Delilah's POV

I watch the time pass slowly, each second feeling like a minute. I scribble down the notes on the board, waiting for the lunch bell to ring. I don't hate school, but I don't necessarily like it. I just have a mutual dislikeness of every class, so school is average for me.

Finally, the bell rings, and I grab my things. I wait by my locker for Ashton, like I do everyday.

"Are you alright?" he asks me when he sees me. "You look stressed."

I shrug. "We got a huge writing assignment in English. We have to interview someone and write about their life experiences. It's so stupid because it has to be someone our age. I don't know anyone interesting enough to do it on," I groan.

"Um, hello, I'm interesting," Ashton says.

I roll my eyes. "I already know everything about you."

"Not everything," he whines.

I look at him from the corner of my eye as we walk down the hall. "You'd be surprised what Harry tells me about you when you're not home."

Ashton's cheeks blush. "Oh, shut up!"

We get to the cafeteria and sit with our usual group of friends. There's myself, Ashton, Ally, Jack, and Alex.

"Delilah thinks I'm not interesting enough to do her English project on," Ashton says the second we sit down.

"I never said that!" I tell him as I take out my lunch.

"What's your English assignment?" Ally asks.

I explain it to everyone, and we all try to think of people I could interview.

"What about that math genius who sits behind me in chem?" Alex says.

"I'm not in your chem class, I don't know who you're talking about," I tell him.

"What about Luke?" Ashton blurts out.

"What?" I ask, kind of shocked.

"Luke," Ashton says again, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Who's Luke?" Jack asks.

"This kid who moved into our neighborhood from Australia. He doesn't talk," Ashton says with his mouth full.

I roll my eyes. "He's more than just some kid," I say.

"Oh?" Ally says laughing.

"That's not what I mean!" I say blushing, "I just mean that he's, like, a mystery or something. He doesn't talk, he doesn't go to school, and he's just so different."

"Why doesn't he talk?" Alex asks.

I shrug. "We don't really know. I don't know much about him." I know he stopped talking when his girlfriend died, but I'm not sure why he decided to stop.

"Seems interesting enough to interview," Jack says.

"You think so?" I ask.

Luke could be someone to interview. I'm just not sure if he'll be up for it.

After school, I head straight to Luke's house. I knock on the door, and Andrew opens it.

"Hey, Delilah! Looking for Luke?" he asks.

"Uh, yeah," I tell him. I'm nervous to tell Luke about the English assignment. I'm afraid he'll get angry or upset. He probably won't want to do it anyways.

"Okay, he's in his room," Andrew says.

I head to Luke's room, and the door is locked as usual. I knock, and after a few seconds, Luke opens the door. He steps back to let me in. Each time I come, I feel extremely awkward. I never know what to do or what to say. I always end up standing in the center of the room, looking around, but not really seeing what I'm looking at.

I clear my throat. "Hey."

Luke nods and rocks back on his heels. I've noticed that he does that a lot when he waits for someone to say something.

"So, uh, I got an English assignment today, and I was wondering if you'd want to maybe help me with it?" I say it more like a question than a statement.

He shrugs and types in his phone. "What's it about?"

"Well, uh, I have to interview someone my age and learn about their experiences and what they've gone through. And I thought that maybe I could do it on you since I don't know much about you, and I thought you might be interesting to do it on. But if you don't want to do it, I understand. I just thought I'd ask." I tell Luke the assignment very fast, and I'm out of breath by the time I'm done because I'm so nervous.

He sits on his bed and rests his chin on his hand. He types something in his phone. "What kind of stuff would you want to know about?"

"Um, maybe life in Australia, and how it felt moving here. You could tell me about your childhood or something. If you don't want me to know certain things, I understand." I don't mention his girlfriend because I don't want to intrude. I know he likes to keep that to himself.

He thinks for a few seconds. "Why did you pick me?"

"You seem interesting to learn about, I guess." I don't really know how to answer him. Why did I pick him?

"I'm not interesting, trust me."

I don't say anything because I don't know how to respond. I just hope he'll agree to let me interview him.

He types something in his phone. His fingers hesitate as he types whatever he wants to tell me. "I guess I'll let you do your project on me. I'll only answer the questions I want, and I can't promise that you'll like the answers I give you."

It takes a second for his answer to sink in. I thought for sure he'd say no. I can't believe he actually agreed. Now that he's actually said yes, I feel a whole new set of nerves.

"Really?" I say.

He nods and types something. "When do you wanna start?"

"Can you do Saturday? We can go to the the coffee place downtown if you want." I have a flashback to the time I saw Luke there, when he threw his coffee on the ground. Hopefully that won't happen again.

He nods.

"Okay, I'll see you then," I tell him.

*

Saturday comes quickly, and I'm sitting at a table, waiting for Luke to show up. A part of me feels like he isn't going to come, that maybe he's changed his mind. I wouldn't be shocked if that happened.

I see Luke walk in, and he looks around. I wave, and he sits down across from me. He takes off his black jacket and replaces his snapback on his head.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" I ask him

He nods, and we both order our coffees. Well, I order both of them to make it easier for Luke so he wouldn't have to write his order down. When I order my coffee, he flinches a little. I guess he doesn't like the kind I like.

We sit back down at the table and get started. I wrote down all the questions on a piece of paper and left room for Luke to write a response. I hand him the paper and give him time to answer the questions. After a few minutes, he hands the paper back to me. While reading his answers, I notice that he has surprisingly good grammar and spelling for someone who doesn't talk.

1. When's your birthday?

July 16, 1996

2. Who is your best friend?

I met my best friend Calum in Year 6. His name isn't pronounced kay-lum, it's kah-lum. He has this obsession with music. He's always playing his guitar, and he stays up for hours writing songs. He's like a lyrical genius. Calum's been there for me whenever I need him. I've been a pretty horrible person to him the past few months, but he hasn't given up on me like everyone else seems to have.

3. What was it like growing up in Australia?

I lived in the Western Sydney suburbs, which is just a vast area of lots of plants. It's basically a giant farmland with these little brick houses. It's a lot hotter there than it is here. And I look like I can surf, but I can not, so you better not have asked me that question.

4. What was it like moving here?

Moving to Maine was like moving to a whole other planet. The accents are different, the food is different, everything is different. I'm still not really used to the timezone. I sometimes wake up at awkward hours, and I can't fall back asleep. I also don't know anyone but you and Ashton. Everyone back home knew about me. They knew my whole life story. Being in a small town, everyone knew what happened to each other. After the incident, I was looked at as a delicate, fragile person. No one treated me the same. Some of my friends stopped talking to me. I got sympathetic looks everywhere I went. They all knew me as a boy who got messed up because his girlfriend died. No one here knows that.

I started off with only four questions, and I decided to work off of them. I ask Luke a few more questions afterwards. Some of his answers surprise me. I didn't expect him to share too much, but he seems to be telling me a lot. I'm getting a whole different pespective on him

Once we're done with the questions, we decide to walk around outside a little. There's a beach right next to us, and even though it's November, we're walking along the sand. It's dark out, and I can barely see anything.

"Did you go to the beach a lot?" I ask Luke.

He shakes his head no.

I cold breeze blows by, and I wrap my arms around myself. I notice Luke start to take off his jacket.

"No, Luke, I'm fine," I tell him, even though I'm shivering.

He shakes his head and hands me his jacket. I put it on, and I can smell a faint hint of smoke and cologne. I put my hands in the pocket and feel a pack of cigarettes.

"Why do you smoke?" I ask him. Once I say it, I realize what a stupid question it is.

He shrugs and types something in his phone. "It relaxes me. I'm trying to stop though."

In the other pocket, there's a bag of skittles. I smile and show them to Luke.

He quickly types something. "I bought those earlier for us. That's why I was late."

His cheeks turn slightly red, and he looks down at the sand. I smile and open up the bag, handing some to Luke. He eats all the red ones first, and I do too.

A wave crashes at our feet, and Luke bends down and splashes me. I splash him back, and he shields his eyes. We continue splashing eachother until I runaway from the water. He smiles widely, the first real smile I've ever seen him do. I notice how straight his teeth are, and how big his dimple really is.

I stick out my tongue, and he runs over to me. I throw some skittles at him, and he manages to catch one in his mouth.

I throw another one, and it hits him right in the forehead. He rubs the spot like it hurt, and I laugh. He jokingly flips me off, and I quickly put my hand over his finger.

"Hey!" I say, my hands still over his. "You have to taste the rainbow, not flip it off!" I say laughing.

He rolls his eyes and reaches into his jacket pocket, which I'm still wearing, for some more skittles. We end up reaching in at the same time, and he (maybe accidentally?) grabs my hand. He holds onto it for a few seconds before reaching away. Even in the dark, I can tell that he's blushing.

I laugh and give him some skittles. "Don't be embarrassed," I tell him.

He waves his hand and tosses all the skittles in his mouth. When I'm not looking, he throws one at me.

"Taste the rainbow," he mouths.

IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK SINCE MY LAST UPDATE AND Y'ALL MADE IT SEEM LIKE A YEAR. I HAVE A LIFE IN THE OUTERNET HOW SHOCKING

it took a week to update bc i went to 2 wwa shows and got into a private 5sos show and stalked 5sos fOR 5 HOURS INSIDE A RESTAURANT OK

ayy tweet me if you're liking this @ singsongash

(and also i just have to say that i'm sorry if any of my stuff about australia is wrong. i do research before but i guess my sources are not correct oops)

ilysm and thanks for getting this to #2!

-ashley