My lips were numb when Luke stopped kissing me. His kiss sent sensations coursing through me that I never knew existed. His lips made mine tingle until he stopped.

When he stepped back, I felt a rush of air fill the space that used to be his body.

You see me. His voice was in my head, repeating the words he'd spoken moments before our kiss.

I opened my eyes and looked into his. He smiled softly at me.

I was breathless.

Did he regret it? Luke was an unbelievably handsome boy and I... I couldn't believe what he had done. He kissed me.

Luke raised a hand and ran it through his messy hair. This entire time, his blue eyes were fixed on me.

If the ocean was fire, he could burn me with his gaze.

His kissable lips exhaled and he said: "Now you know."

I wasn't sure. My heartbeat was still recovering from a marathon. "What?"

"I like you."

We didn't say much while Luke grabbed his gym bag and slung the strap over his right shoulder. He held the door open for me as I walked out of the basketball court.

I think we were both processing what happened and what it meant. I technically had a date with Jake and yet here I was...

Of all people, with Luke. Luke Dawson. The infamous player and heart-breaker. What was I doing?!

The sound of people talking in the distance made me freeze. I recognized the noise emitting from the math classroom. The one where the Mathletes trained every Wednesday night.

This was so not the time. I did not need to be bumping into my cheating ex-boyfriend right now.

I grabbed Luke.

He glanced down at my hand on his arm. And then he smirked.

"Luke," I whispered, shaking those thoughts out of my mind, "We need to hide."

He looked at me strangely, "And why is that?"

Luke has probably never hidden from anything in his life.

The door to the Mathlete class opened and the team stepped out. I quickly dragged a confused and reluctant Luke behind a set of lockers. He was about to say something when I put a finger gently to his lips.

I was surprised it worked. He actually stayed silent.

For a second.

"Are you actually trying to hide me from nerds?" he asked in disbelief, "Is that what's happening right now?"

He stood in front of me like it was the most absurd thing he's ever heard. I noticed a door nearby and pushed it open. I tried to pull him through, but this time, he didn't budge.

"Come on! Let's go!" I begged.

He didn't listen. He looked at the team that was crossing the hallway, cracking bad math jokes along the way. One of his hands gripped the strap of his gym bag and the other gripped me.

"They're nerds," he said and pointed, "One kid is wearing suspenders."

"They're not-" I defended them and then I realized who he was talking about, "Oh, that's Joe. His trousers keep falling down without them."

"Millie. I don't know if you know how this works, but I don't run away from guys like that," he explained, "They run away from me."

I rolled my eyes... until I heard their voices get louder and panicked. "Luke, please. Remember when I told you about my ex-boyfriend. He's in that group."

I pulled Luke's hand again. This time he smiled down at my hand and kissed it.

Where is his sense of urgency?!

"Which one?" he asked, not letting the nerd squad go, "Suspender boy?"

"Luke!"

I think he saw the desperation in my eyes. I was terrified he was about to confront them. He sighed, and reluctantly let me lead him out the back door.

Thank you.

The air was cool that night. The sun had long since faded and the half moon shone brightly. We were in the backyard of the school, where students had lunch on the bleachers overlooking the track.

"I'm turning soft," Luke muttered to himself.

"Thank you," I said, "I wasn't ready to face him."

"Those used to be your friends?" he asked me, ignoring the ex-boyfriend part, "Including suspender boy?"

"Suspenders are a good look you know. Joe's brave enough to rock it."

"That's not how I'd describe him," he laughed.

"He's got his own style. Guys like you try to make everyone else conform."

Luke let the insult roll over his shoulders, "That's all good, Mills. But if the guy doesn't want to get bullied, he'd change his look."

"You shouldn't bully Joe-"

"I'm not bullying him," Luke raised his hands in innocence, "But there are guys in his year ready to turn his suspenders into a springboard."

We had such different perspectives. Coming from opposite ends of the social spectrum, that was reflected in our opinions.

"He kept his originality and that's something to be proud of. And how would you even... never mind," I shook my head.

"Come on, let's not wait around for the nerd squad to leave," Luke said, "We can jump the fence."

I stared at the giant, wire fence in shock. I could never climb that.

"No," I shook my head, "that's not a good idea."

"I ran when you wanted me to," Luke reminded me, "So now it's your turn. Do you trust me?"

I hate that question. There's always a catch after that question.

He smiled at me. A genuine, caring, soft smile. And he leaned down to kiss me.

"I trust you."

Luke caught me on the other side of the fence. I felt the thrill of the drop and then the safety of his strong body shielding mine. I reached out and ran my hand through his tousled hair.

I've always wanted to do that.

Our romantic moment didn't last long. We walked to his car and I got into the driver seat.

"You are not driving my car," Luke protested, holding the keys to his car hostage.

Mine was parked near a tree, where I knew some of the other Mathletes parked. I didn't want to risk seeing them. So I got comfortable in his seat and gripped the steering wheel.

"The raccoon, Luke, the raccoon."

Never forget the raccoon.

"Why does this story keep coming up? You dodged a raccoon once, big deal."

"I would've had a death on my conscience."

"Millie?"

I froze. "That's him," I squeaked.

My ex-boyfriend.

Luke started to turn around but I slammed on the gas and drove us out of there.

I got to my room after midnight. I hadn't turned into a pumpkin... but I guess that's not how the story goes.

Tonight did not pan out the way I had planned. A kiss from Luke wasn't exactly on my to-do list. Now I guess he was.

Feelings are complicated, Luke is complicated and what complicates things even more... is Jake.

Obviously, I had to tell Jake what happened. Jake and I are friends (except for the time he kissed me) and we agreed to go on a date. Jake promised no pressure; we were just going to see how we clicked.

And I had been excited about it. Before tonight, I had been OK with it. Jake was nice and he never cared what anyone else thought. I just never imagined Luke would be... Luke.

I sighed and lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. These last few days have been total madness.

I'm not ready for any of this. I had accepted a date with Jake in the hopes of maybe beginning to get over Luke. After all our flirting, my relationship with Luke hadn't gone anywhere - if anything it took deep dives, like a roller coaster of emotions.

How was I to know that last night would result in our first kiss? Now I can't go on a date with Jake, but I also have to get brave and tell him face-to-face.

My phone buzzed. I reached for it, surprised to see Cearra's name as the sender:

When's the big date? It's Cearra btw. Julia gave me your number.

It was 1AM... so technically our date was today. I texted back:

Today.

Then I made a promise to myself. I had to tell Jake what happened... but when could I do that? Our date was today.

Luke was unpredictable, emotional and made me feel like I was on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. But I couldn't help it if that's what I wanted.

Cearra texted me: Is that why you're not asleep yet? Don't be nervous, you got this. And remember to dress up.

I woke up that morning with a smile on my face. Reliving last night over and over in my mind, made me blush at the thought of Luke.

I walked downstairs to eat some cereal, when I saw a trail of tissues leading the way through the living room. Flora was sitting on the edge of the couch, wrapped in a blanket, sobbing.

Her body heaved as she cried. She sneezed into another tissue and cast it aside, reaching for the remote.

"Flora, what's wrong?" I asked the creature-my-sister-turned-into.

"Matt broke up with me!" she screamed.

She sounded like a gremlin.

"I thought you weren't that into him," I said.

Mother emerged from the kitchen with a wet towel and a glass of prosecco, "Millie, your sister is devastated. You should stay with her today."

"But I have school-"

"Call in sick," mum answered, pressing the wet towel against Flora's forehead as if she were actually sick.

Flora reached for the glass of prosecco in mum's hand, but mum pulled it away, "This one's for me."

"OK mum," I tried to be reasonable, "I know Flora's upset, but I can't miss school. I have to hand in math homework and do a quiz in geography-"

And talk to Jake.

"You think your work comes before your sister's happiness? Your selfishness knows no bounds, Millie Ripley."

"Of course Flora's happiness comes first," I pleaded with her, "But aren't we stronger than this? She shouldn't be destroyed when a boy dumps her. Flora's a strong girl and they were only dating for a couple weeks-"

"A couple weeks!" Flora sobbed louder.

"Look what you did," mum yelled at me, "You set her off again! You don't know anything about relationships! When your father left, I was crippled. I was depressed, I went to a psychiatrist-"

"Mum!" Flora threw the wet towel on the floor, "This isn't about you!"

"OK! OK, I'll stay," I said, trying to make peace between the two of them. I saw how shaken my mum was at reliving the memory of my dad walking out on us.

I picked up the towel and took it back to the kitchen. I poured a cold glass of water for Flora and took it back to her.

I sat next to Flora as we watched Before Midnight and To All the Boys. I ordered her favorite ham pizza from Dominoes and picked up all her messy tissues.

Cearra was texting me pictures of different hairstyles I could try for my date with Jake.

At 3PM Jake texted me:

Hey you're not in class. All good?

Yeah, I had a family thing today so I didn't come to school – Millie

We missed you. At least I did. I'll pick you up at 7? – Jake

I glanced up at Flora who was hurling chocolates at the TV screen. Some rom-com was on... and this particular scene had more rom in it than com.

Actually can we meet at yours? – Millie

I needed to tell him in private. Somewhere that didn't come with a wild sister.

Watching me go on a date with Jake would probably send Flora over the edge.

I ran over to her and took the chocolates away. Throwing chocolates - it's blasphemy! I got some asparagus sticks from the fridge.

"Here, you can throw these."

She stared at them and dismissed me. I put the food back in the fridge, happy my plan had worked. Wasting food is not my tea.

I prefer to pick you up but if you don't want to, that's cool. – Jake

It's easier if we meet at yours. We should chat first – Millie

And then I remembered who he lived with. Luke. I hadn't thought that through.