ARI.

I woke up Monday morning in a much better mood than normal. Unless you're Beyonce or a person living out their ultimate dreams, Mondays can die in a dark abyss. But since I was merely a 17-year-old senior who was still trying survive high school, Mondays thoroughly sucked ass.

When the morning sun's rays snaked its way into the cracks of the venetian blinds of my room, it dawned on me that it was indeed Monday and it was time to wake up. However, instead of flipping my body over and burying my face into my pillow with a groan, I simply yawned viciously before sitting up in my bed. I grabbed my phone off of my bedside table and checked the time. It was 7AM, a whole 30 minutes before I was supposed to wake up.

This rarely happened.

With the extra time, I decided to have a proper breakfast. I'm sure my mother would be pleased to see me sit at the table eating gobs of oatmeal and sipping coffee from one of my personalized mugs. I turned on the Spotify app from my phone, letting it play a bunch of upbeat, happy songs. After breakfast, I showered, put on my usual makeup and with the extra time, I blew dry my hair and even straightened it.

I did take more time deciding on what to wear, which was another rare feat for me. Why I couldn't just wear a simple pair of skinny jeans and one of my many band tees or flannels was beyond me. On this particular day however, I actually wanted to look more than just Ari decent. It was warm outside - typical California. So after numerous clothing changes, I opted for a pair of light washed high waisted jean shorts and a white, fitted, short-sleeved top that dipped low at the back with a huge bow. The shirt was new, something my sister had bought for me a couple of months ago.

I gave myself one last look in the mirror, spinning around to look at my entire body a full 360 degrees. Without being cocky, I actually thought I looked pretty. I never thought I was Chewbacca ugly, but for the most part, I never really stood out. Despite my hair being something other than blonde or brown, I still blended in. I never wore the most trendiest clothing worth pinning on Pinterest, or had the most flawless makeup worth watching a tutorial on Youtube. But today, I had a confidence boost that gave me a feeling that this Monday would be a great day.

In the foyer, I stuck on a pair of brown combat boots. As I zipped up the boot, I could see a figure approach me from the corner of my eye.

"Morning mom," I smiled, standing up and grabbing my school bag.

"Morning anak," she said, taking a sip from her morning coffee. "You look beautiful. Is that the shirt your Ate gave you?"

(translation: child; older sister)

I nodded, "yes mom."

"I'm off this Thursday evening," she told me, walking closer, "I'm thinking about having a small get together with the family. It's been a while. Mia will be home for the weekend. Tell Calum, Michael and Ashton to come by too. I already called their mom's."

I grinned excitedly, "for sure! That's gonna be so much fun! I can't wait. I haven't seen the family in a hella long time! And the boys are always down for free food!"

"I knew you'd like the idea," mom predicted. "I'm going to go upstairs to rest now. I'm tired from work. Have a nice day at school. Study hard, okay?"

"Always mom, always," I promised. I gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking out the front door.

I was able to get the air conditioning fixed in my car. After throwing down about $500 dollars which was absolutely ridiculous in my opinion, I could finally drive around without melting into an Asian puddle. As usual, I blasted songs through my speakers and parked in the same general area as I usually do - near the school's football stadium. I met up with my friends towards the front of the main entrance at a bench.

"Ari Quiroz!" Michael yelled as I approached the boys. They all held cups of coffee and tea. His green hair was fading and instead of its usual vibrance, it was turning into a very pale puke color.

"Morning lads," I smiled, noticing furrowed brows in my direction coming from all three of the boys. "What? Why are you staring at my like that?"

"Why are you boobs out?" Ashton bluntly questioned with a raised brow, his eyes glued to my chest.

I smacked him upside the head, "they are not out! You can't even see cleavage. What the hell is wrong with you fucktards?"

"They're more..." Calum's words faded, as he gestured towards his own chest with cupped hands, "defined? Is that the word? I've never seen them so prominent like that."

"Did you get a new bra?" Michael asked, taking a sip from his cup.

"Will you guys stop staring at my boobs!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs, capturing the attention of our peers around us. They all paused for a moment, glancing over at our group with disgusted looks.

"Sorry Ari, but we're not used to you wearing such a tight shirt," Ashton shrugged, his eyes finally lifting from my chest to my face, "I wasn't even sure you had boobs."

I was offended, "seriously? I'm a girl Irwin! God you guys are such doofuses. We've been swimming together. Did you not notice my C-cups then? I haven't been flat chested since I was 12."

"Can we stop talking about your lady parts?" Michael cringed slightly, "they look great Ari, sorry but the more I think about it the more awkward I start to feel. Kinda like buying my mum super jumbo tampons at the--"

"Okay! Okay! Stop! Stop! Dude! Gross, we get it!" Calum waved his hands in the air, trembling from Michael's description.

"I'm gonna change the subject... Did your mom's tell you about this Thursday?" I asked the boys.

"Oh yea! Dinner party at the Quiroz household!" Ashton whooped happily, giving a high-five to Michael. "I'm so pumped. Your mum is such a great cook. Also, is your sister going to be there?"

I rolled my eyes with a scoff, "yes Ashton, my sister will in fact be there."

Ashton pumped his hand, "yes! Time to work the Irwin magic."

"God, she might run away," I teased. "I'll never see her again."

"Funny," Ashton stuck his tongue out at me, unamused.

"So like, where were you Friday night?" Calum asked, "I called your phone to ask if you wanted to have a bonfire with us but you never answered. You weren't working were you?"

I never told them about my hang out with Luke. Not that I was trying to keep it a secret but it slipped my mind. I was dreading the dinner all last week that when it finally came around I didn't get the chance to tell the boys.

"Sorry guys," I apologized, "rain check? I was actually out with Luke Hemmings."

"Luke Hemmings?" Michael raised a brow. "As in quiff boy Hemmings?"

"No, the Luke Hemmings from the bank," I snapped, "yes quiff boy Hemmings!"

Ashton choked on his tea, "what? Ew! Why the hell would you spend time with the poster child for Hollister instead of us?"

I sighed, "it was actually a request from Liz Hemmings. She wanted Luke to take me out for dinner as a thank you for helping him out when he was passed out drunk."

"How long was the dinner? Like an hour?" Calum inquired.

"Less than that," Ashton laughed, "the two can't stand each other. They probably only lasted fifteen minutes."

"Which means you totally still could've hung out with us at the bonfire," Michael pointed out, "we had s'mores!"

Spending time with Luke till sunrise and actually enjoying it wasn't something I was willing to tell my friends. Which made me sound like a hypocrite because I was always insulting Luke for having judgmental friends. Michael, Ashton and Calum were the least judgmental boys here in Percival Shores but at the end of the day they're still humans with opinions. I felt stupid for not wanting to tell them the truth but if they were truly my friends, they'd understand.

"The dinner was actually nice," I admitted, "we had pizza and then we actually spent the rest of the evening together doing random stuff."

"By random stuff do you mean..." Michael gave me an impish expression as he made an overtly sexual gesture with his fingers.

"Oh my God! No!" I was disgusted that he would even think that way. "What the hell is wrong with you? Luke and I just went to LA and--"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Ashton interjected, standing up from the bench, "you guys drove 40 minutes out to the city? Did he drug you?"

"You were kidnapped weren't you?" Calum chimed in.

"Really?" I rubbed my temples. I couldn't believe these boys sometimes. "He did not drug me. It was his idea but I thought it'd be a fun so I went willingly. Despite what you know about Hemmings, he's actually a really fun person to be around."

I could tell by their facial expressions that the boys didn't believe me. All three of them glared at me with apprehensive eyes and silent mouths. I wished I knew exactly what they were thinking.

"Will you say something?" I demanded.

"Sorry Ari," Michael said, "but it's so weird. One minute you're complaining about him and the next you're out on a date with him."

"It wasn't a date," I justified, "we were just hanging out, as friends."

"You sure about that?" Ashton questioned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, taken aback by his words.

"Well, you do look different today - a change from your usual flannels and more loose shirts," Ashton explained.

"So what? I never wore this shirt before?" I told him.

"But why choose now to be more girly? You wouldn't happen to have a crush on Hemmings would you?" Ashton guessed.

My jaw dropped, "what the actual fúck? Seriously Irwin? No, far from it!"

How would he even come to that conclusion? Just because I happened to not be in my normal grunge-wear, I'm suddenly trying to impress a boy? And not just any boy, Luke Hemmings. Luke and I are just friends and while I do think he is attractive, I am not attracted to him. The boys had crack in their morning teas or something because their theories were not plausible.

"You sure Ari?" Michael pressed.

I let out a long groan, "yes Michael. I promise. We're just friends. I'm taking off this dumb shirt since it's the source of it all. Give me your flannel."

"What?" Michael looked down at the grey and black flannel tied around his waist.

"You heard me. Let me wear it," I held out my hand, waiting for him to hand it over.

"No dude, its part of my outfit," Michael reasoned. "I'm sorry. Keep your shirt on. We promise not to give you crap for it."

"Yea, it's just stupid shirt... we're just not used to it that's all. We're sorry Ari. Forgive us sister from another mister?" Calum pouted. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but to smirk at his puppy dog face. Even in a backwards snapback, Calum still managed to be adorable.

"Yea, we're cool," I declared, giving Calum a playful punch in the arm.

"And speaking of cool," Ashton began looking out past me. I glared at him for a moment before turning around to find whatever he was staring at. And then I saw exactly where his eyes landed.

Luke Hemmings.

Something in my stomach jolted; like a surge of electricity shocking my insides. I don't know what the hell it was, but I couldn't help but to let out a smile. I looked at Luke, whose hair was still in a normal quiff but his clothes were something else. His usual Sperrys were replaced with a pair of black converse and instead of his usual Dockers, he wore black, ripped skinny jeans. Luke still had on a collared Polo shirt but instead of some light color, it was black.

His outfit change was so different, but I actually liked it. I didn't even know he owned skinny jeans - I always believed that his closet would explode into flames if any non-preppy items even grazed the area.

I watched Luke approach his friends, giving them high-fives and pulling in Kate for a hug - ugh. If the boys wanted to talk about boobs, they should've mentioned her. She had some huge knockers and while she insisted they were real, everyone knew her mom was a well known plastic surgeon.

My legs had a mind of its own, because I hadn't even realized I was walking towards Luke and his crew until the army of blondes were staring straight at me with judgment in their eyes. I didn't even come up with a coherent plan of why I was suddenly standing before the wannabe Abercrombie models, so I awkwardly stood there with my mouth agape.

God, I was so embarrassing.

"Can we help you little girl?" Katie questioned, throwing her hands to her hip. I wished I could smack the sass out of her body.

"I uh, uhmm..." I stammered. I looked at Luke who gave me a small smile and suddenly I felt a wave of comfort. "I actually wanted to talk to Luke."

"Why? He doesn't even want to talk to you," Katie chuckled. I ignored the white girl and directed my attention to Luke.

"My mom's having a dinner party this Thursday and I was wondering if you wanted to come by. You're mom is welcome--"

My words were interrupted by a slew of obnoxious laughter. Katie, Jake and their other cronies were in hysterics, grabbing ahold of each other for support as if inviting Luke to my house was physically making them weak in the knees.

"Are you seriously inviting my boyfriend to a dinner party at your house?" Katie sneered in between chuckles.

I was taken aback and switched my attention to Luke, "boyfriend?"

No answer from Hemmings. He just stood there stunned as I was.

"Did you tell your girlfriend," I started, with emphasis, "that we spent all Friday evening in LA together?"

"Wait, what?!" the laughter stopped, and all eyes were now on Luke. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He nervously scanned his eyes back and forth between his friends and I.

"You said you were sick and were in bed all night," Jake quipped, crossing his arms across his chest, "that's why you couldn't make it to the party."

"I-I-uhm," Luke stuttered. I waited for an explanation along with his friends, and then he turned the tables. "Ari is fúcking lying!"

"Excuse me?" I yelled. What the hell?

"You heard me, you're lying. God why are you so obsessed with me? I told you I didn't want to hang out and you showed up at my damn door forcing me to spend time with you," Luke was lying through his teeth and his friends were feeding into every word that dripped from his mouth.

"Why are you making up stories?" I asked him, my voice cracking. I could feel the rage inside of me and I was pissed that Luke had the audacity to lie to my face.

Luke turned to his friends with a laugh, "I was getting ready for the party when Ari showed up randomly at my house. My mum loves this crazy bitch and used some kind of black magic on her. My mum practically threw me out the house with Ari. We went out for food because I felt sorry for this loser."

"What are you saying?" I was furious. Luke was a douche and I can't believe I even wasted my time on him. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes but they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears coated with fury.

"She's pathetic," Luke continued, earning gasps and smiles from his friends. "I guessed she drugged my food or drink because I showed up at my house early Saturday morning. I don't even remember anything. Apparently we went to LA? We all know she can easily get drugs. I mean look at her! She thinks she's some kind of punk rock princess," Luke paused, looking down at me with his icy blue eyes, "you're not in Paramore, sweetheart."

"Luke, why are you doing this to me?" the tears plummeted, and I could taste the salty droplets on my lips. "I thought we were friends?"

Luke let out a vicious cackle, "not even in your dreams Quiroz."

When he stopped talking his entire group bursted into laughter again. They pointed at me and called me names. I could take their verbal abuse - they were nothing to me. But what hurt me the most was Luke's lies. He completely denied Friday evening and instead of ignoring me, Luke deliberately humiliated me in front of the majority of the school's population. I guess I was wrong about Luke Hemmings. He was an asshole who was living a lie and I wished Friday night never happened.

"You can run along now," Jake shooed me away. I stepped back, my vision blurry from the tears streaming out of my eyes.

"Leave my boyfriend alone skank," Katie taunted, stepping closer to me. The wedges on her feet gave her several inches extra, which allowed her to tower over me with superiority. I looked up at her with feebleness, and Katie took advantage of this weakened state I was in. She pulled off the lid from her iced coffee and dumped it on top of my head. The cold liquid oozed down from the ends of my hair, and showered my entire body with the Starbucks indulgence.

The entire campus was now looking at our direction, pointing at the pitiful little girl who was dripping wet. From the corner of my eyes I noticed the amount of phones capturing this incident and I knew I'd be the star of Instagram. I couldn't even bare to look up and face Katie. I was too ashamed to do anything. My legs even stopped working and while my mind told me to run, my body wouldn't let me.

"You're a dick! The entire lot of you!" I heard the familiar voice of Calum ringing in my ears as a set of arms wrapped grabbed onto my shoulders.

"What is your fúcking problem Hemmings? I could fúcking chop your balls of right now!" Ashton yelled, getting up close and personal to Luke.

"We got you Ari," Michael whispered to me, holding me close. I finally lifted my head, meeting my best friend with with teary eyes and a face sticky with iced coffee.

"Whoa, calm down Blink 182," Jake cackled, throwing his hands up. "Why don't you grab your wannabe Avril Lavigne and go do something? Like start a mosh pit, plan your Warped Tour outfits, or Kurt Cobain it up. No one would miss your punk rock asses anyway!"

It all happened in a flash; in a millisecond; in a blink of an eye. One minute Jake was upright and the next he was hurled onto the ground by Ashton. The two boys were brawling on the concrete, throwing punch after punch. Ashton was raging, a side I rarely saw, but the moment I saw him on top of Jake, I knew that the preppy boy had no chance against my other best friend.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Michael breathed, pushing me away from the growing crowd.

I nodded my head, not wanting to argue. As Michael grabbed my hand and pulled me through the sea of people and phones, I looked back and was eye to eye with Luke. I glanced at him with hurt and woe, still searching for some kind of explanation from the boy. But instead of looking me back in the eye like a man, Luke turned his head away.

Coward.

//

Oh my! What an intense chapter?! I feel so bad for Ari and I freaking hate Katie and Jake. Luke... don't even get me started on him. He was such an asshole for making up a crazy lie. If he wants to be Ari's friend, he's gonna have to seriouly earn it.

I hope you all like this chapter. If you do please VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE it with all your friends! Thanks so much for reading!

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