Run (Punk Luke Hemmings)

Chapter 18

When Luke had dropped me off, he told me that I would be seeing him later tonight. Which probably meant that he would be climbing up my house again. I wasn't sure where Luke went and why he took me home so early, but I didn't ask. He always seems to disappear and he also seems to hate too many questions.

I call Lin as soon as I get up to my room and tell her about our little beach...date? I didn't actually know what to call it. I really didn't even know what to call what Luke and I had. Now that I think about it, a lot of things about Luke are a mystery to me.

What I did know was that my mind was overflowing with thoughts of him. He makes me feel like we're the only two people in the world, no matter how many people are around. He has an effect on me that no one has ever had before. When we touch I feel a spark of electricity run through my veins that brings me to life. I know barely anything about him, but he is like a puzzle that I want to solve. I can't help but wonder if he feels these things too.

My phone call with Linley lasts about 45 minutes and she tells me all about how excited she is for me and also that her and Michael are finally official. By the time our conversation is over, I hear my mom call up to me for dinner. I run downstairs eagerly since I'm starving.

The four of us eat my mother's delicious spaghetti as she asks us how school is going. Josh is spending the night with Bradley, so he's eating with us. 

"So, who's this boy that showed up on our doorstep today?" She asks me after a few moments of silence. My stomach turns at just the mention of him.

"Oh that's Luke," I say and a small smile appears on my lips.

"Do you like him?" She likes to ask a lot of questions.

"Yeah, actually I do." I don't even have to think about my answer and it escapes my mouth before I have the chance to realize what I'm actually saying.

"He's very...interesting," she says slowly, not making eye contact with me as she eats.

"In a good or bad way?" I say, eyeing her from across the table. The two boys are silently eating as they listen to our conversation.

"Well I don't really like his tattoos or that awful lip piercing. I just don't understand why anyone would ever do that to their body," she says. She is very judgemental and isn't afraid to speak her mind. This is something that I didn't particularly like about her.

"It's a way that he chooses to express himself mom." I have now set down my fork and stopped eating. "I don't appreciate you judging him based off of his appearance, I thought you were better than that."

"Well I don't really appreciate you hanging around him or anyone like him." She is now looking at me. Where was this coming from? She looks as if she is about to speak again but I cut her off before she can.

"Then why would you let me go with him?" I ask and notice I am speaking a little louder.

"Because he was already here and I wasn't going to just send him away." She shakes her head and says as if it's obvious. 

"He's best friends with Calum who you see me meet up with everyday at school and who I also hang out with. He has a few tattoos, what's so different about him?"

"He doesn't have as many...markings," she says as if she is repulsed by them and can't even say the actual word. "And he looks like a very nice boy."

"Luke is nice too," I slowly say. I have to hesitate a little because at first he wasn't very nice. "And he cares about me mom, isn't that good enough?"

"Boys, you may be excused. Why don't you go wash your plates and go upstairs," she says and they get up as fast as they can. When they are gone she speaks again, "I am always glad when people care about you honey, but I don't want you around that boy. There's just something off about him," she tries to say sweetly, but I can sense the judgement in her voice.

"That boy has a name. And I don't care what you want," I say as I get up and storm off to throw my plate in the sink. If she's gonna be a bitch, I'm not gonna clean my mess. I stomp up the stairs to my room and slam my door, locking it and not caring how much of a scene I just made.

My mom has never tried to tell me who I can and can't hang out with. Of course she has made me mad before with other rules of her's, but this one definitely sent me over the edge. I could care less what she thinks about Luke. And of course I didn't think the nicest things about him at first either, but that's because he was rude to me. She has only met him once, for a brief second, and I'm sure that he was completely nice to her.

Nothing she said mattered to me, I was going to hang out with whoever I wanted. Especially Luke. No one could keep me away from him, and I wasn't going to let my mother's judgements affect how I felt about him. He made me happy and if that didn't matter to her, then she can deal with me not speaking to her until she was okay with it.