Luke's attention was distracted when Valentina returned with two glass of beer.
"Here. Sorry to keep you waiting, Luke," she said. Then she handed one to Luke and at that moment, again, the girl in the black jacket disappeared. Luke was sure he hadn't blinked for a second though. He sighed.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It is nothing."
Luke took a sip of the beer and noticed that Valentina was also drinking trying to hide her smile into the glass. Her eyes drifted the other way.
"Are you smiling?" asked Luke matter-of-factly.
"Oh, no," Valentina wiped her lips, "I'm just happy."
His sentence made Luke realize his current condition and all he could do was suck on a cigarette butt that was shorter than his little finger.
"By the way, how have you been?"
"Well."
"Don't snap like that," he joked, "Every time you give that cold face of yours, it just makes me fall in love more."
Valentina chuckled at her own joke while Luke rolled his eyes .
Then time went by with Valentina Miller babbling about her family's hereditary butcher business. He told me about a rain pipe in front of his house that leaked and often made anyone who passed by slip. Even three days ago there was an old woman who fell and sprained there, then sued the butcher shop but no one can be blamed in this case. Valentina also told me that lately there was always a restless barking from the house guard dogs barking towards the forest in the backyard and every time a member of Mr. Shelby checked while carrying the shotgun , never found anyone or anything. Instead, there were only animal footprints.
"... my sister said those were the tracks of Jeff's friends-our family dog, you know-but my dad said no. I do not know. What do you think it is?"
God, this chat is ridiculous. Luke is aware of and appreciates Valentina's effort to create a conversation that doesn't touch on their past relationship, but doesn't sound too casual either. But, come on... this is a ridiculous topic. Luke didn't even see a correlation between himself and the animal tracks or the broken pipe in front of Valentina's shop.
So Luke replied carelessly, "I don't know. Maybe aliens."
And Valentina burst out laughing. Choking, but still able to laugh. Though it's not funny. But, the girl laughed out loud and sounded crisp in Luke's ear. Valentina's eyes spontaneously form beautiful crescents every time she laughs with both cheekbones going up and jaw going strong. Her bushy eyebrows also add to her expression when Valentina laughs. On reflex, Luke smiled because of that. He immediately realized and hastily turned his face away. So that's when they stopped chatting. Luke didn't finish the beer in my glass but chose to leave.
Luke intended to look for Amy and Andrew because he wanted to join them but unfortunately, Luke caught Amy and Andrew making out in the tool room under the stairs, clinging to the wall like a pair of geckos. Amy was seen immediately covering her chest with one arm and walking quickly to close the door right in front of Luke's nose.
, "Is it really your hobby to peek at people making love, Lookey ?!"
The door slammed shut in front of Luke's nose who could only gape. From the side, a laughing Valentina could be heard. Well, inevitably, Luke spends the night at the party with Valentina in the end.
Luke and Valentina were finally talking again. Actually, Luke just listened to Valentina babbling and gave sober responses. Valentina had asked Luke to dance, but because the boy was bad at dancing, they didn't do it. In the end, Valentina's friends also join them.
At one past five, Luke had returned home. Half drunk because Valentina's friends forced her to drink. Unlucky. Luke comes home escorted by Valentina. Before getting out of the car, she grabbed Luke's hand and their faces were close enough for a kiss. But in fact, Valentina turned to Luke's cheek and kissed him lightly.
"Sweet dreams Luke."
Ah, Luke feels really sleepy
***
This morning, an hour before leaving for school, Ben scolded Luke. More like interrogating a prisoner, except that it takes place in the dining room which smells of cheese, mashed potatoes, Arabica coffee and apples being peeled. The reason is, Ben found Luke sleeping on the terrace of the house without any heating. On the other hand, Ben is angry that Luke sneaked out last night to come to the party.
Ah, indeed Ben is an old-fashioned person. Foolish old man. Super stubborn Benjamin Brigth .
Luke knew the old man had spent his youth on the battlefield, but he must have done some fun things at all like sneaking out to a party, or pressing someone's house button and running away, or stalking a girl. Ben should know how young people have fun.
" Well, Ben was stalking me at the time, just so you know honey," Ulfa said as she peeled an apple. He smiled and glanced at Ben who looked awkward. Her wrinkled face still blushed every time Ulfa teased her with simple words.
To be honest, even though Ben is annoying and too stiff, he seems to have a lot of love reserves for Ulfa. Never had Luke ever heard Ben fight with Ulfa or argue with harsh words. Never once did Luke see Ben letting Ulfa go alone even if it was just crossing to the neighbor across the street. Never once did Luke see Ben giving Ulfa an annoyed look.
This old man was too in love with Ulfa Bright. Luke respected him for this one thing.
So Luke believed when Ulfa told him that Ben Ben used to stalk him. But as if he wanted to get rid of the blush on his face, Ben snapped back at Luke.
"Don't distract yourself, boy! Answer me, where did you go last night, what time, with whom, and what did you do?!" A series of questions that were more like a burst of bullets.
He sighed.
"I told you, I'm at the Judges' house, Ben..."
What Luke actually meant by 'house' was one of Andrew's villas. So, yeah, Luke wasn't lying about this.
"...we are working on a project..."
That 'party' was the project he was referring to.
"... you can ask Lee if you don't believe me..."
Of course, Andrew would have been more than happy to tell Ben that Luke and he had gone out together on something-a thing they called parties and fun.
"...and I left when you ran into Ulfa's room. You remember, after someone threw a rock at our window last night."
And suddenly, it was as if all movement in the dining room stopped. More precisely, Ben and Ulfa's movements seemed to have stopped compactly; Old Ben's coffee cup stopped about five millimeters from his lips and Ulfa's knife stopped towards the end of the apple. In the next second, Luke noticed that Ulfa was throwing glances at Ben like a sudden rage.
Then asked Ulfa earnestly and in a voice I had never heard before, firmer and more intimidating;
"Be honest, kid. Who did you meet last night ?"
***