Secrets In The Garden / l.h ✔️

45

~Ophelia's POV~

Stella glared at me the entirety of lunch.

Throughout the day, more exact replicas of the picture of Luke and I kept popping up all over the school. Each time I'd rip one down and throw it away, I'd find another on the walls. Whoever was doing this wanted everyone to know, and clearly it was working because everyone at the table knew. Hell, everyone I walked past would whisper and look at me like I was an idiot.

I tried to ignore her glares and ate my lunch awkwardly. Nobody else at the table really seemed to care about what Luke and I did, nor had they judged me for it, which made me feel a lot better. Saniya had scolded me only a little, but overall it seemed like she was more angry at Luke than she was at me. Maybe it was because she knew that I had feelings for him, whereas he was only with me for sex. He didn't actually want me, just my body. That knowledge hurt me, I'll admit, but I tried to forgive him for it because it wasn't his fault. I was the one who allowed him to have me.

As I ate my food, I felt someone walk up from behind me, making me pause and glance up. I stared up at Luke with my cheeks stuffed full of food, blinking at him. His lips twitched up and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, ignoring Saniya's glare. "I was wondering if you had a minute, so we can talk." He asked, a frown on my lips as I swallowed the food in my mouth.

"Talk?" I repeated, setting down my slice of pizza. He nodded his head, sending me a pleading look. "Please, just for a little bit." He pleaded, earning a soft sigh from me. "Just for a little bit." I decided, standing up from my seat and pushing in my chair before I followed him out of the cafeteria.

The two of us headed out into the empty hallway outside the cafeteria, where he and I stood over by the wall, away from the entrance to the cafeteria. I didn't even get the chance to say anything before he was speaking, his words rushing out of his mouth. "I'm sorry." He blurted, making me raise a brow up at him. "I told you I wasn't mad." I said, watching as he chewed on his bottom lip with uncertainty.

He sighed and frowned at me. "I know what you said, but I'm not an idiot, Ophelia." He responded, looking at me like he was waiting for me to say something. But I just stared at him, not saying anything at all. "An idiot?" I echoed, wondering what he meant. Why was he talking about him not being an idiot? "What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

There was a little bit of a pause. "I know that you see me as more than a friend, gorgeous. I've had enough experience to know by now when a girl wants more than just friendship from me." He muttered.

I went quiet, staring up at him with an open mouth, my stomach suddenly beginning to churn at his words. He knew that I had feelings for him? "How long have you known?" I asked awkwardly, biting my lip. "Maybe a little more than a month." He shrugged, making my cheeks warm. This was so embarrassing. I'd spent months thinking that he had no idea about my feelings for him, when in reality he'd known all along.

"Oh." I whispered, embarrassed. I looked away from him, staring at the floor. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I just didn't see the point in it." I admitted, my fingertips wringing subconsciously. He gently used his pointer finger to make me look at him again, our eyes meeting. "I don't know why you're apologizing to me." He said, a slight frown on his lips. I didn't know what to say to him, so I just stared like an idiot.

"I just...wanted to apologize for this morning. I know you have feelings for me, but...I mean, I..." He began to look away, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's okay. I know. You don't want me like that." I responded, forcing a weak smile onto my lips. His eyes snapped to meet mine again and he furrowed his brows a little, sighing softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, which is why I never brought this up before. Figured you'd tell me if you ever wanted to." He said, shrugging.

"And what about what you said before that?" I asked, staring up at him curiously. "You know, about how you and I was just something that was going to happen?" I added, raising a brow. I really wasn't angry, but I did want another apology from him, or at least an explanation.

Luke had the decency to look a little bit ashamed, either about saying it or about being heard saying it. "Sorry. I just...I don't know if this makes sense, but I think you and I fucking is something that was bound to happen eventually. We're both attracted to each other, and you know as well as I do that we have sexual tension." He explained, making my cheeks warm again. This wasn't exactly the type of explanation that I was expecting to get when I asked him about it, but this was Luke, so maybe I should've expected it.

"B-But I'm sorry if that hurt your feelings, too." He added quickly, noticing the way I gaped at him. "I guess I'm not very good with words." He sighed, leaning against the wall. I couldn't help but to smile a little, biting my lip to try to hide it. "You're good with words, you just don't like to say the things that you mean." I retorted.

He blinked down at me and his cheeks flushed, as if my words had embarrassed him. "S-So, about that picture that's been going around..." He began, changing the subject. My face fell and he noticed immediately. "Where the hell did that come from?" He asked, furrowing his brows. I shook my head and sighed. "I don't know. I actually was hoping you'd have a clue. That's why I was in the cafeteria this morning." I answered, frowning. I watched his face as he gave me a little shake of his head. "Fuck. No, I've got no idea either." He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're doing okay, though? With the picture out, I mean? Nobody's been fucking with you?" He asked, blue eyes looking a little worried.

I smiled up at him and shook my head. It was unfair when he'd be nice like this, acting like he cared about how I was doing with this whole thing. It only made my feelings for him stronger. "No, not really. Everyone's just been looking and whispering, that's all." I said honestly, grateful that that was the case. I'd really only had a couple of girls say things to my face, and a boy or two make a comment at me, but nothing else besides that. "What about you? Are people bothering you?" I asked, purely out of curiosity.

"Not really." He shrugged. "I've really only had a few guys just being assholes because they wanna fuck you and can't." He said, snorting to himself. I blinked and cocked my head to the side, not expecting that to be his response. If anything, I had expected him to get a much different type of attention. "No girls are, you know, trying to jump your bones?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't want to seem jealous, but I couldn't help the fact that I was. Even the idea just set me off. I didn't want other girls trying to get with him.

"I mean, they are, but who cares?" He snorted. It seemed to dawn on him a moment later because he smirked and leaned towards me, mirth shining in his eyes. "Oh, I get it." He hummed. "You're jealous, aren't you, gorgeous?"

The way that I immediately shook my head and began to fiddle with my fingers again said more than enough. "N-No!" I exclaimed, not wanting to seem clingy. If I seemed clingy, he would probably get annoyed and break off whatever this thing was that we had going on. Even if he knew my feelings and didn't reciprocate them, I didn't want that to happen. I liked him too much for me to just go back to not having anything with him at all. So if this was the most I could get with him, I'd take it.

"What a liar." He tsked me playfully, stepping towards me. I noticed that he didn't seem upset by my jealousy, surprising me a little bit. "I just don't want...I don't like thinking about other girls with you." I admitted softly, using all of my courage to keep looking him in the eye. I was just waiting for the moment where he'd blow up, call me a clingy bitch, and then leave. But that moment never came.

Instead, his lips twitched a little. "It's the same for me. I know it's selfish, but I don't want you to be with another guy. Just me." He said, making my tummy come alive with butterflies. I tried to dismiss those feelings, because I knew he didn't mean it the way that it was making me feel, but the butterflies didn't care. They just cared about the fact that he wanted me to himself.

He backed off a little bit as he looked at me, frowning. It seemed like he was contemplating something, chewing on the inside of his cheek. I guess he eventually decided to say whatever was on his mind, even though he looked uncertain and embarrassed. I recognized that look enough by now to know that he was about to tell me something that was important to him. I knew he was trying his best still to confide in me, to get closer and more personal.

His face flushed pink, like it always did when he got flustered or embarrassed, and he shoved his hands deep into his front pockets. "And I didn't entertain any of those girls' fantasies or whatever, by the way." He muttered. "I guess I just don't...I don't want any of them."