"Your home?" is the first thing I hear as soon as I close the door to my house. It was my dad, his voice echoed from what I think is the kitchen.
"Yeah," I say and bend down to pet Benji. With all this Aaron related drama I haven't been paying much attention to my dog.
"What I'd do to be you," I tell him as I pet him some more.
"How was your day?" he questions.
"Miserable," I admit.
"Lux," I hear dad call and I stand up.
"Yeah?"
"Come here."
"What's up?" I say and walk over to the kitchen. My mouth opens as I find Aaron Reeves and his friends sitting at the dining table. I lock eyes with Aaron and he smiles at me widely.
"Your friends are here."
I glance over to my dad who is standing beside the island. He's preparing some grilled cheese sandwiches. He looks up at me, a smile on his face and I force myself to smile back so he doesn't realize that something is wrong.
"Oh," is all I respond.
"Grilled cheese?" he questions.
"Uh no, thanks."
"Well sit," he says as he walks over to the table and places the sandwiches in the middle.
"Thank you so much sir, I love these," says Omar as he takes two sandwiches from the plate.
"Thank you," says Bianca and she grabs one as well along with SoHo.
"Aren't you going to sit?" asks Aaron.
I stare at him in surprise until I realize that my dad isn't looking and I narrow my eyes.
"Actually," I say, "Aaron can we talk?"
Aaron gives me a half smile as he lets out a small laugh.
"Sure," he responds and walks over to me.
I grab his arm and pull him with me as I lead us upstairs so that no one can hear us, knowing very well that if I would have stayed downstairs my dad would have made it his mission to hear us.
I open the door to my room and turn on the light before throwing Aaron's arm away from me.
"Ow," he says, "geez." He moves his arm a bit, massaging it while at it.
"What the hell?" I demand.
Aaron lets out a groan whilst rolling his eyes. He begins to walk around my room before settling on my bed.
"Your rooms not that different from what I imagined it to look like," he comments.
I let out a scoff and walk over to him before punching him on the arm.
"Ow," he yelps and scoots away from me.
"Why are you and your friends here? Isn't school enough torture?"
"Chill," he replies cooling, "I didn't plan this either."
"Then?"
"Your dad saw us at the store and I wasn't going to be an asshole and pretend like I don't know him so I went over and talked to him. When I introduced my friends to him he just assumed they were your friends too and then he invited us over to eat some grilled cheese."
"And you couldn't have said no?"
"I mean yeah I could have, but who in their right mind denies some grilled cheese sandwiches?"
"Leave."
"Oh come on Lux."
"Take your friends and go."
"Fine," Aaron says and stands up. He walks over to me, getting as close as possible.
"Just so you know," he whispers, "if I were you I'd prepare myself for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
Aaron laughs a little and gives me a mischievous look.
"Be prepared, it's gonna be epic."
The next day I get to school on time, thankfully.
I walk inside my precal class and walk to my seat as I wait for Maru to arrive. I go through my bag and take out my notebook and pencil.
Suddenly a random guy walks over to me, a box in his hand.
I look up at him, confused.
"Can I help you?" I question.
"Are you Lux Callaghan?" the freckled boy asks.
"Uh, yeah," I respond awkwardly.
"This is for you," the boy says and sets down the box, "Enjoy!"
He walks off before I have a chance to ask anything even though something tells me I already know whom this is from.
"Hey," Maru greets as she walks over to the seat beside me. She sets her bad on the table and then looks at the box.
"What's that?" she asks.
I give her a look and decide to open it and find donuts. Donuts shaped like letters to be exact that spelled out: Lux + Aaron. There were two heart shaped donuts inside too.
"Damn," she says, "he's really not giving up."
I stare at the donuts, annoyed from what it says and who it's from.
"Cheer up," Maru says, "at least it's something edible this time."
"Yeah," I say, "you're right. And I mean, who doesn't like donuts?"
"Exactly," Maru agrees.
I grab the L and U donuts and pass one to Maru.
"Thanks," she says.
I nod my head and take a bite of the donut.
"Wow these donuts are pretty epic," I say remembering Aaron's words from last night.
"Yeah they're so good."
I smile at Maru and we finish the donuts in our hands before the bell rings.
By lunch time the donuts are almost finished. I made sure to save one for Nat and when I get to the table that she is sitting at in the cafeteria I hand her the box.
"What this?" she asks.
"Aaron's gift for today."
"There's more gifts?" she asks wide-eyed.
I nod and urge her to open the box.
She does and a smile comes to her face when she sees the donut.
"Mine?" she questions.
"Why of course," I respond and she laughs.
"Thanks," she says.
"Let's go get food?"
She nods and we stand up to get in line. Once we get our food we sit down and begin eating. A couple minutes pass before Maru, Sage and Ethan arrive to the table.
"So what grade did you guys get for the precal test from last week?" asks Nat.
"I got an eighty-five, and you?"
"I got an eighty," she responds. We look at each other for a split second before turning our attention to Maru who sips her drink.
"Oh come on," I say.
"We know you want to tell us," Nat adds.
"Just tell us what you got."
Maru rolls her eyes playfully and sets down her drink as a small smile tugs at her lips.
"Why do you guys ask if you already know," she teases, "I got a hundred."
I let out a sigh.
"Of course you did," Nat says.
"What? I'm just really good at math!"
"And every other subject too," I add and we a laugh.
Maru was always really good at school; since we were young she'd always get good grades. In all honestly she was never really interested with school, she was just naturally good at it.
"What about the test from-"
"Lux Callaghan," I hear someone yell.
My stomach drops as I recognize Aaron's voice. I close my eyes and hide my face with my hands in hopes that he doesn't see me.
"Lux Callaghan," he yells again.
Sage elbows me and I give him a look.
He points at Aaron and I groan as I slowly face up to look at him.
He's standing in the middle of the cafeteria. Everyone's attention on him. He points at me with a smile and says, "This is for you. Mason get up here."
Mason Barber walks up with a ukulele in hand along with another guy beside him holding what looks like a triangle. He is the type of guy that is in love with music and sings all the time with his friends. Anytime you'd run in to him there is a likely chance that he's singing or has some music playing from his speaker.
"Oh god, please no," I mutter under my breath.
The two begin whistling as the guy starts playing his triangle for a couple of seconds before they stop and Mason begins playing on his ukulele.
I look at them in horror until I notice the smirk on Aaron's face. I have no idea what is about to happen, but the one thing that I am sure of is that I am about to die from embarrassment and uncontrollable cringing.
Aaron raises his eyebrow at me and points to his right where another guy pops out from the crowds and begins playing on his violin before Mason finally begins to sing and after a while all the boys including Aaron sing along.
"Someone please kill me," I mutter.
Oh well in five years' time we could be walking round a zoo
With the sun shining down over me and you
At this point Aaron points at me and I shrink down as I watch them continue.
And there'll be love in the bodies of the elephants too
And I'll put my hands over your eyes, but you'll peep through
Aaron points to the cafeteria entrance as someone with a sun outfit comes out dancing.
And there'll be sun sun sun all over our bodies
And sun sun sun all down our necks
And sun sun sun all over our faces
And sun sun sun -so what the heck!
I've never felt embarrassment as I do watching them serenade at this moment.
Cos I'll be laughing at all your silly little jokes
And we'll be laughing about how we used to smoke
All those stupid little cigarettes and drink stupid wine
Cos it's what we needed to have a good time
I look around to see the expressions from the people around us and to my surprise mostly everyone is smiling in awe and laughing.
And it was fun fun fun when we were drinking
It was fun fun fun when we were drunk
And it was fun fun fun when we were laughing
It was fun fun fun, oh it was fun
"Oh god why is Aaron doing this to me," I voice out loud. I cringe in my seat as I watch them continue until finally they stop singing but the music doesn't stop and suddenly people from all over the cafeteria come with their instruments and add into the music. They dance along too and I can't help but let out a nervous laugh from how ridiculous this all is. And then they're back to singing and I pray for the end to come soon.
And it'll be love, love, love all through our bodies
And love, love, love all through our minds
And it'll be love, love, love all over her face
And love, love, love all over mine
As if things couldn't have possibly gotten worse Aaron suddenly starts walking to the table I'm sitting at. I look at Nat and Maru along with Ethan and Sage and they all have the same surprised face as I do. It's like Aaron is doing this solely to embarrass me and one look at his face as he draws nearer I have no doubt that that is exactly what he wants. When he's close enough he sits on the table and sings to me with the rest of the guys behind him singing and playing their instruments.
And though admittedly all these moments are just in my head
I'll be thinking bout them as I'm lying in bed
And I know that admittedly it might not even come true
But in my mind I'm havin' a pretty good time with you
Aaron stands up and instead sits between Nat and me, his body awfully close to mine and he bends down a little so that we're both looking at each other closely. He moves his hand up and brings it onto my face and caresses my cheek. I try my best to pull away but he pulls me to him and holds me tight.
Oh, in five years time I might not know you
In five years time we might not speak
Oh, in five years time we might not get along
I attempt to smack his hand away from my face but I miss and instead he holds my chin and moves my face slightly up so that our eyes lock and he sings.
In five years time you might just prove me wrong
I scoff at the last words he sings and push him away. He finally stands up and goes back to the middle of the cafeteria with the rest of the guys and finally they finish the song. People around me begin clapping and cheering and I cannot believe it. That was quite possibly the cringiest thing I've ever experience and people actually enjoyed this. Are they insane?
"I dedicate this song to you Lux Callaghan," Aaron yells once the cheering has subsided. The bell rings and people begin to walk out of the cafeteria, but my eyes stay on Aaron. He gives me that stupid smug look of his and then he winks at me. My mouth almost falls from the craziness around me.
Aaron turns around and walks over to Mason before and says something to him before I can't see him anymore from the amount of people walking out of the cafeteria to get to class.
"Are you okay?" asks Ethan.
It's been at least a minute or two from all that's happened and somehow I still can't seem to register it all.
"Lux?" I hear Nat say.
"He wants to kill me," I finally speak.
"What?" says Maru.
I look up at them and say, "Aaron Reeves wants to kill me."
"Oh come on," says Sage, "It was not that bad."
"It was horrible," I exclaim.
"It was hilarious," Maru says.
"Is that why everyone else somehow enjoyed this? Because they thought it was funny."
"Pretty much," answers Sage.
"It was like cringey but at the same time really funny so it actually wasn't as bad you think," explains Nat.
They all get up, getting their things while at it.
"I was almost sure I was gonna die right now," I mumble.
"Okay Lux," Sage says, "let's get you to class."
"But-"
"Come on."
I stand up, my stomach uneasy and together we walk to class.
By the end of the day I feel better. Although people are still talking about the events from the cafeteria, I decide to tune them out and pretend like it never happened. The last bell of the day rings and I walk out of my class once I've got my things gathered. In almost a swift motion someone grabs my wrist and pulls me to them.
"Ow," I groan and pull away. I look up and find Aaron staring down at me. Once I see that smirk of his I throw my fist at him, hitting his eye.
He falls back a bit and lets out a yelp as his hands go up to his eye.
"Jesus fuck Lux," he mutters between his teeth.
"That's for doing whatever the fuck that was in the cafeteria," I tell him.
"It was a fucking serenade, it was supposed to be romantic dumbass."
"It was the worst fucking thing I saw in my life asshole," I retort.
"I'm starting to think that the one that isn't romantic is actually you and not me," he says and finally puts his hand away from his face. The skin around his eye that I punched was red.
"Whatever," I say and turn around but he pulls me back.
"You're not even gonna apologize for punching me?"
"No," I say and shake his hand off my shoulder.
"I warned you it was gonna be epic, I don't know why you're acting all surprised," he mutters.
"I thought the epic thing was the donuts!"
"How are donuts epic?"
"Ugh whatever, I'm leaving," I say and begin walking away.
"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow," I hear him say.
I stop walking and turn around to look at him again.
"Please stop," I beg.
"No, we had a deal."
"I thought I was gonna die when I heard you singing," I admit.
"Fine, then I won't sing anymore. But I'm not gonna stop."
"Bye dumbass," he says and walks around me.
"Why are you calling me a dumbass," I call out but he continues to walk, "fuck you asshole!"
"Ms. Callaghan," I hear someone say. I turn around and find Mr. Chavez.
"Mr. Chavez," I reply and purse my lips.
"Detention," he replies.
"But-"
"Go."
"But it was because of Aaron Reeves-"
"I said go."
I groan and grit my teeth together before walking toward the classroom where detention is held.
"Fucking Aaron Reeves, this is all his fault," I mumble under my breath.
(whoops almost published this chapter wrong)
This is the third time I'm updating this week and I am so happy. As promised it's Friday so here's another chapter!
Okay so in case you didn't get the gist of the last part of the chapter bc I know I probably sucked at writing it, plus it's 2am so I'm pretty tired. But yeah Aaron decided to serenade to Lux and he got the help from a few people at his school. Lol. Anyways the song is up above if you want to hear it.
Also I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter!