Breaking the Arm, Healing the Heart

by Ashley Andrews

  Lucas rolled his eyes. "I asked for help to be able to get the job done quickly, not commentators to point out every wrong thing I do." He rolled his eyes at them before he slumped down on the love seat that was placed in one of the corners of Sicily's room. "Can we do this now so we can get it done before…what time will she get home?"

  "Right after practice, so probably a few minutes after five,” was Bailey's answer.

  "Do you think we can finish this in time?" Tanner asked.

  Lucas eyed Tanner darkly. "Yeah, if you just shut up."

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" Tanner asked, deciding to be a pain in the ass. "Why aren't glaring at Zack, too?"

  Zack smirked before he rested a fist on Tanner's shoulder. "Because unlike you, I'm not a childish jackass who flirts around with his crush."

  Tanner decided to take his stand. "It was for a good cause."

  "And what cause would that be?"

  Tanner wasn't the least bit intimidated or scared. "Fortune-telling?"

  Bailey couldn't help but hit Tanner on the head. "Do you take anything seriously?"

  "Guys, guys," Zack said, playing the good cop for once. "Can we just get this done? I'm starving."

  "Took care of that," Bailey replied with a proud grin. "I know how the word 'guys' is synonymous to 'pigs' so I took the liberty of calling Pizza Hut. They will deliver a couple of boxes in about an hour."

  The three guys narrowed their gaze on the only female in the room.

  Zack complained, "You compared us to pigs, and you just ordered two boxes?"

  "I'm not even asking you guys to pay me back!"

  Lucas sighed in exasperation. "Could someone move the bedside table so we can start, already?"

  * * * * *

  Hey, Hun, can we hang out at your place after cheer is finished? I'm already done with the things my mom told me to do. What do you think?

  Lucas was coming over at five. But it might be nice to have Bailey there too, incase this was more difficult than she figured. Sicily read the text Bailey sent her, and she couldn't help but smile.

  Great idea. Practice just finished, and surprisingly, without you there, the group improved. Didn't realize how much of a distraction you were to the guys. Lmao. Just go to my house when you’re ready. Rosie will let you in.

  Sicily turned back to the cheerleading squad. "I'm glad we got somewhere today, and that makes me really proud of you guys." Sicily couldn't help but grin. "And because of that, what do you say about an after-party at my house? After the dance? Hmm?"

  The team erupted into cheers. She dismissed them with a cheeky grin. "That's it! See you guys tomorrow! Practice will be much harder since you guys did great today! That tells me I must not be pushing you guys to your fullest potential! I’ll take care of that little detail tomorrow!"

  Okay, that speech of hers wasn't exactly inspirational and heart-melting, but at least she complimented the squad. It had been a long time since she’d done that. Nodding to herself at the squad's progress, she grabbed the bag sitting on the metal bench and slung it over one of her arms. She made her way to the girl's locker room to shower and change. After twenty minutes she was ready to go home. To see Lucas and have some girl time with Bailey.

  * * * * *

  Sicily could hear Bailey's animated voice on the other side of her bedroom door which didn't surprise her at all since she had invited her over. What was weird though was that her friend seemed to be talking to someone. She hadn’t noticed Lucas’ car out in front, but he could have been dropped off by someone, she didn’t even know if he could drive yet.

  She wasn't going to spend even a minute of her time trying to figure out what her friend was up to since she could just open the door and see what was happening for herself, and so she did just that.

  She entered her room and came to an abrupt halt. "Bailey! Wh-, hel-is…what the hell is going on?" she finally managed to blurt out.

  Her curtains were drawn to the side, and through the sliding doors, she could see the balcony and what was normally a great view of the back yard. But not today.

  Of all the fish in the sea, dance with me?

  Those words were spray-painted onto her sliding doors, and of course, Bailey and company were smart enough to cover the glass doors with a plastic cover before spraying paint on them. Oh, the trouble they would get into if they forgot to cover the glass.

  Sicily could feel her heart beat. The surprise and excitement increased as she looked around the room. In front of the sliding doors stood her bedside table and on top of the table was a fishbowl full of yes…fish.

  Before she could really enjoy the moment, Tanner stepped in and interrupted her thoughts. "Well, what's your answer going to be?" he asked, speaking up for Lucas who was too…gasp…shy to talk.

  Sicily grinned. She decided to prolong Lucas' anxiety. He just looked completely adorable biting his lower lip as if he were uncertain of something.

  "Uh," Sicily said, turning to face the three guys that stood in front of her. "Which one of you is asking me exactly?"

  Bailey couldn't help but laugh. "It's so expected of you to take this matter lightly."

  "Why? Should I take it seriously?"

  "Well…" Bailey pretended innocence. "Lucas really put a lot of effort into executing this just the way he thought you would like."

  "Fish would never have crossed my mind." Sicily grinned from ear-to-ear.

  "You're purposely stalling, aren't you?" And for the first time since they met today, Lucas spoke.

  "Too obvious?"

  He stepped closer to where she was, he decided to ignore her question, and instead, said, "You're killing me. You know that?"

  Sicily mirrored Lucas' actions, and took a step closer. She placed both her hands on his hips. She felt him stiffen at her touch, and she couldn't help but grin. It was a nice feeling to have such control over a tall, handsome, and cocky guy. She couldn't help but smirk. She could get used to this.

  "Is that a yes?" he asked her as he looked deep into her eyes. Not that he was complaining. He was thoroughly enjoying this, and so was their audience.

  Sicily pretended to think twice about her answer, and Lucas couldn't help but comment on the thoughtful look on her face.

  "Are you kidding me?" he asked, resting an arm on her shoulders. "You're one in trillions and trillions of fish, don't you feel special enough to come dance with me?"

  "Lucas!" Sicily slapped him by the chest. "You just compared me to fish." She eyed him quizzically.

  "Ah, forget about it," Lucas said, sighing. "You're still holding on to me so I guess that's a yes."

  "Took you long enough to figure my answer out," Sicily quickly quipped. "Oh, by the way! I almost forgot!"

  "Yeah?" Lucas asked, dropping his arm from her shoulders and placing his hand on the small of her back.

  "I still don't have a date to our school dance, so will you come dance with me?” she trailed off.

  Bailey gave her a reassuring nod.

  Lucas furrowed his eyebrows at her, and in turn, she eyed him skeptically. "You can't make me wait for the answer, Luke."

  They shared a smirk.

  "I wasn't going to."

  "So that's a yes?" Sicily asked, grinning madly.

  He didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but he just decided to take the risk and give it a go. He lowered his head and leaned closer to Sicily, drowning all their focus in a kiss.

  Chapter 19: Nights to Remember

  "Why can't we just meet at your school? It's going to be more convenient for everyone," asked Lucas, pressing his phone against his ear.

  Sicily sighed at his stubbornness because really, what they were arguing about wasn't even a problem at all, but Lucas being his usual all-knowing and 'I'm-too-good-for-all-of-you' self, he decided to push things out of proportion and exaggerate the whole deal. This meant that he didn’t want to be picked up by the limo Sicily’s group had rented for the night because he knew he was going to feel out of
place. To her friends' defense, Sicily simply stated that they wouldn't do anything like that especially with Zane and Bailey there.

  "Uh-huh, right," Lucas then said, rolling his eyes, and Sicily did the same. "I know your whole school hates me," And then he laughed, a short, almost-silent one.

  "It's not my fault you were an ass to me before." Sicily grinned, but right after a second, she turned serious. "But seriously Lucas, please ride with us?"

  She heard him exhale on the other line.

  "Fine," he answered, muttering something inaudible. "It's going to be your turn tomorrow anyway. You're riding with me and my friends." He smirked. "No buts!"

  Sicily groaned. "But yours is a different case! Mallory's going to be there! She hates me!"

  "And you hate her too," Lucas replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

  "I see you get the gist, so do you now understand why we can't be put in the same vehicle?"

  "It's a stretch Hummer," he offered.

  Sicily couldn't help but cry out. She was quickly getting annoyed, but at the same time, she was still amused and having a fun time arguing with him. That was what she liked most about him. She had the best and the worst times with him, and that was something she didn't want to change—their love-hate relationship.

  "The size doesn't mean anything!"

  "I always thought size was everything when it came to girls."

  Her face agape and lips smirking, Sicily just had to ask, "Did you just try to pull a nasty joke on me?"

  The two turned quiet, but after a millisecond they ended up laughing together, and this amazed the both of them. Who knew Lucas was so much fun to talk to when they weren't arguing and that Sicily could sound so genuinely happy?

  "Just don't think about Mal," Lucas said. "I'll be there for you anyway."

  And who knew he could be so sweet?

  To her surprise, Sicily let out a giggle, and with that, she just wanted to crawl into her bed and die of humiliation. Unfortunately, Lucas caught her very girlish squeal and laughed in return to Sicily's further embarrassment.

  “I'll be there for you?” Sicily quoted. "You sound just like a boyfriend."

  And almost immediately after Sicily said that, she instinctively put a hand over her mouth at her sudden idiocy and frankness. She remembered what happened a few days ago when Lucas asked her to the dance and in return, she asked him to hers. They made-out for a while, but that didn't mean they were instantly together. This was the twenty-first century, and people just made out for a lot of random and sometimes stupid reasons. Did Lucas…? Did he think that when he kissed her, he had an open, no-words-needed invitation to be her boyfriend?

  "Oh…so we're not?" he asked, extremely ashamed at how he jumped to conclusions so fast. He felt his cheeks redden and couldn't help but curse. He was a man, not some lovesick romantic, he quietly told himself.

  Sicily was too scared to say anything. She didn't want to hurt him by saying she didn't think they were suddenly together because of the kiss. It was all too sudden. He surprised her, and everything hadn't sunk in yet, and to add to that, she didn't want to talk about such a serious matter over the phone, and so, she told him she needed to go.

  "Hey Luke, I have to go," she said in a rush. "But we'll talk about this later, alright?"

  Disappointment and a touch of fear seeped through both their minds.

  "Oh, okay." He seemed forlorn. "I'll see you later Sicily."

  And then he hung up.

  * * * * *

  For Sicily, the Valentine’s Dance was supposed to be fun, especially since she was taking Lucas. But after the conversation, she felt…sad. She nodded. That was the only way she could describe how she felt. She was sad because the conversation ended in the middle as if they meant to leave everything between them hanging and unanswered. She made a dance resolution—to solve things between them, and hopefully, get him to admit what their relationship was by the end of the night. She couldn't help but grin at that thought, and then, the intercom rang.

  "Ms. Sicily," said one of the caretakers, most probably Rosie.

  "Yeah?" she asked, looking at the mirror one last time to make sure she was all set to go.

  "Your friends are here."

  Sicily instantly brightened up. "Thanks, Rosie! I'll be down in a minute!"

  She nodded to herself, satisfied with what she saw in the mirror. She wore a sexy, little black dress and matching open-toe pumps. She’d kept her hair down, curled into soft waves. It looked ravishing with the dress and the simple, clean make-up that she’d done earlier. She had gone to the salon a couple hours ago for her hair, make-up, a mani-pedi, eyebrow and armpit wax, and well, everything. Putting on her designer original dress was the last thing on her to-do list.

  With everything done she left the bedroom to join her friends downstairs. The first one she noticed was Lucas. He looked so handsome in his black tux, she couldn't help but smile. All her girl friends looked beautiful and the guys were hot.

  "You look the most casual among all of us in your little black dress, and yet, you're still the prettiest," Bailey greeted in mock-disappointment before she sauntered over to her best friend and gave her a hug. "You're no fair."

  "Oh please," Sicily said, laughing. "You look like a goddess in your Greek-inspired long gown." And that was a fact

  "Please, if you guys need compliments, we can do it in the limo," Zane interjected, trying to get the ball rolling. "We're an hour late."

  Sicily furrowed her eyebrows while smirking. "Don't you want to be fashionably late?"

  "Whatever time I come," Zane said, his tone smug. "All eyes will be on me."

  Sicily rolled her eyes and Zane and went to stand by her date. Finally. She immediately knew that he was right. Lucas didn't feel comfortable being part of the elitist circle of Sun Coast High. This wasn’t his territory which meant he couldn't be the one in charge, and that was something he had to get used to if he wanted to spend more time with Sicily.

  "Hey Luke," she said, and to everyone's surprise, except for maybe Bailey's and Zane's, she kissed him on the cheek.

  "You missed his lips, babe," Zane said, teasing both Sicily and Lucas.

  Sicily quickly reddened at her best friend's little comment while Lucas stiffened on the spot. He remembered he used to call Sicily babe, but it had always been as a joke. If he ever did that now, it wouldn't be meaningless anymore since almost all of his friends knew about his feelings for her. What used to be a joke, wasn't a laughing matter anymore. And that unnerved Lucas more than ever. Worse though was that she still wasn't his girlfriend when he thought she already was.

  "Hey," Sicily said, wrapping Lucas' arm with her own. "Are you okay?"

  He merely nodded before he wriggled his arm away from hers, and that made her frown slightly, but before she could question his motives for not wanting his arm to be around hers, he took hold of her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. That immediately made her grin.

  "Are you ready to be surrounded by a million people from my school?"

  Lucas' eyes darkened as he stared right into Sicily's blue eyes.

  "You're forgetting that you're also going to my school tomorrow."

  Mischa, Bryce's date, overheard their conversation. Well, actually…the two were talking loud enough for everyone to be able to listen, and so, a few of the eavesdroppers, specifically Bailey and Zane, couldn't help but snicker.

  "You're bad, Luke," Mischa joked. "And don't worry, Sicily, I'll keep an eye out for you tomorrow."

  Sicily didn't know whether Mischa was being genuinely nice or was just putting up an act. She decided it might be the latter considering she was a friend of Mallory's. Even though she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, the quote, 'Birds of a feather flock together,' stuck in her brain. Mischa wanted to fit in and be accepted tonight, and Sicily realized that she was going to truly be in Mischa's shoes tomorrow during Marina's Valentine's Day dance.

  "Hey people!" Zane called out, looking pointedly at Sicil
y. "We're an hour and a half late and the chicks are waiting for my arrival!"

  Bailey slapped him in the chest. "I'm equivalent to a million of those bimbos so don't sulk just yet."

  "But I'm a one-woman man, B." Zane raised up one of his eyebrows.

  "Hmm, right," Bailey then said, completely in doubt. "Just don't bang another one of those chicks in front of me."

  "I know how jealous you'll be if I do that," was Zane's reply, and right after that he gave Bailey a wink which everyone saw.

  "This will be fun," Lucas whispered into Sicily's ear.

  They were still holding hands, Lucas and Sicily, and neither of them wanted to let go. In that moment, Sicily realized how much she wanted Lucas, how much she wanted to be with him, and for once, she was going to be the predator, and Lucas, the prey. She wasn't going to wait anymore for him to bring up the subject and for him to chase her. She was going to make the first move, and before she could have second thoughts, she placed a hand on the back of his neck and brought his face down to hers. There was no turning back now.

  "Let's go, boyfriend," she whispered, her lips turning up into a smirk, and in that instant, Lucas felt his stomach churn in surprise and his heart leap in exuberance. She was finally his.

  "Finally," he then said to her as he placed a small kiss on her lips, and to break the moment, Zane commented on how sappy the two were being.

  "Break it off, lovebirds," Sicily's best friend teased. "You do know that after what you just did and the fact that it was witnessed by all of us means that you two are bound into an exclusive relationship?"

  "And your point is what exactly?"

  "I think what he's trying to say is that we can't date other people," Lucas said, placing an arm on his girlfriend's shoulders, and in return, Sicily snaked her own arm around his waist.

  "That's not so bad." Sicily looked contemplative. "I don't think I'll get tired of you anyway." She then gave him a small, sheepish grin.

  "Oh, so that's how it's going to be, huh?" Lucas couldn't help but smirk.

  "Damn straight," she quickly answered, smiling cheekily.