Paralyzed ▹ Luke Hemmings

02

Sometimes in class, when Luke gets bored (because he already practically knows everything anyways), he likes to think about Sam.

For hours throughout the school day, Luke sits at his desk and stares at the clock, counting down the minutes until he can finally go home while he thinks about Samantha. He drifts off into the many fantasies he has about her. There is nothing sexual about these fantasies, as one would expect from a teenage boy, but they're filled with images of what it would be like to be her boyfriend.

Luke would be the perfect boyfriend for Sam, he knows it. Sure, they don't have anything in common with what they like to do (Sam likes to have friends and be perfect, Luke likes to be alone and hate himself), but he would make it work. He would carry her books, walk her home, drive her places, kiss her when they're in good moods and hug her when she's sad, and he would let her know how beautiful she is everyday. He would be happy.

But all those fantasies end when the teacher calls on Luke because no one else knows the answer. "Luke," Mrs. Wilson called from the front of the room. Luke blinked and sat up while everyone turned around to stare at him.

"Yes?" he said.

"Did you read the chapters you were supposed to for homework?"

Of course Luke read the chapters he was supposed to read for homework, he always does. "Yes," he said nervously. "I did read them."

"Well thank god someone actually did," Mrs. Wilson mumbled to herself, pushing her glasses further along the bridge of her nose. "Can you give a brief summary of the chapters?"

Luke heard Michael Clifford let out an obnoxious and sarcastic snore from the back of the room. No one knows why Michael Clifford is in an honors class, apparently he's the biggest idiot out of that whole group. He's just really dumb and careless and Michael would do anything if everyone wanted him to. If you wanna have a laugh, go tell Michael Clifford to jump off a flight of stairs. You'll be in hysterics.

Everyone else in the class chuckled at Michael's rude gesture; everyone thinks that Luke is not only a freak, but a really boring one at that. "Uh...I don't know," Luke shrugged, sinking further into his seat. He could feel the eyes of his peers all staring at him, waiitng for the moment he says the wrong thing so they can tease him about it. People in Luke's english class call him "Momma's Boy" because one time Luke accidentally called Mrs. Wilson mom. It was a horrific experience.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Luke asked, changing the subject. Everyone sighed and turned back around in their seats. Luke was relieved that most of the eyes were off of him now.

Mrs. Wilson shrugged and nodded her head. She doesn't really care that Luke goes to the bathroom because Luke never falls behind in class. He doesn't actually go to the bathroom, he just walks around the empty hallways, thinks about Sam, and still knows what the class is doing when he gets back.

"Uh, sure," the teacher said. "Go ahead."

Luke quickly got up from his desk and quickly stumbled over to the door. When he was out in the hallway, he leaned up against the nearest locker to catch his breath. Situations like that never go well for him, he always gets choked up when people stare at him (especially with Michael Clifford in the room). Michael is friends with Sam (and Ashton), so that's enough to scare the shit out of Luke.

As Luke aimlessly walked down the halls with his hands stuffed in his pockets, he thought more about Sam. But when does Luke ever not think about Sam? She's always on his mind, whether he's at school or at home or even asleep. Luke has had countless dreams about her and even he knows it's getting pretty bad. Obsessive, even.