Chapter 4
"Oh," Luke says, and then his eyes widen with understanding.
"Oh."
"So..." Ivy trails off, biting her lip.
"What's a junior in high school?"
"The worst thing to be in high school," he says with a laugh.
"Except maybe a teacher.
Here - "
Luke grabs a notepad from the coffee table, rooting around briefly for a pen before drawing a crude pyramid divided into four sections.
"Okay, sothese," he points out the bottom most section with his pen, "these are freshmen." He pauses to write the wordFRESHMENin block capitals on the pyramid.
"They're the youngest.
They're also the ones people don't really care about.
Unless they're super cool.
Or super assholeish.
Some freshmen arereallypopular, like more popular then upperclassmen - "
"Were you a popular freshman?" Ivy interrupts curiously.
Luke's brows furrow.
"Well, I, uh - I did have a lot of friends, yeah - "
"So youwere!" she crows in triumph.
"Ssh," he shakes his head.
"I wouldn't say I waspopular- "
"Oh, yousowere - "
"Not the point!
The point is, freshmen are at the bottom of the metaphorical food chain.
They're like...plankton."
"Those teeny tiny things that whales eat?"
"Exactly."
"You know, I never got how something so big could live on something so small," she begins pensively.
"Like,imaginehowmuchyou'd have to eat of them...or what they'd look like when you peed them out.
Or pooed them out.
Do whales even pee?"
Luke rolls his eyes.
"Back to the original question - "
"Right.
Junior high school thing.
Why did you tell me about freshmen?
Iwaskind of asking about juniors.
Why are they even called freshmen?"
"AsI was saying - " he goes back to the diagram, writing the wordSOPHOMORESonto the next section up from freshmen.
"Wow." Ivy says.
"That seems like a mouthful."
It seems like Luke has finally mastered the art of completely ignoring what Ivy has to say unless it's actually relevant to the conversation topic.
"Sophomores are the next up.
They're usually dicks."
"All of them?"
"Mostly.
Finding decent sophomores is hard."
"Oh.
That sucks."
"It does."
"So, they're like freshmen, then?"
"Kinda, in that they're usually assholes.
Just...less innocent assholes."
"Okay."
"Then, you have juniors," he taps the penultimate division of the pyramid.
"That's what I am right now."
"Are juniors assholes too?"
Luke laughs.
"Mostly, yes.
We're stressed assholes because we have these big exams that are important to us getting into college."
"I don't think you're an asshole," Ivy informs him.
"Well, thanks," he says with a grin, and she thinks that she really could get used to seeing it on his face, the way she can just make out the upward curving of his lips in the receding darkness of the early morning.
They stare at each other for a few beats too long, before Ivy clears her throat.
"So what's the last part?" she asks, nodding at his diagram.
"Oh, that's the seniors," Luke says, almost as though it's obvious.
"What are they like?"
"Pretty awesome," he admits.
"I'm gonna be one next year, so."
"You are?"
"Yep," he chirps, almost like a proud kindergartner.
"Movin' one year up..."
"Right," Ivy says heavily, and it's not anything inparticular, it's just...she'd forgotten about that thing that humans do.
How they get older.
(Ivy doesn't.
Get older, that is.
She just kind of stays in this perpetual state of youth, and she thinks that a lot of humans would kill for that sort of thing, butshe'dkill to get rid of it; she likes the idea of growing up and having a family and a house that humans seem so enamoured with.
It seems...nice.
Like doing something for yourself.
Her only purpose in life is to do things for other people.)
"Hey, are you okay?" Luke's tone is gentle as his fingers graze her arm in concern.
Ivy is jolted back to the present (haha...present...comeon, that was a pretty good pun, right?) and lets her eyes flicker to the sun, which is beginning its steady ascent upwards.
"Oh, crap!" she exclaims, jumping up from the couch.
"I'm so late!
I haven't evenstartedon South Rustavia or – "
"Hey," he interrupts her with a smile.
"It's okay.
You'll get round in time.
But you better get going, right?"
"Right," she pauses, realising that he's also stood up, making her feel kind of small in comparison.
It's not that she'sthatmuch shorter than Luke, it's just something about him that makes him still feel...big.
Tall.
Like a tower.
Or a giant!
Something along those lines.
She's never been great with similes.
Or are they metaphors?
"Ivy," he sings, poking her.
She realises he's become practiced at being able to tell when she's gotten lost in her own train of thought.
"Right," she nods, beginning her determined path towards his fireplace and by extension the rest of the world.
"Duskfallwillget their presents!"
"That's the spirit," he grins, and he follows her to the fireplace before letting his eyes widen.
"Wait, hold up!"
He goes to rush towards the kitchen space, pausing briefly to turn to her and say; "Don't move a muscle."
"My feet are rooted to this spot until your return," she declares, crossing her arms for good measure.
"Good," he grins, and he disappears out of her sight for a few brief moments, returning with a large Tupperware box.
Ivy takes it from him, discovering upon further inspection that it is filled to the brim with cookies.
"Oh, Luke – "
"For the rest of your journey," he waves off.
"Since I'm the one who held you up, and all..."
Before he can finish, she lunges towards him, throwing both her arms around his neck.
The cookies rattle in the box.
"You didn't hold me up," Ivy murmurs into his shoulder.
"You're the best part of my Christmas Eve."
She feels a quiet chuckle resonate through his chest.
"Likewise."
She takes it as a cue to pull back.
"So, until next year?" she says, and okay,maybeshe makes it into a bit of question, because she's still not completely one hundred percent sure that she doesn't just really annoy him.
"Until next year," Luke agrees with a grin.
Ivy turns to go up the fireplace, but stops short.
"Uh, Luke?"
"Is another one-up necessary?" She can hear the smirk in his voice, damn him.
"Maybe a little one."
ANOTHER YEAR LATER
"I'm here!" Ivy announces as soon as her feet touch the fireplace.
"And I didn't fall!
Luke?"
She can just make out a tall form sprawled on the couch, and, upon closer inspection, finds that it is, in fact, Luke, who is snoring lightly and...is thatdrool?
Ivy stifles a laugh, but moves past him as quietly as she can, thinking that if he's managed to fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position, he probably needs all the sleep he can get.
Unfortunately, the quietest Ivy can move around ranks at least a strong seven on everyone else's scale of one to ten of loudness, and as such, it's not long before she's given the fright of her life when a voice close to her ear says:
"I didn't hear you come in."
"Oof!" Ivy lets out in surprise, falling backwards before she can stop herself and ending up with her head in Luke's lap.
He looks down at her with an amused expression, and she scowls.
"Geez, you could give a girl a warning before you creep up on her like that," she chastises.
Luke lets out a laugh, and it's weird to watch from her vantage point, because he's upside down and laughs upside down are a weird thing to watch.
"I'm sorry," he says, although he doesn't sound very sorry at all.
"Are you?" Ivy arches a brow, which also feels weird, because raising eyebrows whilst lying down is actuallywayharder than people might think.
If people think about raising eyebrows whilst lying down. "Because I don't think you are."
Luke gasps and clutches his chest in mock injury. "Ivy!
How could you!
Of course I'm sorry!"
"Prove it."
At this, a smirk unfurls on Luke's lips, slow and lazy, and he moves his head down and closer to hers.
Without realising it, Ivy's breath hitches.
He waits for a few long seconds, and then says in a low tone of voice: "Would the plate of cookies on the table help convince you?"
Ivy's head shoots up from his lap at the mere mention of baked goods, and she turns to face him. "Cookies?" she repeats excitedly.
"That's what I said, wasn't it?" he replies in a teasing manner, standing and offering her a hand to get up.
As soon as Ivy's on her feet, she's rushing to the kitchen table, leaving Luke to trail after her, stifling a laugh.