middle of school? It took me a minute to reply, figuring that now would probably be as good a time as any. Was there really any correct time or place to even talk about this? To me, no. To him, probably anywhere at any time was fine.

"Well, you...you know, it was just different. I wasn't—" I began to speak, but he suddenly leaned over the table, scooting his stool in as far as he could. His face was directly in front of mine, blue eyes intense. "Wasn't in the right mindset?" He finished, as if he knew exactly what I was going to say. I blinked at him, taken aback and stunned into silence.

"That's what you said the last two times, too, gorgeous. And each of those times, your mind wasn't influenced by anything but you. Just like Friday, and just like Saturday."

We both were quiet as I processed his words, my lips parting when I realized that he had a point. None of the things that had happened between us were things that I did unknowingly. I knew what I was doing, I just was embarrassed afterwards because I knew I probably shouldn't have done them—even if I wanted to.

"You're right." I admitted softly, looking away. I was ashamed that I had used the same excuse, or any excuse at all, every time I let something happen that I knew by now I wanted. I was attracted to him, very much so, and I felt like a fool for it but I still wanted him despite that. "I'm sorry. I know I've been back and forth, and it's not fair to you." I apologized deeply, glancing up at him again. He was eyeing me closely, eyes narrowed just a bit and brows furrowed. "Not fair to me?" He repeated, confused.

I nodded my head, frowning. "Mhm. I didn't realize until now, but it was really unfair...leading you on like that." I said, making him blink at me, like I had genuinely surprised him by saying that. Then, he smiled in amusement. "Trust me, you weren't. I'm the player here, remember? I practically invented the art of leading someone on."

When I noticed that he sounded....proud, almost, I frowned deeply at him. How was it I always seemed to forget his habits, his reputation? And how stupid it was of me to believe that I could ever possibly lead him on. The idea was utterly foolish to even have.

"R-Right." I said with a shake of my head, running a hand through my hair. He looked at me closer and leaned down, resting his chin on top of his folded arms as he peered up at me. "Just out of curiosity," He began, his voice casual, "Why are you a virgin?" He asked. My eyes widened in surprise and my mouth dropped, not expecting such an invasive question. "That is none of your business!" I huffed, absolutely refusing to discuss this with him. "C'mon, tell me. Promise your little secret is safe." He grinned, a sparkle in his eyes.

I hopped off my stool and grabbed my backpack, wildly shaking my head as I put it on. "I am not discussing this with you at school." I said, right before I strode off, hearing his laughter echoing behind me.