Rockstar

Chapter 3

"I didn't know you could draw." I look across to Luke at the table during breakfast. "I don't." He says, taking another bite of his cereal. I roll my eyes at him a little. Luke was kind of a closed off person. He shared everything with Alex, somewhat with me, and of course with Reggie and Bobby. Alex didn't say much during breakfast while mom and dad talked. I could tell he was still contemplating telling them he was gay. He didn't mean to overthink it so much but the way our parents talked, it made him nervous that they wouldn't ever talk to him again. He was raised with the image of who he was supposed to be but that wasn't him. He was who exactly he wanted to be. I place my hand on his shoulder to get his attention. I give him a reassuring smile when he looks at me. He nods a little and stands up to put his bowl in the sink. I stand up and take Luke's from him, despite him not being finished. "Hey." Luke says looking up at me. "We're going to be late." I say, walking over to place them in the sink. He sighs and grabs his bag, standing up. We walk outside together. Reggie walks outside from his house, looking a bit shaken up.

"You alright, Reg?" I ask, nudging him. "Yeah. Dad woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He tells me. I frown and nod. I knew what that meant by now. Reggie's parents didn't exactly get along all the time. I admit, parents aren't supposed to get along every time and everyday but Reggie's parents fought a lot. In front of him. They sometimes took it out on him too. That's why Reggie spent the night a lot too. We always had an open space for Luke or Reggie, sometimes even both. Bobby steps out of his house and walks over. He wraps his arm around my shoulder. "How's it going, little Mercer?" He asks making me roll my eyes. Bobby flirted a lot. I never took it seriously though as that was his thing. "Probably a lot better if you weren't clinging onto her." Luke jokes, making Bobby flip him off. "What? Jealous Patterson?" He says in a joking manner too. That makes Luke scoff a little. "Didn't hear a no." Bobby says, moving away from me when Luke tries to make a grab at him. It was always an adventure being friends with a bunch of dudes in a band. It was also a comforting feeling knowing I had secret body guards. The boys part ways once we walk into school. Luke, of course, goes with me to go to our first class.

"I noticed on the list your band was performing against ours." He says, glancing at me. "Yep. Alex is my brother but you guys better be ready to lose." I say and grab my book from my locker. He shakes his head and leans on the locker next to mine. "As if." He mumbles when I close it. I roll my eyes at him and turn on my heel to walk to my next class. He catches up to walk next to me. I couldn't exactly tell what Luke and I considered ourselves. We didn't call ourselves friends nor did we call ourselves technically enemies. There were times where I comforted Luke as a fight between him and his mom got too much for him to handle. Alex wouldn't be home and I was the only one there. He didn't seem to mind letting me see him cry though. There was once a time where I got stood up on a date. My hair was curled nicely and my makeup was done to match. The guy just didn't show up. I found myself walking home, crying my eyes out as I didn't want to have to face him the next day. Luke was sitting on his porch to play his acoustic guitar when he noticed me. He didn't want Alex to see me like that. Alex angry wasn't a pretty sight. He brought me over to the porch and even let me use his flannel to cover up because of the dress I was wearing. We didn't talk, instead sat in silence as he let me finish crying. "Who do I have to beat up?" Was all he asked which made me laugh a little. He was glad he could at least cheer me up. Luke honestly, in his head, wanted to beat the guy up for ever leaving a girl to walk home alone crying. He would see him in the hallway and send him a death glare. I didn't really understand why he was avoiding me so much until I caught Luke glaring at him one time.

We sit together in class as I open my book. Luke didn't even bother to bring his book to class anymore as he just cheated off me the whole time. "Okay class, turn to page four hundred." The teacher says, beginning to write on the chalk board. I take down a few notes and glance at Luke a few times. His paper was again full of drawings and lyrics. "Why do you always do that?" I ask, leaning over to look at them. "It's way better than paying attention to this class." He says and leans his head on his hand. "If you paid attention, you'd actually have better grades." I mumble looking back at the board. "My grades are fine." He retorts back. "Mr. Patterson, Ms. Mercer. I really don't want to have to give you another detention." She says, really meaning that for Luke. I'd never gotten detention before. I tried to stay as far away from that room as possible because it was filled with all the kids that really did not care about school or anything. "I wouldn't mind it." Luke responds looking up from his paper. Mrs. Barnes shakes her head a little and grabs two pieces of paper. Oh no. She was not about to give me detention because of Luke. She walks over and sets the papers on top of my book and in front of him. "Detention at three." She says before walking away. "Mrs. Barnes wait-" She turns around and looks at me. I quickly quiet down. The bell rings as I look down at the pink slip in front of me. "See you in detention." Luke smirks before walking out of the classroom.