Breaking the Arm, Healing the Heart

by Ashley Andrews

  Sicily could feel the blush in her cheeks. For once, she was speechless. She knew Lucas was a man-whore but his remark caught her totally off guard. The guy wasn't only perverted, he was also rude, and she hated that about him. "One of your arms is incapacitated. Let's even it out, shall we?" she hissed.

  "Incapacitate…what dictionary are you using?" he returned, and after, whispered into his brother's ear something Sicily didn't hear. "Wow. I don't think Mallory would even know how to pronounce that."

  Theodore, with a smile on his face, left the two alone to do nothing else but argue. There was a small mischievous grin on the ten-year-old's lips that heightened Sicily's suspicions. The siblings sure had a love-love relationship between them, and that surprised her.

  She was also surprised with the fact that Lucas could actually act civil towards someone. She grinned; she had found his weakness—Theodore. Letting go of her thoughts, she blinked her eyes rapidly and was met by Lucas' cold grey eyes. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, and that was when she remembered they had been arguing.

  "You're comparing her with me?" she asked though her question seemed more of a statement.

  "What does it look like?" Lucas answered, and after a while, he feigned a look of worry. "Oh, shit! I forgot she's your best friend!"

  "You need to learn Grammar 101," Sicily spat back. "I believe it's was, not is. Know your tenses." Sicily wasn't enjoying her verbal exchange with Lucas.

  He had that wide, ever-knowing smirk plastered on his face. He was acting conceited, placing his only useful hand on his hip, he looked at the cheerleader with raised eyebrows. "Behind in the gossip, Carmichael?" he asked with a hint of amusement and sarcasm in his voice. "I'm surprised and disappointed. In case you haven't heard, I'm taking AP English Language and Composition."

  Sicily had to stop herself from frowning when she looked at Lucas. Lucas Mercer wasn't only hot and talented, apparently, he was also smart. There had to be something wrong with this guy, she thought. Sicily was disappointed not with the fact that he had a brain, she herself had a few honors of her own, but because they were on the same level. She wanted to be better than him, but how could she do that when he seemed to have everything.

  "Cat got your tongue?" he asked, and the simple contact Lucas made between the two of them seemed to send jolts of electricity all throughout his body. He had placed a finger under her chin to be able to move her head up for their eyes to meet. She was beautiful and hot. He thought. She had the face of a tanned Cherub, if there was such an angel, with flawless soft skin and Egyptian-shaped eyes that were a hazy blue color. She had always seemed so mysterious to him. For someone who had such a big mouth and nasty attitude. She rivaled him in that department. "Who knew I could be the one to render the all-mighty Sicily Carmichael speechless?" he continued. "You should give me a certificate."

  "How about a kick in the ass?" she said in reply.

  "I had no idea you wanted to touch me so badly. All you had to do was ask," he answered with a wink.

  Sicily wanted to find a cliff right at the moment and jump off it, but in Florida? Maybe she could drown herself. She shook her head; she wasn't going to allow Lucas to take credit for being the cause of her death. He wasn't worthy of that. The guy was unbelievably conceited. Well, not so unbelievable. Zane could probably match him.

  "Why won't you put your mouth to better use and close it," she said through gritted teeth.

  "Why don’t I do that, and close it over the top of your lips,” he answered.

  He had her back pinned against the wall, his chest holding her in place. She could feel him breath. If he thought to intimidate her, well...Sicily was used to this kind of game. She only smirked when Lucas moved his face closer to hers.

  "So do you like this position?" he asked, searching her face for a reaction that would feed his over-inflated ego.

  "Gee, I’d heard you weren’t that concerned with your partner’s enjoyment. Good to know you the rumor mill is wrong again," Sicily said as she grinned. She did not intimidate this easily. "And here I thought you were experienced."

  "Haven't you heard of foreplay?" Lucas growled, shifting his body against her.

  Saved by the bell. At that moment, Sicily's phone vibrated against the back pocket of her jean skirt, so she pushed Lucas away from her to answer the call. She held the phone up to her ear and was greeted by Vanessa's calm voice.

  "Hey Hun, what's up?" her friend greeted, and Sicily knew right then and there she was going to be asked to go somewhere. "Are you busy?"

  "I'm kind of tied up at the moment," Sicily answered, glancing momentarily at Lucas who was looking away from her. "Why? What do you have in mind?"

  "I'm going on a date with Dan Matheson."

  Sicily grinned when her friend said the name. Daniel Matheson was the captain of the water polo team at their school. He had the usual well-sculpted body, the six-pack, the blonde hair, and the blue eyes. In other words, he was the typical American jock. Add egotistical to his resume, too.

  "And…?" Sicily knew what was coming, but of course she wasn't that conceited to let Vanessa know that she was so predictable.

  "I want you to come."

  Vanessa seemed happy, but not enthusiastic.

  Sicily noted the difference in her friend’s voice. The date, she was sure, wasn’t the love of her life, just something to do. They'd hook up, go out and then last for probably a week and a half or so. She was simply in it for the fun, Sicily shrugged and guessed that if you were going to have fun it might as well be with Dan Matheson.

  "And be a third wheel? Hell no!"

  "Dear, it's a double date," she continued. "So you won’t be the third wheel.”

  "A double date?" Sicily asked in disbelief as she laughed. "You crazy bitch! Who the hell am I supposed to bring at the last hour?"

  "You can bring me," Lucas said, interrupting her conversation.

  With her back still against the wall, Sicily looked at Lucas and shook her head, was he crazy? She removed the phone from her ear, covered the speakers and then mouthed to Lucas, "Nice joke."

  "It wasn't one." He was serious. It was his birthday and maybe he could celebrate this way, since his parents sure hadn’t remembered. Before he could add any more to his request, Sicily ended her conversation with Vanessa.

  "Text me when and where, and I'll meet you there with Zane." Zane wasn’t a bad choice. The guy was great company, a lot of fun, and no pressure.

  "A double date with Zane?" Lucas said, interrupting her thoughts. "Isn't that like going out with you brother? Shit, man. You have some problems."

  "Going out with my brother is even better than hooking up with you," she replied. "So stop trying to promote yourself."

  "Damn, that's almost incest already." And after that comment he wouldn’t say anything more about going with her.

  "Well, Cleopatra married her brother, who was years and I mean years younger than her," Sicily answered.

  Lucas Mercer was definitely confusing. It was only a while ago when he was talking of inserting himself in her. That was more whack than incest. Maybe not, but still. That was sick. He had been talking about sex with the enemy.

  "Who knew you had a brain?" he said sarcastically as he took a stride over to where she was and knocked on her head.

  She swatted his hand away from her hair.

  "Not keeping up with the gossip?" she asked, mimicking his earlier response. "I'm taking AP World History."

  With that, the game changed for Lucas. She still irritated the hell out of him. But yet, now she intrigued him a bit. She had a brain. He’d like to hang out with her, surprise, surprise. He wanted to learn more things about her.

  He shook his head. Only so he could bring her down a few pegs. He needed to find out her weakness before she could find his. He had seen her look at Theodore enough to realize that Sicily had figured out that Theodore was a soft spot for him. He shrugged and figured that she might think the rest of his family meant something to
him. She would be wrong. Lucas Mercer didn’t have a heart, he thought, especially when it came to his parents.

  * * * * *

  "Classy," Sicily said the moment Zane and her arrived at the upscale Italian restaurant. It had been at least twenty minutes away from her house. She smiled to herself when she realized the outfit she’d chosen was just perfect. She had picked a sexy little black dress that was wrapped tightly around her body. The garment superbly accented her curves. Even though it was a little hard to breathe in, she didn't care since it made her look cute, and that was what mattered.

  "Ready, Aphrodite?" Zane asked teasingly.

  "You get a whack," Sicily returned and simultaneously slapped her best friend's arm with her small purse. "Let's do this, Adonis."

  Zane merely nodded as he took her arm with his hand and led her towards the restaurant. Scanning the two-story structure, they had a hard time spotting their friends. The place was packed with elegantly dressed people eating and chatting with friends. They were going to blend easily with the rest. A lady who stood a few feet away from the front door came over to the two and asked for their names.

  "We're under Matheson," Sicily said, with a smile on her face.

  "Right this way, please."

  In about five minutes, the two were seated across from Vanessa and Dan, and were handed their menus. Sicily didn’t worry too much about her weight, as she had a pretty fast metabolism. She decided to get a full meal, seafood pasta with a side dish of caviar. The others placed their own orders, and the group ordered one eighteen-inch pizza to share as an appetizer..

  "You guys make a hot pair," Vanessa said as she sent her friends a mischievous smile.

  "Hands down," Dan added.

  Sicily and Zane, reading each other's thoughts, looked at one another and grinned. They may have dated before, but that was definitely in the past. She couldn't imagine herself being all lovey-dovey with him anymore, and she knew he thought the exact same thing. Lucas had been right earlier when he’d said any relationship between the two of them would be like incest.

  Before Nessa and Daniel could make any more absurd comments, Zane straightened things out. “Sicily picked me to go out with her, because we are just friends. We dated, are not dating, and will never date in the future," Zane said, trying desperately not to laugh.

  "Sicily!" Vanessa rounded on her girl friend. "So why did you bring him? It was supposed to be a double date!"

  "Wow, I can feel that my presence is overwhelmingly appreciated," Zane interjected, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  "Oh, let Sicily have my attention first, okay?" Vanessa teased, and this apparently let out a chuckle in Dan. "Give me ten, Hun."

  "Hun, huh?" Zane said to Nessa as he smirked at her. "Continue using that. I like it."

  "Aww…its okay, Dan," Sicily then told Vanessa's date in a teasing fashion. "I can give you nicknames instead of Nessa. How do you like Hun, honey, sweetie, or do you want something different like Danny-baby." Sicily winked.

  "Hey, I like that" he replied, returning her wink. "Continue that, babe, even at school."

  After a moment of silence, the four of them laughed as they grabbed the napkins off their plates and settled them on their laps. The laughter died down, though they all were still grinning from ear-to-ear.

  "For a second there, I think we switched dates," Vanessa reflected.

  "Oh, babe, just tell Dan what we've been hiding from him all along,” Zane said.

  "Which is…?" Vanessa returned seriously.

  Sicily was totally enjoying the night. She was having a blast and really happy that she’d decided to come tonight. She was with three of her close friends. They were laughing, joking, and simply relaxing together. She loved them, but still not so completely. Vanessa could be such a diva at times, while Dan could be as dumb as a rock sometimes. And the way he treated women, grossed her out.

  She thought about how many times Dan had tried hitting on her. It was obvious his lines were overused and she wasn't so much of an idiot that she didn’t know that. Thankfully, Zane was always there to shoo away the guys, Dan included, whenever they got way out of hand.

  "That you've been cheating on him," Zane answered proudly. "With me."

  "Oh, that's not cool man, totally not cool," was Daniel's reply.

  "Dude, I'm not stealing your girl now or anytime in the future," Zane took the high road. "She's hot," he said, pointing to Vanessa. "But not that hot." What he meant was that no one was hot enough to make him poach another guy’s girl. Unfortunately it didn’t come out that way.

  Vanessa cringed, but kept her face averted so that no one would see how much it hurt. That was a total insult even though she knew Zane hadn't meant it to be. He was just playing. But the topic of beauty made Vanessa very sensitive. She had a lot of competition here, especially with Sicily and Bailey, her two closest friends. Sicily was the hottest girl in school and everyone knew that, next to her was Bailey and finally after the blonde, came Vanessa. She wanted to be first in line but knew she never would be, and so, she settled with being third. She just had to be happy she still had a place.

  "You're an ass, you know that?" Sicily teased. "You better shut up before Nessa and Dan come up with a plan to take you down!"

  "That's a good idea actually," Vanessa added, smirking with her friend.

  She wanted to hate Sicily, but she couldn't even do that. The girl was often cold to others at the school, yet Vanessa had the privilege of being considered one of the Queen's best friends. The Sicily Carmichael of Sun Coast Valley High was a bit of a bitch. She didn't do any bullying since that would be so grade school of her. But Sicily was the most judgmental person in her school, and with her big mouth, what she said about people could easily ruin their reputation and place in the social ladder. She knew she was mean in that way, but she had a reputation to protect and her pride to look after. But as a friend, Sicily was great. Understanding, careful, and always there when Vanessa needed her.

  "Fine, you two chicks are taken anyway. Maybe I should go for Bailey." Zane seemed to consider the option.

  That, unsurprisingly, made another round of laughter erupt from the group. A few seconds after, Sicily spoke up, realizing something her friend had said.

  "Me? Taken?" she said, chuckling. "That's a nice one."

  "Yeah, it is," Zane returned. "You have Mercer now."

  "Don't even go there."

  "Why not?"

  "My afternoon with him was a bitch," she answered, offering information. "It was tiring as hell."

  Zane, Vanessa and Dan laughed in unison as they pointed their fingers at Sicily. The only one who wasn't laughing looked at her friends in confusion. She hadn't said anything wrong. Had she? It was only a few moments later when she realized what they thought she meant.

  "Get your heads out of the gutter!" she said in a loud voice. "I was tired because we had an argument, not because of…that!"

  Chapter 4: A Perfect Fit

  Sicily returned to the Mercer residence, hopefully prepared for anything that could happen. Yesterday had been eventful for her considering that she had a very sarcastic argument with Lucas. She would never admit that she’d enjoyed, and she didn’t want to repeat the experience anytime soon. They had been playing the my-boat-is-better-than-yours game and Sicily had been at a loss for words at times, especially when Lucas had pinned her against the wall as he caged her so an escape wasn't possible.

  She parked her Audi in the house's garage before she used the back door to get inside the mansion. When she stepped onto the marble flooring of the kitchen, she was greeted by a servant who had mouthed a simple, "Good morning, ma'am." Maintaining her intimidating air, she returned the smile before she flipped her dark brown hair up and tied it into a messy ponytail. Grabbing a small brownie that was on the baking sheet on the countertop, she left the kitchen and went up the grandiose staircase.

  Unsure of where to go, she walked through the hallways as she tried listening to sounds that would giv
e her a clue as to where Lucas was, or if she could find anyone who could help her get to him.

  After awhile she found someone. Her gaze moved up to meet amused China-blue eyes. Arms crossed over his chest, Tanner Fox leaned on the doorframe of a room as he studied her. His eyes surveyed her from head to toe until they finally rested on her chest. Sicily could only smirk. She was used to guys checking her out.

  "Like what you see?" she asked curving her lips up.

  She remembered what happened a few nights ago at McDonald's wherein Zane almost got into a fight with Tanner and Zach. It was a pretty freaky incident, she had to admit, and she wondered what Tanner thought of it. She hoped he forgot about it since she was in his close friend's house.

  "I wouldn't mind having a babysitter as hot as you," was his answer. "Happy New Year's Eve."

  Sicily flashed him a smile before replying, "I thought so and Happy New Year's Eve to you, too.” She asked Tanner repeatedly where Lucas was, but he just kept her in the hall, talking to her as if they were friends. Sicily had always thought Marina del Ray-goers hated her. With her curiosity piqued, she had to ask, "Don't you hate me?" she questioned bluntly. "I always thought you guys wanted to get me killed or something like that."

  "Don't flatter yourself," Tanner said in reply as it was his turn to smirk now. "If we were to hate you, it's your loss anyway."

  "Oh yeah?" she asked dubiously, her pride showing. "How so?"

  "While you are babysitting Lucas you'll be surrounded by his friends," he said. "If we hated you, we’d have to show that. I don’t know. Maybe we’d shave you bald? Sounds like a plan.”

  "I'd kill myself any day before I let you shave my head," was her reply. Sicily was materialistic and superficial, and she knew that about herself. Weren't most girls like that anyway? She made it her goal to always look presentable in every occasion she faced since impressions meant a lot to her, and being the most popular girl in her school, she always had to look her best. One minuscule mistake could harm her reputation greatly and even damn her. The point was there - she would never, ever, allow her head to be shaved. He was joking, right?