((Lukas Nielson continued from Hiding in the Smoke))
Lukas had managed to find a nice, quiet corner of the first floor today. He'd also managed to avoid any insults on his way to the library, which was a personal victory. In fact, it felt like avoiding people's attention was becoming easier more recently. Lukas would like to think that was a good thing. After all, that's what his plan was working towards. It certainly didn't come without its costs.
For one thing, it turned out that trying to be boring was really boring. In retrospect, Lukas really should have put two and two together, but he had never taken up this strategy for such a long period of time. Lunch seemed to extend itself for decades as he sat around in the library studying or pretending to study. There were only so many things he could study and it wasn't like the extended time alone was fueling his muse anymore.
Secondly, it was isolating. Like being in a self-imposed prison and watching everyone else run free on the outside. He'd be lying if there were times he wished that he wasn't going through with this strategy and just hung out with everyone again. Chilling at the lunch table with Gaelan and crew sounded like a much better way to spend an afternoon instead of just sitting in the library doing nothing.
Still, for the moment, it was better that Lukas stayed out of the mess that was George Hunter politics. People were still talking about the Gaelan vs Ivy confrontation as if there hadn't been hundreds already. Then again, the fact that coffee was thrown and the near physical altercation were certainly new developments. They were developments that Lukas hated, but it wasn't like he could do anything about them. Maybe if he was there he could've stopped them from being completely idiotic because it was totally not a good idea to throw coffee at someone. Even if it was lukewarm.
Lukas sighed in resignation.
He probably should've seen it coming. It wasn't like Gaelan and Nick were the most cool-headed. He knew that. That was part of the reason he was distancing himself from them, at least for the moment. If Lukas hung out with them, it would basically be putting himself in the front lines against the assholes. He was such an easy target, Lukas recognised that. Gaelan and Nick were physically stronger than him and Blaise gave off such a strong facade of not giving a shit. All that left was him and people were more than happy to jump at that opportunity. Go for the one who would just sit and take it.
He looked down at his open journal. He was supposed to be brainstorming ideas for a new story or something. Admittedly, Lukas forgot about the plan he made during Spanish. Then again, it wasn't like any new stories were manifesting any time soon. He turned to look outside the window with a forlorn look.
It looked like a nice day outside. Or at least, it wasn't raining. The sun peaked through the clouds and shone some rays into the hallowed library halls.
Lukas sighed to himself again.
Just a little bit longer.
Smokescreens and Fireworks
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jimmydalad
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((Gaelan Meloy continued from Animal Magnetism))
That lunchtime, Gaelan made up an excuse to his friends, broke from the cafeteria, and made his way up to the library to have a chat with Lukas.
It had been weeks since the incident with Ivy and, like always, things had barely changed. Classes were still piling on homework as it got closer to exam time, gossip was still flying from every corner, his anniversary with Ariana had come and gone with a great piece from his mother's store as his gift to her, and everything just seemed fine. Every month now spent at GHHS was a month towards never having to speak to certain people from this school again and that was how he liked it. One day, he could just cut out all the offending parties and make new offending parties once he moved on campus.
Gaelan talked with Blaise about what happened, but every time he tried talking with Lukas he'd get nothing. It was mostly via text, because Lukas was "busy". He'd been busy every day for weeks now, and Gaelan may not have been a super genius since God had poured him some extra pretty instead of extra brains, but he knew something was up. So when lunch began, he parted his greetings to Blaise and Nick before heading up to find his elusive friend.
He slowed his pace once he passed the library threshold, but kept his eye out. Lukas wasn't hard to find, being in a corner all by himself, engrossed in the window to the outside. Gaelan silently walked up to his friend before announcing his presence in a quietened voice, since he didn't have anything against the school librarian enough to break her rules.
"You've been hard to get ahold of, you know that?"
That lunchtime, Gaelan made up an excuse to his friends, broke from the cafeteria, and made his way up to the library to have a chat with Lukas.
It had been weeks since the incident with Ivy and, like always, things had barely changed. Classes were still piling on homework as it got closer to exam time, gossip was still flying from every corner, his anniversary with Ariana had come and gone with a great piece from his mother's store as his gift to her, and everything just seemed fine. Every month now spent at GHHS was a month towards never having to speak to certain people from this school again and that was how he liked it. One day, he could just cut out all the offending parties and make new offending parties once he moved on campus.
Gaelan talked with Blaise about what happened, but every time he tried talking with Lukas he'd get nothing. It was mostly via text, because Lukas was "busy". He'd been busy every day for weeks now, and Gaelan may not have been a super genius since God had poured him some extra pretty instead of extra brains, but he knew something was up. So when lunch began, he parted his greetings to Blaise and Nick before heading up to find his elusive friend.
He slowed his pace once he passed the library threshold, but kept his eye out. Lukas wasn't hard to find, being in a corner all by himself, engrossed in the window to the outside. Gaelan silently walked up to his friend before announcing his presence in a quietened voice, since he didn't have anything against the school librarian enough to break her rules.
"You've been hard to get ahold of, you know that?"
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jimmydalad
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Lukas unconsciously stiffened as he heard the hushed tones of a familiar voice. A chill shot through his body and at first, he didn't move with the vain hope that if he was perfectly still, he'd turn invisible.
Honestly, Lukas should've expected this was going to happen sooner or later. Gaelan was a good friend and was gonna chase him down eventually. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about this turn of events. His entire plan hinged on being uninteresting and generic. which Gaelan was anything but. Part of the reason he was doing this was to avoid the spotlight that beamed down at him whether he spent time with him and his group. He couldn't deny that he was touched by Gaelan's gesture. He also missed them, but he'd been doing well to quash that feeling up until now.
"Oh... uhhh... hey!" Lukas started, still looking outside the window. He had to look calm. No reason for him to look more suspicious than he already was. He took some breaths and composed himself. He allowed himself to adopt an easy smile as he turned to face Gaelan. He did his best to look relaxed, leaning into his chair and forcing his body to be loose even if he was slightly shitting himself inwardly. He had to play it off like he totally wasn't trying to ghost his entire friendship group.
"Y-yeah, you know how things are at the moment. With all that homework from class and stuff, it's been keeping me real busy. Need to totally brush up on my Spanish and stuff if I wanna pass."
Hopefully, Gaelan wasn't going to notice the fact that there wasn't a Spanish textbook in sight. Or any textbooks. Only his journal and his stationaries. He wasn't expecting to be ambushed by Gaelan. If he knew he was coming, Lukas would've put more effort into looking like he was pretending to study. He was pretty much caught with his pants down and now he was looking stupid. He kept up his smile, but it started to crack and mold as his nervousness started to unintentionally seep through.
"So, uhhhh, what brings you here? Just wanted to say hi? If so, uhhh, hi!"
Honestly, Lukas should've expected this was going to happen sooner or later. Gaelan was a good friend and was gonna chase him down eventually. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about this turn of events. His entire plan hinged on being uninteresting and generic. which Gaelan was anything but. Part of the reason he was doing this was to avoid the spotlight that beamed down at him whether he spent time with him and his group. He couldn't deny that he was touched by Gaelan's gesture. He also missed them, but he'd been doing well to quash that feeling up until now.
"Oh... uhhh... hey!" Lukas started, still looking outside the window. He had to look calm. No reason for him to look more suspicious than he already was. He took some breaths and composed himself. He allowed himself to adopt an easy smile as he turned to face Gaelan. He did his best to look relaxed, leaning into his chair and forcing his body to be loose even if he was slightly shitting himself inwardly. He had to play it off like he totally wasn't trying to ghost his entire friendship group.
"Y-yeah, you know how things are at the moment. With all that homework from class and stuff, it's been keeping me real busy. Need to totally brush up on my Spanish and stuff if I wanna pass."
Hopefully, Gaelan wasn't going to notice the fact that there wasn't a Spanish textbook in sight. Or any textbooks. Only his journal and his stationaries. He wasn't expecting to be ambushed by Gaelan. If he knew he was coming, Lukas would've put more effort into looking like he was pretending to study. He was pretty much caught with his pants down and now he was looking stupid. He kept up his smile, but it started to crack and mold as his nervousness started to unintentionally seep through.
"So, uhhhh, what brings you here? Just wanted to say hi? If so, uhhh, hi!"
There wasn't a textbook in sight, or any textbook. That was one of the first things Gaelan noticed when he looked at the various stuff surrounding Lukas.
So Lukas was lying to him.
Obviously, that wasn't automatically a bad thing. Friends sometimes had to lie to their friends, to protect them or to protect themselves, or even just for harmless reasons, Gaelan knew this. Lukas obviously had his reasons for being in the library, away from his friends, keeping his distance, not really talking to them or returning texts for a while, and it was fine. But Gaelan was Gaelan, a curious little bastard, and he kind of wanted to know what it was.
"...uh. Yeah, just wanted to say hi."
He put his hand up in an embarassing little wave.
"Hi."
The silence that followed was expectedly awkward, as Gaelan stood in one place and Lukas sat in his own, both looking at each other. Well, Gaelan was more looking at lack of textbooks and abundance of writing books in front of Lukas and trying to piece together why he was lying.
Suddenly, a dark thought entered Gaelan's mind, a thought that began to manifest from his own worst ideas. Shit, was this finally happening now? Had he done it? Had he really done what he thought he'd done his best not to do? In his suddenly heightened emotional state, he couldn't even stop himself from acting on it and just flat out asked it at Lukas.
"...did I do something wrong?"
So Lukas was lying to him.
Obviously, that wasn't automatically a bad thing. Friends sometimes had to lie to their friends, to protect them or to protect themselves, or even just for harmless reasons, Gaelan knew this. Lukas obviously had his reasons for being in the library, away from his friends, keeping his distance, not really talking to them or returning texts for a while, and it was fine. But Gaelan was Gaelan, a curious little bastard, and he kind of wanted to know what it was.
"...uh. Yeah, just wanted to say hi."
He put his hand up in an embarassing little wave.
"Hi."
The silence that followed was expectedly awkward, as Gaelan stood in one place and Lukas sat in his own, both looking at each other. Well, Gaelan was more looking at lack of textbooks and abundance of writing books in front of Lukas and trying to piece together why he was lying.
Suddenly, a dark thought entered Gaelan's mind, a thought that began to manifest from his own worst ideas. Shit, was this finally happening now? Had he done it? Had he really done what he thought he'd done his best not to do? In his suddenly heightened emotional state, he couldn't even stop himself from acting on it and just flat out asked it at Lukas.
"...did I do something wrong?"