Chapter Seven

Ashleigh sighed as she walked out of their last class, following closely behind Luka. The classes she took had always been boring, usually just repeating things she already knew, but these had been even worse.

Add to the fact that she'd been hyper aware of Luka, who was sitting mere inches away from her, and focusing on the teachers and lessons had became damn near impossible. He'd caught her staring more than once, much to her dismay, though that didn't seem to stop him from smiling at her and sharing his text book.

She sighed again. Maybe sitting next to Luka isn't such a good idea.

"Am I boring you already?" Luka's words snapped her from her daze as they made their way to the lockers.

"No, sorry," she smiled sheepishly. "I just zoned out for a minute there."

"Yeah, I kind of feel like a zombie after language classes too." He stretched his arms out in front of his body, groaning like one of the undead. "Verbs…conjunctions...grammar."

Ashleigh burst out laughing, causing Luka to smile triumphantly. She's so pretty when she smiles.

"Grammar Zombie?"

Ashleigh glanced at the girl that had come to a stop in front of them. Her eyes widened at the bright contrast of the vibrant purple in the girls black hair.

"Oh wow!" Ashleigh exclaimed, approaching her. "I love your hair! It looks so pretty with the purple in it."

Juleka was at a loss for words. Her brother rarely hung out with anyone his own age, usually opting to join her and her friends if they went anywhere. He was more of a solitary creature, always feeling awkward around others, yet here he was, chatting happily with not only someone from his class, but a girl? Did aliens abduct my brother and send a replacement?

"Hey! You never said anything about my hair," Luka pouted, tugging at his own teal tips.

Ashleigh let out a small laugh at his puppy dog eyes as he stood there looking at her, clearly waiting for a compliment. "Oh sorry, of course your hair looks really pretty too Luka!" She batted her eyelashes as him mockingly.

His nose scrunched up, clearly displeased with receiving the same compliment as his sister. Both girls burst out laughing.

"I'm Juleka, the Grammar Zombies younger sister," she smiled, extending a hand.

"Ashleigh," she smiled back, shaking her hand. "Fellow Grammar Zombie to your brother."

Juleka couldn't help but notice her brothers lingering glances at his classmate, which only made her smile bigger. Interesting.

"She's a new student, and new to Paris actually, so I'm going to be showing her around a bit." Luka smiled at Ashleigh before facing his sister. "I texted mom, but could you let her know that I'll be home later, just in case?"

"It's just the two of you going?" Juleka asked quietly, slightly surprised.

"Um, yeah," Luka rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away from his sister, slightly embarrassed. "I mean you can join us if you'd like. I mean, you and your friends. The more the merrier, right?"

"No, it's okay," Juleka looked at Ashleigh, who kept glancing at her brother. Hmmm… "I'll let mom know, just make sure you take her to see André."

"Uh, um…" Lukas face turned bright red as he frantically looked away from them. "Yeah, um, I was thinking about it."

"Huh, who's André?" Ashleigh looked at Juleka, confused.

"Oh, um, he's the ice cream man of Paris," Luka quickly interjected. No way am I letting her explain that one! "He serves the best ice cream around, and you never know where he's going to set up his ice cream stand."

Ashleigh's eyes began to sparkle with excitement. "Like a treasure hunt with ice cream at the end?" That sounds like so much fun!

"Exactly," Juleka bit her lip to keep from laughing at her brothers obvious embarrassment. "His ice cream is well know and greatly sought after."

"That settles it!" She spun to face Luka, taking him by surprise as she grabbed his hands, barely able to contain her excitement. "We definitely have to track down this André and enjoy some ice cream!"

Luka couldn't help but smile at her, his embarrassment forgotten. She looks like a kid on Christmas. So cute! "I'll look online to see where people have seen him recently so that we have a better chance of finding him."

"Great!" Ashleigh smiled brightly at him, clapping her hands together. "I'll be counting on you!"

"Have fun," Juleka waved to her brother and his new friend as she walked away.

"Oh, bye Juleka!" Ashleigh waved, briefly distracted from the promise of ice cream.

"See ya," Luka waved quickly before pulling out his phone. Let the hunt begin.

"Wow! Everything looks so beautiful!" Ashleigh exclaimed as they walked through downtown Paris. "There's so much to see!"

Luka chuckled. "And this is only day one."

"Day one?" She looked at his smiling face, confused.

"Oh, didn't I say?" Luka grinned. "This is only day one of the week long Luka Couffaine tour," he winked at her.

Ashleigh bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I thought this was supposed to be a date now, not a tour," she teased.

Luka blushed, taken by surprise. "Uh, yeah I guess I did say that," he laughed nervously. Dude, pull it together! "Let's say date/tour."

"Does that mean it's a week long date then?" Ashleigh blushed slightly at her own words, but tried to push through her nervousness. Time to summon my inner Demi! Well, his confidence level at least.

Luka paused. Is she for real? Is this how you get a girlfriend?

Ashleigh bit her lip, worried by his silence. Did I say something wrong? "Um, I'm just teasing. I didn't mean to throw you off guard there," she laughed nervously. "Just ignore me, I say crazy things sometimes."

Luka exhaled, trying to shake off his nerves. "No, it's fine. My teasing can get out of hand at times too," he offered her a reassuring smile. "Let's just call this a tour for now."

"Deal."