The Ballerina

Acelynn got back to Luke’s room only a few seconds after he did. She could picture a confused, pale face as he looked into an empty room but turning around to see that she was behind him. She smiled weakly before taking his hand and sitting down on the bed.

“Where’d you go?” Confusion evident in his voice.

Acelynn paused for a second. She didn’t know whether or not to tell him the truth. But she realized that she waited too long to answer and that Luke would know something was wrong. “I, uh, went to go talk to Tuck.”

Luke’s eyebrows crinkled together even deeper. “Why?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” She replied, honestly. “I just needed to know what happened last night.”

“You could have just asked me.”

Acelynn had a whole list of excuses lined up for that. “You were on the phone.” “You didn’t know what happened while I was out.” “I thought you might not want to talk about it.” All of this was true, but just saying “I don’t know” wouldn’t continue to work in this situation for very long.

“I guess I thought Tuck would know better. He was there, and everything.” The brunette said, looking down at her feet.

“Oh.” Luke replied, trying to catch the girl’s gaze. Acelynn wondered if she was still blushing from Tuck’s attack.

They were silent for a few moments. It was incredibly awkward and Acelynn wasn’t sure exactly what to say. All she could think about was Tuck and how his kiss felt. The girl couldn’t say she wasn’t attracted to the gorgeous nineteen year old. He was beautiful. He had these gorgeous jade eyes that just sparkled and memorized the poor teen. They reminded Acelynn of an old hoodie she used to have that was the same color. It was her favorite until her mother threw it out.

But in any matter, Tuck was an unarguable, annoying, snotty boy who drove her crazy. Looks wouldn’t cut him any slack in this case.

Luke lit a cigarette, in his own room, and began to smoke. His bright blue eyes concentrated on the wall in front of him and nothing else. A habit that had previously comforted Acelynn now left her uncomfortable and awkward. It was like he was smoking to try and avoid the small girl.

Though, in his defense, Acelynn was also avoiding conversation with him – to not let anything slip about Tuck. She didn’t know why she felt guilty about it. The only thing she should have felt was anger and frustration – which she did. But she didn’t know where the guilt came from. It wasn’t as if she and Luke were a couple; they didn’t love each other that way… Did they? No. Of course not.

“My dad is coming to town tomorrow.” Luke finally spoke, still not looking at his companion.

Acelynn’s head shot up and she stared at Luke. Until that moment, she didn’t even think that the man really existed somehow. He was always just a part of the Spencer brother’s mysterious past. The skeletons in their closets. “Oh.” She croaked. “Um… Why?”

Luke took a sharp intake of breath. “I’m not exactly sure.” He replied, but it sounded like he didn’t put any thought into it or even cared why.

“How long is he staying?”

“I don’t know.” He muttered and closed his eyes.

Acelynn wasn’t sure exactly what to say in this situation. What could she say? ‘Just ignore him. He’ll be gone soon enough.’ Yes, that was totally the kind of sympathy he needed right now. But she didn’t know what he wanted to hear. And yet, out of all the things she could have said, she chose “Do you want me to leave?”

Honestly, how selfish could one person be? Yes, she didn’t want to go home what-so-ever, but a little compassion was in order for the boy. That question surly could have been asked at a later date, but no. Acelynn had to always think about Acelynn first, and nothing else. Just like Tuck had said.

“What?” Luke finally looked at her, in surprise.

“Never mind.” She replied too quickly and began to blush.

“Why would you need to leave?” Acelynn looked away and tried to get her thoughts straight. Luke did wait for a response, though. “Ace, you never have to leave if you don’t want to. You don’t have to go back home. You don’t have to go back to that awful place.”

“I know. I know I don’t have to leave. I don’t really want to leave, to be perfectly honest.” Acelynn breathed. “But I want to make your dad being here as easy as possible. I mean, what will he think when he comes home and some girl is living in his house with his two boys?”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know, and I don’t really care. I couldn’t care less about what that man thinks.” Acelynn knew that was a lie. From what she could tell, Luke cared a great deal of what his father thought. “All that matters to me is you… Well, you and Tuck.”

The girl didn’t laugh as Luke wanted her to. Instead, she remained sober. “Luke… Luke I know you’re lying. Don’t try to fool me. You care about what your dad thinks. It’s natural, you know. You’re his kid. You’re supposed to care.”

Acelynn noticed that his bottom lip was trembling slightly, but she didn’t say anything. “No. I don’t care what that God-damned man thinks. I live in his house. I spend his money. I eat his food. I don’t, however, care at all what he thinks.” Luke said firmly.

But Acelynn shook her head. “No. You do care. I can tell. You just can’t not care, it’s not you.”

“No! You don’t understand! That man—“

“LUKE.” The brunette cut him off. “If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t get so worked up of him. You care about what your dad thinks just as much as I care what my mother thinks.”

Luke looked as if Acelynn had slapped him. She didn’t even know how this argument began, but it hit a tender nerve for both of them. It had quickly escalated from nothing to a big problem. “Yeah, and look where that got you.” He replied darkly.

A sharp pain coursed through Acelynn. Luke’s words stung her like an angry wasp. Even worse? She knew that they were true. Her whole life revolved on Dana Adams’ thoughts and opinions. Acelynn had grown accustoms to that fact and never really thought it was supposed to be any other way. Maybe if she had grown a spine and stood up for herself – spoke her mind. Maybe—

“I’m so sorry Acey.” Luke cried and embraced her in a tight hug. “I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was incredibly awful and wrong of me. I didn’t mean it.”

Acelynn’s head was spinning in confusion. But she held Luke anyway. The truth was they were both broken souls that had found each other. So it didn’t matter what awful things he might accidently say to her in anger – because it was her fault; she pushed him into a corner. She loved him and he loved her. And it would stay that way until he pushed her away. She would be there for Luke no matter what.

And more than ever, he needed her now.

“It’s gonna be okay, Luke. It’s gonna be okay.” After all the loud, hateful words they just exchanged, Acelynn finally said the right thing. Maybe that was the point; she needed to understand Luke better and actually talk to him to find out what he needed her to say.

She couldn’t see his face – buried in her hair – but she knew he must be crying. Luke was that way; so sensitive and tender. Acelynn held him tighter. “Thank you, Ace. Thank you for being here. I-I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”