Delilah's POV

I wake up to my phone ringing loudly, and I sleepily reach for it with my eyes shut. I squint as I look at my phone to see Ashton's name.

"Hello?" I say groggily.

"Where are you?" he asks.

"I'm in bed?" I say.

"Do you realize it's a Monday? And we should've left for school five minutes ago?"

I bolt upright in bed and look at the clock on my bedside table. Ashton's right. I must have slept through my alarm. "Just leave without me," I mumble, getting out of bed quickly. "I'll see you at school."

"Wait, but I-"

I hang up before Ashton can finish what he's saying. Whatever it is, he can tell me at school.

I get ready as fast as I can and text Ashton to cover for me if I'm late for first period. I somehow manage to get to school before the bell rings. Ashton is already at my locker when I get there.

"Delilah, we need to talk," Ashton says, leaning against the other lockers as I do my combination. He said it very seriously, which is unusual. I'm kind of nervous for what we have to talk about now. But knowing Ashton, it could just be about what the cafeteria is having for lunch today.

"About what?" I ask him, putting some things in my bag.

He looks around the crowded hallway. "In private."

"Okay?" I say it more like a question. I'm very confused about this, and why Ashton is being weird this morning? What would we have to talk about in private? Why couldn't he have just told me here.

Ashton waits for me to get all my things, and the second after I shut my locker, he starts walking through the halls. I quickly follow behind him.

"Is everything ok?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Then what's happening?"

"We just need to talk."

Ashton is making such a big deal out of this, it's worrying me. What if he has bad news? Millions of bad scenarios race through my mind as we weave through the crowded halls.

He brings me into one of the science labs, which is empty. He turns on the light, and we sit at one of the tables.

"So what's happening?" I ask him nervously. I bounce my leg nervously on the stool.

"Luke came over my house yesterday," he says.

"And? Did something happen?" With Luke, it could be anything. I never know what to expect with him.

Ashton nods. "He read your project."

I knew Luke had my project, so this shouldn't be such a big surprise to me. But for some reason, it is. My heart starts racing a little after Ashton tells me.

"What'd he think about it?" I ask quietly.

"Well, he, uh, he cried," Ashton says awkardly.

"He cried?" I honestly didn't expect Luke to cry over it. There wasn't anything that fantastic about it, it was just stuff he had told me.

"Yeah, the last sentence really got to him, I guess."

"Wait- Ashton, what last sentence?"

"You know, the one about you falling for him."

I feel my cheeks heat up, and my stomach flips. "I didn't give him that version, Ash. How did he get it?"

"You emailed it to me? To proofread?"

"Oh my, God," I say, putting my head in my hands.

"What? Was there something wrong with it?"

"Yes, there was something wrong with it!" I yell louder than I should. "That was the wrong version! That was the one I thought I deleted! I must have sent you the wrong one without realizing it. Did you really think I would turn that in for a school project? I'm not gonna confess my crush to a teacher! My real project didn't have any of the lovey stuff! I only did that for myself, just to get it all out because I didn't want to tell anyone!"

I nervously bite my nails. No one was supposed to read that, especially Luke. I can't believe I didn't realize I sent Ashton the wrong one.

"So what you're saying is that you emailed me a project that I showed Luke which is different from the one that you gave to Luke and turned in to your teacher, and now Luke knows that you liked him which isn't something you wanted?" Ashton says.

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that," I say quickly.

"Oh, well this is awkward," Ashton whispers after a long time.

"You think? He knows I like him," I mumble into my hands. "This is a mess."

I can only imagine what will happen now. Luke will ignore me again and at this point, I'll probably never have him as a friend. He probably hates me now, if he didn't already before. Everything is ruined.

I hear the bell ring, and stand up, not wanting to talk about this anymore.

"I'm going to class," I say quietly.

"Wait, Delilah, there's more I have to tell you," I hear Ashton say as I leave.

"Just tell me later," I say quickly, walking out the door.

*

The school day lasts longer than usual, and all I think about is Luke. I'm so worried about how he reacted. Ashton and I didn't talk about it at lunch because I didn't want to. I think Ashton feels bad about this whole thing, but it wasn't like it's his fault. It's my own fault for being stupid enough to send Ashton the wrong version.

I messed everything up.

Even at work, I can't stop thinking about Luke.

Then I think I see him walk in, even though I know he doesn't have an appointment today. I do a double take, because I thought I was just imagining it. But he's here.

He shyly waves to me, which surprises me. I wave back, and he smiles a little. He crashes into a boy with purple hair, and I can't help but laugh. He nervously bites his lip and walks over to me.

He types something in his phone and passes it across the counter for me to read. It asks if he can see Candace.

"I don't think she's with anyone right now, I'll go check," I tell him. As I expected, Candace is just sitting at her desk doing paperwork.

"Hi, Delilah. What can I help you with?" she asks cheerily.

"Luke Hemmings is here. He wants to know if he can see you."

"Sure, I don't see why not," she says.

I get Luke, and he walks into the room. I wonder if he's here to talk about my project.

I doubt it. That would be extremely awkward if he was.

Luke probably doesn't even think about me like I think about him.

While I'm lost in thought, the boy with purple hair comes up to the counter, anxiously tapping his hand on his leg.

"Can you- where's the- the bathroom?" he says, stuttering.

"Right down the hall," I tell him, smiling.

"Th- Thank you," he whispers, running in the direction of the bathroom.

I recognize him from school, he's new. I've definitely seen him before, it'd be hard to forget someone with hair that color. I don't really notice him much though, he's pretty quiet. He's gone for a long time, and I wonder if he got lost. But he comes back, and he's called into his appointment. I find out his name is Michael.

To keep my mind off Luke, I think of what Michael's actual hair color may be.

About 45 minutes later, Luke comes out of the Candace's room. I notice that his eyes are red and his face is blotchy. He's definitely been crying.

"Luke, are you okay?" I whisper. There's no one else in the waiting room but us right now.

He quickly shakes his head. He doesn't look me in the eyes, like he always does when he's nervous. He rubs his eyes, which makes them even redder than they already are.

"Do you need anything?" I ask him, even though I'm not sure what he'd even need.

He shakes his head and starts to leave. I debate making sure he'll be alright, but I know he will. He's Luke. He'll be fine without me, like he's made clear multiple times.

For the rest of the night, Luke's sad expression replays over and over in my mind. I can't help but think he really wasn't fine.

i'm double updatting tonight (or maybe tomorrow morning depending on how long it takes) bc my past few updates have been very short and i'm too excited not to post bc i think it's getting exciting idk i hope you do too? aND IT'S TOO MUCH SUSPENSE TO NOT GIVE YOU GUYS ANSWERS

YOU GUYS WERE ALL LIKE WHY WOULD SHE PUT THAT IN A SCHOOL PROJECT. HERE'S YOUR ANSWER OK. I WOULD NEVER HAVE A PROJECT LIKE THAT OMG

tweet me @singsongash

-ashley