FAZER LOGINDRE'S P.O.V
Nate's lips finally leave mine, and I'm blushing so hard. "You know it doesn't have to end here, we can go in, finish what we started," he says with a wink. I unbuckle my seat belt. Nate has taken me home, and, as always, he tries to convince me to let him stay over. Like I do all the time, I decline. "I can't have boys over, my mum won't allow it," I remind him. "She has a night shift. You're the only one home, Dre." "I'm sorry," I say. "Can I have my phone now?" "Sure." Earlier, I had given Nate my phone so I could study without any distractions from it. "Luke called?" I ask, going through my phone. "Yeah, so?" Nate replies with a bit of an attitude. I stare uneasily at the seven missed calls from him. "Why didn't you tell me? It seems really urgent," I say. "You were studying, no distractions, remember?" There isn't a single text from Luke either, just calls. I look around, and it's getting late already. "I'll see you tomorrow," I say to Nate. We get out of his car, and he walks me to my front door. Nate looks up at the building. "That's your room, right?" he asks. I nod. "I thought you said no one else is home, the lights are on", he says. "I forgot to turn them off," I say quickly. "I'll text you." I unlock the door, smiling at Nate as I wave him off. I wait for him to drive away I hurry to my room. No boys were allowed, well, except Luke. I watch him lying on my bed. I clear my throat, and he jolts awake. "Hi," I start to say. Luke sits up, and the first thing I notice is the sunglasses he has on. "I called you," he says. "I was studying, my phone was with Nate," I reply. "You were studying till eight?" "Nate and I went to eat after," I explain. "Why would Nate be with your phone?" Luke asks. "You know I get distracted when I study," I reply. Luke wants to say something, but he stops himself. It's then I realise how rough he looks, like he had just gotten into a fight with someone. His shoulders flex, and he just sits uneasily. But it's hard to read his face with the damn glasses he has on. "Are you okay?" I ask, coming closer to him. "Are you?" Luke asks back. "I am, why wouldn't I be?" I ask. "You didn't see the... nothing weird was sent to you?" "No," I reply. "Why are you wearing sunglasses?" Luke gets up instead. "I have to go. I wanted to see if you were okay." "I am okay," I say. "I didn't fight Maddie. Do you think I did?" Is he still worried about what happened earlier? The fight I almost had with Maddie. "No, I just thought..." his voice trails off. "You'll tell me if something happened, right?" "What is it? You're scaring me," I say. I look closely and notice a side of his face, like it's almost swollen. "What happened to your face? It looks swollen," I say, stepping forward. "It's nothing," he says. Luke heads to the door and quickly, I step in front of him "Take off the glasses," I say. I try to reach for them, but I can't because he's much taller. I try again, but Luke quickly catches my hand. "Stop," he says. He's definitely hiding something. Luke attempts to leave again, and I try again. This time, I'm able to knock his glasses off his face. His glasses fall, revealing what he was trying so hard to hide. LUKE'S P.O.V Dre's jaw drops to the ground, and I'm pissed she took my glasses off. "What...what happened to you?" She asks, struggling with words. This isn't why I'm here; whatever happened to me is currently irrelevant. "Your eye is black," she points out, worry obvious in her tone. "You shouldn't have taken them off," I say. I turn to leave, but Dre doesn't let me. She reaches for my hand, holding it. I flinch, overly sensitive to her touch. "Luke, what happened to you?" she asks. "Did your Dad?" My jaw clenches, and I wish she'd stop talking and let me go. But she doesn't, her soft hands intertwine with mine as she leads me to her bed. She sits in front of me, staring at my face. "I don't want to talk about this," I tell her, before she starts to say anything. I don't want to talk about my black eye, how I got it or why I look a mess. "You don't have to," she says softly. It's fucking embarrassing as it is. I didn't want Dre feeling sorry for me, even though by the looks of it, she already is. I watch her leave for her bathroom. She returns with a first aid kit. "Can I ?" She asks, tapping lightly on the box. I shrug. This has happened one too many times. I'll get hurt, and Dre will play doctor. Dre sits up, and my head rests on her lap. She stares down into my face, her eyes hold mine. Her fingers brush against the bruise, and I try my best not to flinch at the pain or her touch. Dre gets to work, dabbing all sorts of medicine around my face to try reduce the swelling. I close my eyes when she tells me to. "What did he say to you this time?" Dre asks about my abusive father. I shrug, "Nothing new." "I'm sorry I didn't get your calls," she starts to apologise, and before I know it, she's already crying. I sit up immediately, taking the first aid material from her hands. "I'm so sorry," she sobs. "Dre, I promise I'm okay," I say. "You called so many times, and I didn't answer once. If I hadn't done this, it wouldn't have happened." "Dre, you don't understand. This isn't why I called you. I swear it isn't," I say, wiping her face with my palm. "Then why did you call?" She asks tearfully. Instantly, I remember what I had watched earlier today. Not all of it, just the first five seconds, because I couldn't dare to watch my best friend's sex tape. "Why?" she asks again. Do I tell her that there's a video going around of her being fucked from behind by some dude? A video which, by the looks of it, she hasn't seen. I have to tell her, I can't hide something like this from her. "Dre...someone sent me your—"LUKE’S P.O.VDre and I have devoured the soup noodles. She ate a lot, just as I predicted.It’s late, and she’s lying beside me, talking to her Mum on the phone.“I don’t think I’ll go to school tomorrow,” she says.Her mum agrees, telling her to rest well and only go back when she feels better.“Is Luke there?” Her mum asks.Dre looks to me before replying. “Yeah, but he’s asleep.”My brow raises, wondering why she lied. But on a second thought, I’m not in the mood to speak to Halle.From what I’m hearing, it seems she’s going to be away for the whole week.Dre ends the call after wishing her Mum good night.“She was going to ask you about the memorial. I didn’t think you’d want to talk about that,” she says, yawning.“I didn’t,” I agree.“Okay...will you stay with me tomorrow?” She asks softly.“I will,” I reply.My phone rings, and I can’t hide the slight irritation on my face when I see the caller ID.“Who is it?” Dre asks.It’s Ruth.“Uh...Ian,” I lied, and I hate that I lied to
LUKE’S P.O.VIt’s day two.Tomorrow is the last day for me to willingly meet with my Dad, lest I be forced to see him.It has also been days since I last saw Dre.I texted her yesterday, but she didn’t respond, which is unusual.I did weird her out and make things uncomfortable for us.But I’m ready to put it all aside if it means things will go back to how they were before.I’m at her front door, waiting for her to answer my call.And after a second time, she does.“Hey,” I greet nervously, “Can you open the door?”“Okay.”She sounds tired, and even looks tired when I see her.I follow her upstairs to her room.Her room is a mess, not extremely messy, just untidy.Clothes on the floor, empty snack wrappers on her bed.Her study corner, which she always keeps organised, isn’t.Something’s wrong with her.𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟?“Dre, are you okay?” I ask, trying not to sound as anxious as I am.“I’m just sick,” she says.She’s just sick, that’s all.I mo
DRE’S P.O.VWarm hands wake me up from sleep. My eyes open as I take in my environment.“Sleep well?” Nate murmurs beside me.That’s right, I spent the night with him.I smile watching him lean in to kiss my nose, then my lips.“Yeah, I did,” I say.“Did you have fun last night?” He whispers as his hands run over my thighs.“Mmhmm,” I nod.“Do you want to go again?”His hands move up further to the inside of my thighs.“I don’t think I can,” I whisper.His lips press against mine, and his fingers hover over my entrance, sliding over my clit.I try to pull away, but Nate doesn’t let me, his mouth not wanting to leave mine.“Nate, please,” I whisper against him.Nate stops, sighing. “But I need you, babe.”“I just don’t feel like it,” I say.“C’mon, Andrea...feel how hard I am,” he says, “Feel how hard you’re making me.”“Maybe later,” I say, wriggling out of his grip.I climb out of bed, heading to the bathroom.It’s a Saturday, no school and in the next couple of hours, mum will be ba
LUKE’S P.O.V“Do you want something to drink?” Ruth asks, appearing by the door.“I’m good.”It was a slow day, slow because I spent most of it alone.Every activity went like a haze, like I wasn’t physically present for them: classes, practice, lunch.And this all happened because I decided to confess an ounce of my feelings to Dre.One minute I confessed, the next one I found myself sort of taking it back.What I said in the car...I didn’t mean it like that.Of course, I meant it like that.I want a girl like her, I want her.Telling Dre that is the nearest I’ve gotten to a confession, but like the coward I am, I took it back.It wasn’t an actual confession, but it certainly was the biggest hint I could give her.Dre got the hint, and what did she do? She turned it down immediately, made me promise her that things between us would always be the same.I knew exactly what she meant; she didn’t have to say it directly.She wants nothing more than friendship from me. She broke my heart
DRE'S P.O.V"Andrea!" my mum screams from the house.Luke looks away and we get out of his truck.Mum's already dressed for work, she leaves in about ten minutes."Hi mum," I greet, looking around for anything I can help her with."Hi, Baby," she replies.She goes to meet Luke, who's standing oddly by the corner."Luke, how are you holding up?" She asks, smiling softly at him."Fine," he says."Andrea says your father's in town. Have you taken time to see him?" Mum asks him.Luke and I exchange panicked looks.I speak up quickly."Yeah," I cut in, "He said he'll go soon," I reply.Mum nods, satisfied."Well, there's still time for me to talk with you both before I leave for work," Mum says.She gestures at the table, and to my surprise, our food has already been served.Mum doesn't sit with us, she had dinner already. She moves up and down the living room, straightening things that are out of place while we eat. "Do you like the turkey?" She asks.Luke nods, and I answer."It's real
LUKE'S P.O.V"Why would you want me to talk to him?" Dre asks with a quizzical expression on her face.The final class comes to an end. Our previous discussion was cut short."You can do what you want," I say. "As I said before, I don't want to influence your decision.""But why, though? There has to be a reason."There is a reason, what if TJ is the sender? Talking to him might be the only way to know if it's him.We walk out of the school building, heading to the students' parking lot."Is Nathaniel taking you home?" I ask as soon as I see him at the other end of the parking lot.He is still with Vincent and the same guys from lunch."I don't know," she replies."I can take you home," I offer quickly.Dre steals a glance at Nathaniel."Okay," she agrees.But unfortunately, Nathaniel's already coming our way.He calls Dre, and it hurts seeing her eyes light up when he calls."I'll wait if you want," I say.She nods eagerly, then turns to meet him.My RAM truck is parked close by. I u







