Until I Met You

29 | "what is he talking about?"

A week later, I'm perched at Luke's desk, struggling with my algebra homework as Luke reads in his bed. I'm wrapped in one of his sweatshirts, thinking up ways to procrastinate.

Utterly bored, I rise from the desk chair and wander over to Luke's bed, sitting down next to him. He's wearing his glasses, as attractive as ever as he gives me a slow glance, expression one of warning. Since we first started dating, Luke has made me do my algebra homework in his presence, having nearly had a heart attack upon learning I was hardly maintaining a C in math.

The perks of dating a nerd: They make you do your homework.

I lean forward, stealing Luke's glasses and sliding them onto my face. Striking a pose, I ask, "How do I look?"

"Like you need to finish your homework." Luke sighs, setting his book down to give me his undivided attention.

I scoff. "That's not what I wanted to hear."

Luke leans toward me, cupping my face in his hands gently. "You look cute. Kind of like badass Barbie meets school girl."

I raise my eyebrows at his word choice. "Badass Barbie?" I question, climbing into Luke's lap.

He leans back in his bed, shrugging. He then flips me over so I'm laying against the mattress, hovering over me as he removes the glasses from my face and setting them down on his nightstand. Studying me with a dazed expression, Luke gently runs his thumb over my cheekbone.

"What is it?" I question, wondering what has him so lost in thought.

Luke merely shakes his head, smiling faintly. "It's just . . ." he trails off, a sheepish laugh escaping his lips.

I lift a palm to his chest as I ask, "What?"

"You're amazing, Clumsy," he whispers in response. "I never thought I'd be lucky enough to live in a world with you in it. And now I know I was right, because it's like you suddenly just became my world."

I furrow my eyebrows, eyes going soft as I gaze up at my boyfriend, sensing he has more to say.

"From the first moment I laid eyes on you, you drove me crazy," he continues. "I felt like I had just finished running a marathon, and I'd never felt such intensity by just looking at someone. I thought if I tried pushing you away, the feeling would go away. Instead, it kept growing and growing, until you were all I could think about."

Luke inhales a deep breath, eyes on mine. "I don't know what it is about you, Jade. I'm not good at letting people in. I don't know why that's always been so hard for me. I'm reserved, I wear a hard exterior, I can be a douche . . . At least, all of that was true—until I met you. You crashed into my life and knocked down all my walls and pulled down every guard I had up with just a glance. Until I met you, I never thought I'd be one to fall in love."

Everything stops. My heart, my breath, the world around me. All of it fades to nothing, until I am only conscious of the boy before me. Until he becomes my whole world.