Seventeen | muke

Five

From: Michael

Hope you have the most amazing day my angel. I love you and miss you so much.

Luke smiled softly at his phone as he hopped off the bus. He could hear the other students from St Stephen's behind him piling off the bus as well. He could hear the sound of Calum's voice over the chatter, and Luke couldn't walk fast enough. Ever since his encounter with Calum a few days ago, the blond couldn't ever bare to look at the Kiwi without a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Now, he felt truly alone at school.

He quickly typed out a reply to Michael, a more generic and distant response. It hurt the tiny blond to be cold towards the love of his life, but he knew it was the only way to keep Michael away until the bruises went away. From his experience, he had another day or two before Michael could see him again and the Luke couldn't wait for that day to come around. He missed his boyfriend so much, it hurt to even think about it. 

Luke held his head down as he walked into school, zipping past students as he usually did. The year 10s were taller than him now, making the small boy curl into himself even more. It was rather intimidating to him, but the best he could do was avoid being noticed and slip into the background. He could still hear Calum's voice as he joked around with his friends, making Luke feel like he would never be able to get away from it. It was almost like he was being haunted by his next door neighbour. 

He gave a sigh of relief as he reached his PCG. Slipping into the room quietly, the boy smiled softly at his PCA who smiled widely at him in return. It seemed Mrs Nguyen was the only person at school that even noticed the blond's presence. He quickly took a seat at the very back of the room, placing his backpack on his desk and leaning his chin on it. Pulling out his phone again, Luke scrolled through the pictures of Michael and him on his camera roll. He knew he could get through anything having Michael by his side.

"Good morning class," Mrs Nguyen announced, Luke ignored her. "We have some exciting news today! A new student is joining us at St Stephen's."

Luke's eyes shot up at the boy standing next to Mrs Nguyen's tiny frame. Luke couldn't tell if the boy looked incredibly tall because of how small Mrs Nguyen was, or if Mrs Nguyen looked small because of how tall he was. She flicked some of her jet black hair over her shoulder, turning to look at the new student with a wide, warm smile which was how she greeted everyone. It was almost unsettling to have a teacher that was that happy all the time. The boy looked back at her, smiling softly.

He was intimidating. Golden brown curls flopped down his forehead slightly, and he quickly ran a hand through them, pushing them back. His hair wasn't short, just shy of being able to be pulled into a bun, but it looked like he hadn't brushed through it in a while. Luke had never seen green eyes as bright as his, and the blond couldn't help but stare at them in awe. The stranger looked weird in the school uniform, almost as if he had never worn shorts, a button down shirt and school shoes before. But somehow, Luke could sense the confidence that radiated from him. It was no secret he instantly felt intimidated.

"This is Ashton," Mrs Nguyen cleared her throat. "I hope all of you will help make him feel welcome here." She turned to face him, pointing in Luke's direction. "Luke is a year 12 too, why don't you take a seat next to him? He will show you around once we're done."

Luke visibly gulped, watching as the tall boy made his way to the back of the room. It almost felt like he was walking painfully slow to torture the small boy, but Luke breathed in deeply, clearing his throat as he scooted further towards the wall, taking his backpack and hugging it protectively. Ashton flopped down on the chair next to the blond, head turning to look at him with a smirk.

"I wouldn't have taken you for a year 12." He remarked. Luke's eyes moved frantically around the room, hoping to land on something, anything, besides the new kid's eyes that seemed to burn holes into the sides of his cheeks. Luke could feel his entire face burning up. "I'm Ashton, by the way."

"Luke," He said in a whisper, looking at the boy from the corner of his eye. He could see Ashton was relaxed, leaning back onto his chair and his eyes kept analysing Luke curiously. "And I know, no one does."

Ashton nodded slowly, turning around to face the front of the room, but scooted closer to Luke as he did so, making the blond uncomfortable. "So, what's this about PCG? I've never been to a catholic school before."

"P-pastoral care group." Luke replied, trying to steady his breath. "It's kind of like homeroom in those American films. Mrs Nguyen does the role call and then we pray and do all the daily announcements. Mrs Nguyen's our PCA, pastoral care assistant. It's no big deal really." The blond shrugged. "You'll get used to it." 

"Are you religious?" He asked. "I'm not, I have no clue why my mum even decided to send me here."

"No." Luke gulped. He was going to make a snarky remark about being gay and how he would have to view it as a sin, but opted against it. He had yet to come out of the closet to anyone but Michael and now was not the time. To a stranger, no less.

"Fair enough," Ashton shrugged. "So what are the people here like?"

"Depends who you ask." Luke grumbled.

"Why's that?" He pushed. For the first time since the blond boy had sat next to him, Luke turned to face Ashton, his jaw clenched tight. He could see Ashton's piercing green eyes roam over his face momentarily, trying to decipher the blond's action. It took him a minute, but finally Ashton's eyes landed on the fading bruise on Luke's jaw. His eyes dropped to his lap. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"It's okay, mate." Ashton spoke after a short silent. He placed his hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke looked down at the unusual form of contact. Ashton's hand was so big Luke felt it could engulf him at any moment. "I've got your back now." He smiled.

Luke couldn't help but smile back.

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hi everyone! how are you guys going?

i just wanted to say thank you so much for 12k reads on this story! since updating it 2 days ago it's been number #34 in mukeclemmings!!

i hope you guys are enjoying this story and i would love some feedback so far... what do you guys think of the characters? what would you like to see more of? Please let me know your thoughts!!

xo