Nothing // l.h

Chapter 6

It was around 3 on a bright Saturday afternoon when I heard the doorbell rang. I got up from the couch and walked to the door. The hardwood felt somewhat cold on my bare feet. I got to the door and looked through the window to see who it was. Unfortunately it was the last person I wanted to see. 

"Ell I know you're home." Luke called out. "I just saw you look through the window." At this point I had to let him in, no matter how much I wanted him to go back home. 

I swung the door open, revealing Luke who was dressed like he just went out running."How many times do I have to tell you that my name is Ellie."

"Hey I got close that time." He smiled proudly. I didn't know if he truly didn't know my name, because he maybe just that stupid, or if he took pride in knowing and not caring. I sighed and leaned up against the door, waiting for Luke to get to the point. "Anyways I came by to get your summary on the project. I asked Michael if he could get it from you but he's hung up somewhere." Michael was probably asleep.

"Yea I have it. You can come in if you want, it's in my room." I told him, standing out of the way so he could enter.  I watched him look around the entry way, gazing over family photos. "You can wait in the living room if you want. You don't don't have to stand there." Luke looked over his shoulder at me and nodded. Such a weird person. Ignoring whatever he did next I quickly walked up the stairs and got the paper off of my bedside table.

When I got back downstairs Luke was sitting in the living room. He was flipping through the pages of a scrapbook my mom kept on the coffee table. "What are you doing." I asked. He seemed to have gotten a few pages in while I was gone.

"Oh I saw some pictures in the hallway of this girl that looked familiar. Then I saw this scrapbook, thought I would see if I knew her."

"That's my sister,  Julia." I said quietly. I didn't like to talk about her that much just because of how personal the situation was. "Anyways, here's the summary. I hope it's what you need." I reached across the coffee table to hand to him. I made sure that I included everything in the paper, just so I didn't have to work with him anymore. He stood up from the couch and took it from me.

"I guess I should go. I'm probably the last person you want in your house." He was right. "I'll see you at school, Eleanor."

"Dammit Luke!" I exclaimed. I was sick and tired of him not knowing my name. It wasn't even that hard to remember. He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You know my name, don't you?"

He chuckled before responding. "I'm not an idiot, Ellie. I actually didn't know your name at one point, but then I saw how much it bothered you and I wanted to keep that up. You're cute when you're mad." Luke was such an asshole. Who did he think he was? "Anyways I see by that look on your face that I should leave. See you at school Monday. Maybe even sooner."

"Highly unlikely." I whispered and shut the door behind Luke.

**
"I can not stand him!" I paced back and forth in Michael's bedroom. "He thinks he's the biggest catch in the world."

"Yea he's a real jerk." Michael said in a monotone voice. Clearly he wasn't paying attention. Instead of listening to me he was scrolling through his phone. "I think maybe you should just hear him out. He's probably not that bad. Despite the reason you hate him."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Maybe I should just go home because obviously you are sick." I grabbed my black jacket off of Michael's bed and made my way to the door.

"Ellie come on. You're being ridiculous!" He called after me, sadly for him I was halfway out of his house. Of course now he decided to pay attention when I left in a scene of anger. "Ellie wait!" I could hear him fumbling behind me, trying to get on his shoes to follow me down the street. "You can't just storm out on me like this. I have an opinion too." 

"I know you do Michael." I huffed, picking up the pace while I walked down the sidewalk. 

"Elizabeth wait for me!" He yelled. Hearing Michael yell, especially my full name, was a once in a lifetime occurrence. "What gives you the right to storm out on me like that? When have you ever done that?" 

"Well for one thing you weren't listening to me." I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down at Michael. He was giving me the look that said 'of course I was listening to you, Ellie'. "Don't give me that look, you hardly cared for what I had to say. Then you suggest a totally insane idea." 

"I was paying attention to what you had to say. It's just that I've heard it a hundred other times this week. I only suggested that so you go with my idea so I could hear something different for once. All I hear come out of your mouth these days is how much you don't like Luke. You're my friend not a broken record." I didn't like getting a big speech from Michael,  but I assumed it was necessary. "Just chill for a while." He said, finally cracking a smile. "I'll see you later." 

"Bye Michael." I smiled, turning around and proceeding back home. 

When I got home I was so pleasantly greeted by my mother. She was already cooking dinner, making the whole house smell like chili. "Ellie! Good you're home I was just about to call you. That Hemmings boy from next door came over while you were gone."

I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the words coming out of her mouth. "Who did what?"

"The boy from next door came over." She stopped stirring and wiped her hands on a nearby dish rag. "I told him that you weren't here. But then he proceeded to make sure that you knew to see him when you came home." I tried to turn away so my mother couldn't see the face I made, but I was out of luck. "Ellie don't be rude." She scolded. "Go over there and see him." 

I knew resisting my mother was a game that I had no interest in playing. So like the good daughter I was, I did as she said and walked over to Luke's. 

For someone who wanted to see me, he sure took long enough getting to the door. When he finally did the first thing I noticed was that he changed. Now he was just wearing jeans and a black shirt. I also noticed that one ear bud was dangling in front of him. "I'm sorry did I interrupt you wanting me to come over?"

"Shut up and come inside." Luke shook his head. I rolled my eyes at how great he greeted me and stepped inside his spacious house. "I wanted you to come over because there was something wrong with your summary." I followed him into the living room where he handed me back my paper.

"And you couldn't drop this off at my house with a sticky note because?" I took my paper out of his big hands and skimmed it over. It seemed fine to me.

"You need to fix the conclusion. It's too short." Too short? What did he care, he did his own anyways. 

"It's not even your business how short my conclusion was. You have your own, remember?" I told him. 

"Just fix it, Ellie. I don't want to get a ad grade because of you." He said bitterly. 

"Ellie?" I said, astonished that he actually bothered to say my actual name. 

"That is your name." He said, this time a lot more calmness in his voice. 

"Usually you don't say my actual name. I mean you come close but never close enough to what actually is my name." I rambled. I noticed the blank stare he was giving me, I took that as it was time to shut up. "I'll fix it. Thanks Luke."

"Whatever. I just don't want to fail."

**

Author's note:

wow been a while since I updated this. I like the way this turned out and I'm really excited for the rest of it. 

comment n vote and check out my ashton fic bc it's new and fun.

gwyn