Pretty Girls ⇼ Luke Hemmings

After class, I went home to my empty dorm. I hadn’t bothered to change out of my stained dress due to the fact that Lea wasn’t in the room and I wanted to get a head start on my homework. By the time 5 o’clock rolled around, Lea stormed in, slamming the door. I’d been so occupied in my work that when she entered, I nearly had a heart attack.
“Are you okay?” I asked as she plopped down on her bed, taking her heels off and throwing them on the floor.
“No,” she huffed, tucking her feet under her.
“Would you like to talk about it?” I left my work and sat on her bed with her.
“Mikey can be such an ass!” She complained, her face red. “I mean, not like Luke’s level, but… I’m his girlfriend and sometimes, he just plain disrespects me!”
“What did he say?” I’d never thought Michael would be the kind of guy to treat his girlfriend badly, especially not one as perfect as Lea. I personally thought she was way out of his league. Not that he was an unattractive guy, it’s just his punk demeanor.
“That if I had Cass’ face with my body, I’d be perfect,” she chewed at her nail, picking off the black polish.

“Oh my gosh,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry,” she let out a long breath, shaking her head.
“He’s just so rude sometimes,”
“I think you’re perfect the way you are and if he doesn’t see that, then…” I paused, judging her reaction. “Then fuck him,” I finished. Her eyes widened at my swear before her lips curled into a wide smile.
“Thanks Val,” she grabbed my hand, giving it a small squeeze. “It’s just… My friends are his friends and frankly, I don’t like Cass much but she’s always around. And now that I know how attractive he finds her, I don’t know what to do,” I nodded despite the fact that I had no idea how that felt. I’d never had a boyfriend before, let alone one who commented on my appearance in such harsh words.
“Maybe we should do something to get your mind off of it,” I smiled.

“How about some retail therapy?” Her eyes immediately lit up.
“Really?” She squeaked, getting out of bed. “Cass refuses to shop with me! It’s been so long since I went shopping with someone other than Mikey!”
“Just give me a second to change,” I laughed. “I spilt coffee on my dress this morning,” I lied. I didn’t want to tell her that Luke had done it when she was already so upset. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to make this about myself. Lea applied another layer of mascara as I changed out of my dress and into jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

As I was grabbing my bag to leave, Luke barged in the room. We really had to get that door fixed.
“Perfect timing!” Lea smiled as he walked in, leaving the door wide open. It bothered me that he hadn’t knocked. “Will you take us to the mall?” She asked, slinging her purse onto her forearm.
“Nope,” Luke smiled, beaming into her. The way he interacted with his other friends was much different than the way he and I interacted. He was still rude to them, but he was rude with a smile or with a laugh. Whereas with me, we ended up screaming every time we were alone… And sometimes kissing.
“Aw, come on!” She begged. “It’s raining and I don’t want to pay a bus fare!” Luke raised an eyebrow, sitting down on Lea’s bed. “You can bring Ashton or Calum,” she offered, in hopes that he’d agree.
“If I wanted to be with Ashton or Calum, I’d be at home. Not here,” Lea huffed out an angry sigh.
“I’ll buy you food,” she finally offered. I could tell that this was how their interactions usually went: Luke would only do things if he got something in return.
“Fine,” he stood. “But I get to pick,”

The ride to the mall was long and awkward. I sat in the backseat and Lea was up front with Luke. He had a small, red convertible with the top up that was in great condition. I was taken back by how new the old car looked and how smoothly it ran. He blasted music the entire way, giving me a huge headache. I wanted to tell him to turn it down, but I knew if I did, he’d only turn it up. When we got to the mall, Lea and Luke got into a bickering match about dropping us off at the doors; a match that Lea had won. We waited in the dry store for Luke to join us and, when he did, he was soaked… And irritated. I found myself staring at his wet clothes, his black t-shirt clung tightly to his abdomen, showing off his well sculpted muscles. His hair bounced up higher, the rain had refreshed his curls. The water that dripped down his face made him look so natural, so raw. He noticed I was staring and smirked, wiping the beads of water away before following Lea and I.

As we strolled around the shops, Luke would sit with his back against the wall and his arms crossed. He acted like he wasn’t watching when Lea or myself would try on clothes and come out to get the other’s approval, but the look in his face told me things Lea was too kind to say: Whether or not I should actually get the article of clothing. In total, I got four shirts(two of which were crop tops), one pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, and a dress that was a bit tighter than what I’d normally wear. Lea bought three crop tops, two regular tops, one short skirt, one very tight dress, and new eyeliner.

We were about to head to the food court, but Lea pulled me in one last store: Victoria’s Secret. Luke didn’t sit down like he had in the other stores. Instead, he followed us closely, making sure to tell us he was bored through his body language. Lea rifled through the matching sets of bras and panties, pulling out a white lace set and held it up.
“You should get these,” she insisted. “They’d look so good on you!” My face turned bright red at the thought of wearing something so… Sexy. Luke held an amused look plastered on his face, pinching his bottom lip, waiting for me to reply. I couldn’t tell what either of them were thinking.
“It’s not my usual style,” my face burnt up.

Lea grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, away from Luke and lowered her voice.
“With all due respect, I’ve seen your style and I think you should change it up,” I glanced at Luke, who was impatiently leaning against the wall and scrolling through his phone. With reluctance, I grabbed the set and headed to the front to pay. Lea bought three sets and a night dress. I wasn’t sure why she was buying so many attractive undergarments when she was angry at Michael. Would he ever see them? Would anyone? Maybe it was a confidence thing. I was unsure, as most of my bras and panties were solid colors and… Well, boring. I wondered how I would feel in my new set.

When we finished shopping, Luke led us to the food court. Lea hooked her arm around mine as we walked.
“Val, can you keep this whole Mikey thing a secret?” She asked quietly, careful not to let Luke hear. “I just… I know that if Cass found out about what he said, then she’d steal him,” her eyes were full of worry.
“Of course,” I gave her a small smile. “The secret is safe with me,” Luke stopped in front of a pizza stand.
“I want to eat here,” he stated before sauntering off and taking a seat at a nearby table. Lea and I exchanged glances before rolling our eyes and splitting the cost of the pizza. After eating in a near silence, Luke drove us home; dropping Lea off at Michael’s on the way before dropping me off at my dorm. I didn’t think it was a good idea for Lea to see Michael so soon, but I promised I wouldn’t bring it up in front of anyone (let alone Luke), so I didn’t say anything. I put my new clothes away and took a long shower to unwind.

Notes

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A SECOND UPDATE TODAY BECAUSE THIS ONE WAS BORING!