Luciana

Hey
So
Do you want to have sex

"Thomas!"

"Put him down!"

Without hesitation, Alby and Newt press me against the ground, the front of my body facing it. I fight against them, but it's impossible—they've twisted my wrists onto my back.

"Give me my phone!" I panic. "What did you send? Let me go!"

"I'm going to pee my pants." Frypan's laughing so loud that he joins me on the ground, except he's not being tortured to death and insanity—

"Thomas!" I scream. I fight with all the strength I have. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. They've got me. "What did you send? Tell me you didn't send anything! Was it sweet? Or dirty? Or embarrassing?"

Thomas appears in front of me. He holds my phone close, but with sabotaged hands, I'm unable to reach for it. "What do you prefer? I'll depend my answer on that so you won't kill me today."

"I don't know, man! As long as it's not like... sexual or anything."

His face falls. "So, about that."

"Thomas!" I jolt forward right before Newt and Alby push me down again. "Delete it! Delete it or I swear to God I will—"

"Alright, alright." Thomas throws my phone down in front of my face. "Let him go," he tells Newt and Alby.

My insides are practically exploding as I open my chats with Luciana, already reaching for the delete button—

Black screen.

"What?" I sit up. Slap my phone. Throw it around. "What's going on with this thing—"

"Oh, yeah, it might've been on one percent," Newt admits, as if he's all that innocent.

This is the biggest fear I didn't know I had.

"What?" I'm nearly yelling by now. "Charger! Charger! Where's my charger?!"

It takes forever for my phone to restart. What if she sees the message before that? If Thomas had sent something slimy, it would've been less awkward to tell her that was my friend, let alone face her again.

I trip at least four times while searching through my drawers. "Fuck!" And I somewhat fall down the stairs. "Charger! Mom, where is a charger! Any charger at all—well, it must fit my phone, but where—oh my—Mom!"

She looks horrified. "I knew you were getting addicted to that thing—"

She tries to take the device from me, but I pull away and spin around to find it near the couch.

Oh.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, there's Luciana sitting on our couch. With her phone in her hands.

Wait. I can immediately tell her that was Thomas and that I have nothing to do with this—

Dariel leans forward.

I take a step back. "Hi."

He stands up.

I take another step backwards. "What's up?"

"Was just watching videos with Lucy when a message popped up."

"Really?" As I force a laugh, real beads of sweat trickle down my spine. "That's... that's funny, because I was just—MOM!"

He starts chasing me around the house.

I run for my life.

Dariel is faster. Always has been. But desperation fuels me, and I hurl myself over the couch, knocking over some decorative pillows. My foot barely hits the ground before I push off again, scrambling toward the stairs—

A hand grabs my hoodie.

"No—NO—" I thrash like a fish, but Dariel yanks me back.

"What," he says, "the fuck did you text my girlfriend?"

"I—I didn't!" I hold up my hands, wide-eyed. "It was Thomas, I swear to God. Ask Newt! Ask Alby! They pinned me down and—"

"Oh, so you just let your friends sext my girlfriend?"

"No! What? Sext—" I choke on the word. "I don't even know what he sent! My phone died!"

Slowly, he turns to Luciana. "Well? What did he send?" Dariel wonders.

"You wanna have sex?" she quotes.

My soul leaves my body. "WHAT?" I screech. "No. No, no, no—I swear I did not send that. Thomas—he—"

Dariel lunges for me again. I attempt to flee, but he drags me back by my collar.

"I'M INNOCENT—"

His fist crashes against my skull—well, okay, maybe it's more like a quick noogie, but still!

"You absolute dumbass.

"AGAIN, NOT—ME—"

Luciana laughs.

Laughs.

I freeze. Dariel does too.

We both turn to her.

Her lips are twitching like she's trying so hard to keep a straight face but failing miserably. Then she fully cracks, covering her mouth as giggles spill out.

"Oh my God," she gasps between wheezes, "you—your faces—"

Dariel blinks. "You're laughing?"

"It's funny!" she insists. "Did you see how Minho reacted? He looked like he was about to get sentenced to life in prison."

I take my chance and sprint before I can think, dodging furniture, nearly tripping over the coffee table, and crashing into the side of the kitchen counter.

"Hey, no chance, you little shit!" Dariel yells. I swear I hear Luciana choking on laughter behind him.

"I can explain!" I shout, yanking a chair into his path.

He corners me. "You're telling me Thomas just so happened to take your phone, open your messages with my girlfriend, and text that—for no reason?"

"Yes!" I gasp. "Exactly that! He—he's evil, Dariel, trust me!"

Dariel exhales through his nose, unimpressed.

"You're full of shit," he says.

"I'm not! I swear!" I slap my chest for effect.

The silence stretches before Luciana speaks again. "Hey, hey, don't kill him yet. If it was him, at least he had the guts to ask properly."

Dariel groans, rubbing his face, and then—without warning—he punches my arm.

"Ow! What the hell, man?!" I stagger back, clutching my arm.

"That was for being a dumbass and allowing Thomas to do that," he says flatly.

"That was for nothing!" I protest. "I'm the victim here!"

Luciana laughs and steps forward, nudging Dariel. "C'mon, let's leave him alone. I think he's suffered enough."

Dariel sighs, eyeing me like he's still considering finishing me off. "You're lucky she's nice," he mutters.

Phew. I was already imagining my dramatic death in Luciana's arms, where I tell her I love her before I bleed out because Dariel stabbed me.

"Go clean the mess you made up," Mom barks at Dariel. She turns to me. "And what the hell ado you think you're doing? Sexting?"

"Why do you even know what that means?" And that's the last thing I say before I lock myself up in my room.

Where my friends still are.

"Dang—" Thomas starts.

I jump on top of him.

Thomas shrieks as I tackle him onto the floor, my hands immediately going for his neck. "You absolute piece of shit!" I shake him violently. "Do you have any idea what you've done to me?!"

Newt and Alby are howling with laughter from my bed. Frypan, still on the floor, wheezes so hard that I'm almost worried he's gonna pass out.

"It was funny!" he chokes out between gasps. "Admit it—it was so funny!"

"It was not funny! My life was on the line! Dariel nearly committed a murder! And you made Luciana think I actually want—" I pause for just a moment, and that's enough for Thomas to grin up at me, realization lighting up his dumb face.

"Ohhhhh," he says, dragging it out. "You do want—"

I clamp my hand over his mouth. "That's not true!"

He licks my palm.

"You're so dead—"

Newt drags me off of Thomas. "Alright, alright, that's enough," he says. "Minho, mate, we all know Thomas is a bloody idiot. But look on the bright side—Luciana totally defended you."

I plop down on my bed, arms crossed behind my head, staring at the ceiling like I'm having a mental breakdown. Which, honestly, I might be.

"Man," Fry gasps. "I haven't laughed that hard in weeks."

"Oh, yeah? Glad I could entertain you guys," I say. "Meanwhile, I just had to face my brother and my biggest crush in the history of ever thinking I'm some horny little creep."

Newt claps a hand on my shoulder. "Come on now. Let's be real. Luciana already knew you were a horny little creep."

I let out a miserable groan and shove my face into my pillow. "I hate you."

"Aw, don't say that," Thomas teases. "I did you a favor."

I yank my pillow off my face just to glare at him. "A favor?!"

"Yeah! Think about it," he says. "As Newt said, Luciana actually defended you. She told Dariel not to kill you. If you didn't have a chance with her before, now you do."

"How does that make any sense?"

"Because now you're in her head! I bet she's thinking about you right now."

"She's probably thinking, 'Wow, Minho is an idiot and I'm so lucky I'm dating his much more attractive and responsible older brother.'"

Alby nods. "Yeah, probably."

I throw my pillow at his face. He was supposed to be on my side.

Newt sighs. "Look, at least you know she doesn't think you're a complete loser. She laughed, didn't she?"

I groan. "Yeah. At me."

Thomas slaps his hands together. "Perfect! You made her laugh! Now all you have to do is keep embarrassing yourself in front of her and eventually she'll fall in love with you."

I lunge for him again.

Newt grabs me by the back of my shirt before I reach him. "Nah-ah. We better stay alive. We have a whole night ahead of us."

"I really don't feel like sharing my bedroom with you guys after this stunt."

"Too bad you already agreed on this."

"Just don't ever pull a stunt like that again," I complain.

"Hmm. Maybe next time, I'll consider admitting your undeniable love for her," Thomas says. He already shields his body with his hands, but this time, I just let him be his annoying self.

"Whatever. What do we do now?" By the look of their faces, I can tell they're about to say another dirty thing, so I quickly add, "You have two options: we watch a movie or we game."

We eventually agree to a movie and spend a solid two hours picking one. By the time we agree, I go downstairs to get some snacks, which takes another half hour because I might've gotten caught up watching Luciana when Dariel was too focused on their movie, and then Thomas spills the chips.

Half an hour later, the crumbs are still not gone, but I'm able to live with it. Newt and Alby settle on the ground with air mattresses while Fry and Thomas force themselves on my bed—basically crushing my organs.

"Ready?" I sigh out, tapping 'play' on the remote.

"Wait, I need to go to the toilet."

Everyone suddenly needs to go to the toilet. It's one AM by the time the movie actually starts.

It's a boring one. My head and eyelids start drooping as I fight the sleep off. If I fall asleep first, I won't just have a permanent mustache drawn on my face, but they'll take the most embarrassing pictures ever.

So I stand up. "I'll get some more snacks."

"Alright. See ya. Better bring us something good."

"Yeah, yeah." I roll my eyes, tiptoeing down the stairs. Mom is long asleep and I bet the two little lovebirds are, too.

The sounds of the TV echo through the living room. It's the only thing that lights the area up. I see the back of Dariel's head, focused on the device, but no sight of Luciana.

When I pass him, I notice he's asleep. And in the kitchen, I find her. 

"Oh, hi," she whispers softly. I swallow, my pulse quickening. "Do you need anything?"

"I— uhm, I—eh, yeah," I stammer. "Just some... snacks."

"Alright." A soft chuckle. My knees wobble as I walk closer. "What were you thinking?"

"Huh?" My eyes wide.

"Which snacks?"

"Oh. Eh... just some chips. A few drinks."

"Alright. I'll help you. I'll put the chips in a bowl. Less noise from the bag. Won't wake your mother up."

My throat is dry. She's so... so sweet, and kind, and thoughtful, and beautiful— "Oh, yeah. Sounds good."

"Great." Her smile is gentle. I sit down at the kitchen table, unpacking a few cans from their plastic cover.

Out of nowhere—I feel a hand slide onto my shoulder. My breathing hitches. "I didn't mind that much," she whispers.

"Huh?" I ask again, like a dumb chicken with no head.

"The text. I didn't mind at all."

All the oxygen seems to be gone. "You didn't?" I gulp.

"Not at all." Luciana steps closer. I look up at her. The moonlight illuminates her body just perfectly as I put a trembling hand on her waist. She moves along, straight onto my lap.

Panicked, I cast a look at Dariel, still asleep. "What about him?" I whisper.

"Don't worry about him," she responds quietly, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt. "It's you."

I can't take it anymore. My hand slowly cups her cheek. When she leans into it, I close the gap without thinking.

Her lips are softer than I could have ever imagined, and her skin—her skin is warm. She gasps against my lips, gripping my shirt like it's the only steady thing she can hold onto.

I pull her closer. Our bodies intertwine just perfectly. Her fingers thread through my hair. My heart slams against my ribs. Desperate, I deepen the kiss. This, this is what I've been waiting for. And it's better than anything else.

I'm dizzy. I'm completely consumed by—

"Minho."

A voice breaks through, and it's not Luciana's.

"Minho, wake up."

I jolt awake with a strangled gasp, my eyes flying open.

Newt is leaning over me, looking both concerned and amused. "Bloody hell, mate, what were you dreaming about?"

I blink. My body is on fire. My skin feels overheated.

Oh, no.

I sit up so fast I nearly hit my head against Newt's. "Nothing!" My voice cracks.

Thomas snickers. "Bro, you were making noises."

Oh my God.

"You sounded real happy."

I roll off my bed and crawl below it. Seriously.

"Hey, it's okay! I'm sure we've all had dreams like that," Newt says, his tone bittersweet.

"Yes. And maybe you were just... picking flowers in a gigantic field." All of them laugh.

"Hey! It really wasn't that dirty," I protest.

"Your body said otherwise."

"I know what I dreamt, and you guys don't."

"Yet we have proof."

Everything drops—my face, my jaw, my heart. "What?"

"Don't worry, we'll send the video in our groupchat—"

This time, it's Newt's neck who my hands wrap around. "I swear, if that video ends up spread around the school, I will make your life so miserable that even poor cashiers will recognize you and narrow their eyes because you smell so ratty and they know exactly what you did. No universities nor jobs will ever come your way, trust me—"

Newt pushes me off, chuckling. "You can trust us. Don't worry."

"You, maybe. But him?" I turn to Thomas. "I bet he'll send it to her."

"I would never—okay, I kind of would."

"See?" I kick him. "Delete that video. Permanently. Right now."

They share a few glances, realize the seriousness, and get to work. I watch them like a teacher checking who is cheating during exams. "And if it still somehow gets spread around—"

"Then it's not on us," Fry finishes. And even though I definitely don't agree, I leave it like that.