"Hey Luke, you want one?" Caleb asks, offering me a loaded cigarette.

I shake my head no before making my vocal chords let out a small sound.

My throat is too dry, my eyes are too dry, and I woke up before the crack of dawn because I couldn't sleep.

"Your loss" he says with a shrug, lighting his own and taking a drag.

I sigh, leaning back against the porch of "our" abandoned house that we found as little kids - partners in crime. We always come here to do anything we aren't supposed to do, everything we are supposed to do, to relax, to dream, and to escape.

I rub my hands together while blowing my warm, dry breath on them, in an effort to make them warmer in the cool, crisp morning air. I look out at the broad horizon as it begins to turn to a light grey as the sun rises.

A new beginning.

I wet my lips, "You know I don't do that anymore. I can't."

"Yeah" he says, taking a breath, "But don't you kinda miss it? I mean, it wouldn't hurt once in a little while, right?"

"I don't know-" I begin to say, not sure if this conversation was just about the cigarette.

"-I get it. If only I could be as strong as you."

"Aw.... shit man." I groan. I do not want to talk about this right now.

"Whatever."

I let the silence settle over us, looking out over the valley. My hands begin to itch.

Caleb stands up and puts out his cancer stick before reaching down to give me a hand up.

"Hey dude" he says holding both of my hands in his and looking into my eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"- I know. Its just still hard sometimes. But I don't want to scare my family like that ever again. I don't want to scare you either. "

He lets go of my hands with a quick nod and a small smile, walking to the path leading down into the valley.  I follow slowly behind him, pausing to brush the twigs, dirt, and dry leaves of my black skinny jeans, and to pull my beanie down over my ears.

We weren't the bad boys of our small town, but we weren't the best kids either.  We weren't the most popular kids of all, but were weren't alone either. We've had our very bad times, but good times as well. I liked it that way. We were different. We defied almost all high school social stereotypes.

My black Vans become caked with soft brown dirt as I trudge down the hill - right into Caleb's back.

"What the-"

"-SHHHHHH!" he hushes, putting a finger to his lips.

I bit the ring around my lip nervously as I hear the rustling of the leaves.

The rustling stops, and Caleb takes a step forward, snatching the warmth-providing garment from atop my head.

"Hey man, give that back. Its cold."

"Not too cold to do one of those little kiddie nature walk things."

"Is that why you shushed me?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But I could practically hear your mind working back there. I bet you were thinking about a lot more than you even knew. Its not good for you."

"I'm sorry-"

"-Now go, take a moment to yourself and walk. I'll be right behind you. And whatever you do, don't think about the present, past, or future." he says, motioning with my beanie for me to lead the way.

"What am I supposed to think about?"

"I don't fucking know. The tree, the flowers, the toad in the middle of the path-"

"- Isn't that the present though?"

"Stop stalling, you know what I mean."

"Can I have my beanie back?" I ask with a small, teasing smile on my lips. I know I'm getting under his skin.

"No!" he says, irritation rising in his voice, "I'm just trying to help-"

"-Okay, I'm going." I cut him off, turning to walk down the path.

💠

Caleb sits down next to me, handing me my beanie and hanging his feet over the edge of the cliff, "Now aren't you happy I made you do that?"

"Yeah" I say, leaning back onto the moss covered ground.

We look out at the almost complete sunrise, beginning to make the shadows on our faces turn into blinding light.

I watch Caleb's hands begin to fidget.

I sit up and look into his eyes, "You gonna be okay?"

He freezes.

"You better not mess up while I'm gone. You've been doing so good at getting better."

He nods, looking away with a sad face.  For a moment, I see that boy whose own family left him because they didn't believe in depression and they couldn't deal with their "crazy"  and "attention seeking" child that wasn't like his perfect sister - the boy who showed up at my doorstep one night looking for someone to care - the boy who was, and always will be, one of the most important people in my life.

"Hey" I says, scooting closer to him and cracking a silly smile, "You pinky promise?"

He looks down at my pinky and then looks up at my eyes, "I wish I could go with you."

"You have no idea how much I would have given to have you come. But think of this as a test run. We aren't going to have each other forever."

He sucks in a quick breath, looking at me as if I was crazy to even think of such a thing.

Swinging my legs, I look back out over the valley, "I mean, if we are still friends when we are old and grey, which I'm sure we will still be friends, we probably won't live together like we do now, and one of us is going to die first. Which will probably be me."

"I hate to say it Luke, but it's probably gonna be me."

"No"

"Yes"

As we continue to bicker back and forth about who would die first, even getting into the details of how our souls will leave the face of the earth, I wonder how we could joke about such a morbid thing.

Perhaps we both had been so close to death at times in our lives that the only way we could talk about what we feared and dedicated our lives to avoiding, to an extent, was to laugh and poke fun at it. Smiling, I look over at one of my only two true friends, laughing at how twisted our minds are, and grateful that he is still here with me.

💠

"Hey Luke" my mom says as I walk in the door, "Your friend Michaella stopped by to see you before you go off to South-lake. But since you weren't here, she just crashed on the couch."

I walk over the Michaella, ignoring my mother's worried eyes that fill with relief as Caleb steps in behind me. I'm tired of my mother always worrying about me and my "brother", as if we will always be the broken children that will disappear out of nowhere, never to be seen again.

"Luke couldn't sleep, so we just hung out over by the valley." Caleb says, reassuring her that everything was okay.

"Hey Mich" I say, taking the slice of pizza out of the sleeping girl's hand, "Mich, wake up."

"Hhhhmmmmmm?" She hums as she rolls over, revealing her new eyebrow piercing and her IDIOT shirt.

I catch Caleb's eye and I can instantly tell we have the same idea.

"Hey Mich, wake up!" we both yell before falling out laughing on the floor.

She jerks up, brushing her newly died blue hair out of her eyes, "What the- aww Luke - Cal - I hate you guys!"

"Awwww, thanks for the love Mich." Caleb responds between laughs.

"You know you fell asleep with this in your hands, right?" I ask her, holding up the slice of pizza.

"Yeah" she says, snatching it out of my hand and taking a big bite, "And it is still just as good."

Laughing to myself, I get up and head toward my room with Mich and Caleb trailing behind me.

"Have you even packed yet?" Mich asks.

"Nope. And you two are going to help me." I say with a grin before pushing open the door to my bright room.

She screws up her nose, "Why is your room still this ugly baby yellow color?"

"I haven't had to time to change it, kai egó pragmatiká den me noiázei oútos í állos (and I really don't care anyways)."

Leaving behind Mich's stare, I plug in my phone, connect it to my small pink speakers, and press shuffle, resulting in Panic! At the Disco's Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time blaring out.

I toss Mich and Caleb a bag each, "Voíthisé me na syskevásoun aftá (Help me pack these)."

"You've been working on your Greek, haven't you?" she asks, unzipping the bag I tossed to her.

Caleb smiles, "Nai, o ídios échei ergasteí se ellinikés tou (Yes, he has been working on his Greek.)"

"And let me guess, you've been his study buddy?"

Caleb nods.

"Why am I even friends with you nerds?" she asks under her breath, turning back to packing my bag.

"We love you Mich, we're just playing."

"S 'agapó pára polý (I love you too)." she says, pausing while we silently cheer for making her speak Greek, "Now are going to finish this so I can sing along to Panic!, or are we going to drag this out for all eternity?"

💠

"I can't believe you are leaving already! I thought you would be packing forever." Mich says, attacking me with a hug as I attempt to bring all my bags, plus my guitar, out to the curb without any help.

"Mich, could you help me with these-"

"-GROUP HUG!!!" Caleb bellows as he barrels in Mich and I, nearly pushing me over.

As the air is squeezed out of my lungs, I catch a glance of my mother standing on the doorstep already crying.

I have caused her enough worry and tears to last her a lifetime, but I hope these are happy ones.

"Okay... guys" I choke out, "Can't... breath..."

"Oh sorry there" Mich says, finally releasing me from their death grip with a smirk on her face, "I thought you were just a breadstick for a sec."

She ducks away, taking one of my bag with her down to my South-Lake bus stop. Caleb and I watch as she shamelessly dances and sings to This Ain't A Scene It's An Arms Race on the corner for all the world to see.

"She's definitely a free spirit - I don't see how she puts up with us - but you better take care of her and yourself while I'm gone." I say, offering my pinky once again.

This time, instead of looking away, Caleb smiles and links his pinky with my own - kiddie style.

I see the South-Lake bus turn the corner, breaking the sweet moment, and run to my mum to give her a hug.

"My boy is just growing up too fast." she sniffles.

"Stamatíste, mamá. Parakaló min klápso. (Stop, mom. Please don't cry.)" I say in my plead to comfort her.

"I'm just afraid-"

"Mum, I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me."

"I can't help it Luke..."

I cut her off with one last hug before running to help Mich pack my bags into their proper compartment. Or more like listen to Mich talk through the open bus window with some girl showing Mich her drumsticks while I pack my own bags.

I interrupt their conversation, "Hey Mich, watch out for Caleb for me, will ya?"

"Of course. You don't even have to ask."

"Thanks" I say before getting onto the bus and finding a seat.

A new beginning.

💠

Hello!

We are almost done with all the character intros and I'm so excited!

Also, PLEASE let me know if you see any other mistakes (i.e. grammar, punctuation, etc.)

Question:

What do you think of Luke?

Don't forget to answer, vote, and comment. 🗣👍🏾💬

ATCAgainstTheCurrent ✨