《The Player Next Door》08 | Luke's Orbit
Advertisement
We rolled into Camp after midnight. Luke's Jeep drove over leaf covered trails, taking us back to our little cabin by the lake. I was tired.
It felt strange returning here after so much had happened today and yet nothing really changed. I was still the clumsy nerd no-one cared about. And he was still the boy everyone chased after.
"So, that's it?" I asked.
We were parked right outside our cabin. I looked at him, all bruised and broken up. He looked so damn hot. What's new?
"You want round two?"
"The VIP treatment would have us coming back in stretchers," I said.
He laughed, "I never expected you to be such a wild card."
His blue eyes had flecks of silver in them that pierced through me, vivid against the dimly lit car. My heart did uncontrollable jumping jacks and it was my cue to leave. The way he was looking at me...
"You got me beat up today but I guess a milkshake nets it out to a neutral day," I said, "Oh and the sunset by the beach adds a-"
"Just a thank you is enough Millie. You don't need to do any math."
"Right."
I bit my lip. I talk too much when I'm nervous. I bet all the other girls he hung out with were smooth talkers. Smooth and chill like him.
"I'll see you in the morning."
"You're not coming in?" I asked.
"I'm checking out a party first. You go ahead."
I nodded and got out of the car. I walked alone towards the front door and the car's flashlights reflected in the front window. As I opened the door, I heard the car pull out of the drive way.
I couldn't believe it - today I actually hung out with Luke Dawson and Austin Taylor. Me. A day like today never happens to me.
Advertisement
While we were gone today, Luke had gotten someone to watch over our campers. As soon as I walked into the house, the girl barely acknowledged me except to shove a note in my face. It was addressed to Luke with a heart next to his name. I left it on the kitchen counter for him. She left.
I walked into my room and sat on the edge of the bed. I checked my phone for the first time today. 0 messages.
I texted my mum: Hi mum, I'm in camp and everything's good. How are you?
I texted Julia: How's it going, Julia? I have a crazy story to tell you about camp. Hope all's rosy.
And then I sat there. There was nobody else to message. No one messaged me back. I have a sister, but we don't have much of a relationship. I think the last time she texted me was three years ago... by accident.
It's tough when you try to be friendly, but no one reciprocates. I spend all year alone and all summer at this camp where everyone rejects me. Sometimes I feel like I missed out on the day that everyone chose their friends. Why are some people so closed off to being friendly? Does it hurt to be nice?
I looked back at the last message my ex-boyfriend sent me. He was the one person who made me believe that I wasn't a weird freak. Maybe I could be normal. Maybe someone could love me.
Until he broke my heart.
I made the right decision Millie. Kelly is a lot of things you never were. I couldn't help it. I know I cheated on you, but I left you a lot of clues to figure it out. You're so blind sometimes.
He made it seem like it was my fault. That was his text. The last one he ever sent me. Time stamp was 1 month ago and I never replied.
Advertisement
He cheated on me and I was the last to find out. He called me stupid for not figuring it out earlier.
But I'm not stupid. I'm trusting. I love with all my heart and I believed in him. I didn't want to doubt him.
I learned my lesson. Who could ever love me?
I changed into fluffy pajamas and crept into bed. I stared up at the ceiling, wishing something could take the pain of heartbreak away. I turned the lights off.
A few hours later, I was fast asleep when a certain Jeep wrangler pulled up to the cabin.
"No! I don't want to move! They made me do sport yesterday!"
I stared into the angry face of an 8-year-old. He was gripping onto the wooden side of his bunk-bed with all his might. This was too theatrical for 8.15 AM.
"Come on, Dupree. I'll let you take your iPad to breakfast if you get up," I bargained.
His scowl softened, "Can I keep my iPad with me all day?"
"OK." You're going to be some other counselor's problem during the day, so knock yourself out, kid.
A small hand tugged on my trousers. I looked down and found Alicia holding up a hairbrush for me. I knelt towards her and helped plait her hair into braids.
"Bus is here!" Malik pointed out the window, jumping up and down on his bed. He was the very energetic one.
The kids screamed and started to run outside, yelling out breakfast foods. Dupree trotted out last, proudly clutching his iPad.
If only someone would care about me like Dupree cares about his iPad... JK. But not really.
They were gone. I could finally breathe.
It was Day 3. The final day in the ultimatum Luke had given Mr Woodhouse. I remember it clearly. His deep voice as he demanded to change rooms, "I'll give you three days to fix this. Otherwise I'm out."
So, this was it. When I come back to the cabin later tonight, I would find another co-counselor in his place.
The end of my 72 hours experiencing the world in Luke's orbit.
It had been crazy living with Luke Dawson. Every day was a surprise; from the model eating my fruit loops in the morning to the gang of gamblers fighting with us outside the Surfside Shack. From the way he didn't respect my privacy while I was in the shower to how he knew exactly which of my buttons to press.
He was spontaneous, risky, dangerous. And .
Without him, my life had none of those things.
Thank god. I guess drama is overrated.
But Luke Dawson is not.
Advertisement
- In Serial425 Chapters
Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1140 - In Serial479 Chapters
Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 651 - End489 Chapters
Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1750 - End413 Chapters
Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 277 - End448 Chapters
The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1462 - End401 Chapters
Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
8 377

