Chapter Seven
Luke could only describe the following two weeks as hell. He was struggling to revise for exams and complete assignments with everything that was going on.
Sarah, the vindictive bitch, continued to say things about him, spreading rumours and embellishing existing ones. And every lecture he attended, he was aware of the whispers and glances--or outright stares-- directed his way. And students being students, several times a day, he'd have people shouting at him, asking him how much he charged, had he had tests, what diseases did he carry?
Luke wasn't sure how he managed to keep going in for his lectures, how he kept attending university. The only thing he was looking forward to was Christmas break, and hopefully, when he started his new modules in the New Year, it would all have blown over. The fact that the abuse was still occurring was more than likely down to Sarah's persistence in persecuting him.
He'd never realised that Sarah could be like that. He'd only seen the beautiful, young, sweet girl who he'd enjoyed spending time with.
He could count on one hand the number of times they'd had sex, but that had been down to him. With his past, the last thing he'd wanted to do was to push Sarah into having sex. He wanted to make sure both of them were ready, even though he was well aware that people were sleeping around and having one night stands.
He wasn't like that. Living on the streets, he'd seen and done things that he was ashamed of, but he knew they had been necessary, otherwise the likelihood was that he would be dead.
Staring at his laptop, Luke began deleting more messages, tweets, emails. It was never-ending. The things that people could say, but how many of them would say it to his face? None. They were happy to say things from the safety of a computer, but would never have the guts to say it to his face, in front of everyone.
Opening the book in front of him, Luke stared at the text in front of him, barely comprehending it. He usually found it easy and absorbed the information quickly, but with the last two weeks, he'd struggled to understand the simplest part.
Sighing, Luke pushed his chair back and stood, picking up his empty mug. He left his room and went downstairs to the kitchen. The house was empty. Both Tom and Seb had gone out for a meal together, and Matt was over at Josh's. They would be moving in together soon, and they were clearing up Josh's apartment to make room for Matt's belongings.
Sighing, he grabbed what he needed to make a cup of coffee and then leaned back on the counter waiting for the kettle to boil. He stared out of the kitchen, looking at the garden.
The flowers had died, and all the leaves had fallen from the tree. Winter was here, and the garden showed it. Bleak. The garden reflected how he felt.
Once the kettle had boiled, he quickly made his coffee, then went back to his room. Sitting in his chair, he tried reading the coursework again and had a bit more success.
The next few hours, Luke was able to complete his assignment and do some revision. When he heard the front door close and voices drift upstairs, he knew that both Seb and Tom were home.
He closed his books, slid his chair back, and went downstairs. He needed some company.
Walking into the living room, Luke found Tom and Seb sat close to each other on the sofa. Tom had his arm across Seb's shoulder, and Seb was leaning on him. When he walked in, both looked up and smiled.
"How's the revision going?" Tom asked.
Luke grunted. "It's going. Can't wait for the exams to be over and done with. My fucking head hurts." Luke dropped in the chair near them and slumped back, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He had a headache, and it wasn't just revision that had caused it. Not that Tom or Seb knew. He'd made Matt promise not to tell anyone about what was going on because he didn't want them to worry. Tom had his exams coming up, and Seb had been helping him to revise, but he knew Tom was worried about them.
"Have you had something to eat?"
Luke opened his eyes and glanced at Seb, who had asked the question. "No, not yet. I'm going to get something now. I wanted to sit and relax for a few minutes first."
Seb nodded. "You need to eat, keep your strength up."
"Yes, dad." Luke smiled over at Seb.
"Yeah, he's been doing that with me as well," Tom added, bending down slightly to kiss Seb on his forehead.
Luke groaned, and then stood up. "Do you guys want anything?"
Both of them said no, so he stood up and went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and found a ready meal, quickly read the instructions, and popped it in the microwave. Within minutes, his food was ready, and he walked back into the living with it on a tray. Lasagna, that would do. Once he finished eating, he put the tray on the floor beside him and leaned back in his chair.
He watched a detective show on the TV, and when it had finished, he said 'night' to both Tom and Seb, then went back upstairs to his room. He had a full day of lectures the next day, and no doubt would run into a few of Sarah's friends, which was something he certainly wasn't looking forward to.
He did what he had to do in the bathroom, quickly changed, and got into bed.
Lying there, he stared at the ceiling before closing his eyes. Breathing deeply, he tried to go to sleep, but as usual, struggled. Since the fallout with Sarah had begun, Luke had only been managing to get a couple of hours sleep a night.
He couldn't wait for the semester to be over.
❊❊❊
Luke left the lecture hall having just finished his last exam. He'd effectively now broken up from University. It wouldn't be long and he would be celebrating Christmas.
As he walked away with Toby and Jack, he saw Sarah stood with a group of her friends, watching.
"Doesn't she ever give up?" Jack muttered, glancing over in their direction. "She's made your life fucking hell the past couple weeks with her lies and spreading rumours about you." Jack turned to face Luke. "You know you can get her done for that, don't you? It's called cyberbullying. You can go to the police, and they'll trace everyone who's spread those rumours about you, and you get them done for it. I would if I was you."
Luke shook his head as he continued walking. "What good would it do? Something else would be said, and it would all start up again. At least now we have a few weeks off, and hopefully, when I get back, it'll all have blown over. I've seen Sarah hanging out with someone else. What's his name?" He glanced at Jack and Toby.
"I think it's Gary, but I'm not too sure," Toby said.
"Hope she treats him better than she did you. She's a bitch. I can't wait for something to happen to her. Fucking karma." Jack was pissed, glaring at Sarah and her friends.
"I just want to forget about it and forget about the fact that I was ever with her. Luckily, we don't have any lectures together next year, so I should be able to avoid her." Luke sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I just want it all over and done with."
"Well, no more exams. I say we go out and have a few drinks," Toby nudged Luke.
Luke nodded. "Not the student bar, though. I don't want to run into her."
"No worries. We'll go to our local, won't we, Jack?"
Ignoring the shouts from Sarah's friends, Luke walked with Jack and Toby to their local pub. They only lived a few minutes away and had often asked Luke to move in, but he was happy with Seb, Tom and Matt. Soon to be just Seb and Tom.
Entering the pub, Jack went over to the bar and got the first order.
Soon they were all sat around a table drinking and discussing what they were doing over the Christmas break. Both Jack and Toby were going home to their families, and Luke was staying with Tom and Seb.
"So, you really don't have a family to go home to?" Toby asked. They knew about his past in foster care and about his friendship with Matt, but he'd never discussed his time on the streets.
"No, I don't. Me and Matt ran away from my last foster home. Don't get me wrong, there are some places out there with good families, but not all of them are like that."
"If you don't want to stay with them, you're more than welcome at my house. My mum can't wait to meet you," Toby said. "She's heard all about you and Jack."
"Hope it's all good, mate," Jack muttered, lifting his beer and taking a sip.
Toby coughed a little, glanced over at Luke them back down his pint. Luke watched Toby take a deep breath in and release it. "Is any of it true? What Sarah's been saying?"
"Fuck, Tobes," Jack muttered, shaking his head.
Luke didn't answer. He didn't want to lie to his friends, but if he told the truth, there was no guarantee that they would remain his friends. Not many people understood when they heard the truth. Who'd want to be friends with him, someone who had let men fuck him for money?
As the silence grew between the three of them, Luke's stomach churned. A sweat broke out over his skin, and he swallowed hard, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans.
"Jesus, it is, isn't it?" Toby muttered.
"What do you want me to say? Would you accept the truth?" Luke asked. He watched the expressions dance across Toby's face.
Shock, horror, pity.
Finally, Toby shook his head. "How long were you on the streets for?" he asked, wiping the condensation from the side of his glass.
"Around two years." Luke swallowed.
"Were you careful?" Jack asked, staring Luke straight in the eyes.
"Always," he answered, swallowing again.
He bit his lip, glancing between the two of them, waiting for them to shout at him, to swear at him, to say what a disgusting human being he was. But they said nothing. Luke frowned, wondering why neither of them was leaving.
"We kinda knew," Jack mumbled. Sitting back in his chair, Jack looked directly at Luke. "What? You think we won't be friends now? Because you were a rent boy?" Jack leaned forward on the table and continued to stare at Luke. "Did you want to do it?"
Luke shook his head. "No," he whispered.
"Can't imagine what you went through living on the streets, and no, I wouldn't want to do it. We've talked about it, and we admire the way you turned your life around. You've now got friends, you're doing a degree, and you're going somewhere. Got fucking big brass balls, mate."
Toby choked out a laugh. "Big brass balls?" Shaking his head, he said, "You sure got a way with words, Jack."
Looking again at Luke, Jack added, "You don't have to tell us about what happened when you lived on the streets. It's none of our business. But if you ever want to talk about it, we're here. Now, we need to get pissed, don't you think?"
Luke laughed, raised his glass, and drank half of it down. He had awesome friends.