LUKE.

Despite the fuckery that happened this morning with my mum's car, nothing would have made me feel better than being in Ari's presence. Her caring and kind heart in addition to her loud-mouthed, asshole-ish comments were enough to make me feel at ease. Receiving a pink slip to the main office due to some emergency wasn't exactly how I wanted to start Biology, but when I pressed the office landline to my ear to hear my mum crying on the other end, I was glad they pulled me out before Mr. Dillard could explain meiosis and mitosis.

All this bullying bullshit should've ended the moment mum and I left Sydney. I worked so fūcking hard to make sure it didn't happen again only to be sucked right back in. But it was worse this time around; my mum's life was put in danger and it hurt me to no end.

I didn't want to blame Ari or the guys-- I could never do that. But life in Percival Shores was going really well until Ari happened. Being her friend was both a blessing and a curse. With her, I could be myself. Being me was so easy around Ari that being someone else didn't appeal to me. Though in retrospect, deeming myself Ari's friend meant being back at the bottom of the social chain and being the target of humiliation and social torment.

But it was in moments like this, chilling out with Ari while watching funny movies or falling into a blissful nap with her, did I forget about such torment. As cheesy, cliche, and Nicholas Sparks-esque did it sound, there was no bigger travesty than being Percival Shores royalty and Ari was the trick to pacify it all.

"Are you gonna stare at me like a creeper all day or..."

I rolled my eyes at Ari's sudden, snarky comment, unaware that she had been awake. She had fallen asleep in the middle of watching Tangled and with no one to sing along with me, I knocked out shortly after. I woke up before she and accidentally elbowed her forehead-- it wasn't entirely my fault. I didn't notice how she had snuggled right up to my side, her head in perfect proximity to an elbow slam.

"Well you have an ugly bruise on your forehead that looks like a moose and I can't take my eyes off it," I teased, though unbeknown to her that I was the reason for said bruise. "Also, I think you've drooled slightly on my shirt. If I wanted to wash it, I would've thrown it into the washer."

"Ugh, you make me want to punch infants Hemmings," she groaned, turning around to face the wall and I chuckled in her expense.

Without really thinking, I wrapped a leg around hers and draped an arm around her torso. She was so tiny and I felt like I could cuddle her like my favorite stuffed toy penguin.

"What are you doing?" Ari's voice was muffled against the pillow, but I could still decipher the words.

"I just wanna cuddle my bestest friend," I stated with a shrug. She could've pulled away from me; annoyingly groaned, kicked me in the balls and ran away, but she didn't. Ari simply stayed still, no reaction, and I was happy. I liked this.

"What time is it?" She suddenly asked.

"Umm," I scanned my eyes around my room, searching for my phone but it was nowhere I could see. As I trailed my eyes, they landed on Ari's bum that was nicely displayed inches away from little Lucas. And in the back pocket of Ari's jeans was her phone. I grasped the device and pulled it out, pressing the button to check the time.

"Are you looking at the time, or are you enjoying grazing your hands on my ass?" Ari was the queen of sass today but I liked it. It made me smile and it distracted me from all the bullshit going on in my life.

"It's 2PM," I told her, opening up the pocket with a finger and slipping her phone back in. "You were here the entire school day. There's like two more periods left. What are you gonna tell your mum? Pretty sure the office called home."

"No use in lying to her," she shrugged, turning around to lie flat on her back. "I'll tell her the truth and take whatever punishment."

"You're like the perfect child Ari," I complemented. "Most people, myself included, would come up with the most elaborate lie."

"I'm not like most people," she chuckled. "And I'm not a perfect child. Not even in the slightest."

"Oh come on Ari. You're like the daughter every parent wants. Just ask my mum," I pressed. "You don't keep things from your mum; you think about things only grow ups should worry about like the bills; and you're having this huge 18th birthday party just to make your mum happy even though you really don't want it. Face it Ariane whatever-your-middle-name-is Quiroz, you're the golden child."

Ari didn't respond. She only stared at the ceiling with an expression I couldn't quite read. I wish I knew what she was thinking. Unexpectedly, Ari sat up from the bed and started to climb over me.

"Where you going?" I asked, just as Ari began to straddle me. She held herself above me in the push-up position and sighed.

"I'm going home," she announced and proceeded to leap off of my bed.

"What? Why? Stay here," I pouted, sitting up and swinging my legs off the edge of my bed.

"I need to get ready to hang with Reese later," she slipped on her shoes and picked up her bag off of the floor.

"Are you seriously still hanging out with him?"

"Yes Luke, I am. I can't back out on him. You wouldn't like it if I made plans with you and I stood you up. I don't know what your deal is,"

"My fūcking deal," I air-quoted, "is that I'm concerned for your behalf."

"Concerned for my behalf?" She mocked, letting out an unamused chuckle. She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she continued, "that sounds like a bullshit answer Luke. I don't understand why you're so upset about this. You act like I'm going to abandon you for some serial rapist."

Ari turned curtly on her heel, pulling open my bedroom door and proceeded down the hall. As she grasped the hand railing and fled down the stairs, my feet shuffled across the carpet to trail behind. One inhale and I could catch whiff of her stupid One Direction perfume as her ponytail wavered in my face.

"Stop being so immature about this whole thing Ari and listen to me for once!" I grasped her arm, prompting to cease her endeavors down the stairs.

"Immature?" She repeated, slowly shifting her body to glare at me. "I'm being immature? You're a dimwit Hemmings. If anyone is being immature right now it's you: for having the fūcking audacity to stop me from simply spending time with a new friend with no valid reason. Bye Felicia!"

Ari pulled her arm away from my clutches and ran down the remaining steps. Thank God for my long ass legs because I was able to leap downward, skipping several steps and scurrying towards the front door. I planted my body against it, meeting Ari's irritated face.

"Luke, I'm done with your fuckery. Please move," she seethed through gritted teeth.

"You know what's annoying?" I gawked at the petite Asian before me with the same intense ire as she.

"Um, you?!" Ari retorted and I rolled my eyes. "Move fūckface."

"You think you're so high and mighty all the fūcking time! You act like you're in your twenties or something. You walk around with your nose in the air, dictating people around because you think you're more mature than everyone else. But get it through your head that you're frigging 17 not 37! If you think hanging out with Reese will solidify your need to be mature then you might as well be bestest buddies with a serial rapist because I can guarantee than douchepants Reese will prefer you much more with your legs wide open! And knowing you, you'd probably oblige because sex is what all the cool, older college kids are doing!"

To say that I was fuming with animosity would be an understatement at best. As my chest heaved up and down, I found my fists clenched at my sides and my teeth gritting in annoyance. I stared at Ari who was beginning to redden in the cheeks and I patiently waited for some snarky response. But I didn't get one-- at least not a verbal one. Because right when I thought I had won this argument, Ari stepped forward and arched her arm back. In one swift and solid movement, the palm of her hand collided with my cheek with a powerful sting.

I teetered away, throwing a hand to my cheek where Ari had slapped me. My eyes fluttered to grab a glimpse at my pint-sized attacker who marched straight for the door. Unlocking it, she turned the handle and opened the door wide before slipping out. I watched Ari as she stomped away, down the concrete pathway. However, before she disappeared around the corner, she turned around. Her dark brown, almond shaped eyes met my icy blue ones and I held my breath the moment I saw tears trickling down her face.

"By the way, my middle name is Genevieve!" She yelled, biting her lip as more beads rolled out of her eyes, "and that's the last piece of me you're getting. Ever!"

With that, Ari turned back around and hastily trudged to her car. I stepped back inside the house, slamming the front door with a clamorous thud.

"Luke?"

I turned my head to find my mum standing at the top landing of the stairs with a confused look on her face. Great, I fūcking woke her up.

"What's going on? I heard yelling," mum observed.

"It's nothing," I grunted angrily, stomping up the stairs.

"Is everything alright?" She questioned as I passed by.

"Yea mum! God! Everything is fūcking peachy keen!" I shouldn't have yelled at my mum, and I regretted it the moment the words slipped passed my tongue. I also should've apologized right then and there but for some damned reason I didn't. I just continued my trek down the hallway to my bedroom, leaving my mother stunned and hurt.

Like how I left Ari.

//

Maybe I shouldn't have drank half a bottle of spiced rum before taking a much needed nap. And maybe I should've continued my beauty rest instead of accompanying the lads to the Halloween store to find costumes for some party. Normally, I'd go to Jake Hansen's Halloween bash-- complete with hot girls, loud music and copious amounts of hard liquor. This time around, my Halloween plans were going to be whatever Ashton, Calum and Michael were doing.

"So tell me again why you decided to get drunk on a Monday afternoon?" Calum questioned as he perused the aisle of fruit costumes.

"Cause," I shrugged.

"Cause why?" Ashton continued, trying on different styles of sombreros in front of the mirror.

"Cause Ari was being dumb," I groaned.

"You sound jealous. You wouldn't happen to like her, would you?" Calum chuckled, looking at me with pursed lips.

"No," I grunted, crossing my arms in a huff. "But do you guys find it irritating? You're her best friends too."

"Listen, we've known Ari since we were like 10 and we've always been pretty secure with our friendship," Michael explained. "If she hangs out with other people, like how she hung out with you that one time," he smirked, shooting me a righteous expression, "we're never scared that she'd abandon us."

"Point is, you're not with your popular posse anymore. One mistake of liking the wrong band or TV show and Jake, Katie and the rest of their crew drops you. We don't do that," Calum declared confidently.

"I think I may have screwed it all up," I quipped with a frown. "Do you think she'd forgive me?"

"Ari will come around," Ashton promised. "She always does. You just gotta step back and give her time to breathe."

"She's pretty hardcore with her friendships. Once she deems you a bestie, she ain't letting go," Michael claimed. "So just chill out. Forget about it because we have bigger problems than Ari and Reese's peanut butter cups."

I let out a laugh, finally a candy reference and someone finally agreeing to the weirdness of Reese's name.

"And what's the bigger problem?" I asked.

"Halloween of course," Michael stated matter-of-factly. "What the hell are we going to dress up as?"

"I'm thinking bananas," Ashton held up a plastic package with a hug grin etched on his face.

"What's the plan for Halloween? Trick or treating?" I assumed, earning a groan from Calum.

"And you were calling Ari immature," Calum raised a brow with a smile. "We're going to Sean Leone's party."

"Wait! You guys are friends with Sean Leone," I was taken aback by Calum's words. Sean was much older than us; a college kid who was dating Ari's coworker Jasey Lopes. Sean was also the same guy who threw the huge bash that left me butt-face drunk and vomiting in the alleyway where Ari had found me.

"We know him through Ari who works with his girlfriend," Calum mentioned, as he sauntered into another aisle displaying random items like mustaches and glasses.

"Jasey," I said, to which Calum nodded. He grabbed a coat off of the opposing rack and slipped it on.

"Yea and he happens to also have class with Ari's hot sister Mia," Ashton grinned, slapping a fedora on his head.

"And even though we've never stepped foot in a soirée hosted by Jake Hansen, I already know that his parties are in no comparison to Sean's," Michael preached with confidence. He grabbed a set of faux pearls off of the hook and draped them around his neck. "What if we go as old people?"

I laughed at his suggestion, grabbing a purse and letting it hang off of my shoulder.

"I haven't been to a Sean Leone party in ages. The last one I went to was a few months ago," I told them, holding up a skirt and pressing it up to my waist.

"Oh we know," Ashton laughed.

"You know?" I furrowed my eyebrows and cocked my head to the side, looking at the curly headed boy before me, who was starting to look like a grandpa with the cane and fake mustache.

"We were at the same party," Michael informed. "We saw you getting shitfaced, getting into some argument with a blonde girl before aimlessly walking out the door."

"I think you know what happened next," Calum insinuated. He took off the coat and hat that adorned his head and walked to the next aisle over.

Funny how small of a world we were in. I mean I always knew Percival Shores was a close-knit, teeny town but it seemed like there were less than 6-degrees of separation among us all. If I weren't friends with Calum, Michael or Ashton, I never would've known that they were friends with Sean, much less at the same party as I. I never was much into coincidences, but who would've thought that one little decision to walk out of a party would ultimately end up here: in a costume shoppe with awesome friends who knew how to cheer me up better than the popular crowd ever did.

About 40 minutes later did the boys and I merrily skip out of the store with crinkly plastic bags in our hands. We were very pleased with our Halloween costume decision and couldn't wait to march into Sean Leone's party as everyone's squad goals.

"You guys down for Italian ice at Rita's?" Ashton questioned as we all slipped into his car.

"I am! I'm hungry!" I voiced, desperation in my tone.

"Italian ice it is then," Ashton smiled, turning the key into the ignition of the car.

As the car rumbled, the speakers blasted Green Day's American Idiot, and like some kind of punk-rock musical, we bursted into full-on, top-of-our-lungs singing, complete with air guitaring my heart out. Three songs later, we pulled up into the open lot of Rita's Italian Ice. My mouth was watering just thinking about the sweet dessert and without hesitation, I jumped out of the car. Just as I closed the door and took a step forward, I stopped in my tracks.

A familiar giggle, a head of dark red hair and a playful shove into the arm of some douchepants, was enough to leave me with my mouth slightly agape and my heart to drop out of my butt.

"Ari?"

//

Okay everyone! Hope you all liked this chapter! It was a fun one for me, especially thinking about the boys in old people costumes. Raise you hands if you saw their 2nd Target video. I couldn't stop laughing and it made me love them more because of their goofiness! <3

Also, this story recently hit 50K reads & 1K in votes. THANK YOU guys so freaking much! Everyday this story gets new readers and it makes me so happy. I work hard on this story and it's nice to know that people enjoy it! I LOVE reading all your comments-- you guys are so funny & your theories are awesome. Also, high-fives for all the "A" / PLL references in the comments. You guys rock my socks off!

AND, I've been getting lots of comments of Ari's ethnicity & the whole Asian/Filipino thing. For the record, Filipinos are Asian :) Just think South/East Asian mixed with Spanish Heritage.

THANKS again for reading "Drunk Words, Sober Thoughts" or any of my stories. Thanks for voting and for commenting, it makes me feel so happy! <33