Chapter Text
“You did what?”
“Chill out, Brooks,” Luke muttered as he stalked down the hallway. He spat out the surname of the sophomores' class president with a cold venom. “The kid’s going to be fine, for Christ’s sake. It’s not a big deal.”
“First of all, that’s Millicent to you,” the president spat back, her voice pointed with an equal bite. She walked briskly, catching up to Luke easily despite the drastic difference in height between the two of them.
“Secondly,” Millicent continued, her voice quaking periodically with the force of her footsteps, “you need to stop with these fistfights of yours and start listening to reason for once. One of these days, you're going to get into a scrap with one last kid on these grounds and, I swear to god, you will be expelled.”
“Oh, I know that. I’m just saying, I care a lot less about that than you think I do.”
“I can't believe that you slammed a kid’s head into the wall and you don't care. Not even a little bit. Why aren’t you thinking about any of this? Hell, not even the expulsion part?”
“Know what, Mils,” Luke snapped, disregarding Millicent’s previous correction, “I only think about what I care to think about, and I'll have you know that if the school wants to expel me, then it can. I welcome it, even. That fucking guy knew what was coming to him, and if he wants to play pretend in front of authority, then the fuck can I do about it?”
“Look, I’m not gonna ask what you mean by that, but let me tell you something: I know what it's like to be upset the way you've been upset. Humans can be awful creatures. But you can't keep doing this, I’m serious.”
“I stand by my previous statement and I don’t care what happens if I do. You can go tell the school it can expel me if it really wants to. To hell with it. I’ve had this talk with too many people in this goddamn district and I’m not gonna cave just because it’s you.”
“You know what? Fine,” Millicent said simply. “But what about Alex once that does happen?”
For once, Luke faltered.
He said nothing.
Millicent continued; this time speaking quietly, sympathetically.
“Look, Luke. I’ve known you basically forever. And I’m absolutely aware that I’m not technically supposed to be involved in this because, frankly, I’m not even in your year. I'm an underclassman. But you and I both know that there’s things you need to change if you ... if you want to see anything for yourself in the future, really.”
Luke stayed quiet.
“This might sound crazy, Luke, and I know we’ve grown apart, but as someone who still remembers you to some extent as our neighborhood’s big brother, I can’t stand to see you turning out like this. If you don’t care, then fine, because you’re right. I can’t change how you feel about this just because we’ve known each other for some time. But I know that I would hate to see you become known around here for practically nothing other than being expelled for delinquency, and I know Alex would hate it too,” Millicent ranted. She hadn’t realized her voice had involuntarily raised until she’d stopped talking.
A moment of tense silence befell the empty hallway before she spoke once more.
“You know more than anyone how much he cares about you. You're his best friend."
Luke didn’t speak, nor did he move, nor did he even meet Millicent’s eyes. But she knew for a fact that he’d listened as soon as she had mentioned Alex Wickham; and it didn’t matter whether or not he wanted to admit it.
Millicent sighed and looked away. Luke glanced up at her, finally, and for the first time, he saw the look in her eyes; the exhaustion, the exasperation, the tiredness, the wounded vigor.
For a moment, despite Millicent’s young age, Luke could’ve sworn he saw his mother.
Exhausted. Exasperated. Tired. Vigorless.
Luke’s chest shriveled with guilt.
“I better get back to my student council meeting,” Millicent whispered, unaware, turning on her heel. “But just ... at least try to think about it, okay?”
Luke cherished his pride above most things, and never would’ve dared to admit to anything that could've crumbled it; but that night after leaving detention, he wasn’t quite able to think about anything else.