Cursed Hearts (A Crossroads Novel)

by Light

  Aria startled, sitting up as Rome pushed back a strand of her hair. He’d knelt down in front of her. How had she not heard him walk up?

  “Hey,” she said softly, pulling away from his touch. She’d had more physical contact with boys today than in her entire life, and most of that contact had come from Rome. He was sweet, but he definitely didn’t seem to understand the conventions of boundaries. “You’re too quiet.”

  “And you’re kind of cute when you pout.”

  Aria held back a smile.

  “Did you still want a lift?”

  “Yes,” she mumbled, “if it’s not too much trouble?”

  He stood without answering, slinging his bag over his shoulder and offering her a hand up. They walked off down a lane, and when he finally stopped near one of the vehicles, she couldn’t help but stare. It looked more like a jigsaw puzzle than a car. It was long and wide, with a frame that sat rather low to the ground. Several dents, dings, and other curious quirks spanned its exterior. The body of the car seemed to be a peculiar shade of gray, the headlights and side mirrors a fiery red, and the front bumper a deep, plum purple. It was obviously fairly old, and covered in a fine layer of dirt. She was beginning to have serious doubts about the safety of this ‘vehicle’.

  “What kind of car is that?”

  “87 Trans Am GTA. Why, do you like it?”

  “…Are you sure it can make it into town?” she said delicately.

  “Hey, I know she looks a little rough around the edges, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Aria walked up, looking curiously inside the passenger window. “That’s not exactly what I meant,” he laughed. “Come on, it’s kind of cool, right? I know it’s not a Porsche or a brand new Corvette, but it’s got its own appeal.” He smoothed a hand over the lines of the car, slowly circling the vehicle as he did. “It’s about potential,” he said. “I rebuilt this car with my own hands. And yeah, the driver’s side headlight still won’t go up, the key sticks in the passenger door, and my sun-visors refuse to stay in place. But pretend it was completely painted black,” he whispered. “Pretend I’ve smoothed out all these dents, and there’s a set of wide tires on the back verging on being illegal. Pretend that when I start it up, it sets off half the alarms in this parking lot. What would you think then?”

  Aria stared at him as he came to a stop in front of her. Her mouth was hanging open, and she closed it, swallowing quietly. Her eyes flicked back over to the car out of an unspoken obligation; but the only thing she really wanted to be staring at, was Rome. She’d never have guessed someone could make something as ordinary as a car sound so… sexy.

  “I’d tell you that maybe you have to look a little closer to appreciate something you don’t understand. And I love it, by the way. It has character.”

  Like you, she thought.

  Rome opened the door for her, waiting patiently as she slipped inside. He couldn’t help but think she looked good in his passenger seat.

  “Where to?” he asked.

  “Main Street and 10th. Thanks for taking me.”

  “Thank me when we make it into town.”

  “Are you trying to make me feel bad?”

  “Maybe just a little,” he smiled.

  “I take it back. I’m sure she’s sturdy as a rock.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

  Rome jumped into the driver’s seat and turned the engine over. It wasn’t loud enough to set off half the alarms in the lot, but the sound was one of familiarity. He pulled out onto the winding road that stretched towards town with his window open, elbow resting atop the door.

  Half of the drive was taken in silence.

  “…You know,” Ariahna said, “even if you’re not interested in the program, you should still consider staying at the academy. You’d be able to take all of your standard classes there, and they have a lot of clubs and sports options; more than Lincoln, I’d imagine.”

  “I’m not really into sports.”

  She rubbed a finger over the stitching on his leather seat, strategizing. This was going to be even more difficult than she’d thought.

  “It would look really good to have a school like Vardel on your transcripts. You could probably get into any college you wanted. And they also offer some college level courses at the school, if you wanted to continue your education there.”

  “Are you trying to convince me to stay?” Rome looked over at her out of the corner of his eye. She was playing nervously with the hem of her skirt now, drawing his attention down towards the movement. The car drifted over the rumble strips on the shoulder of the road and he whipped his wheel back over. “Sorry,” he said, staring pointedly out the windshield. He’d accidently been feeling her up with his eyes, and now he was trying to think about anything other than how smooth her legs had looked.

  “So, how old are you?”

  “Fifteen,” she replied. “Why, how old are you?”

  Too old, he thought.

  “Almost seventeen. And no reason, just curious.” Rome glanced back at her, thinking she had to be at least a little naive. “It probably wasn’t a smart idea hitching a ride with a guy you don’t know.”

  Of course he was right. She just hadn’t thought about it. She’d been so eager to convince him to stay that that had really been the only thing on her mind. Ariahna shot him a nervous smile, leaning towards the door.

  “Should I be worried?” she asked.

  She was only half joking as her heart thudded in her chest.

  Rome smirked. He reached over, pressing a button on his door and watching in amusement as she jumped when the locks shot back.

  “Rome…”

  “I’m just messing with you,” he laughed. “Calm down.” She did not look happy. “I’m sorry, okay? I was actually just concerned. Guys that look like me aren’t generally interested in just giving girls rides.”

  “Noted,” she said. “But that wasn’t funny.”

  “Maybe not from where you’re sitting,” he grinned. “So, do you not go into town a lot? I haven’t seen you around.”

  “I’ve been into town; not often though, so probably not enough for you to remember me.”

  “Oh, I would have remembered you.” Rome glanced out the window. “Um, what I meant was—you’re kind of unforgettable. Your hair, I mean.”

  Ariahna was blushing.

  “Did you know Scotland has the most redheads?” he blurted out.

  “I did not know that,” she said slowly.

  A subdued kind of silence descended over the car as they drove on quietly into the dimming afternoon. A question was niggling at the back of Aria’s mind, and she finally couldn’t ignore it any longer.

  “Do you really not think you have magic?” she asked.

  “I just think someone’s confusing what I am.”

  “And what is that, exactly?”

  Rome sighed.

  “I can’t just snap my fingers and make things happen.”

  “How do you know what you’re capable of if you never even try?”

  He hit the brake, pulling over to a viewing point near the water. Gravel kicked up under his tires, pinging against the back window.

  “Can I ask you something?” he said, twisting in his seat.

  “I-I guess.”

  “Are you just doing this because you think I have magic, or is it because you want me to stay?”

  Ariahna took a moment to reflect on her motivations. The answer, in her mind, was simple. She was asking him to stay because she wanted him to; but telling him that was simply out of the question. How could you turn to a complete stranger and say: I don’t want you to go, I need you here with me?

  It sounded insane.

  “Why can’t it be both?” she muttered offhandedly.

  “…I’ll think about it, okay?”

  Aria looked up at him, trying to hide a smile.

  “Maybe… Never mind,” he mumbled.

  Rome whipped back onto the road, pulling out onto
the old two-lane highway. The engine roared loudly through the surrounding hills, taking them into town much faster than the speed limit would have permitted. He weaved through traffic, smiling over at her when he noticed her clutching the armrest.

  “Do you want to see how fast this thing can really go?”

  He floored it, grinning at the horrid squealing sound coming from the tires. They got up to nearly double the speed limit before the frame of the car started rattling. Air whistled loudly through the doors and the hood started to shake so bad it looked dangerously close to ripping off. He wasn’t sure why he was driving that fast; but as he looked over at Aria, with her eyes clenched shut and her shoulders wound tight, he realized it had something to do with her.

  “You should slow down, before we hit someone,” she said.

  Rome let off the gas just as he saw that familiar red and blue flashing in his rearview mirror. “Shit,” he cursed, slamming his palm against the steering wheel and pulling over. He shouldn’t have been trying to impress her like that. The lanky policeman stepped out of his car, hitching up his pants as he strutted over to the driver’s side door. The officer bent at the waist, peering through the window and shining a light right into his eyes. “You know it’s still like the middle of the day, right?” Rome asked, blinking back the sting of being abruptly blinded.

  “Navarro, I knew that was your piece of crap. Honestly, it astounds me you can even get this hunk of metal flying down the road like that.”

  “Yeah, well, this hunk of metal just put your shiny new waste of tax dollars to shame, considering you couldn’t even get close enough to kiss my ass.”

  “Do you have any clue how fast you were going, or were you just going to wait until shit started breaking off to slow down?”

  Rome smirked. “I’m pretty sure I was doing the speed limit.”

  The officer glared at him, hard. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t. Let’s see your license and registration, son.”

  Ariahna crossed and uncrossed her arms, sinking down in the seat and trying to hide behind Rome’s shoulder. The movement drew the officer’s attention, and she jumped when his light swept over her.

  “Who’s that you got in there with you? Aren’t you Richard’s girl?”

  Aria was too anxious to speak.

  “Stanley,” he introduced. “I was at the scene on that weird case he helped out on last month. I think I saw you down at the station once, right?” She nodded weakly. “What are you doing running around with trouble like him, huh? Your daddy wouldn’t be pleased if he knew.”

  “He doesn’t have to know though, does he? You know how busy he can be. In fact, he got stuck with this really tough case recently and he’s been a little on edge. I’m really just worried for you,” she said, “having to be the one to tell him. You know what they say about killing the messenger.”

  Stanley exhaled, glancing down at the pavement.

  “Right, well, you might want to choose your company a bit more carefully. I’d hate to see you starting to get in trouble because you were hanging out with the wrong sort.” He stood up to his full height, scribbling out a ticket before shoving it through the window. “Consider this a warning. I should be hauling you in for reckless endangerment.”

  Rome caught his license as Stanley tossed it back at him, dropping his wallet in the process.

  “By the way, you should get that taillight fixed.”

  Rome frowned. “…What taillight?”

  The sound of shattering glass rang out in reply.

  “Dick,” he breathed, twisting in his seat to stare over the headrest. The officer climbed into his cruiser and pulled back onto the highway.

  “I can’t believe he did that…”

  “I can,” Rome sighed.

  He gathered his things off the floor, noticing that the small, worn photo of his mother was missing from his wallet. It was the only picture he had; all the others had been lost in the fire that had taken his childhood home. They’d lost everything, in fact, and all because his father had been too drunk to put out a cigarette. He looked under and around his legs before realizing Aria was holding it carefully in her hands. If it had been anyone else, he would have snatched it back without warning.

  “I miss her,” he whispered.

  Aria examined the photo. It was of a girl, about her age, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She felt more than a little foolish looking at it. Of course he had a girlfriend, she thought. “Are you still dating, or…?”

  “What?”

  “Your girlfriend. She went to Vardel, right?”

  “She’s not my—” Rome leaned in, bending over the center console. Aria was right; his mother was wearing the same uniform as her. It was the same short-sleeved blouse and striped tie. “I never knew,” he mumbled.

  “You didn’t know where she went to school?”

  “It’s an old picture of my mother, not…”

  Aria was completely abashed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.” She handed him back the photo, humiliated.

  “It’s okay,” he laughed.

  Rome was snickering so badly he could barely speak.

  “You really shouldn’t be laughing right now, you know. You could have just gotten in serious trouble.”

  “I get in serious trouble for leaving my house in the morning.”

  Rome started thinking about what Stanley had said. Aria’s father was a cop. It made him wonder, had he ever come banging down his door? Had he slapped a set of cuffs on his wrists or thrown him in the back of a squad car?

  “Your father… he’s never mentioned me before?” he asked. “No, stay away from that one, he’ll cut you up and bake you into a pie?”

  “I was being serious,” she smiled, trying to conceal her amusement. “How am I supposed to lecture you if you keep making me laugh?”

  “I don’t know,” he grinned. “But the thought that you think you can lecture me in the first place is…”

  “Is what?”

  “Laughable,” he said, pulling back out into traffic. That was not the right thing to say, and Rome knew it. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “How else could you have meant it?”

  “I just meant—why would I listen to you?”

  Now he was just sticking his foot in it.

  So much for making her feel better, he thought.

  The conversation died off, and Ariahna watched the trees disappear, giving way to street signs and houses. The soft sound of humming drew her attention back into the car, and her eyes turned to Rome as he began singing softly. It took the sound of his gentle, soothing voice for her to realize that he didn’t have a stereo. There was just a big gap where you might have expected one to be, occupied instead by a tangled mess of gnarled wires. She watched his lips move, listening to the emotion in his words as they drifted into the surrounding air. You wouldn’t need a radio, she supposed, if you could sing so well.

  Main Street came and went, and she finally had to speak up.

  “Can you pull over?” she asked quietly. “You can let me out here, I just—that was kind of my stop back there.”

  Rome turned to look at her in something akin to shock.

  “I’m sorry. Apparently I was just ready to take you home with me,” he laughed. “Don’t worry; my dad would never let me keep you.”

  He circled around the block, pulling into a slanted parking space along the side of the street. Ariahna clambered slowly out of his car, trying to buy herself time. She really hadn’t thought this through, and it was only now that she realized how little thought had actually gone into this request.

  Rome watched her disappear behind the reflection of the glass door, the chime of the shop bell ringing gently in his ears. He sighed, smiling slightly when he figured out that he was her only way back. He leaned over the dash, looking up at the old sign above the shop, which read: Now You See It. The words were spelled out in flickering, vermillion-colored bulbs, and an upturned top hat hung from one edge of the sign
. There was even a black and white magician’s wand poised over the top of it.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

  The sound of the bell rang out again as Rome sauntered into the shop. The glass counter, like much of the store, was cluttered with gag items; the type street performers or Las Vegas magicians might use. There were decks of cards, metal rings, wands, and several cheesy looking books on the subject. He was really starting to wonder if she’d meant to walk into this place.

  “Hello,” the store owner said theatrically. “The Great Geraldo, at your service.” He smiled, taking an elegant bow.

  Rome’s jaw dangled dangerously low to the ground.

  The storeowner was dressed head to toe in an over the top magician’s outfit. White cuffs and dazzling blue cufflinks poked out from beneath his split tailcoat. A matching satin blue bowtie was held tight at his collar, and a tall black top hat completed the bizarre ensemble.

  “Um,” Rome said, trying not to laugh. He looked away, attempting to calm himself. He end up gazing down at the man’s shiny, pointed black shoes. “I was looking for the redheaded girl that just walked in here.”

  “Ah, yes. Your lovely assistant wandered into the back, just behind that curtain there.” The man smiled, sweeping his arm out in a wide flourish. “Will the hands of destiny permit you to follow, or does your journey end here?” he said cryptically. “A hush falls over the crowd, the audience waiting with bated breath for the outcome.”

  Rome turned and ran over to the curtain before he was forced to laugh in the guy’s face. He snickered loudly, covering his mouth as he whipped the curtain back and reached for the handle. A sign on the door read: You must be at least this magical to enter. He ripped it open and rushed inside, doubling over as he howled so hard his sides started to hurt.

  “Oh god,” he breathed, “I think I’m dying.”

  Ariahna peeked around a shelf, taking in the sight of Rome as he practically fell onto the floor in a fit of giggles.