Luke {4}

It used to be great —or at least, Luke used to think it was the coolest thing in the world— to spend whole afternoons with you at the skatepark, at home, at school… anywhere, as long as you did stupid things and had fun like silly kids.

Now that they're in high school and Luke is starting to notice how stupid everyone thinks he is, he almost unconsciously tries not to be so himself.

And clearly it's not working out very well for him.

All of that inevitably brings him back to you: the inside jokes, the useless gadgets and inventions you made over the summer, the projects stored in the garage, the impromptu movies with a thousand different plots where you were the stars, hidden away on Phil's video camera. Luke almost tries to forget all of it; he's not a kid anymore, which means he doesn't need those things anymore. Right?

But they're everywhere, and everyone notices they don't spend as much time together anymore. And it's only when you go into the house looking for him that Luke feels that familiar urge to be near you. Stronger than his desire to impress any girl in his class or to fit in with the others.

It's you.

Of course, Luke is still Luke, so he just half-takes off one of his headphones, without taking his eyes off the video game.

—Hey, what's up?

He nods his chin as if he doesn't care, pretending to be more focused on the joystick buttons. He's playing one where you two were amazing, breaking records together. Even your usernames matched.

"Do you want to play?" Luke asks without thinking, out of pure habit.

Even though his hands are a little sweaty and he's too aware of your gaze, he's already putting a joystick in your lap as soon as you sit down next to him on the sofa.

—But you can't get mad if I win. Besides, it's not even cheating if you get distracted.

He shrugged as his knees brushed against yours.

Yes, Luke sucks at pretending to be indifferent to certain things.