13| "i'll be your dr. fluke"

Luke doesn't say anything to me for almost the entire ride home until we're pulling up into the driveway. I don't really mind that much because I'm too busy nursing my knee, trying to ignore how much it actually hurts. I'm thinking about my punishment when he cuts the engine declaring that we're home and I look up at him, confused. "Hey, what are you doing? Aren't we supposed to be going to the dress fitting?"

Blue eyes stare at me, his eyebrows narrowed together in annoyance and Luke shakes his head. "Wow."

"Wow, what?"

"That dress fitting that everyone wasted an hour of their time just to wait to see if you would ever care enough to show up to was over a while ago." When he says this, I have to admit that I feel bad. Not for him though, my mom.

My teeth find my bottom lip, guilt ridden, and I watch as he leans over to grab something out of the backseat. It's a folder and he quickly folds it over and tucks it underneath his arm, "Better start thinking of a really good lie."

He leans forward to pull the key from the ignition, climbing out of the car with that long limb grace of his and I stumble out and into the house after him. For a minute, I start to think that maybe he's gonna come into the kitchen with me to face my mom. I could definitely use the back up. But instead, he kicks off his sneakers and heads upstairs without another look at me.

I sigh. Nice to know where his loyalties were.

"Glad to see that you finally decided to come home. You're  grounded." My mom says casually, the minute I step into the kitchen. In her hand is what looks like could be a glass of white wine and her lips are  pursed as she closely inspects the hot pink dress that's laying across the counter top.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I completely forgot about the fitting." I rush out. Andrew glances up at me from  where he's scrutinizing three pairs of cuff links, his mouth set in a hard straight  line and I blush. Crap, Andrew's mad at me, too?

"Where were  you?" She asks me, holding up the dress. It's a huge, puffy, frilly mess of fabric and floral print and I hope to God that's not what she thinks I'm gonna be  wearing to her wedding. Let alone, anywhere in public. I look away before she can notice the horrified look on my face.

"I was with a friend. I lost track of time." I take a seat at the island.

With a shake of her head, I watch as my mom thumbs her glasses up her nose before taking another sip of her drink. She passes me the glass and then her brown eyes meet mine. Oh boy. I brace myself for the lecture.

"Annie, you need to  get it together. I understand that you want to be able to do things, trust me I get it. It's summer, you're young, you've got these new friends and all that you want to hang out with. I understand and for the most part, I'm okay with that. But what I'm not okay with is you setting your priorities aside to do it. How could you not show up to something as important as the dress fitting? I had to bring your dress home, just so they wouldn't charge us another hour."

Looking down at the glass in my hands, I gently run my fingertips up and down the flute. I notice how the blue on my nails is starting to chip and I make a mental note to change the polish before muttering, "I know, and I said I was sorry."

"Sorry isn't gonna always save you, Anastasia." She goes back to the dress, sighing. "With all that said, from now on, you can't go out unless one of us is with you. Understand?"

I roll my eyes in amusement, laughing sarcastically, "Sure. Whatever you say mom."

Eyes look up at me, "You think I'm joking?"

I start to nod, but then I notice the serious quirk in her eyebrows. My laugh dies done until it's quiet again. "Mom, who is 'us'?"

"Andy, Luke, or me."

What? I shake my head furiously, "C'mon mom, you can't be serious."

"I'm completely serious Anastasia. Unless one of us is with you you're to stay in this house. We're done talking about this now. Do you remember, Elise?" With a nod she looks down at the dress again and smiles up at me, "She's one of my bridesmaids. When you were younger she babysat you, remember?"

I don't answer her on account of how I'm still trying to wrap my head around her words, "Mom, you're not serious, right? I mean, about the going outside thing. Like, I know I'm grounded. That's cool, no TV or internet for a week, alright cool. Whatever. But I can still go outside right?"

She ignores me, "So she in the girls went out to New York and they found this dress for you! It has the frills I wanted and this nice little flower thing going on. It just says summer." She peeks at Andrew, "Right, honey?"

He nods, distracted. Jumping up from my seat, I press on further. "Right mom? I can still go outside, right?"

"I think it's really pretty. What do you think Annie, you like it? Try it on." Lifting it, she holds it out me.

I ignore her  outstretched hand, "Mom, I'm almost seventeen! I don't need you guys  trailing me around everywhere I go, I'm not a baby!"

"Well, you should've thought about all that before I had to send someone to go get you." She finally counters back. The dress is pushed into my arms and I'm suffocating underneath a face full of pink ruffles. "You know, Annie,  I don't even think you deserve a car. If you can't follow rules without one,  imagine your behavior when you finally get behind the wheel."

I fight my way above the dress to glare at her, practically shouting, "Okay, now you're being  irrational!" I glance over at Andrew, pleading him with  my eyes to talk some sense into my mom, but he looks away quickly.

What a coward.

"Irrational was you knowing Luke was waiting for you for over an hour and not caring!"

"Over an hour?" I repeat, trying not to scream. "That is such a lie! H-He had just gotten there when I came ba--,"

Frowning, she holds her palm up, "I don't want to hear it, Annie. Just please, go try the dress on."

I'm so mad, and I'm trying not to cry because Andrew is in the kitchen and I squeeze my fists; tightly bunching the dress up in my hands. I sniffle angrily, and much to my annoyance I can see that out of the corner of my eye, Andrew is in fact staring at me; pity clear in his eyes. I take a deep breath and manage one last scowl at my mother before turning around and stomping upstairs into my room as best as I can without putting too much pressure on my damaged knee.

Huffing, I set my dress  down on my bed and I take a few minutes to stare at it. I'm contemplating whether or not I actually want to give her the satisfaction of trying on the damn ugly thing, but I figure I might as well. It won't be any easier to convince her to let me off the hook if I won't even listen to her.

I quickly strip out of my clothes,  careful of my knee. It's bruised now, a mix of dark purple and red and I frown down at it. Gross. Unzipping the dress, I  step into the ugly thing and shimmy it up my legs. It's barely over my  chest, before my bedroom door opens and Luke steps in, closing  it quietly behind him.

"What are you doing?" I just about scream, spinning around and hunching over as I try snatch the rest of the dress up and over chest. "Get out!"

I glance over my shoulder at him, "Ever heard of this thing called privacy? I am a girl you know? You can't just walk into my room anytime you w--"

"Shut up, Annie." Luke mumbles.

Shut up? Did he just fucking tell me to shut up! I whirl around to face him. He's changed into a red flannel, which must be like the only fashion he seems to up to date with, and I notice that first few of the top buttons are unbuttoned. I blinking, trying not to look down at his pale, smooth skin.

"Get out of my room," I hiss. He rolls his his eyes and stalks towards me before throwing himself down on my bed. Luke sighs, "Want to tell me who the hell that guy was?"

I laugh dryly. "Oh so now you want to talk to me? You ignored me the whole way here, didn't even back me up to my mom, a-and you just told me to shut up, but now you want to say  something?" I narrow my eyes at him, as I try to zip my dress up; one hand clutched tight against my chest and the other awkwardly bent behind my back reaching for the zipper.

"Who was that guy?" Luke asks again, totally ignoring my question and leaning back to stare at me. His hand on his chin and he's impassively running his pointer finger back and forth over his bottom lip.

I turn around with an annoyed sigh. I  don't know who Luke thinks he is, but he is most definitely not my  father. "I don't have to answer to you."

"You just did." I ignore him, and he continues on. "Well, whoever he is, he looks like a fucking loser to me."

For some reason, this makes me really mad and I whirl around with half the mind to lunge myself at him. Only I'm stopped when I feel Luke's fingers down at the small of my back, gently grasping the zipper. I freeze up.

"Idiot doesn't even know  how to ride a damn bike." Cool fingertips brush against my skin, and he slowly zips me up; his knuckles gliding all the way up my back. Goosebumps rise on my arms and I focus on my dresser in front of me. Anything to keep myself calm.

I roll my eyes even though he can't see me. "What do you care?"

"I don't care." He mumbles, "I have my own car, just saying."

"No one asked," I huff. "Not everyone is spoiled like you. Plus, Ashton is saving for one."

"That's his name?" Luke asks, "Ashton?"

I choose to ignore this, shifting on my leg. "Can you please hurry, Luke? My knee hurts."

He sighs, long and quiet and slides the zipper up the rest of the way; his fingers gingerly arranging my hair neatly around my shoulders. His fingers lingers on my neck, "How bad is your punishment?"

I can barely think, let alone talk because I'm so concentrated on his gentle touch and after a minute or so, I manage to step away from him; turning around. "You tell me. How good looking is Donald Trump's hair?"

Luke grins shyly down at me, his dimple revealing itself once again. "That bad?"

Nodding, "I can't go anywhere unless you, my mom or Andrew is with me."

He pauses as if he's thinking about what I just said said. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd be more than happy to chauffeur you around."

"Great," I mumble sarcastically, before letting out a deep steady breath. "Alright, how does this look?"

Luke takes a step back, and then he takes a seat on the edge of my bed before crossing his legs at the ankle. He smirks, "Is this the part where I have to lie and say you don't look fat?"

I bite my lip to keep from smiling, "Seriously come on."

"Okay, honest opinion, it's not the best. I mean, you look good -- you always look good -- but that dress? It's gotta go, it's hideous. Nothing can make it look better, not even you in it."

My stomach dips at his indirect compliment, and because playful Luke is back I allow myself to laugh before heading over to my mirror to look at it. It's sleeveless and tight at the top, and then it fans down around my knees like a huge umbrella. There's also some droopy, 3D looking flower thing going on around my waist, and I swear I look like Mary Poppins if she lived in the 21st century and liked the color pink. I tilt my head to the side, blowing out a breath. "I hate it."

"You and I both, Annie." The bed creaks and Luke stands up, walking over to the door. "Hey, come here. I'm gonna get you a band-aid." He shakes his head, "Your knee is seriously starting to freak me out."

I roll my eyes at his need to dramatize everything and I follow him out and across the hall to the bathroom. He's standing against the door frame, his head lazily leaned back and he reaches up and ruffles his fingers in my hair, when I slip past him.

Laughing, I shy away from him. "Hey watch it, not everyone has perfect hair like you."

"You think my hair is perfect?" He smiles and then he motions for me to sit on top of the bathroom counter.

"Nope." I say, putting extra emphasis on the 'p'. He just rolls his eyes and with another slight smile, I turn to the counter. Frowning, I pointedly glance down at the dress. "I don't think I can jump u-"

"I got you." Luke insists, before I can even finish. Then he's gripping my waist and lifting me with ease up onto the counter. With a smile, he says, "Hi, I'm Dr. Luke. What seems to be the problem today?"

I try not to laugh. He's such a dork. But then with he smiles widely, showing all of his teeth, I can't help it. Leaning forward, I lift my dress over my knees to point to my bruise. "I fell."

"Of course you did." He reaches over my shoulder behind me to get to the vanity cabinet and I peek up at him while he rifles through it.

"What are you looking for?" I whisper. Blue eyes look down at me, bright and gleaming in that calm, carefree way and I feel my stomach clench again. My lord, he is just a boy! Calm down.

Luke raises his eyebrows and then takes out a first aid kit, "Betcha' didn't know that Neosporin could fix anything." He ducks his head as he cleans my knee up, carefully applying the ointment, and I stare down at his fluffy blonde hair. It looks so silky and soft and I ball my fists up in my lap to stop myself from sinking my fingers in it.

"So, we have Batman and Spider-Man." Luke says when he's all done, blinking up at me with wide oceanic eyes.

"What?"

He smiles, "Band-aids. Which one do you want?"

"Oh." I say and then I fake a pout, "No Dora? A feminist would be really mad, Luke."

Teeth chew on his lip ring to keep himself from laughing and he shakes his head, briefly shutting his eyes, "Unfortunately, no I don't have any Dora. But I hear that Batman guy is pretty cool."

"Okay, but only because you said so."

He laughs and leans down to put it on, "He'll keep you safe."

"I owe you my life," I start. "Thank you, Dr. Fluke."

"Fluke?"

He helps me off the counter, and starts to clean up. Leaning back, I nod. "Because you're not like a real doctor. So, fake and Luke makes, Fluke."

I grin up at him extra wide, showing all my teeth. The same way he does to me sometimes.

"Actually, its makes flake." Luke laughs, glancing at me. "But Fluke has a ring to it, so I'll be your Dr. Fluke, anytime."

I smile. And then with all seriousness, I point down at my band-aid and say, "Seriously though, thank you. It doesn't look as gross now."

He nods at me, reaching out to lightly run his pointer finger over my hand and then we're shuffling out into the hall. "Annie?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell your little boyfriend to be careful next time." He rolls his blue eyes and I know playful Luke is a goner, "Or you won't be the only one who needs to see, Dr. Fluke."

I stare at him, slightly shocked and slightly amused, and then I raise my eyebrows at him before I head downstairs to show my mom the dress.

--

school sucks.