Chloe's P.O.V
I didn't know what it was about Luke, but when we made eye contact my cheeks heated up and before I knew it my heart swelled, and I had to look away. It made me wonder…do I…like Luke Armstrong?
I blinked rapidly for a moment and shifted in the floor uncomfortably. I couldn't like Luke Armstrong. I mean, there is no way that I do. He is just impossibly cute and…Cute?! Did I really just think he is cute?! Oh my goodness no. No, no, no! This can't be happening! This needs to–
"Chloe are you okay?" Hailee snapped at me, grabbing a spoon from the kitchen drawer.
I swiveled my head to look at her. "Yes," I squeaked out, my face burning even more.
"Whatever you say, girl," Hailee rolled her eyes, went to the fridge and grabbed a yogurt. "I guess I'll be in my room if either of you need me, especially you Luke," she winked at him with a spoon in her mouth and sashayed her way to her room.
Luke and I looked at each with confused expressions. He shrugged like he had no idea what was going on, and I was sure that he didn't. That was just how Luke was. Oblivious. At least in that moment I blushed I hoped he was.
Luke and I studied for thirty minutes for our theatre appreciation exam. We went over the plays we were reading, which were Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, and Lysistrata. I had created key terms and definitions on index cards for us to use as flash cards. We quizzed each other in parts of the plays and definitions until we understood the material perfectly.
"Thanks for helping me study for the exam," Luke said as we finished up our studying. "I really appreciate it," he said with a brilliant smile, his mesmerizing green eyes filled with appreciation.
"It's no problem," I smiled at him as I got up from the floor. I was sure that Luke would help me with anything if I asked.
Luke got up from the floor, took his empty drink, and made his way to the trash can to throw it away. "Before I leave, I do have a question to ask you," he said as he threw the cup away.
A-a question to ask me? "What is it?" I asked as I fidgeted with my hands nervously. I could feel my face start to heat up again from the sheer wonder of what it could be.
Luke looked at me deeply and scratched his head, cracking a small, nervous smile. "I was wondering if you could help me with my play for theatre appreciation sometime before Halloween."
I sighed, not knowing if it was from relief or disappointment.
"As you can already tell, I'm not really into theatre or writing in general," he laughed a little. "And quite frankly, I'm terrible at both."
"I don't know about the writing part, but I can say that you're not too bad at theatre," I said. It probably didn't help that I said he wasn't 'too bad' as if I was insinuating that he wasn't good at it in general.
"No need to act like I'm any better than I am, because I'm not. The only things I am good at is chemistry and math."
I bit the inside of my cheek and slowly smiled. "And football."
"And I guess football," he broke into a grin.
"Don't even try to be humble about it, Luke. You're good and you know it. You're on the best team in the SEC and the best team overall according the rankings," I told him as I picked up my empty coffee drink and threw it away.
"If you say so," he shrugged. "But I appreciate that you think so."
"No seriously, Luke. Do you not watch football at all? It clearly states that you guys are the number one team," I cocked my eyebrow at him.
"I know," he sighed, his eyes flickering to mine.
My chest tightened up at the contact.
"I just don't go around thinking I'm the best wide receiver in the country like Coach Saban likes to claim. It's kind of weird how my brain works, like it's impossible for me to be the best at anything. Even though Kason hasn't gotten to play a lot, I have to admit that he's really good too. He is on the team after all."
I knew what he meant. Although Kason probably deserved a chance to play, it was vital that Luke played. It was then that I understood that Luke just didn't understand how good he was. He was literally the best wide receiver I had ever seen on the Alabama team, and that was saying a lot since we always had good players in general. Luke wasn't the type of guy that held himself higher than everyone else in that regard. He wasn't like Jacob who felt entitled to everything since he was good-looking and a fairly good player. Luke wasn't like the other guys that I've known. Luke was…well…he was humble and a good guy to the core of his being. Luke was the kind of guy who held the door for a person unconsciously, the kind of guy who would help whoever was in need no matter who they were. He was good to everyone, even those who didn't deserve it.
I shook my head and smiled at Luke, understanding him better than I had ever before. "I know it probably doesn't matter what I say Luke, but you've got to believe me when I say that you're good. Really good. And you're incredibly smart and–"
"Hey Luke," Hailee interrupted as she came out of her room, "do you want to hang out sometime this week?"
Of course, Hailee would choose this moment to interrupt me when I was starting to pour my heart out. It made me wonder how much she heard, if she heard anything at all.
"I'm sorry, Hailee, Chloe was saying something. Chloe," he lowered his voice, his eyes becoming soft, "what was the rest of that sentence?" His muscular and toned arm rested against the kitchen island and his other hand was shoved in his front pocket. There was something incredibly attractive about his stance.
I rubbed my arm nervously. "It's nothing really. I was just babbling more than I should've," I laughed uneasily, glancing in his direction.
"It wasn't nothing, and you weren't babbling more than you should've," I heard him say.
I looked him in his green eyes and I felt myself stiffen. I knew Luke was good-looking, in fact, everyone knew he was good-looking, but he managed to be even more good-looking than usual. Especially at that moment.
"Luke, Chloe is obviously done with what she had to say so what's your answer. Do you wanna hang out this week with me or not?" Hailee whined, glancing over in my direction with venomous eyes.
Something inside of me told me that Hailee wasn't being a good friend, but I chose to ignore that.
Luke ran his fingers through his hair and glanced in my direction before looking at Hailee. "Sure," he smiled, and for a moment his expression flickered, and I knew that his smile was fake.
Hailee became super giddy. She ran up to Luke and grabbed his arm. "Okay then, where should we hang out? There are plenty of places we could–"
"Hailee, I think I better take off," Luke said as he gently pulled away from Hailee. "I'll text you more about it later, okay?"
Hailee nodded, her bushy, curly hair bouncing up and down. "Okay, Luke. See ya!" she squealed as she waved excitedly.
"Bye Hailee," he smiled gently and walked toward the door. He opened it and turned back to look at me. "Bye Chloe. Thanks again for helping me with theatre appreciation."
"Like I said earlier, it's no problem," I said, giving him the warmest smile I possibly could while still holding onto my arm.
"And don't forget that you need to help me with that upcoming play," he reminded me with a smile.
I nodded. "Bye, Luke."
"Bye," he said and walked out of my dorm room.
"Did you see the way he looked at me, Chloe?" Hailee smirked. "It's obvious that he has a thing for me," she shook her head with a crooked smile playing on her thin lips.
As much as I wanted to be supportive of Hailee and her endeavors, I couldn't. She was my best friend, and I couldn't bring myself to the thought of Luke liking her. The truth was, I felt myself starting to like Luke once again, and it panged my heart to think that he could like someone else. Sometimes, just for a moment, I thought that maybe Luke and I had a shot. It was my stupid childhood dream to be with him, but I knew better. He wanted to just be friends again, and no matter how I felt, I would have to accept that.
"Did you hear me, Chloe?" Hailee cocked her eyebrow at me and tapped her foot impatiently. "I said he has a thing for me."
"I heard you," I said, looking her in her blue eyes. "I just don't know what to say," I admitted.
"Know what to say?" she scoffed. "What do you mean by that? Are you insinuating that he doesn't like me?"
"That's not what I'm saying," I said coolly. "I just don't know whether he likes you or not. I mean, he did say yes to hanging out with you this week so what do I know," I said dejectedly.
Hailee nodded her head with her fingers curled on her chin in thought. "Well that's true." She then laughed. "It's not like you would know anyway."
The truth hurt more than she knew.