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"uke. Luke. Luke. Luke. Luke," someone keeps nudging me.

For God's sake, can't a guy get a proper sleep around here?

"What!" I snap, shooting up.

"You have school, idiot," Luna answers, crossing her arms.

"I have an alarm for that, now get out," I drop my head back on the pillow.

"Your alarm went off. Four times," she replies.

I sigh, "Just get the hell out of my room, Luna."

"Good morning to you, too," she mumbles as she walks out of my room.

I roll on my back and stare at the ceiling for awhile, contemplating whether I should get up or continue sleeping. If I continue sleeping, the school will call mom and tell her that I skipped another school day and I'll end up attending night school. Night school sucks ass.

However, if I do get up and go to school, there's a huge chance I might start dozing off in classes, not that I don't in general. On the other hand, I'll get to see the guys and Cherries. I guess you could say, I consider her a very good friend of mine now.

With that thought on my mind, I get up and swing my legs off of the bed, then I head straight for the shower. After a quick shower, I get dressed in a pair of black pants and a grey sweatshirt, before tugging my beanie on my head.

I slip my feet in the black vans, before swinging my backpack on my shoulder and going downstairs. My mom leaves early for work and Clara always gives Luna a ride to school before heading to her university, so the house is empty.

I grab one of those breakfast bars from the kitchen, then I head out.

"Mum, I'll be fine. Don't worry," a soft voice catches my attention, as I close the door behind me and I notice that it's Cherries and Mrs. Falls.

"Are you sure, sweetie? I wouldn't mind giving you a ride," her mother insists.

"No, it's alright. You'll be late to work if you do."

"Honey, I don't give a shit if I'm late to work. You're my daughter," she states and I'm a bit shocked by Anne's bluntness. I kinda forgot that Anna's mother was a very blunt person. It has been awhile since I had a proper conversation with her and now I remember how straight-forward she is.

"Well, you don't have to worry. I can walk, I'll be alright."

"If you insist," her mother sighs defeated.

"Yes, now please go to work, so you won't be late."

"Alright. I love you, Annalyn," she presses a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you, mum," she hugs her, before Mrs. Falls pulls away and gets in her car.

Cherries waves at the car as it pulls out of their driveway and drives away. That's when Cherries turns around and notices me, then she sends me one of her signature smiles.

She could make anyone's whole damn week by smiling.

"Hey, Luke," she walks over to me.

"Hey," I say, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just my mum. She wanted to give me a ride to school, but I'm used to walking and I didn't want her to be late for her job so, yeah," she explains, tucking her loose dark brown hair strands behind her ear at the end. Her actions are so simple, yet so engrossing.

"I can give you a ride," I lean on my car and cross my arms.

"No no, that's fine, you don't have to," she dismisses, waving her hand.

"And why's that?"

"Because..." She trails off and I chuckle when she doesn't answer.

"Get in, loser," I joke, walking around the car so I'm on one side, while she stands on the other.

"Did you just quote Regina?" She asks, squinting her eyes.

"Who?"

"Regina George? Mean Girls? Helloooo?" she responds, giving me a weird look.

"Is that like a movie?" I ask.

"Yeah, it's a popular teen one," she replies.

"Horror movies are better."

"Yeah, I can't choose between Regina George and Sidney Prescott," she disagrees.

"I guess I'm going to have to watch it myself to be the judge of that," I decide and she grins.

"What, are you the jury of cinematic masterpieces or something?" She jokes, doing that cute little head tilt she always does.

"Something like that," I reply with a small smile.

"They chose you out of all people? They must have been really desperate."

"I know the person that was watching The Blair Witch Project is not talking," I snort, smirking.

"I was just–you know what? My taste in movies is absolutely amazing and...yeah," she says defensively.

"Sure," I say just to get on her nerves, knowing damn well that her movie taste is actually 'absolutely amazing' like she claims. "Now, get in," I order, before opening the door and getting inside the car, just as Cherries does too.

"You're so bossy," she says.

"You know you love it, Cherries," I smirk at her as I insert the key in the ignition and she rolls her eyes.

"No," she scoffs.

"You're not a very good liar, are you?"

"That's so not true. I'm a very good liar. I just fail to lie sometimes," she reasons.

"So you admit that you're lying?"

"I-" she starts, but then she presses both of her lips against each other and I raise an eyebrow at her, feeling another smirk tug on my lips.

"Shut up," she mutters.

"I didn't say anything," I sing, focusing my eyes on the road and pulling out of our driveway.

"I didn't say anything," she mocks in what I suppose is a deep voice.

"I don't sound like that."

"I don't sound like that," she mocks once again.

"Luke is the most handsome guy on earth," I grin.

"No," she states and I let out a laugh.

Honestly, she's the first person in awhile, who's not considered family or a really close friend, to make me act like my normal self. Usually I'm considered the brooding, quiet, into-himself kind of guy to everyone and that's mainly because I'm not the kind that could be comfortable around anybody.

I let loose sometimes at school even though I end up in detention every time, but that's only because Zach and Alex try to lighten up my mood and it ends up with either Zach and I getting in trouble or Alex and me or the three of us. Zach and I get in so much trouble than Alex and me though and that's because Alex is actually scared of getting in trouble, but I don't blame him. His mom is a fucking terrifying woman.

In the end, Zach and Alex do that because they know how much I hate this fucking school and they try to make it more tolerable for me. I might not be that much of an affectionate person, but I'm actually very grateful for them.

The reason I hate this stupid school so much is that a lot of people saw me as nothing but a hot asshole who has a fucked up life and that earned me one of the most cringeworthy titles in the history of titles. The bad boy. God fucking knows what the hell does that even mean. Some people didn't care about the title. Others just found me hot and others were scared of me.

I wish I could say it's hell, but it's more of the Teletubbies show. Which is so fucking much worse than hell.

Fiona was the very first person to make me feel like I actually deserve to be loved, like I wasn't just a "bad boy" or "one of the hottest guys ever" (I mean, I am, but come on) or "probably a serial-killer" (not yet). Then she cheated on me and I never hated a person more than I hated Fiona and the dick that she cheated on me with, Seth Dickinson.

Then there's Cherries. I'm not going to even beat around the bush, she is one of the best people to ever walk on this Earth. There's just something about her that makes you feel like it's normal to laugh or smile. Like you're not being held down or tied up. Like everything's not so fucked up or messed up that you have to overthink it. Like it's okay.

"Could you please open the windows?" She requests in a small voice and I glance at her to see her nervously biting her bottom lip.

Her fingers are fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist and now I take notice that it's actually the bracelet I got her, not the other rose gold one.

"Yeah, sure," I reply and open the four windows of the car.

She relaxes, leaning her head back against the seat. I reach my hand out to turn on the radio. A song starts playing and I recognize it as I Like Me Better by Lauv. How ironic, I couldn't help but think.

Cherries hums along with the song, singing a bit. Her voice is quite a catch in her–scratch that, Anna Falls is a catch.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," I say, grabbing her attention. "Remember that History test you helped study for?"

"Yeah?"

"I got a B plus on it," I tell her and glance at her to see her reaction.

Her face lights up and she smiles, "That's awesome."

"It was a pretty shitty test, but I passed," I say. "I don't normally say that, but thanks for your help, Cherries."

"You're welcome."

I glance at her again and she frowns, "What?"

"I'm waiting for that 'but, you owe me' line," I reply.

She laughs, "Luke, I helped you with studying for that test because I wanted to and not because I want something from you, just like you're helping me with the Astronomy project."

I grin a bit, "Speaking of the project, are you free tomorrow after school?"

"Well I pretty much have no social life, so yeah I guess," she responds.

"Cherries, why would you need a social life when you have the hottest guy in school as your friend?" I smirk.

"Like I said before and I'll say it again, no," she shakes her head.

"Liar."

"I'm not!" She exclaims. "Only sometimes," she continues, mumbling and I chuckle at her.

"For the project, your house or mine?" She asks

"I don't know. It doesn't matter," I answer.

"Mine then."

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"Mr. Carter, aren't you supposed to be in class?" A voice questions and I look up from the book to find Linda, the school librarian, raising her eyebrow at me and crossing her arms.

"Yes," I answer.

"And what are you doing here?"

"Reading...?"

"Mr. Carter, please get to class or I'll have to give you detention," she orders.

"I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm reading. Isn't that what you tell us to do the whole time?" I say, reasoning with her.

"Yes, but-"

"So if you give me detention, it will be because I'm reading a book," I continue.

"Lucas, you do this every time and I'm starting to get tired," she rubs her forehead.

Okay, I admit, this is not the first time I've done this, but reading is a lot better than attending class. It kind of messes up my attendance, but my exam grades manage to compensate all the lost attendance grades.

Besides it won't matter if I go to class or not. If I go to class, I'll either fall asleep or try not to fall asleep. So I think there's no difference between skipping and attending.

"And you know I'm not going to leave, Linda," I grin.

"Just put the books back when you're done," she says, letting out a sigh and walking back to her desk.

I continue readingA Tale of Two Cities and try to ignore how much of a bitch this Defarge woman is. It doesn't last fifteen minutes before I hear two chairs being pulled and I look up at the guys.

"Did you seriously skip a class to read?" Zach asks.

"Yes," I respond.

"You're such a nerd," Zach comments.

"Thanks, I know."

"I saw you with Anna this morning," Alex says.

"Yeah, I was giving her a ride to school," I explain.

"Why?" Zach questions.

"Because I can and I wanted to."

"That's not a reason," Zach protests.

"Grammatically, any sentence starting with 'because' is a reason," I reply in a matter-of-fact.

"You seem to be hanging out a lot with her lately," Alex raises an eyebrow.

"And?"

"Nothing, I'm glad you have a new friend," he smiles.

"I'm so proud of you," Zach places his hand on his chest.

I need to re-consider my choice of friends.

"You both sound like mom back in fourth grade," I tell them.

"Well, I'm honoured," Zach grins.

The sound of the bell rings in the halls.

"Get out of my library, Carter! And take your friends with you!" Linda yells.

The three of us get up and I put the book back, then we walk to the exit of the library.

"Linda, we're in a library. Please lower your voice down," I say on the way out and the guys snicker from behind me.

"Leave."

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"Sophie, you can't just become a stripper because they get a good salary," Cherries' voice perks up.

A stripper?

I turn my head around. Cherries and her friends walk in the cafeteria, then they stop for a moment. She is the first one I'm able to spot because of her voice; she's the only one I know with a faint Australian accent and a soft voice, and because of her height. She is really tall.

"That's literally why I wanna become a stripper," Sophie replies.

Wow, her friends are just as lunatic as Alex and Zach. Coincidence.

"How about you focus on studying and getting a good job in the future?" Colette tells her, before they start walking once again.

"You guys are such party poopers," Sophie says.

"Soph, you can't-"

That's when I feel someone bumping right into my back.

"For God's sake, why does this keep happening to me?" Cherries steps back and rubs her forehead, mumbling more.

"You okay, Cherries?" I chuckle.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Luke," she says.

"It's fine," I assure her.

"Hey guys," Riley waves at us.

"Hey," Alex waves back.

"Are you going to sit with us?" Riley asks.

"Yeah?" Sophie adds.

"Sure," Alex and Zach respond.

The four of them head straight to the table, just as Colette, Cherries and I start following. "Sometimes I think they forget about us," Colette says.

"They're just being nice, Lottie," Cherries tells her.

"They're just being nice," she repeats.

"Let me guess, we're a major annoyance to you?" I tell them.

"Not them, but you maybe," Cherries grins.

"Cherries, you and I both know that you enjoy my company," I smirk at her, as we reach the table and take our seats.

"Maybe, I do."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," I lean back in my chair, putting my hands in my pockets, while still keeping the smirk on my face.

She shakes her head, rolling her eyes in response, but the smile is evident on her face.

Anna Falls, you are too goddamn adorable.

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