We were still lying in bed the next morning when Lucas rolled towards me, "So, what were the tears about Peyt?" "What?" He took me off guard; I didn't think he was awake when I was crying. "Your face. You look sad, like you've been crying..." "Oh, yeah, that." He waited for an answer. "My father, you know, I wish he were around more." He didn't say anything so I continued, "I mean, he's always been gone a lot, but I don't know... My mom was around before, you know, so it's not like I was alone." I concentrated on my loneliness for awhile, then I threw back to covers and walked towards the bathroom. "You should get home and get ready for school." Lucas walked towards the door, then turned around to look at me as I turned on the water for my shower, "Meet you by your locker before 1st period?" I nodded closing the bathroom door, assuming that Lucas left right afterwards.
I'd been pretending to look for something in my locker for 10 minutes and the last bell before class was about to ring. Where is he? "Hey! Peyt! Sorry, I was running late. Mom insisted that I eat breakfast this morning," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. I bobbed my head knowingly. Karen was a protective mother and whenever I was over at their house it was like a security lockdown. She liked my father, but secretly scolded him for not being around more. She acted like she and Lucas had to love me enough for all three of them--her, Lucas, and my absent father. "Oh, she wanted to make sure that you were going to be there for dinner tonight." Trying to entice me, he added, "She's making your faaavorite..." I let out a sight laugh, "Yeah, OK." I knew she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
The halls were crowded as the last of the people trickled in before classes started. I slammed my locker shut so we could get to class early and get seats next to each other. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a piece of paper on the ground, Lucas mentioned, "Oh, I think you dropped that." I had caught sight of one of my drawings and as I got a closer look, I realized the words that were once on it were gone and replaced by an embarrassing declaration of love. My face turned beat red. "Nope, not mine!" I said with nervous certainty. Brooke, who was standing at her locker, which was three down from mine, must have heard what Lucas said because she glanced down and affirmed, "Peyton, that's totally your drawing." "No, it's not." I denied quickly. Brooke looked confused and bent down to pick it up reading what it said. She started letting out little bursts of laughter before she finally gave into open mouth hysteria. Some girls near us came over to see what was so funny. Soon, half of the people in the hall were laughing. Even though it was totally embarrassing, I started laughing a little, too. Lucas leaned in close and breathed in my ear, "Don't worry, I wont tell anyone where the smell came from." "You!" I started hitting his chest in mock anger and he engulfed me in a bear hug. He must have taken the drawing while I was in the shower. No wonder he was running late. He was hugging me so tight I couldn't hit him anymore, so we stood there laughing. Soon everyone had gone to class and we were two of the last few left in the hall. "I told you I would play your game," he winked. "Oh yeah, well, now it's my turn, so be watching out for it..." I playfully warned. "Ohh, I'm sooo scared." He wanted to make sure I knew all of his intentions, "But seriously, Peyt, I just wanted to see you smile." "Well, thanks," I said sarcastically, "but now everyone will think that I like Hanson!" This started another wave of laughter.
We walked into class late, and the teacher scolded us and told us to immediately take our seats, stressing that she wanted us separated. Later in the school year, she'd begin to intolerantly ignore us. We were always late and had different, elaborate excuses each time, so finally one day she quit asking. On this particular day, something happened that seemed insignificant and that I won't remember until much later. Something that changed everything between Lucas and me.