Chapter Fifty Six

'Happy Birthday, Luke!'

Anna

"Should I wrap it in green or colorful? I was thinking about green since it's his favourite color but colorful is more fitting for a birthday present, so which one should I choose? Since you obviously have more experience in colors than I do."

Molly stares at me for awhile before she lies on the floor and turns to lay on her back, then she stretches her paws out towards the green wrapping.

"That's what I thought as well. You're so smart," I kiss her head, then I start cutting the wrapping according to the size of box.

"Do you think he will like it? Like he said that he really needed it, but at the same time, I was thinking if he needs something more important or more useful. I know that he wants it, but I'm scared he won't like it because he doesn't need it that much," I rant to Molly as I wrap the gift.

She stands up again on all of her fours and she gives me that cute doggie smile of hers.

"You're right, he will like it," I put the last piece of tape on the box, then I look at Molly. "Should I give it to him at school or at his birthday party?"

She barks in response happily and I just know that she meant at the party.

"Yup, you're right. Thanks, baby, I love you," I coo and bend down to give her head another kiss and she licks me back.

My phone buzzes and I check it to see that it's a text from Soph telling me that her and Colette are outside. I text her back to tell her that I will be out in a couple of minutes, then I grab my backpack and sling it over my shoulder.

"Bye, Molly," I wave at her as I look at her over my shoulder, walking out of the room and she barks.

I head downstairs and say my goodbyes to mum and the guys.

"Bye, honey!" Mum replies. "Don't forget to close the door properly!" She snaps at me and I wince at her screaming voice.

"I will, I will," I mumble.

I might have this dumb action of mine where I forget to fully close the door, but it happened a couple of times before. It's not like we almost got robbed everytime I left the house. We almost got robbed once and the guy was just a rookie obviously since he saw me returning and all he did, is freak out and run away from the house.

I kind of felt bad for him because he was just trying to rob a house for the first time and he couldn't do it, but he didn't have to worry, a lot of people didn't give a crap about locking the door in this neigbourhood so it won't take him long before he finds another unlocked house.

"Good morning," I greet the girls, smiling.

"Hey, bitch!" Sophie smiles back and hugs me. "You look gorgeous, as usual."

Sophie has this thing of hers where she has to compliment us when she sees us. It's really nice of her, because her compliments always make my day. I mean, Sophie is quite a stunning person and getting that kind of compliment from her is uplifting.

"Thanks, Sophie," I smile at her. "You look beautiful too!"

"How are you guys doing?" I ask them as we start heading to school.

"Like shit, I want to sleep," Sophie admits.

"Pretty good actually," Lottie says.

Sophie and I freeze in our places and look at Lottie in shock.

"Sounds like opposite day here," Sophie comments.

"What? Is it wrong to be happy?" Colette raises her eyebrow at us.

"It's not that, Lottie. It's just we're used to you being kinda cranky," I tell her. "Did something happen?"

"Well," she starts excitedly. "I got accepted in Edinburgh!"

"Lottie, that's amazing!" I smile widely, hopping excitedly then I grab her in a tight hug and Sophie joins in the hug, squealing.

We stop our small celebration and I turn to Soph. "What about you, Sophie? Did you get in?"

"I'm going to Australia with you, bitch!" She announces and we start hopping up and down and squealing excitedly once again. Pretty sure all the neighbours think that somebody rented three baby pigs and they made a run for it.

"I'm so happy for you, guys," Lottie hugs us tightly and we hug her back. The best thing about Lottie is that she is the greatest support when it comes to being happy for us.

"I can't believe we're going to college in just two months. Time is passing so freaking fast," Sophie claims as we continue our journey to school.

"I know right," I reply. "A lot of stuff happened this year."

"Thank God it's about to end," Colette says and I nod in agreement.

"Uh, guys?" Sophie utters out. "What is that?" She points at what looks like a furry creature, nibbling at something by a tree.

"Soph, that's a squirrel," Colette replies, squinting at the creature.

"That is not a squirrel," I say.

"Oh my God, that's a fucking rat!" Sophie screams and Lottie and I scream as well as the rat starts running towards us.

We all run away, screaming as we hear the squeaking of the rat behind us.

Fingers crossed nobody saw this.

| | | |

"Hi," I smile at Luke as I wrap my arms around him from behind.

He turns his head and he immediately smiles widely when he sees me. "Hi, you," he leans in to kiss me but I place my finger on his lips.

"No PDA," I tell him.

"You wrapped your arms around me," he fully turns around to face me and puts his arms around me.

"It's a hug, idiot," I lean in to hug him to prove my point before pulling away from him.

"It's just one kiss," he says and grabs me again, pressing his lips against mine in a small kiss before he pulls away.

I grin at him, "Happy birthday."

"Thanks, Cherries," he smiles and kisses my cheek.

"I would totally give you your gift now, but I decided to give it to you later."

"You actually got me something?" He closes his locker and faces me again.

"Of course, I did, silly. Not only I'm your girlfriend, but I'm also your best friend so of course I'd get you a birthday gift," I smile.

"Cherries, you know you don't have to," he tucks my hair behind my ear.

"I know," I tell him proudly. "That's why I'm the gift."

"Seriously?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, I mean, I am everything you need after all," I joke.

"You're not welcomed to the party if you didn't get me anything," he smirks.

"I'm your girlfriend, you little crap," I narrow my eyes at him.

"Sorry, beautiful, but presents matter more than your presence," he leans in and bumps his nose with mine.

"Fine," I shrug. "I guess that special present of yours will never make its way to your bedroom," I lower my voice, saying the last part to tease him.

Luke leans back and raises his eyebrows. "What kind of present are we talking about here?"

"Well, I'm not welcomed to the party, so you won't find out," I tell him and start walking away since we have lunch next and the bell is about to ring.

This is the first time I've seen Luke since this morning obviously since after the whole rat thing we made it to school just as the bell rang and Luke wasn't in any of the first three classes that I have in the morning.

The stupid rat kept freaking chasing us and we had to take different paths four different times in order to finally lose it and when we did, we were still ten minutes away from school, so we had to continue our mini marathon so we could make it in time.

I hope God sends something to run over this dumb creature. I don't care if he had a chance to become the world's best chef.

"Baby, are you serious?" Luke whines and he quickly moves to catch up with me.

"Can you at least give me a hint of what is it?" He asks.

"Nope," I shake my head.

"Why?" He whines childishly.

"Because it's a surprise. I can't let you know," I answer.

"Is it something that I really really want?" He questions again.

"Yeah, I guess." I don't know.

"Is it you in bed nak-" He starts with a smirk on his face.

"Stop," I push him away, laughing.

"Okay, okay," he laughs and continues walking next to me.

"Is it though?" He whispers.

"Lucas!"

"Okay, I'll stop," Luke chuckles. "I saw you this morning."

My eyes widen and I turn to him. "What exactly did you see?"

Please don't let it be me running from a rat. Please don't let it be me runinng from a rat. Please don't let it be me running from a rat.

"You were with the girls and.." he turns to me and smirks. "You guys were running from some ugly ass creature probably a rat."

Why, God? Why out of all people, did you choose my stupid boyfriend? Why?

"You're not going to let me live it down, are you?" I come to a stop as we make it to the doors of the cafeteria.

"Hell yeah, I'm not," he snorts, pushing the doors open for me to walk in first.

"Female poodle," I mutter under my breath, walking inside and Luke gives my hip a gentle squeeze, making me jump from the sudden action.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," he whispers in my ear and I shudder. I absolutely hate it when someone does this to me and Luke knows that because he knows I'm ticklish from it.

"What are you going to do?" I ask him challengingly.

He looks down at my lips for a second before he locks his eyes with mine. "You'll see."

"You'll see," I mock him and he gives my hip another squeeze, so I just decide to shut my mouth and roll my eyes. He grins in satisfication and drapes his arm over my shoulder, guiding us to our table.

"Oh my God, pizza!" I scream excitedly when I spot the slice on Soph's tray and I grab it, already stuffing my mouth with it.

"I wanted that," Sophie pouts.

"Pretty sure you ate three before this one," my voice comes out muffled.

"Do I look like I give a shit?" I look at her and she looks at me with a dry look.

"I don't know...?" I shrug.

"I don't, so I wanted that pizza," she explains.

"I'll just buy you another one," I tell her.

"Two because it was pepperoni," she holds up two fingers.

I think about for awhile, chewing the rest of the pizza before I just sigh. "Fine."

That's when I remembered the guys were there and I wave at them, smiling. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Leni," Zach grins back.

"What took you guys so long?" Alex asks.

"Alex, they were obviously busy with their own thing. Just make sure you guys stay safe and sound," Sophie winks.

"Thanks, Soph-" Luke starts.

"Oh ha ha, very funny, Sophie," I say drily.

"I know I am," she grins.

"I'm going to go get your pizza," I say, standing up. "If anybody wants anything, text me."

"Why can't we just tell you now?" Alex asks.

"Because this up here is running out of energy to remember anything," I point at my head.

"Fair enough."

| | | |

"Mom, we're home!" Luna announces as soon as Luke, her and I walk in the house.

After school, I went home with Luke because his birthday party is going to be at his house and I need to do a few things, like bake his cake and decorate the backyard for the party. Luna said that she will handle the decoration, so I will be baking the cake.

"I'm in the bedroom, honey!" Emily responds back to Luna.

"I will go check up on her and then I will get started on the decoration," Luna tells me and I nod, smiling, then she heads upstairs to check on Emily.

"Why do we need decoration?" Luke asks, throwing his backpack on the couch. "It's going to be just us after all."

"I know, but I want to celebrate your birthday in the best way possible," I reply with an excited smile.

"Alright then, you're the boss," he leans in to kiss my cheek and I grin.

"Come on, you're going to help me with the cake." I grab his hand and lead him to the kitchen.

I quickly wash my hands before I start getting out all the needed ingredients with the help of Luke. Actually, Luke just helped me realize that I was about to put three cups of salt in the batter not three cups of sugar, so that's pretty great help.

"Alright, I guess that's all," I relook at all the ingredients to make sure everything's here before I turn to Luke...who's in a blue apron that had 'Kiss the cook' in red on it.

"Did you buy that for yourself?" I laugh.

"Actually, my mom bought it for dad and then he started using it against her," he says.

"That's so cute," I smile.

"Eight-year-old me begs to differ," he says with a disgusted look on his face.

"I found it cute when my parents used to act affectionate," I grab a huge bowl to mix the ingredients in and place it on the kitchen island. "It gave me hope that I might have this one day." I lean on the kitchen island and smile at Luke.

"Yeah. We will," he leans on the kitchen island as well and gives me a short kiss, then he leans back a bit. "Can I use it against you?"

"Yes, you can," I nod, laughing and he gives me one of his beautiful smiles before he leans in for another kiss.

"Well, let's get started," I roll the sleeves of my hoodie, then we start making the batter of the cake.

It takes us an hour and a half just to make the batter because Luke–and by Luke, I mean originally, me, then him doing the same for revenge but I like blaming him for everything–won't stop goofing around the whole time we are making it.

Either by using the excess flour to draw on my face or kissing me and using the whole 'sorry the apron says so' excuse (that part is originally Luke) or eating the sprinkles we are going to use for decoration. I don't really mind it though because it makes him happy and when he's happy, I am.

We finally finish making it and we put it in the oven. While the cake is in the oven, we decide to go and check up on Luna to see how she's doing with the decoration.

"No, Luke, don't look!" She screams as soon as we walk outside and I quickly turn around to place my hands on his eyes.

"You didn't tell me it's supposed to be a surprise," I tell Luna, using one hand to cover Luke's eyes so I can face her.

"I thought you guys were staying in the kitchen so I wasn't that worried he'd see anything," she ties the green balloon and throws it in the air before it lands on the grass after awhile.

"You guys are talking about me in third person as if I can't hear you," Luke says.

"Sorry, honey," Emily walks out from the inside of the house with a plate of mini-sandwiches. "But you can't find out about this." She places the plate on the garden table that has other types of snacks on it.

"Great, you got mom involved in this," he sighs.

"Yeah, I knew that Emily would be a great help," I grin.

"Thanks, sweetheart," she smiles at me.

'This is going to mean a lot to him,' she mouths.

'I know,' I mouth back and she gives me another smile, then she heads back inside, squeezing my hand on her way in.

"Well, I'm going to stay in my bedroom then," Luke says. "Cherries, you're coming with me."

"Okay," I agree and I guide him inside of the house again with my hand over his eyes, then we head upstairs to his room.

I sit on Luke's bed and watch him as he goes to his closet and gets some clothes out to change. He notices me watching him and raises an eyebrow.

"What are we going to do?" I question, placing my elbow on my thigh and leaning my face on my hand.

"What do you want to do?" He asks, taking his shirt off and I quickly look down at my feet. Yes, I still get shy when Luke takes off an article of his clothing, I will get used to it. It will just take some time.

"I don't know," I move my foot around, staring at its circling.

"Cherries," Luke says.

"Hmm?" I answer, still looking down.

"Why are you looking down?"

"Because you're not wearing a shirt," I respond.

He stays silent for a few seconds. "There, I put it on." I look up and he's sure wearing a t-shirt.

"Why do you look away when I'm shirtless anyways?" He walks to stand right in front of me.

"I don't know, I just feel like I'm invading your privacy."

"Cherries, you're my girlfriend. You're not invading my privacy or anything, but if you feel uncomfortable,  just tell me and I can change in the bathroom instead," he says. "Alright?" He moves my hair out of my face and I nod, smiling.

"You're so fucking adorable," he cups my face and squeezes my cheeks.

"Ow, stop," I complain with a muffled voice and hit his arm.

"Sorry," he chuckles, taking his hand off of my face and I massage my jaw. One of the many 'perks' of having slightly chubby cheeks is everyone being obsessed with poking, touching and squeezing them. I hate it.

Luke pokes my cheek and I slap his arm, furrowing my eyebrows at him. He raises an eyebrow at me and pokes it again.

"Luke, I swear to God." He grins at me in response and I can't help but roll my eyes and smile.

"I almost forgot to tell you," I remember the whole me getting accepted in Melbourne thing.

"Yeah?" He replies, lying down on the bed.

"I got into Melbourne," I twist myself around to face Luke and cross my legs, then grin excitedly.

"I got in too," he sits up and my grin widens.

I'm going with Luke to college. Thank God.

"This is so amazing! We're going to be together!" I exclaim and hug him, then he hugs me back tight and buries his face in my neck.

"Yeah, it's going to be great," he agrees, feeling him smile against my neck. I know that Luke isn't really the type to show excitement like I do, but he sounds really happy and once again, that's all that matters after all.

He pulls away from the hug. "What about Rome though?"

"Oh, I didn't get in," I start feeling upset a bit, but I just smile. "But that's okay, we'll still be together and I will to get to show you Australia. It's beautiful," I pause. "Did you get in Rome?"

He doesn't react for a moment before he gives me a small nod.

"Luke, that's awesome!" I tell him. "Do you want to go to Melbourne though? I know that Rome is such a great opportunity to you and I won't mind if you wanted to go to Sapienza instead."

I actually minded. For a very selfish reason, I didn't want Luke to go to Sapienza, I'm scared of the long distance relationship thing, but I'm also happy for him. I'm happy but at the same time, I don't want to let him go.

"No, it's alright. I want to go to Melbourne with you. If that what it means to stay with you, then I will do it," he smiles.

"I just don't want to be holding you back from doing what you want," I wrap my arms around him and lay my head on his shoulder.

"You're not holding me back from anything because I know what I want and that is to be with you," he kisses my head and I look up at him and smile.

"The cake!" I suddenly remember when I hear the timer's loud ringing and hop off of the bed quickly to get it out.

| | | |

The door opens and I immediately hear Luna yelling at Luke telling him not to go into the backyard.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Luke rolls his eyes.

He turns his head and smiles. "Hey–woah." His eyes drop down, scanning my whole body.

I went back home to change and get Luke's present since I was not about to go to Luke's birthday in a hoodie and some worn-out jeans.

"Hi," I smile at him.

He takes my hand and pulls me inside the house, closing the door behind me. "Look at you, all gorgeous and shit."

I laugh at his form of a compliment. "Thank you. You like?" I do a little