Fire Always Burns - By Krista Lakes Page 0,4
hide and seek here when we were younger. It always felt safe here, like I could hide under these tarps and the world would disappear.
I put my hands in my jacket pockets and felt a hard plastic square. It was my student ID card. My carefree mood slipped away like water through my fingers. I stared at the smiling person on the card, her bright eyes staring back accusingly at me. Her smile mocked me; it was so confident, so ready to face any challenge. That girl had no idea what was going to happen.
I wanted to fling it across the lumber yard. I wanted to burn it. I wanted to throw it in a pit of fiery lava and watch it melt into black smoke that would just blow away and never bother me again. The girl in the picture ridiculed me because she was still innocent.
The sound of footsteps snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Luke towering over me, his thin frame dominating my vision. I sat up and he sat down where my feet had been. Luke was only a year older than me, but today he looked like he carried the weight of a much older man. His dark blonde hair was disheveled from running his hands through it and the knot on his tie was crooked. I had a feeling he had tied it himself this morning and no one had fixed it for him. He sat hunched forward, his eyes focusing on a straggly weed trying to find a foothold near the back entrance. His hazel eyes held only defeat.
“You OK?” I asked, tucking the id card back in my pocket. I didn't want anyone to see it.
“Nope,” he said flatly. The custody hearing must have gone badly. My heart sank. Luke loved his little brother something fierce. He was seven years older than Tyler, but the two of them were always together. Luke was extremely protective of his little brother, and Tyler practically worshiped the ground Luke walked on. If Barb won custody, Tyler would be moving to California and Luke would never get to see him. The thought broke my heart.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Nope.”
We sat there quietly, waiting for the others to arrive. I scooted closer to Luke, putting my head on his shoulder. His warmth was comforting, and he tipped his head to rest against mine. I could feel the worry radiating off him, his shoulders tense with anxiety.
Luke was the most loyal and trustworthy person I had ever known. He was always looking out for the little guy, making sure that no one ever got hurt. He looked out for me like a big brother. In 7th grade, I had the misfortune of getting glasses and braces at the same time; Luke, the big strong 8th grader, threatened to beat up all the kids that teased me about it. I had loved him after that. We went out on a date once in middle school, but it never went anywhere. He became the older brother I never had but had always wanted.
He continued to look out for me in high school, helping me make friends. There were six of us my freshman year. Luke, Britney and Eli were a year older than Andrew, Jen and I, but we all ate lunch together and hung out after school. I thought we were going to be friends forever we were all so close, but that didn't work out.
Before we made the promise never to date within ourselves, Jen and Eli became a serious couple. For a while things were great, but then, as is common in high school couples, the two of them had a fight. It resulted in a bitter breakup, and made being around either one of them awkward. They refused to be in the same room as one another, and their split forced us to choose sides. The only reason the five of us were still together was because Jen moved. After that, we all swore to never date within ourselves. Our friendships were too important to risk.
Our promise worked. None of us dated and we all were still friends years after graduation. It was hard, and we had all been tempted to break the promise at some point, but we never did. It was what made our friendship so strong. I never thought we would change.
I felt Luke sigh underneath me. It felt shaky, like he was holding in sobs. I hated seeing