Chapter 9
The second day of school had begun terribly, but mercifully, had passed quickly. Arianna had been grateful for how fast the day had passed. She had not seen Luke since second period in the woods, a fact that irked her for unclear reasons. He had not been in the cafeteria at lunchtime, but she’d seen his friends. Though she hadn’t wanted to, she’d wondered where he had been, adding to the irksome feeling. Now, as she waited by his pickup truck, she wondered still. She glanced around the parking lot and watched as other students hopped into their cars and took off, eager to leave. She was eager to leave as well, but perhaps not as much as her classmates. They were likely headed to more exciting places than she was; at least she imagined the ones in the fancier cars were. She was not headed anywhere that would qualify as even remotely exciting. To the contrary, her prospects were rather depressing. Meeting with Luke’s mechanic while harboring the fleeting hope that the price of repairing her totaled bike would not be ridiculously expensive made her feel nauseated. She had originally planned to look for a job so that she could help with household bills and have a little spending money. Now, however, she guessed every dime she’d make in the coming months would go toward fixing her bike. She would know for certain soon enough. That’s if Luke ever showed up. The final bell had rung more than ten minutes ago. She’d assumed Luke would be the first person out of the building; that he’d be leaning against his truck waiting for her. But he hadn’t been. His truck, with her banged-up bike in back, had been the only thing she found when she’d rushed to the rear lot. No Stephanie; And no Luke.
People parked in surrounding spaces stared at her suspiciously. She fished around in her backpack and tried to look busy. Her hand landed on her phone and she pulled it out. She checked it quickly for a text message from her friend from Rockdale, Lily. Lily hadn’t messaged her in more than five days. That was a record for them. Lily had been the closest thing to a best friend Arianna had ever had. And now she hadn’t heard from her in almost a week. Warning whispered in the air and brushed against her skin like a faint breeze. Her insides fluttered briefly and she froze, concentrating on the feeling so completely that she blocked out the sounds of the parking lot. Her mind focused on Lily, and the strange sense of portending beating inside her.
Suddenly, a hand grasped her shoulder. Arianna spun around, her concentration broken, and she pushed the hand off her shoulder. Luke reeled backward and stumbled, catching himself before falling against the car parked beside his. She’d just grazed his hand, yet he’d felt the need to lurch and stagger melodramatically. After waiting for more than ten minutes only to have him scare the crap out of her, she was not in the mood for fooling around.
“Damn, girl!” Luke said and feigned shock. “You’re freakishly strong.”
“You need to stop sneaking up on me!”
“Sneaking up on you?” he asked and his expression changed. “What do you mean? I called your name twice. Didn’t you hear me?”
“No,” she said and paused, her thoughts retuning to Lily. Heat crept up her body and flushed her cheeks. “No I didn’t. I guess I flaked.”
“With the morning you had, I guess you’re allowed to do more than flake,” he said and reached a hand out to touch her shoulder again. “Dare I, or am I gonna get thrown around again?” he asked and looked at her with exaggerated fear.
“Shut up,” she said playfully and felt her annoyance dissipate. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been waiting here like a moron for like, fifteen minutes.”
“Sorry to make you wait,” he said then looked at his shoes. “I was getting things set up with the mechanic.”
“Whatever,” she said. He seemed genuinely sorry and she simply did not feel angry enough to give him a hard time. “Everything went okay?”
“Yep. Are you ready to go?”
She considered making a snide comment about being ready for the last fifteen minutes, but chose not to, opting instead for, “Absolutely.”
Luke reached into the front pocket of his jeans and grabbed his keys before unlocking the passenger side door of his truck for her. “My sister, Miss Personality, won’t be joining us this afternoon,” he said as he tugged at the handle. The door screeched open and she climbed in. “I’m sure you’re all broken up about it.”
“I vaguely remember her mentioning something about that this morning,” Arianna admitted and fought the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. His actions, unlocking and opening the door for her, hadn’t exactly been the pinnacle of chivalry, but they were the closest she’d come to actually being on the receiving end of gentlemanly gestures. He climbed in beside her and started the truck. The engine started easily, rumbling to what she guessed was a reliable start.
“What’re you smiling about?” he asked her.
She hadn’t realized the smile had won out against her efforts. “What?” she fumbled. “Oh nothing, just uh, Cheryl today. Something funny happened in first period.”
“Cheryl’s never been funny,” he said seriously. “Ever. Mean, yes. Funny, no way.”
“I’ll give you that,” she said. “I’ve only known her for two days and funny is definitely not a word that comes to mind. The word bitch does, though.”
“Agreed, now what happened that was funny?”
Arianna debated telling him what Cheryl had called her, wondered whether she could confide in him. She wanted to, and did not like that she wanted to. Deciding against it, she left out the part about Cheryl calling her a slut and the fact that for a moment there, she believed she’d used her mind to move the chair out from under her.
“Cheryl was about to sit down after standing up and flipping her hair around and lecturing the group she was in, when out of nowhere, the chair slid out from behind her. She went to sit back down and she landed on her ass.”
Luke laughed out loud. It was a pleasant, hearty sound that made her laugh as well.
“Oh shit,” he said through laughter. “I would have loved to have seen that. Shit, I know people who would have paid to see that!”
“I take it she’s only popular with her clique?”
“Hell, I don’t even think they like her. Was her boyfriend, Paul, sitting next to her?”
“Paul? You mean Preppy-boy?”
Luke erupted again with his infectious laughter. “Preppy-boy, huh? I like that. I usually just call him douche bag, but I’ll try out Preppy-boy. I think teachers will appreciate that one more.”
“You asked if he was sitting next to her,” she said and was curious to know where he had been going with that. “Why?”
“My guess is, he shoved the chair away.”
“But he’s her boyfriend.”
“Yeah, exactly my point,” he said and laughed again. “If you spent you’re free time with that uppity bitch wouldn’t you want to drop her on her ass every now and then?”
“I would. No doubt about that. But aren’t she and Preppy-boy the same, I don’t know, species. They’re both from planet privileged.”
“Oh I like you,” he said through laughter. “Shit. I’m glad I met you,” he added and she glimpsed him looking at her from the corner of his eye.
They had been driving for less than five minutes when they pulled out onto the main road near the accident site. A shiver slithered up her spine and she stopped smiling. As if he sensed her anxiety, Luke said, “Feel free to smoke.” He reached onto his dashboard and grabbed a pack of Marlboros. He pulled two cigarettes from the red pack and offered one to her.
“Thanks,” she said. “Don’t mind if I do.”
She put the cigarette between her lips and was about to reach into her bag for her lighter when a flame appeared before her.
“I’m seriously trying to woo you here,” Luke smiled and lit her cigarette for her.
She smiled and rolled her eyes as the flame touched the tip of her cigarette. “So this is what wooing is,” she sa
id playfully then added, “Huh, not bad. Not bad at all.”
They chatted about their classes and teachers they had in common as his truck rattled along for another five minutes before he pulled in to his driveway. The gravel-filled path was more dirt than gravel and several tires dotted the dying crabgrass on either side of it. The driveway ended in front of a detached garage which neighbored a white clapboard house with peeling paint and gutters that drooped dangerously.
“Welcome to Casa Rand,” Luke said and she swore she detected embarrassment in his tone. She knew for certain that if he saw where she lived, he would not feel embarrassed. “Need to use the bathroom or anything?”
“Actually, I do. If you don’t mind,” she said.
“No problem. Just please, look past the junk. No one should be home, but certain people in my house don’t clean up after themselves.”
“Hey, no judgment here. Mess or no mess, I just need to pee.”
Luke laughed. “God, I like you,” he said and shook his head.
He climbed out and she followed him across the yard to the front door. A screen with several holes in it stood ajar and the front door looked like a kindergartener could kick it in. Yet, Luke selected a key from his key ring and unlocked the front door. The smell of marijuana and another strong, chemical-laden scent hung in the air. She tried not to inhale too deeply for fear of getting high off of some unknown drug cloud. Pot she could live with, but whatever else had been cooked or smoked smelled horrendous. Luke noticed it too. It would have been impossible not to. He scanned the room and his lips formed a hard line as he shook his head. “Damn it,” he muttered and she saw the muscles around his jaw flexing. She wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him, but figured nothing she could do could help.
“The bathroom’s down this way,” he said tightly and began walking to the left, toward a short hallway.
Arianna did not want to stare, but it was hard to ignore what was before her. A stained, plaid, upholstered couch that sagged on one side occupied the majority of the room flanked by a floral recliner and a straight-back wooden chair. Directly in front of the couch was an oval wooden coffee table atop which sat a lighter, a hypodermic needle, a blackened spoon and several pieces of aluminum foil. Beer bottles, rolling papers and fast-food wrappers also littered the table, but had been pushed to its perimeter. The image was sad really, but not as sad looking as the half-naked woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties and was sprawled out, likely stoned out of her mind, on the floor between the couch and table. Arianna tore her eyes away from the haunting image and followed after Luke. He pointed to the first door and said, “Bathroom.”
She went inside and quickly shut the door. Water stains spotted the ceiling and the sink faucet dripped incessantly. She relieved herself and washed her hands quickly, eager to return to Luke. When she opened the door he waited for her, the warmth gone from his face. They walked outside and he did not bother locking the door.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said addressing the obviously strung out drug addict in the room. “I called ahead and she said she wasn’t going to be here.”
“Who was that?”
“My mom. And in case you didn’t notice, she’s a fucking addict,” he spat.
“Luke, I’m sorry,” she said.
“Yeah, me, too,” he said tightly. She was clean for all of four days, longest she’d ever gone. And now this.”
She could see the hurt in his silver eyes, could feel it. She stared at him, focused on him, on his life, and was suddenly consumed by it. She was Luke at eight years old, seeing life through his eyes. She saw a dark-haired woman with dark circles around her eyes and marks up and down her arms. The woman was shouting and shaking her then stormed off. Another imaged flashed before her and it was the same woman lying still in a pool of vomit. She desperately wanted to help the woman but couldn’t; was never able to help her. Her palms slickened and a bead of sweat trickled between her shoulder blades. Fear and helplessness pressed her from every angle.
“Arianna!” she heard Luke call and felt his hand on her arm.
“What,” she said panting.
“What the hell! You spaced out on me. Are you okay?”
“You’re mom, she overdosed when you were eight?” she blurted out.
His silvery eyes turned to hardened pewter. “Yeah,” he said reluctantly. “How did you know that?”
Her mind raced, searching for a viable response. “Well, uh,” she fumbled. “She’s an addict, right?” was all she managed.
“Yeah, but where’d you come up with eight from?”
“I just pulled it out of nowhere, a guess really,” she said and her heart raced dangerously.
“Huh, pretty lucky guess,” he said and offered a sad smile.
Her heart slowed slightly. “So when’s this mechanic supposed to come?”
Luke arched an eyebrow at her and his face brightened a bit.
“What?” she asked. “I don’t get it. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“There is no mechanic,” he said and scrunched his features as if bracing to be hit.
“What? No mechanic? You lied to me?”
“Well, no, not exactly. I’m the mechanic actually. I’m going to fix your bike.”
Arianna closed her eyes and exhaled.
“I’ll take you to and from school until it’s finished and I’ll only charge you for parts. Come on, you have to admit that’s a sweet deal.”
Arianna thought it would have been a great deal, if he were a mechanic.
“You seriously are a mechanic?”
“I’ve been fixing cars and motorcycles my whole life. Trust me. You’re better off with me than some dude at a garage.”
She cringed. She didn’t have much of a choice. Her funds were limited, and if she were to take it to a repair shop, they’d double the cost of the parts and add labor charges to her bill. She simply couldn’t afford such an expense. “All right, but what’s the catch?”
“The catch? There’s no catch.”
“So you want nothing from me, nothing at all. Just money for parts?”
“Well, that and,” he said and his voice trailed off.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “That and what?” she asked suspiciously and hoped he did not have some depraved list to rattle off.
“It’d be nice to have some company while I worked,” he said and tried to sound offhand. She breathed a sigh of relief as he continued, “You could come here some days after school and hang out with me.”
“I could do that I guess,” she said.
“And I promise you won’t see what you saw today again.”
She didn’t think he’d mention his mother again. His comment refreshed her memory of her earlier experience. It had not left her, but she had been distracted by his conversation. The sensation she’d felt had placed her in his past, it had been as if she were visiting his life in clips through his eyes, feeling what he’d felt at that time. Her insides shook at the recollection.
“Are you okay, Arianna? You don’t seem like yourself.”
“I’m fine,” she answered absently and looked at the ground. She looked up and saw his concerned expression. “Seriously, don’t worry about me. You’ve been through a lot of shit, still going through it. The last thing you need to be doing is worrying about me.”
“Thanks,” he said and started walking toward his pickup truck. He opened the back of it and ran to the garage. When he returned, he dragged a wide, wooden plank. He rested the plank against the back of the truck and made a makeshift ramp. Then he climbed into the back of the truck, lifted the bike so that it stood on its wheels and walked it down the ramp.
“Luke, that doesn’t look safe,” she protested.
“I’ve done this before. Don’t worry!” he called, but her breath still caught in her chest when he reached the midpoint of the ramp and it bent impossibly without breaki
ng. She held her breath until he’d reached the ground below.
“See! I’m fine!” he said proudly. He smiled and she was happy to see that some of its sincerity had returned. He pushed the bike to the door of the decrepit garage. “Here, hold this,” he told her and gestured for her to balance the bike. While she did, he lifted garage door. Beyond it was innumerable tools lined along the walls, all neatly arranged in size order. Two chests with several drawers had been placed against the far wall which she assumed held more tools. The garage had been more neatly organized than his house; that was for sure. It was clearly the area he presided over, the area he took pride in. He withdrew the kickstand of the bike and placed it near the center of the space then set about collecting tools from the chests. She watched how confidently he moved, how purposefully.
“I’m gonna get a look at her and see what the real damage is here. Do you want anything to drink, a soda or something?”
“I am a little thirsty,” she said and regretted sending him back into the house. “But it’s no big deal.”
“I have soda in the fridge over there,” he pointed to a miniature refrigerator tucked in a corner. “It’s not like I have to go back inside or anything,” he said more quietly.
“Then yes, I’d love a soda.”
“Okay. Can you grab me one, too?”
“Hey! What happened to the wooing?” she asked with mock irritation.
“You mean you’re not fully wooed?” he said and matched her tone. “Shit, you’re quite the princess aren’t you?” He sighed exaggeratedly then walked to the refrigerator. “Fine. A soda for the lady.”
“Whoa, whoa, who said I was a lady?” she said and winked mischievously.
“Are you flirting with me?” he said with inflated inquisitiveness.
“I do believe I am,” she replied and batted her eyelashes for affect.
She heard herself giggle and silently chastised herself for being so girlie and silly. But she felt happy, inexplicably happy, despite being in a garage that resided beside a house with the drugged out mother of a boy she liked. And there was the matter of what had brought her to the garage in the first place: crashing her bike. She allowed her gaze to drop and concentrated on a stray thread that stuck out of one of her boots. Luke crossed the garage and delivered her drink to her.
“Here you go. It’s not diet or anything. I hope that’s okay,” he said and handed her a red can. She looked up at him and reached out her hand to take the can. When she did, his hand grazed hers. It was not an unpleasant feeling and sent a small shiver up her arm.
“Thanks,” she said and he held her gaze, his silvery eyes dancing. He smiled and raked a hand through his dark hair before sitting down on an overturned bucket beside her. She opened her soda and waited for him to say something, all the while her insides stirred at his nearness. He placed the can he held in his hands on the floor between his feet and turned to face her. She strained to see him in her peripheral vision before stealing a glance at him. When their eyes met, he leaned in toward her as if he were going to kiss her. She stood and walked toward his work bench, effectively evading his kiss.
“These are cool,” she said nervously. “What do they do?” She’d heard the words come out of her mouth and died a small death, cringing at how stupid she’d sounded. Of course, she knew what a hammer, screwdrivers and saws were for. And it wasn’t as though she’d never kissed a guy before. She kissed many guys before, and gone a lot further than kissing. But Luke seemed different than other guys at times. When they were alone, he was sweet and silly, and kind of a gentleman. Around his friends, he was a bit harder to read.
“Well,” he said and lifted a hammer. “This is a hammer. You hit things with it, like nails and sometimes your thumb if you’re not paying attention.” He smiled and winked at her as he inched closer.
“I know what they do,” she admitted and felt heat creep up her neck.
“You just wanted to get the hell away from me,” he said still smiling. “I get it.”
“No, not really.”
He turned and leaned his back against the bench, not looking at her. He folded his arms across his chest. With the sleeves of his shirt pushed up, she could see his tattoos more clearly, the colors and elaborate artistry. She stepped back and reached out her hand and pulled one of his arms forward. With her fingertip she outlined the outer edge of a serpent of some sort. He seemed to like her touch because she noticed that goose bumps arose on his forearm.
“What is this, a snake or something?”
“No. It’s the tail of a dragon,” he said and pushed his sleeve up farther. His arm was lean, but muscled, nevertheless. She doubted he lifted weights and that the bulge of his biceps and forearms was a result of the work he did in the garage.
She traced the long, curving tail of the dragon then looked up to find a pair of silver eyes trained on her. They looked like pools of moonlight, mysterious, yet vulnerable, and contradicted everything else about his appearance. Something deep within her was drawn to him intensely, and she wanted to act on it. She did not hesitate a second longer. Without considering it any further, she rose up onto her tiptoes and kissed Luke. She pressed her lips to his, and found that his lips were deliciously warm and soft. Surprised, but seemingly pleased, nonetheless, he reciprocated. He kissed her sweetly at first, almost chastely. But the feel of his lips instantly became like a drug to her. She need more. She nibbled at his bottom lip temptingly and he immediately responded, reading her need and answering it. He crushed her mouth with his and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her body close to his. She felt his heart racing against her chest. Warmth filled her as his hand slid up her back and grazed the side of her breast. Fueled by the brush of his hand, she pressed her body closer to him and felt his tongue slip between her lips, darting and probing. His hands went up further and cupped her face briefly before moving to her hair.
His fingers tightened in her hair and he pulled her closer. Her body was already too tight against his, yet she did not care. In fact, she felt it was not tight enough. She urgently wanted to be closer still. To her surprise though, his fingers relaxed a bit in her hair and slid down once again. They stopped at her lower back and found the small strip of skin that hadn’t been covered by Stephanie’s T-shirt. The roughness of his fingertips against her lower back made her wish he’d run them over every inch of her body. She arched her back pushing her chest against his and kissed him more passionately, more fiercely, until his mouth left hers and followed the line of her jaw then explored the length of her neck. She heard herself moan in delight. He kissed and tantalized the tender skin of her neck, making his way back up from her collarbone until his teeth grazed her earlobe. She shivered, felt her body come alive. She moved her hands from his hips up his back and dug her nails into his shoulders as he continued to kiss just below her ear. The stubble of his chin swept along her neck, eliciting more moans from her. She dropped her hands down to his lower back and lifted the back of his shirt, wanting the feel of his bare skin against her hands, against her body. He dropped his hands as well and gripped her backside firmly. Every part of her ached with want and she began to lift his shirt. As she did so, her bag began to roar like Godzilla, her mother’s ringtone.
“Shit,” she muttered and felt the desire and urgency that had assembled within her moments earlier, begin to evaporate.
“Can’t you just ignore it?” he breathed in her ear, tempting her to do just that.
“No, it’s my mom. She never calls me. God only knows why she’s doing it now,” she said as she reluctantly pried herself from him and hurriedly crossed the garage to her backpack. She rummaged for her phone for several seconds before she found it and answered.
“Hello mother. You have shitty timing,” she said.
“Hi baby,” her mother said in a voice undoubtedly thickened with alcohol. “I’m in a bit of a jam and could u
se some help.”
“What kind of jam? Are you all right?” Arianna asked suddenly worried.
“Well, I just left the bar,” she began.
“Of course you did,” Arianna replied curtly.
“And I went to start my car, but it won’t start.”
“First of all, you shouldn’t be driving in the condition you’re in. And second of all, when’s the last time you gassed up?”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone followed by giggling. Arianna looked up and saw Luke looking at her. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed to him. He lifted his chin to ask if everything was okay and Arianna shook her head slowly.
“Oh baby! You’re not going to believe this,” her mother crooned. “I’m all outta gas. Silly me! Think you could scare some up and bring it to Joe’s Bar?”
“If I had my bike that would be tough to do. But since I don’t even have that,” she started but didn’t bother finishing her sentence. What good would it do to tell her drunken mother about an accident that had happened hours ago? Her mother would likely just find a way to make it about her and Arianna would end up consoling her mother over something that happened to her. “Never mind. I’ll be there soon,” Arianna said and ended the call.
“What was that all about?” Luke asked as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“My mother is drunk at a bar and was about to drive home, but realized she has no gas,” she said and blew out an exasperated breath. She wasn’t used to sharing her problems with anyone. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take me to the gas station then drop me at Joe’s Bar, would you?”
He did not groan or complain, but disappointment was evident in his eyes. “Sure, no problem,” he said.
“Are you sure? You’ve done so much for me already. I feel funny even accepting help from anyone, let alone a new friend.”
“I’m not your friend,” he said and looked longingly at her. “Everything I do is to try and get in your pants,” he said and smiled mischievously.
She playfully smacked him in the arm and said, “Really! Keep trying!”
“Oh I think I was pretty close before,” he said and slapped her on her backside.
She contemplated arguing, but he was right. She would have given in to her desire if her mother hadn’t called.
“Well,” she stammered.
“Well what? No smartass comeback?”
“Well, no, not right now,” she said and tapped him on his arm again.
“All this hitting is getting me going again,” he joked.
“All right, all right. Let’s go before my mother makes a new friend I’ll have to kick out in the morning again.”
He did not say another word but smirked and gathered his stuff. They left the garage and he locked it up as well as the front door to his house. In the truck, he was far more somber. They drove and talked about movies and music until they reached that gas station. She filled a tank he’d lent her and they promptly left and headed to Joe’s Bar. In the parking lot, she found her mother leaning against the car talking to a dangerous looking character whose face and neck blazed in an unhealthy shade of red. He rocked from one foot to the other as he spoke to her, as if teetering on the brink of toppling over. Arianna called to her mother and the man left quickly. Luke filled her mother’s gas tank and with a quick peck on her cheek, left Arianna with her mother. Her heart clenched slightly as she watched his taillights fade in the waning rays of daylight. The last thing she’d wanted to do was fall for any guy. She’d avoided it her entire life. Yet Luke had wandered into her life just two days earlier, and was slowly making her feel as she never had before.
Arianna watched as the sun grudgingly relinquished its grip on the day, as if too tired to continue as the furnace fueling the autumn warmth and allowed itself refuge in the horizon. Breadths of pink and purple streaked across the sky and twilight befell the earth.
“What a beautiful sunset, baby,” her mother slurred and returned Arianna to reality.
“Yeah, mom,” she replied absently and started the car and drove out of the parking lot of Joe’s Bar.