Love Heals All

“I can’t believe that summer is over!” I squealed with excitement to my friend Danielle. “I know! This year is going to be terrible! Especially cause my cousin Luke is transferring to our school!” Danielle replied. We were walking down the cramped halls of West Creek High School. This was our sophomore year at WCHS. The halls were filled with teenagers talking to there friends about what the year was to bring and what happened over there summer. 
         “Oh come on Danni, Luke can’t be that bad!” I replied laughing as we arrived at the locker Danielle and I were to share. “He already knows all of the guys on every school team! Including Josh…. Gosh he has probably already spread rumors about me like wildfire!” Danielle replied shoving her book bag into the locker. Danielle has had a crush on Josh since 7th grade. He was the star on the football team and one of Luke’s best friends.          
         “Well look who it is, Diaper Rash Danni!” Luke said laughing. Diaper Rash Danni was Danielle’s nick name from her family and Luke couldn’t help but make fun of it every chance he had.  “Lay off Luke!” Danni replied. “Alright, I was just joking around! Let me see your schedule” Luke said grabbing the schedule from Danni’s hands. “Luke come on!” Danni said trying to grab the schedule back from him, but didn’t succeed.
         “Darn, We have no classes together!” He said sarcastically. “Oh! Hey Charlie I didn’t even see you there!” Luke said his voice sounding apologetic. “ Hey Luke. How are you?” I asked trying not to sound hurt by him not seeing me. I have had a secret crush on Luke ever since I seen him at Danni’s, which was about six years ago when we were in fourth grade. “I’m okay, can I see your schedule?” he asked me.  I handed him my schedule. He looked at it and a huge smile came over his face. “We have every class together except third hour”  he told me. WOO HOO! my mind jumped with excitement. “That’s awesome!” I told him looking directly into his eyes.  I took my schedule from him and stood there for a minuet and realized I was blushing. I must look like a tomato! I thought to my self. “Well I’m heading to class, see you Danni!”  I said walking as quickly away as I could through the crowds.
         “Hey babe! Wait up!” My boyfriend Jack called from behind me. He grabbed my arm and I could see the anger in his eyes. I tried to pull my arm away, but he kept squeezing my arm harder and harder until he finally released it. “I saw you talking to Mainer! What’s up with that?” he asked in a angry voice.  “Jack not here, everyone is staring at us!” I told him and grabbed his arm trying to pull him into a classroom to talk. he quickly pulled his arm away from my hands and pushed me backwards almost making me fall. “What do you like him or something?” he asked. I looked over at Luke and Danni they were both just staring at me. “No Jack!  I have you!” I told him knowing my face was as red as ever. “Yeah well not anymore, were through!” he said pushing me out of the way, this time making me fall to the ground.          
         I sat there for a minuet until I caught my breath again. People rushed over to help me up, including Danni. I just pushed everyone away. The bell for the start of class rang and I continued forward to my first hour history class. I sat in a chair near the back. Luke walked over and sat next to me. “Welcome to History 520! I’m Mrs. Harper…” Halfway through Mrs. Harpers Speech I lost it. I broke down and started crying in my hands, loud enough for Mrs. Harper to hear. “Charlie Lanning, do you need to go out into the hall?” She asked me.  I shook my head and ran out of the class.  I heard Luke say my name but I just kept walking my head in my hands.
          I sat in the empty hall crying for what had seemed like forever until Luke came out. But in reality it was just a few minuets. He sat next to me and didn’t talk. When he did he grabbed my hand, and just said my name, showing that he was here for me.  I broke down and put my head on his shoulder. He pulled me onto his lap, and I put my head on his chest. “Luke, what’s wrong with me?” I asked “Charlie you are perfect” he said wrapping his arms around me. “Yeah well Jack doesn’t think so! We dated for seven months, and all through those months he pushed, slapped and hit me, he told me that I couldn’t break up with him or something bad would happen, so I never did, and just because I talked to you he dumped me. I guess I should be happy he actually noticed me. I’m so ugly!” I told him looking at my arm and the bruise he left.
         “Hey! Don’t say that! Plenty of guys like you!” he told me. “Like who?” I asked sarcastically. “Well, Alan, Brett, Me.” he told me looking into my eyes. We didn’t talk at all after that, just sat in silence with me in his lap and my head on his chest.  The bell rang, and I stood up, Luke doing the same. He grabbed my shoulders “are you okay?” he asked. “I will be, as long as you’re here with me.” I told him.
         Second hour passed quickly, mostly because Luke was with me. He sat next to me, and didn’t say anything. When I arrived at my third hour, my heart stopped. I seen Jack hanging all over Claire. Oh great, the only class without Luke I have to deal with Jack!  I thought to my self. I took a seat near the front as far away from jack as I could get. To my displeasure Jack came and tried to talk to me, sitting in the seat to my right. “EXCUSE ME! But I was sitting there.” Danni told Jack pushing him out of the seat.

         Jack stood up and tried to sit in the seat on the other side of me but to my surprise Alexandra the head cheerleader and also Danni’s other best friend pushed him out of the way and sat down. “Charlie we need to talk!” Jack told me from behind me. “Um I’m sorry but I don’t talk to abusive guys!” I told him. “I’m not abusive!” he retorted. “Yeah, well were did I get all of these bruises? Well I’ll answer that myself maybe from when you pushed me this morning!” I told him. “Get lost Jerk!” Danni said to him. Jack finally gave up and walked back to talk to Claire, but she completely ignored him.  “Thanks a bunch guys!” I told both girls. “Don’t worry about it! Jack did the same things to me!” Alexandra told him.
         Alexandra, Danni and I all walked back to our locker. Alexandra was also sharing the locker with Danni and I. To my surprise I saw Luke waiting for us. “Well look who it is! Luke why are you by my locker?” she asked sarcastically. “I wanted to give this note to Charlie, if that’s okay with you.” he told Danni also sarcastically.  He handed me a note, told me to write back and walked away from our locker. I put my books away and while waiting for Danni I read Luke’s note. It read:
Charlie,
I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That was quite a morning we had together. We should talk about it. Whenever you are ready you know my number.
Love,
Luke.
I finished reading the note, folded the note back up and put it in the  pocket, of my jeans. I walked with Danni and Alexandra until we reached my classroom which is number thirty-eight A.          
         I walked into the classroom and seen Luke talking to Josh. Oh great. Just what Danni was afraid of. I walked over to Luke and grabbed his arm. “He’ll be right back” I told his friends. “What are you talking to Josh about?” I asked him. “We were just talking about the upcoming dance. He wants to ask Danni to it.”  What did you tell him?”  I asked anxiously. “I told him to go for it!” he said with a smile. “Good” I said returning the smile.
         The bell rang and we all sat down, of course with Luke sitting next to me. He ripped out a small piece of paper, and wrote down how are you feeling?  I took out a pencil and wrote down I’m doing better, Jack is in my third hour.  I wrote with a sad smiley face. I didn’t even pay attention to what the teacher was saying I was too busy writing notes with Luke. He wrote back well now you can be better cause I’m here I wrote back yes with a heart around it.
         After fourth hour was my lunch, it was C lunch. Luke walked me back to my locker where we caught up with Alexandra and Danni. We all talked on the way to lunch about our first four hours, not brining up Jack at all. We ate lunch talking about our summers and how we were glad to be all in the same lunch. I looked over by the door and seen Josh staring at Danni. “Oh hey Danni don’t look over by the door, you might choke on your food” I said with a smile. Against my advice she looked over and did exactly what I told her she would do: she choked on her French fry. “I told you so!” I laughed after I made sure she was okay.
         
         Josh walked over and sat next to Danni. “Hey Alexandra lets go check our hair.” I said with sly smile. “Luke, you want to go in the lobby and wait for me?” I asked. “Uh not rea…” I wouldn’t let him finish his sentence as I grabbed his hand and walked him away from the table, looking back at Danni. Her face was glowing with happiness.  We went into the lobby and all sat together. I looked over and seen jack and his friends pointing at me. “Gosh he is such a jerk!” Alexandra said following my glare. She stood up and walked over to him, all I could was that she was yelling at Jack. She composed her self and walked back over to where Luke and I were sitting.
         Danni walked by with Josh holding her hand. “Looks like that went well!” I said out loud “Luke that was awesome of you to tell josh to go for it!”  I told him looking over at him. “I like to see my cousin happy, even though I bug the heck out of her.” he said smiling. The bell rang and we all stood up and walked to our lockers. Alexandra and I went to ours with Danni and Luke and Josh went the other way. “What happened?” I asked trying to pry the information out of Danni. “He asked me to the dance and to be his girlfriend!” she said with a wide grin on her face. “Oh my goodness! What am I going to wear?!” Danni asked on the verge of a nervous break down. “Slow down there! The dance isn’t until September fifteenth it’s only the first.” I told Danni. She laughed, “I guess your right!” She grabbed her stuff and walked to her next class. Alexandra and I both had Math for our fifth hour, so we decided to walk to class together.
         “So who are you going to the dance with? Anyone ask you?” I asked her on the way to fifth hour. “No one yet. But it’s still early. So what about you?” she asked winking at me. “You and Luke seem to be getting cozy!” “I don’t know what you mean! There’s nothing going on!” I told her “Oh come on Charlie I wasn’t born yesterday, I can see the looks you two exchange!” “Well there’s nothing going on yet.” I told her smiling “yet?” she asked. “Yet.” I repeated. We walked into the class, took our seats and waited for our teacher to stop talking. I could feel Luke looking over at me, this time he sat with his friends. I could hear them talking behind me. Suddenly I heard my name being mentioned. I looked back and I could see Luke talking with Allan. I turned around and looked forward not turning around again.
         I walked quickly to my locker not waiting for Luke to catch up to me. When he did, the question came out rudely, without meaning too. “So what were you and Allan talking about me for?” I asked him looking directly into his eyes. “He told me he wanted to ask you to the dance. I told him I thought you were already taken.”  “Really, by who?” I asked him with a smile on my face. “Well I was hoping by me, but if its too soon then we don’t have to talk about it now, there’s still a while until the dance.” he told me immediately thinking of my feelings. “Well I’ll have to think about that, but it will more than likely be a yes.”  A wide grin came upon his face. “Come on Ill walk you to sixth hour.” he told me grabbing my hand. When we arrived at our sixth hour English class my worst fear came true. Jack had the same class as Luke and I.
         “Well, Well, Well.  Look who it is, Mr. and Mrs. Mainer.” Jack said walking over to us. “Back off.” Luke said. “So I guess my concern was true, you really do like Luke!” he said to me completely ignoring Luke. “Come on Charlie, We don’t need this!” Luke said walking away. Jack grabbed my arm and squeezed it so hard that I could feel the bones crushing. “I wasn’t done talking to you!” he said pushing me back wards. “You are no good you lousy witch!” I fell into the wall and blacked out. When I woke up, I could see Luke and Danni leaning over me. I was in the nurse’s office, with a ice pack on my head.
         “Hey. How are you?” Danni asked. “My head hurts a lot, and I’m confused, what happened?” I asked. “Well your jerk ex-boyfriend lost his temper and pushed you into the wall. You lost consciousness.” she told me. “Charlie you mother is here” the nurse told me. I stood up, but soon fell backwards; Luke and Danni grabbed me and pulled me back to my feet.  They carried me to my mom’s car and set me inside, Luke and Danni walked back into school and Luke promised to call as did Danni.          
         We drove to the house in silence. I was clutching my head in pain. When I arrived home I managed to make it into the house and land on the couch. My dad came rushing out. “Are you okay? What happened? Where is he? Why did he do that?” my dad sounded like he was playing 20 questions. “Bill, not now, she can barely move!” my mother told him. She was always the reasonable one and always helped me out. I laid my head down and drifted off to sleep. That ended Monday, the first day of school and a new chapter of my life with Luke.

         

         




Chapter Two

         The next morning my mom told me I had to stay home. My head was still pounding. I woke up at about eleven. I rolled out of bed, and stood up too quickly. I fell back and landed on my bed. I slowly tried again and managed to stand. I couldn’t remember how I got upstairs and into bed, but somehow I did. My mom had stayed home from work and I could smell the food she was cooking. I walked slowly down the steps gripping the railing. I made it to the bottom and sat on the step.
         “Hey honey, How are you doing?” my mother asked helping me from the bottom step, and to the table. “I’m fine. I’m still dizzy and my head still hurts.” I told her as I sat at the table. “Your friends Luke and Danni called last night. I told them that you were sleeping and would reply as soon as possible.” “OH SHOOT! I forgot they were going to call! I should go call them back.” I stood up and sat right back down for fear of falling. “Honey be careful! Besides they aren’t home its only noon.” she told me. I sat there and ate my breakfast and started feeling tired again. I told my mother, took some Advil and slowly made my way to the couch. I fell asleep and dreamed of school and all of my friends.
         I woke up to the sound of the doorbell in the back room. I heard my mother talking to some one. “Hello Luke, she fell asleep, let me go check and see if she’s up.” I heard her tell Luke. She walked into the living room and came over to me. “ are you up for visitors?” she asked me. “Yes, especially if it’s Luke.”  “Well then you may want this” She handed me a Brush and make up. “I’ll tell him that you just woke up and are eating a quick snack in the living room and keep him busy until you are ready. By the way he is really cute” my mother told me winking at me, and walked out of the room.
         My mom and I have always close, she is one of my best friends. I quickly pulled back my hair and put some make-up on and looked in the wall mirror. I saw the bruises all over my arms. I began to cry but quickly wiped all the tears away. I walked into the back room and saw my mom and Luke talking. My mom quickly stood up and walked out of the room.
         “Hey.” I said to Luke, as I sat next to him on the loveseat. “How are you?” he asked as he wiped the bangs away from my eyes.  “I am okay. I still get Dizzy when I stand up, but other than that I’m doing better. How are things at school?” I asked in reply. “Well Jake got suspended if that’s what your asking.” he sounded upset. “Luke you know what I meant.” “You’re right, I’m sorry but it’s just that I was so worried about you, I thought I could have had a heart attack right there!” “Okay, let’s get off the subject, what do you want to talk about?” I asked him. “Oh I almost forgot I brought you these” He went over by his shoes and brought out a bouquet of flowers. “Wow Luke that was very sweet of you!” I said as I started crying. He hugged me after giving me the flowers. I wiped away the tears. After Luke left, I decided to go back to my room and sleep.  That ended my Tuesday.
         Wednesday morning started off okay. I woke up to the sound of my alarm buzzing and stood up, a little too quickly. I sat back down for a second caught my breath and tried again.  I got dressed and noticed that I had a voicemail on my phone. I called it and on the phone I heard a familiar voice. It was Luke! The message said “hey. Just calling to say good morning and I can’t wait to see you! Love Luke. I now wanted to be with him more than ever. I finished getting ready at a fast pace, or as fast as my body would allow and went down the stairs.
         The bus arrived at my house exactly on time. I walked on and took my seat near the back. The bus ride seemed like an eternity until we reached the all familiar WCHS grounds.  I stood slowly and walked into the school. It took me a few minuets to realize what everyone was staring at. They were all looking at me. I even heard one girl whisper “I thought she was dead!” When I arrived at my locker Danni and Alexandra were waiting.
         “Hey guys.” I said as I waited my turn to put my things away. “Hey how are you?” Alexandra asked politely. “Dizzy!” I replied. We talked for a while and then the first bell rang. I walked slowly to my first hour as not to rush things. I seen Luke sitting in his usual spot and walked over to sit next to him. “Hey” I said as I pulled out the chair. “Hey how are you?” he asked “better still dizzy but better thanks for asking” I told him with a smile.
         First hour passed very slowly, it felt like watching paint dry. We had our first assignment that night. We had to research WWI and who won. The rest of the day raced by, finally sixth hour health class came. Luke and I were assigned to be partners to write a paper on how eating healthy and exercising helped to loose weight. It was due the following Monday and we had class time to complete it. The requirements included a 10 page essay, and we also had to have a presentation.
         “What are the chances of me being put with the most beautiful girl in the whole class?” He asked with a grin on his face. “Well if I were you I would tell me that the chances were pretty good.” I told him replying the grin. “Okay, lets see, we only have two more school days, and the weekend to… Luke we’re never going to get finished if you don’t stop staring at me!” I laughed as he pulled my chair closer to him. “ well then maybe we should work on it this weekend together, maybe after going out?” he asked with a sly smile. “…. well I guess that’s a given since you can’t keep your eyes off of me!” I said pretending to be in deep thought. “That’s the answer I wanted to hear.” He said as the bell rang. “Come on, Football was cancelled tonight, I’ll drive you home.” he said grabbing my hand. He dropped me off at home, and told me he would call me later. We made plans to go to dinner at seven on Saturday after working on our report from noon to six, and then he would go home get ready and come and get me to leave.          
         The Homecoming dance was soon approaching. it was two weeks away from Saturday on the fifteenth. I finished my History home work easily and cleaned up the house for my mom, and finally Luke called. We talked for two hours it was nine o clock when I hung up with him. My mom came home around seven, but my dad was away on a business trip.          
          I went up to my room and went on the computer. Danni emailed me, telling me how she was told about Luke and I relationship. She said that she was in awe at the fact of her best friend and cousin dating and she thought it was great. I replied saying thank you and telling her to have a good night sleep.  I crawled into bed around ten and went to sleep thinking about how great my life was going so far. I have two best friends, wonderful parents, and I was in love. In love with the best guy the world had to offer. That ended my Wednesday.
         School came and went on Thursday; the only exciting parts were when I was with Luke. I rode the bus home that day, since Luke had Football practice. Friday came as quickly as It had left. It wasn’t a very interesting day, probably because I couldn’t wait until the next day when Luke was supposed to come over my house.
          When I got home from school on Friday, my mom took me to get my hair cut. my hair was a light brown with thick curls. It was over a foot long and I was cutting it to just my shoulder. After we got that done, my mother took me shopping. We picked out all sorts of clothes, mostly for school. We arrived home at eleven and I took a shower, and went to bed. That was Friday.
         Saturday was turning out to be the best day. I woke up at nine to a bouquet of flowers near my window. I looked at the card and seen they were from Luke. I got out of bed, and rushed down the stairs, I had breakfast and tried to master the task of doing my newly cut hair. I decided to straighten it with a flat iron. It took me two hours to accomplish my hair, breakfast and makeup. By then it was eleven thirty. I brushed my teeth and sat in the living room waiting for Luke to arrive. My mother left to grocery shop completely putting her trust in me.
          Luke arrived at noon exactly. I was quick to answer the door. “Hey, nice hair cut!” he said as he walked in the door. “Thanks!” I told him. “The computer is this way” I told him walking up the stairs to my room. The rest of the time passed quickly. Luke sat on my bed trying to figure out the presentation. I went on my Myspace to check my mail messages. To my surprise I had new messages. It was from Jack. it read:
Charlie:
I cant believe you let me take the fall for you hitting your head. YOU BETTER TELL THEM YOU FELL. OR ELSE SOMETHING BAD WILL COME UPON YOU and your family. You have been warned.
         I began to cry as I read the message. I sobbed a little too loudly, loud enough for Luke to hear. “Charlie what’s wrong?” he asked coming over to the computer. I didn’t have enough time to react and he read the message on my screen. “Charlie, everything is going to be okay. I promise.” he said wrapping me in a hug as we stood in front of the computer.
          It was quarter after six and Luke left to get ready. I was ready five minuets after he had left. All I had to do was run a brush through my hair and change clothes. I put on a nice tank top and Capri’s, with black flip-flops. Luke and I had told my mom about the threatening message and she had warned me to not tell the office it was me. Luke came back and picked me up at six forty five. We went to Applebee’s and we ate dinner together.
         After dinner we went and hung at Alexandra’s with her, her boyfriend Tom, Danni and Josh. Alexandra, Tom, Danni and Josh, were in the pool when we arrived. “Hey!” Alexandra said as we arrived. “Come on in!” Danni said “We didn’t bring our suits” I told her. As I looked over at Luke I could see that he was just in his boxers. “That didn’t stop you before!” Danni said laughing. “You might want to put your purse down.” Josh told me. “Why” I asked setting down my purse. “Maybe because you are going in the water!” Luke told me coming up behind me. He picked me up. “LUKE! Wait, okay, okay, at least let me take off my shoes.” I told him and he set me back down.  I began running away from him. He chased after me “Oh I don’t think so!” he said running after me. He finally caught up with me. “Oh that’s so not fair you play football!” “OH well!” he got back by the pool. “Make way guys! Were coming in!” he said running toward the pool with me in his arms. “LUKE! No!” But my argument came too late. We plunged into the pool, with Luke holding me.