Hello everyone! Welcome to Twelve Nights: Lore of Lucas. Here is the companion story for Twelve Nights: Rhetoric of Riley. If you want the whole story you'll need to read both stories. Couple things just in case you haven't read ROR yet.
1. These stories are based off Twelfth night and other adaptations of the play.
2. Josh and Riley are twins
3. Everyone are starting their senior year.

"There you are; I was looking all over for you." I looked up from the tranquility at my best friend who had managed to find me at one of my hiding spots. It was one of those spots that I could get away from everything and let my mind wander. I flashed a friendly smile towards him.
"You know the purpose of a hiding spot is that no one will find me right?"
"Well excuse me for not letting you be late to practice and coach will make us run laps." He lent me a hand and pulled me up. The stiffness in my legs only made it apparent on how long I had been sitting there. We started walking in the direction of the football field.
"Crazy idea, how about we de-stress from all the tests that teachers gave us this week. It made it truly bru-tal." He annunciated the syllables. I knew if I said certain phrases it would jumpstart Zay on his theory about how the teachers were conspiring against us with planning tests during the same week for the umpteenth time.
"I can't, I have plans."
"So ditch Missy, and spend the weekend with me playing Call of Duty."
"I don't have plans with Missy." His eyes widened as he picked up on my tone.
"He's home, isn't he?" Zay could understand my pain when it came to tough fathers, and was there when I needed to rant about my crappy relationship with my father.
"How long is he staying?" I felt my walls start to grow higher hoping the subject would change rapidly.
"Long enough," I scoffed. Zay saw through my act, it was one of the reasons our friendship had grown close. I glanced down at my phone and responded to Missy's text that were awaiting me.
"We got to go." Practice started in 15 minutes and we were halfway across campus.
"Race you," Zay challenged and my lips twisted upwards. He knew I couldn't resist a challenge.
"Alright, 1"- Zay didn't even finish counting before he took off leaving me behind.
"Hey!" I took off after him pushing my body to maximum velocity.
"No fair, you cheated!" Zay called out as I passed him.
"How?" I chuckled.
"By being a freak." I pushed on towards the football field, coach was ruthless with anyone who was late to his practice; you never wanted to get on his bad side, ever.

"Run the play again!" I ignored the urge to roll my eyes as the coach. He had pushed the team harder than normal, maybe it was all the pressure he was getting for a winning season.
"Friar, I'm sending this your way," Thor, the quarterback called my way. When the ball snapped I pushed past scrimmage player assigned to guard me and run as fast as I could. I turned back in enough time that the ball fell into my grasp. The feeling of out running the rest of the guys into the end zone was always an accomplished feeling.
"Great job Friar, play like that and you'll have college scouts looking at you this season." The coach never gave compliments easily; he was a stone cold man that barely showed any emotion to anyone.
"Practice is done for the day, I'm sure you'll all at practice next week before our first real game." The huddled break as I made my way with the teammates towards the locker room.
"Hey Babineaux, your game better, if want to keep playing. Maybe if you would have taken care of Vanessa, she would have stuck around and it wouldn't affect your game."
"Shut it Billy." I snapped protecting my friend, but the words were already said. My words didn't faze him as he shook his head and walked off.
"Zay, he didn't mean that," I threw a him a sympathetic look as he gathered his things.
"Don't worry about it," I've known Zay for years and I knew that he was hurting. Even though Vanessa and Zay hadn't lasted long, Zay had fallen for the girl faster than he probably had intended and she dumped him a week ago. A warm smile flashed on my lips, as ideas turned into my head.
"Why don't you come over? I'm going home because my Dad will be there," I offered. "There's Zombie Kill 4 and my mom's blueberry muffins." Zay nodded without hesitation.

"Whose moving in?" Zay's eyes lingered on the moving truck and the people loading boxes.
"What if it's a cute girl, can I call dibs?" I had to laugh at him.
"What if she doesn't go for you?" I quipped.
"Well you're taken, so it's not like she can go for you." He shot back as I parked the car.
"I can use my words and smooth moves to win her over." Zay explained as we walked into the house.
"Luke, is that you?" The smell of fresh blueberry muffins filled my nostrils.
"Yes Ma'am." My mother and I have a special bond, people always said that I bore more of the resemblance to my father, but who I was as a person, that was my mother.
"Hi Zay, you boys are in luck, I just took a batch of muffins out of the oven."
"Thank you Mrs. Friar." The two exchanged smiles
"Hey Mom, Zay and I are going to go up to my room for a bit." I pointed to the direction of my room.
"Ok, Zay were you planning on staying for dinner?"
"Well since you asked so nicely Mrs. Friar." I rolled my eyes, Zay has always had the ability to sweet talk any parent that was put in his path. It came in handy in some situations, but most of the time he just liked to show off. Zay and I made our way up to my room where the world faded into a fantasy land where Zombies had over run the world.
"Watch out on your right!"
"Got it." My fingers tapped the controller trying to blow the zombie's brains out.
"Lucas." My body stiffened at the sound of my Father's strict voice. The pause button couldn't be pressed faster. We exchanged eye contact as I let out a sigh.
My father was found in his study, it was one of his favorite places in the house, usually because no one bothered him while he was in there.
"Sir," it was always better to address him respectfully.
"Are you all prepared for the school year? Your classes going well?"
"Yes sir."
"Have you reached out to firm for the internship?"
"Not yet sir, but"-
"What were you thinking? School has already begun. I expect that to be resolved by fall break, do I make myself clear? I'm not going to tell you twice" My eyes fell to the ground as I grumbled a yes sir. He dismissed me, I couldn't leave the study fast enough. My feet dredged up the stairs my mood soured by the conversation. He was gone the vast majority of the time, and when he was home, I could never please him. It was a lose-lose situation no matter what I did.
"Lucas, what's"-
"Nothing, can we just play?" I saw him wince when I snapped at him as regret started seeping in. My father was always a callous towards me, probably because of the way Pappy Joe treated him. I could only please him if I did what he wanted and sometimes that wasn't even enough.
"No need to get defensive." The subject matter was dropped for the time being as Zay and I continued the game. I muttered expletives as I lost two lives to stupid mistakes.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Luke, Missy is here." My eyes widened, I had forgotten that she had wanted to come over. I couldn't turn her down especially since she drove from the school.
"No, Lucas. Are you kidding me man?" Zay had never liked Missy, he avoided her when he could. This feud between them only grew every time they were in the same room together.
"Lucas!" I watched Zay's face cringe.
"Hey Babe," I gave her a quick peck not wanting to make him anymore uncomfortable than he already was.
"What is he doing here?" Her tone dropped to an unpleasant one.
"If you recall, I was here first." Zay muttered. Missy opened her mouth to counteract but I interrupted.
"Can I talk to you?" I ignored the faces he threw at her knowing the best course of action was to separate them. When I closed the door Missy crossed her arms over her chest.
"But Luke, we were supposed to hang out tonight, you said you were free."
"He needs a friend right now." Her hand started to caress my face.
"But I need my boyfriend," she pouted her lips, but I knew I had to stay firm.
"Why don't I take you out tomorrow? Dinner, and tonight we will watch a movie. He's a good guy, and if you spend time with him, you'd see that." I opened the door and Zay tumbled back; he gave a sheepish grin. I opened my mouth to retort when my mother's voice filled the air calling us for dinner.

I don't know what I was expecting when my parents, Missy, and Zay all sat down to partake in dinner; maybe I expected world war 4 to break out. Pure utter awkward silence stunned the table. Zay decided to ignore the blatant tension and stuffed his plate to capacity.
"Thank you for the meal Mrs. Friar, my mother's cooking has nothing on yours." I noticed my dad's mouth tugged downward into a scowl. Unlike my mother, my father never really approved of Zay. He thought that he was always getting me into trouble or distracting me where as Missy could do no wrong in his eyes. My mother on the other hand disliked the girl since I brought her home 3 months ago. She would be more than polite when she was over, but that was the kind of person my mother was. She was telling me that I could do better than her.
"Missy, are you setting your sights on VP this year? You would make an excellent running mate with my son."
"Actually Dad"-
"Of course, Mr. Friar. I think Lucas would make a fine class president."
"It's not the president that worries me, it's the VP." Zay muttered loud enough for my ears pick up.

"Zay," I breathed in warning. The sound of a cell phone beeping that distracted the table. Missy grabbed it quickly when she saw the name flashed across the caller ID.

"Who's David?" Zay's uttered to himself, my eyebrows narrowed. The name didn't sound familiar, I noted to ask her later.

"I'm sorry, I need to answer this," The blonde excused herself from table leaving the other four behind; my mother was the one break the silence.

"So who wants dessert?" Zay raised his hand only to lower it because the glare my father shot him.

It was after dinner that I was required to take the trash per my mother's request. The dinner went less than stellar, with Zay making hidden jabs at Missy during the entire thing. I made a mental note to talk to him tomorrow about it when she wasn't around. The night was perfect, the stars were out, the air started to get crisp. It was my favorite time of year, the change in the weather that favored the fall over the summer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a brunette standing on the sidewalk a couple houses down. I hadn't seen her before; she must be part of the family that moved in. I wasn't looking where I was l going, and managed to trip on the garbage can in front of me. I managed to stabilize myself, but now I was very sure I had an audience of one. When I turned my head I found out that my gut was correct; the girl was looking in my direction. I could tell that she was upset even from the distance, and I was torn. If it was me I would want someone to talk to me, even if it was a complete stranger. I opened my mouth to ask her if she was alright when my name was called.
"Lucas," I looked back to the direction from which Missy's voice came from. I glanced back and saw a blonde come out to comfort the girl. A feeling of relief flooded my system, and I didn't know why; I didn't even know the girl. I ventured back inside to see the sight of my best friend and my girlfriend standing opposite to each other. It was up to me to keep to keep the peace between them.
"How about a movie?" It was the only thing that I could think of on the spot that would not start a civil war between then. I didn't wait for objections before heading the kitchen for popcorn. After the popcorn was prepped and pour I gave pause, what this needed was something sweet to counteract the salty. Chocolate chips were the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed the bag and mixed it in the snack, despite the objections I was sure I would face in the other room.
"I got the popcorn," I announced when I went into the family room. I managed to sit between my best friend and girlfriend trying to keep the peace.
"What's in the popcorn?" Missy whined as a smirk landed on my lips as I threw another bite into my mouth letting the flavors fuse.
"Chocolate," I answered without missing a beat. "Sweet and salty, they bring out the best in each other." All the talk ceased as we set our gaze on the movie, I was secretly hoping that the night would return to some kind of normal.

A.n.- And finished chapter 1. I'm super excited to share this story with you all. Please leave your thoughts in a review. Fav and follow if you want to bring a smile to my face. See you all next update.