The boredom and confusion that had dominated Luke's days the last few days, suddenly disappeared when Andrew said in front of the class that he—again—will be holding a celebratory party on Friday night this week.
"Hey, hey, guys . Please pay attention and listen to me!" he said while tapping and sitting on the teacher's table. Of course he did when the teacher was gone. Andrew continued again after all eyes were on him;
"This Friday, I'm going to have a pool party ! Woo-hoo…!"
Suddenly, the class atmosphere immediately flooded with cheers and praise for Andrew. At the same time, Amy stepped forward, catching up with her boyfriend and Andrew spoke again amidst the boisterous cheers of the children in the class.
" For your information, " he exclaimed, "This party is our five month anniversary!" The two of them kissed in front of the class accompanied by even louder cheers.
Ah, show-off.
Actually, Luke wasn't jealous of them. Absolutely not. After all, Andrew is indeed from the Judges family which is well-known in this city. So it's fine if he wants to throw an anniversary party once every hour. However, what makes Luke want to vomit every time he is with Amy and Andrew is the way they always show off their affection wherever and whenever. If not friends, uke would have hung them over the school gates.
"Ha ha ha, Lookey. You're just jealous," Amy snapped when Luke expressed his disgust.
"Jealous? Holy fucking no . I'm not jealous, I told you, right. I just want you to reduce the intensity of those of you who like to show off your affection in public like that. Well, not everyone likes it when they see other people kissing in front of them… Oh my God! "
Less than a second after Luke said it, Amy and Andrew did it again in plain sight just to tease Luke, because a moment later they were both giggling. Luke could only roll his eyes.
"You can try it with Valentina Miller if you want, Luke."
"No thanks," Luke said quickly. "And, please , stop saying that name in front of me again. Never ever ever! "
"Why can't you say my name in front of you?"
Ah, shit! Luke almost made him throw his drink, when suddenly, Valentina Miller's face appeared from next to him. The cheers girl laughed when she saw Luke's shocked expression. Besides that, before Luke could utter any swear words, Andrew had already spoken to the girl first.
"Hey, Val. Are you free Friday night?"
" Well, depends. Whether it has something to do with him or not." Valentina shook her head at Luke as she said the word 'he'.
Amy giggled until she pounded Andrew's thigh.
Andrew replied, "Could be. Me and Amy are having a pool party at Zemba Lake. You know, there are villas there."
"Are you coming Luke? I will come if you come." Instead, Valentina just asked Luke. But, yeah, of course Luke just kept quiet.
"He's coming. Don't worry," said Amy, waving her hand. "Looks like we both have to go to give you some bonding time before Friday night tomorrow. Well, bye… "
The damn couple compactly left, leaving Luke with that annoying girl here. They also seemed indifferent as Luke gave them two middle fingers. In fact, Andrew would tell anyone he met;
"Hey, Zack! Friday night, come to my party. Don't forget, okay."
Or, "Darren twins, you guys have to come to my party Friday, shall we! We're going to have so much fun!"
Now that Luke and Valentina were left, it was cramped. Luke didn't like this because it made him feel uncomfortable. Luke wished Rei would pass so he could have an excuse to walk away from Valentina. Honestly, I get so mad at Amy and Andrew every time they bring Luke closer to Valentina like this. Luke thought the two damn people were getting too involved in their relationship. Indeed, it was because Luke had told Amy and Andrew everything, including his heartache because of the betrayal that Valentina Miller had in the past. But for some reason, Amy didn't want to see that and still helped Valentina Miller to approach her. Not to mention, Andrew who presumptuously believes that Valentina likes Luke just based on Valentina Miller's own story. Ah, they really make a perfect couple. A fool and a fool, when they meet, becomes a square fool!
Valentina Miller seemed to realize that because she then asked Luke;
"Am I bothering you?"
I quickly replied, "Exactly. If you've come to your senses…"
"I'm sorry. But if you ask me to leave, I won't go."
"Fine. I'll be going then."
Luke was about to leave when Valentina grabbed my wrist deftly. Gives a very pitiful look.
"Let me go Val."
Valentina said. "Please, Luke. Just sit down for a moment. All right, all right. I'll be going, as long as we just sit like this for a moment."
"Don't you understand?"
"Understand." he replied as fast as lightning. "I really understand that you're still angry about what I've done. I understand that. So, give me one more chance to make up for everything…"
"Wow, what a script Ma'am. How long have you memorized it. Did you watch it from the movies? Do you expect me to melt from hearing it?" said Luke sarcastically.
"Luke, gosh…"
"What?!"
Valentina then smiled and tried to maintain the original topic. "Sit down for a bit, okay?"
"Okay, I'll just tell you because you're being too dim-witted. So, dear Mrs. Miller, just so you know. There's a reason why you can't be with me anymore."
"What?"
"I've been with another girl."
"Wow, that's funny. You're lying, right?"
Luke bit his tongue. Indeed, really, he lied but there's no way that Luke immediately admitted that he lied, right? So he replied;
"No. I'm not lying. You'll see him at Andrew's party Friday."
Valentina is silent. He just looked into Luke's eyes and then slowly released his grip. This time, Val got up and left. Luke felt a little sorry for his unsteady steps. But it doesn't matter anymore. Because what is my business now is; How do you get one girl to pretend she's a boyfriend overnight?
Luke hopes that a princess from a faraway land will become his fake girlfriend overnight. Amy? No. She's the boyfriend of his best friend. Rei? Especially that girl. It was very difficult to convince Valentina if Rei was pretending to be her new lover. Because after all in such a small town almost everyone knows each other. Even though the distance between houses often has to pass through vast plantations, at least everyone knows each other.
Ah… of course, except for a few people.
Luke had almost forgotten about it; that girl. The girl who was wearing a black jacket as dark as the night sky—which Luke was absolutely sure that he never changed his clothes. The stalker girl aka the drug dealer aka the mysterious human, again and again and for the umpteenth time; appears before Luke at Andrew's party. Luke could have insulted him if it wasn't for Valentina who asked in a jealous tone.
"Luke, is she the girl you mean?"
Stupid again, Luke replied, "Yes."
Stupid .
***