Breaking the Arm, Healing the Heart

by Ashley Andrews

  "I do, don't I?"

  She turned her head upwards to be able to meet his eyes, and after a millisecond of silence, they snickered.

  "Yup."

  "So the lunch didn't go quite as I expected it would. I actually thought it would be boring," Lucas said, putting effort into continuing the conversation for once.

  Sicily didn't want to dwell on what had just happened. "I'm sure dinner with the gang will be much better," she said, taking his hand to pull him inside the car. "And shit!"

  "What? Why?" Lucas suddenly asked, alarmed.

  "We have to go grocery shopping! I told B I'd buy the paper plates, plastic cups and all those things! How could I have forgotten?"

  Lucas eyed her sheepishly.

  "It's your fault," Sicily then said teasingly, smirking. "You're such a distraction."

  Lucas stuck his tongue out. "And you're my inspiration."

  "Oh…sappy…" she joked, her eyes in surprise. "Hey, come on now, we have to go Wal-Mart!"

  "I'm right behind you, babe," he said, his tone soft, before he planted a soft kiss on her head.

  * * * * *

  "Finally! You guys are here!" Bailey said the moment she spotted Sicily and Lucas coming towards her and the rest of the group. "We're starving and we need plates!"

  "But doesn't using utensils take all the fun out of having a camp-out?" Zane asked, looking contemplative.

  Sicily let out a small chuckle at her two best friends because of how they seemed to be arguing more than usual. It was a pleasant sight, and since the two provided entertainment and amusement, no one was going to object to their constant bickering. Alone the two were genuinely funny, together they were a riot!

  "Just because we have a bonfire doesn't mean we have a camp-out," Bailey quipped, her tone all-knowing. "Duh."

  "I was just joking." Zane rolled his eyes. He then said, "Duh." Trying to imitate Bailey's girly voice.

  It was only then that the other’s noticed Sicily and Lucas were trying to figure out an empty place to sit. "Sicily can just sit on you, dude," Tanner said when everyone noticed there was only enough space for one person.

  "We're going to roll off the log, dude," Sicily then returned, chuckling.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Lucas took a seat on one of the logs surrounding the bonfire but since there wasn't space anymore for Sicily, she decided to sit on the sand with her back against her boyfriend's knees. It was quite a comfortable place since she was the only one who had a backrest.

  "Now that everyone's here, can we eat already?" one of them asked, and immediately, everyone nodded and groaned in agreement.

  "Haven't you lot eaten earlier?" Sicily asked, grinning and raising an eyebrow. "You guys sound like this will be your first meal of the day."

  Bailey eyed Tanner and Zane before pointing fingers at them. "It's not my fault they made me waste my voice and energy trying to make them realize how stupid everything they said sounded!"

  "You chose to correct us," Tanner said, smirking. "So don't put the blame on us, right dude?"

  Zane nodded his head in agreement before saying, "But you've got to admit, she looks cute when she’s irritated."

  Whether it was out of anger or flattery, Bailey's cheeks turned red, and under the dark sky and the minimal lighting from the bonfire, everyone saw her blush, and Sicily, being her best friend, was the first one to tease her.

  "This is so middle school!" she squealed, her eyes directly towards Bailey. "And I love it!"

  "Everything's just middle school and everyone's just inexperienced when compared to you, S." That was Zane, the person who knew Sicily the most, so it was only right when she didn't feel offended with what he said. She just laughed, and so did everyone.

  "The dude's got a point," said Bryce, and Sicily realized she hadn't noticed him until now. She looked at him, and for the first time that night, they made eye contact. She saw that he was alone with no Mischa hanging on to him.

  "Where is she?" She just had to ask, and without saying her name, Bryce knew whom Sicily was talking about.

  "She's not my girlfriend," Bryce returned smirking. "So I'm not obligated to bring her or anything."

  "Oh? Broken up?"

  He laughed before he eyed Sicily again. "You know the reason why I decided to stay with her."

  Sicily nodded. Now that the baby was gone, he wasn't compelled to stay with Mischa anymore, and Sicily guessed that it was probably the best choice since you can never really change a player like Bryce.

  "Finally single and available?"

  "Hell yeah!" He smirked. "And I'm loving it!"

  Bailey rolled her eyes before sticking her tongue out. "Sure, you do."

  The night was like any time when the group hung out. There was laughing, eating, drinking, and of course, arguing--mostly amongst Bailey, Tanner, and Zane. After fifteen minutes of discussing plans for the Spring Break trip, Sicily, Bailey and everyone else around the bonfire decided to play Tanner’s game of fortune-telling.

  "So who do you think is going to be the first among us to get pregnant after we graduate? Bailey asked, eyes beaming with mischief. "Or the first to get someone pregnant?"

  Everyone laughed and eyed Bryce.

  "Well, he did it even before graduation," one of the guys said, and continued, "You're the man, dude!" And the two idiot jocks exchanged 'high-five's like a bunch of seven-year olds.

  "You guys are sick," Sicily said, rolling her eyes as she played with the straps of Lucas' flip-flops.

  "You guys are just jealous because I was able to do something you couldn't," Bryce returned teasingly, and Bailey couldn't help but double-up in laughter.

  "I can never get a guy pregnant, Bryce." She rolled her eyes. "So…next question?"

  "For the girls," Tanner said. "Who do you think will be the stay-at-home mom that will pick up and drop off her children at soccer practice?"

  Laughter erupted from the group, but it didn't talk long for someone to give their answer.

  "Sicily!" Zack said, his voice serious. "You!"

  "Me?" Sicily eyed him in disbelief. "That kind of mom?" She feigned a frown. "Hmph. I'm meant for greater things!"

  "Oh, really?" asked Lucas, his voice deep and teasing.

  "You aren't seriously going to agree with Zack?"

  Everyone took a moment to think as he or she tried to picture Sicily and how she would be in the future, probably in the next ten years or so.

  "Now, I can imagine it…" Bryce said.

  Zane agreed soon after. "Hell yeah! I see it now! You're probably going to do some of the school's cheers during your son's games!"

  Everyone laughed, and some even found that idea of Sicily so funny that they lost their balance and landed on the sand.

  "Screw you, guys!" said the main topic of the joke. "I don't think my son will appreciate me cheering, 'U-G-L-Y! You ain't got no alibi, you ugly, heh, heh, you ugly!"

  The laughter grew louder, and Sicily didn't seem to mind that some of her friends were laughing at her and not with her. She was too engrossed thinking about Lucas, who had leaned his upper torso closer to her head and placed his hand on her shoulders.

  "What about you, Lucas? You got any questions for the fortune tellers?" asked Bailey, smiling at him before she turned her head to glare at Tanner and then at Zane who were both eyeing her mischievously.

  Sicily smiled. She couldn't help it. It was nice to know that her friends were making an effort of trying to talk to Lucas, befriend him and not make him feel left out. She knew that some of them still disliked the idea of the two of them, Sicily and him, together, but a few had already accepted that fact.

  "Who'll be the first one to get married?"

  A round of 'oh's and 'ah's erupted from the group, and Zack was the first one to give an answer. What he said caught everyone, even Lucas, his best friend, off guard, but nonetheless, everyone agreed with what he said.

  "You, man," Zack said, lips twitching into a smirk as he eyed his closest buddy. "You're
impulsive and even more so when in love. So yeah, you'll get hitched first."

  Sicily instinctively looked up from Lucas' boring rubber slippers and her eyes fell on Zack's. He was smirking at her, and it unnerved her though she hid the feeling.

  "I agree." She looked up at Lucas and smiled. "You ran away once, and I wouldn't be surprised if you get married today."

  Lucas chuckled.

  "You mean if we get married tonight?"

  Bailey squealed, her cheeks, instead of Sicily's, turning red. Who knew she was such a romantic?

  "And I thought nothing was going to beat Valentine's Day last year!"

  "You're insane," Sicily then said to the person whose knees she leaned against. She rolled her eyes, but still kept chuckling. "And yet I still love you."

  Before anyone could comment on how cute or how sick the two of them looked, Sicily tugged on the collar of his shirt and pulled him down. She kissed him for all of her friends to see, but it wasn't like she cared. When they pulled away, she laughed once more, and immediately, Bailey said, "Yep, you two will get hitched way before we do."

  Sticking out her middle finger, Sicily flipped her middle finger up, showing Bailey the bird, while Lucas remained quiet, just laughing at everyone's comments about them.

  "And look at them," Zane interjected, eyeing the two. "They're not even complaining."

  After a while, Sicily decided to just go along. There was no harm anyway in doing so. It was Valentine's Day, and she was going to make the night fun, especially for Lucas, because she wanted to make up for Lunch.

  "I've always wanted a beach wedding," she then said, beaming at her friends. "And look at this, we're right here."

  He just smiled. "Babe, I want a Vegas wedding, and that's what we're going to have."

  She furrowed her eyebrows, her face stern before she stuck her tongue out. "You gotta get me pissed drunk first."

  "I don't do rape, sorry." He then smiled cheekily.

  "Well, I haven't given you anything for Valentine's anyway so rape me, and I won't try to fight you." Of course, she was only teasing.

  Listening to their discussion, a few of their friends fell to the sand and rolled around laughing hysterically. Sicily ignored them.

  "I don't date prostitutes."

  Sicily grinned, before she whispered, a little too loudly into his ear, "You aren't supposed to play hard-to-get, you know. We're already together."

  They laughed at each other, foreheads touching, and in return, Lucas answered, "You weren't supposed to break my arm."

  Silence.

  "But then I wouldn't have gotten to know you." She smiled shyly.

  Lucas' lips fell into a smile, one that almost made Sicily lose all her senses. "You have a point there." He kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't have fallen in love with you, too."

  Another crazy idea came to her mind.

  "Maybe I should break more of your body parts."

  "Sure," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her. "Just not my heart."

  With that, everyone knew what Sicily and Lucas needed - privacy - and so, everyone, the two excluded of course, got up from his or her seat and started walking to the ocean as they threw sand at each other and didn't bother spying or eavesdropping on the two ex-archrivals who were busy staring longingly at each other, hands clasped together.

  The male then stooped his head down and crashed his lips smoothly against hers, and after a while, they lost their balance and fell onto the sand. She was straddling him. They were laughing, smiling and kissing, with the sand in between their toes. Some even dirtied Lucas' cast. This was a wonderful Valentine's Day.

  Chapter 21: Epilogue

  The whole gymnasium was enveloped in rounds of cheers, 'boo's, and screams from spectators shouting courtside to the cheerleaders jumping and waving their pompoms in the air. It was just a normal basketball game, not a finals game, not a playoffs game - just a basketball game, but it caused so much emotion and tension, probably because it was a rivalry game. Sun Coast High School versus Marina del Ray High School, and Sicily Carmichael was trapped in the middle, having to deal with the dilemma that she couldn't cheer for her boyfriend whom she knew was counting on her.

  "Zane! Shoot!" Sicily screamed at the top of her lungs as she lifted her right leg up repeatedly with kicks. "We can do it! Yes we can!"

  Zane smiled at her before he moved his arm wildly, telling his teammates to position themselves how their head coach had told them to. There were twenty seconds left on the clock and Marina was leading by a point. Some thought that the game was over, that Marina had surely won this one all because of Lucas Mercer and his unbelievable comeback—tonight he’d scored twenty-five points, had eighteen rebounds, and seven assists. It was a feat, but Sicily knew they were going to win tonight. They had to.

  Zane started dribbling the ball, sometimes even flamboyantly passing it in between his legs. He went to the line, and when he was finally under the basket, two of his opponents sized him up. He couldn't get through them or pass the ball to anyone. They hovered around him, blocking any leeway to score or pass. He sighed exasperatedly. Desperate times, desperate measures.

  He jumped and pushed himself up against the two players as he tried to shoot the ball through the net, but before he was given a chance to score, a solid, strong arm hit his own. Exaggerating his fall, he landed on his back, and simultaneously, a whistle blew. He couldn't help but grin. He was going to make the two free throws.

  Swish.

  One side of the gym went wild in exhilaration while the other half booed. Some of the more fanatic people, especially the girls, began to cry. Sicily saw Mallory tear up. Basketball games had never been this emotional.

  Swish.

  Whether in happiness or disappointment, the crowd went wild, and Sicily could hear her whole squad talking about how they were going to win this for sure thanks to Zane and his free throws. There were only eight seconds left, and Sicily thought it was probably impossible to score with such minimal time left. Apparently, she hadn't been watching or paying attention enough to the previous games.

  The moment the ball went through the hoop, Lucas grabbed it from one of the referees and determinedly began dribbling it to the other side of the court. Five seconds. He was faster than anyone on the floor, and Zane was too tired to catch up to him after such a long game.

  For a second, Sun Coast’s defense wavered, and it was to their expense. Lucas ran, and a mere foot away from the basket, he jumped up, his feet leaving the floor, and he dunked the ball through the hoop. The timer sounded, reverberating throughout the whole gym, as the crowd screamed louder, contributing to the already ear-splitting noise.

  "What the hell just happened there?" Bailey shouted in irritation, waking up Sicily from her momentary shock.

  Zane sighed and rolled his eyes in return, and Sicily knew he was beyond annoyed and mad at himself.

  "Well, to replay what happened, we lost."

  He walked over to where his coaches and teammates were, and the cheerleading squad followed. Unsurprisingly, their coach didn't shout or get mad at them, even though they lost the game. During the time Lucas wasn’t able to play for his school, Sun Coast had won more games than Marina. Sun Coast was one of the higher-ranked teams in the league.

  Sun Coast already had a sure spot in the playoffs while Marina was still on the brink; however, with the way Lucas had been playing ever since he got back and recovered from his injury, it was obvious they were going to go against each other again in the near future - the playoffs and then hopefully the finals.

  "You guys played a great game," Coach Mike said, his words continuing to be optimistic. "Our defense and offense improved and was much, much better compared to before. You all deserve a break, so tonight I'm not going to get mad. Give Marina a win after a month of losses."

  A round of laughter and snickers erupted from the group and even the cheerleaders joined in. Sicily hugged all the players, congratulating them for a great game played. She di
dn't notice who had come up to her from behind until he circled her waist and rested a hand on her hip. She felt his chest against her back, his drenched shirt causing her to jump up in surprise, and because of that, he let go of her.

  "Oh, Luke!" she squealed. "God, you scared me! You could've at least said something in warning before your hugged me with that sweaty body of yours! Don't do that again!" She chuckled when she realized she was ranting. "Congratulations by the way for tonight's win," she then beamed at him, although her insides fell. Her school just lost. "You played great tonight!" And then she stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss.

  "You don't look too happy, babe," was his reply, and then, he stuck his tongue out at her.

  Sicily simply smiled at him, knowing he was right, as she placed her hands on his hips and tugged him closer to her. He looked tired.

  "Well, obviously," she teased. "We just lost."

  They both laughed silently together, in each other's arms amongst the crowd of cheerleaders, jocks, coaches and fans, not even Mallory's death glare could pull them apart.

  Lucas sighed, his breath tickling her head, as he ran a hand through her hair. She was also sweaty from cheering.

  "You know how much we need this win." His answer was serious, but his eyes gleamed when they stared at hers, and because of that, Sicily knew how much important basketball was to him. It was his life, it probably meant more to him at this moment, than she did.

  "I know," she returned, resting her face against the material of his shirt. "Even our coach knows. He didn't shout at the guys." That caused the two of them to share another laugh.

  "That's good to know." He smiled at her, his left arm, the one that used to be injured, going around her small torso. "That's good to know," he repeated, and for a split second, his face fell. Sicily was fast to catch it.