Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 44

Monday morning seems to drag on forever, because I'm still so tired, but before lunch I have chemistry, and Lucas surprises me by sitting beside me for our final lab of the year.

While our teacher explains final notes for our exam, Lucas and I mess around with Bunsen burners at the back of class, just like we used to do in grade nine.

'So what did my dad talk to you about in the car?' I ask him.

'Well first he wanted me to confirm your story,' Lucas says. 'But I told him about how I looked through the police reports and figured everything out. And then after that he kind of wanted to know... well, I think his exact words were "you better treat her better this time."'

I raise my eyebrows and look at Lucas. He gives me a coy grin, and I smile back. 'You'll have to start taking up drum lessons with Dad again.'

Lucas scoffs. 'As much as I liked making music, the music industry does not appeal to me at all. I think my parents and George Addison have kind of ruined it for me. I might just stick to chemistry. Are you still planning on travelling?'

'Definitely,' I say. 'I think Julian wants to. We'd make a good team. I think he wants to do some photography. We could start a travel blog together with his photos and art and my writing.'

'That actually sounds amazing,' Lucas says. He becomes intensely focused on twisting the Bunsen burner so that the flame goes low and blue, and doesn't look up to me when he says, 'But I'm going to miss you if you're away all the time. I kind of only just got you back.'

I feel this weird surge in my chest and I know my cheeks have gone red so I look down at my notebook. 'I'm going to miss you too.'

'Okay so this is probably gonna be weird, and you don't have to think anything of it, but I was just thinking that we could like... maybe go to the grad ball, I mean, you know, just because you live close and I could come pick you up.'

I realise that I've dropped the pencil that I'm holding, and I hastily crouch down to pick it up, and in my haste I knock my head against the bench.

'Ow,' I say, kneeling down and rubbing my head. Lucas ducks down beside me, so that we're both behind the bench, and he touches my forehead gently.

'Sorry, that was stupid,' he says. 'Are you alright?'

'I hit my head,' I state dumbly. I suddenly realise that I'm wearing a stupid white lab coat and big safety glasses and I'm crouching behind a laboratory bench rubbing my head, and I think, maybe, that Lucas might have asked me to the graduation formal dinner, but he sounded like such a goof that I'm not entirely sure.

'Okay wait, backpedal,' I say. 'Did you ask me to formal?'

'Kind of?' Lucas says, giving me a hesitant grin.

'Well I'll kind of say yes then,' I tease.

'Is your head okay? Because I mean, you just bumped it, and now you're saying you'll go to formal with me and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be saying that if you didn't have a proper head injury.'

'Oh shut up,' I say, and I grab onto the bench top and pull myself up. Lucas does the same, and we try to pretend that we're concentrating on the lesson again.

At lunch, Julian is supposed to be working on his final art piece, and Watson is supposed to be writing his history essay, but when I tell them that I need to explain what happened on Saturday night, they meet me at our lunch table with Ainsley and Harrison.

'If this is just going to be you explaining that you're banging Lucas now,' Watson says tersely as he sits down. He has two pies from the tuckshop and he's smothering them in tomato sauce. I watch him spread the tomato sauce with his fingers, because I feel a blush rising in my neck that has something to do with him saying "banging Lucas", and I don't want to look into his eyes.