Breaking the Arm, Healing the Heart

by Ashley Andrews

  "This is fucking messed up, dad," she said to complain.

  "Watch your tongue," her mother said in a sharp tone. "Your father and I didn't raise you to speak like that."

  "No, in fact you didn’t raise me at all did you?" Sicily said nastily.

  Her father pointed a finger at her and told her to, “Shut it, missy, or this won’t be your only punishment today.”

  Even though she wanted to let go, to cry, she couldn't since she was stronger than that. She had a heart, but it was buried so far down that she always appeared to be cold. It was the only way she managed to maintain her intimidating, snobbish, and powerful reputation that no one would dare challenge.

  "We should leave," her father said, turning to his wife who just nodded in silence. "Sicily will be at your house tomorrow. Thank you for accepting her apology and help, Rebecca."

  Lucas' mom could only smile before she said, "We are more than happy to have her care for our son, John."

  Sicily's family and Lucas' exchanged their respective goodbyes before Sicily, with her parents following closely behind her, left the hospital room in silence.

  Once in the car, her father began reprimanding her and her mother remained silent. She wanted to say a lot of things but that would only make her situation worse. She was already in enough trouble and didn't need to add more.

  "We are very disappointed in you," her father said, keeping his eyes on the road. "Do you understand the consequences of your actions?"

  When Sicily didn't answer, John continued, "Lucas can't play basketball for two and a half months, and he—"

  "I thought you said he'll only have his cast on for a month and a half?"

  "The doctor said he will need to let his arm heal even more once the cast is off. It will take time for his bone to get used to having no support," her mother answered.

  "Oh," was the only thing she could say for a while. "What are the other consequences?"

  Sicily's mother looked at her daughter in disbelief.

  Sicily pressed her lips together, forming a thin line. She had never seen them so let down in her entire life. She was smothering in guilt. Sure, they'd get mad at her for things like partying too much, arriving home drunk, and putting cheerleading before her studies. But her grades were pretty good. Now the looks on their faces worried her. They were 100 percent serious about this. "Mom, dad, I'm sorry," she said in small voice. "I just don't want to take care of Lucas."

  "Why?" her mother said, oblivious to the teenage drama. "Weren't you and Mallory friends with him before?"

  "I was never friends with him," she said vehemently, closing her eyes slowly. She wanted to add that she was never friends with that backstabbing traitor. But that would only add to her pile of lies.

  "Well you can become friends now,” her father said.

  Sicily knew she couldn't argue any more.

  * * * * *

  It was around ten o'clock at night when Zane picked Sicily up from her house so that they could grab a midnight snack.

  December was drawing to a close and it was getting warmer, but the nights could still drop down into the 50s. She had decided to wear jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a pair of rubber slippers she recently bought from Billabong. She threw on a hoodie to keep her warm.

  Zane was patiently waiting on the couch when he saw Sicily come down the staircase of her modernly-designed hilltop mansion. She was wearing a smirk and looked excited, her midnight blue eyes gleamed and he could tell something was up.

  "Dashing as always," she said as a greeting before she gave him a peck on the cheeks.

  He bowed his head and returned the compliment, "And same goes for you, darling." Lazily resting his arm on her shoulders.

  They got in his bright yellow Hummer and put on their seatbelts, and before Sicily knew it, Zane had turned on the engine of his car and was driving like crazy to the nearest 24/7 McDonald's, one of their favorite fast-food restaurants. They went in with smiles on their faces.

  Sicily was actually happy that it was only the two of them since they could be themselves. She didn't need to put on her cold act, nor keep her guard up, and same went with Zane. There was no need for him to parade around and brag to everyone that he was the most popular guy in their school, the captain of the basketball team, a multi-varsity player and so on. They were best friends and knew each other so well that there were no games between them. Since it was almost midnight they were less likely to see someone they knew, or so they thought.

  They took their seats and then noticed that Mallory, Zackary, Tanner, and Adriana, all part of the in crowd from Marina, were just a few feet away at another table. This lot was also some of Lucas' closest friends. With the way they looked at her, she realized the news had gotten to them.

  She tried ignoring them, but the girls' whispers grew louder. She wasn't one to give up a fight. "What's up, Mallory?" Sicily asked as she raised one of her eyebrows. "It's nice to know you take some of your precious time to talk about me."

  The other head cheerleader could only smirk as she looked at her opponent with a face that screamed mischief. Their voices were soft, but they were slowly starting to catch the attention of the few people near them.

  Mallory, who was a couple of inches smaller than Sicily, stood up to increase the air of power that surrounded her. "As arrogant as always, I see," Mallory said. "Well, before you talk shit to me, maybe you should tell your best friend over there," she continued, looking at Zane. "How you'll be too busy with your job to go to his party."

  "What is she talking about?" Zane asked, placing a firm grip on his best friend's shoulder. "And you? A job?"

  "I broke Lucas' arm, and now, I have to take care of the big baby," she answered.

  Her comment irritated Mallory’s group and they stood up as if ready to fight.

  "How did you get such a quick ticket to hell?" Zane asked teasingly, a hint of amusement in his voice.

  "You can't talk about Luke like that," Zack intervened, sticking up for his friend.

  Zack was to Lucas, what Bryce was to Zane—best guy friends, second in command, and all around backup. Zackary Evans was Lucas' best friend, and he was willing to fight for him, literally.

  McDonald's, Sicily realized, was not a good place to start a scene. Most of the workers were high school students and they might be from their schools. She looked around her and then nodded to herself. The other patrons and workers were starting to whisper. She could hear the crap now, how the best of Marina had gone against the crème of Sun Coast. That was what was happening. It was a pity there couldn’t be more of a crowd, however it was eleven o'clock at night.

  "Remember how he whooped your ass at last year's finals?" Tanner stepped in.

  Mallory decided the moment was a great opportunity for a comment. “If you need a reality check, to cut it short, our team beat yours by a milestone."

  Sicily was about to speak up, to let loose her venomous tongue, but Zane beat her to it. His hand remained on her shoulder as his mouth curved up into a smirk. He was having fun, no doubt about that, during the scary situation. The four to two odds were not in their favor.

  Sicily decided that her best friend was crazy.

  "Well, this year will be different," Zane said. "Obviously I have the whole team's asses to kick for sure, except that it sounds like Lucas won’t be there. Makes it easier, don’t you think."

  Mallory and Adriana, one of the lady devil's spawns, gasped when reality hit them. They were sure they were going to lose. Their team was good, but they were nothing without Lucas. The guy practically had the whole team at his feet as they followed his every word, every move and every order. Without Lucas there, they'd be as clueless as a melting candle, and that was saying something.

  "Since, reality check, the only player worth fighting against in your school is sitting his lazy self on a hospital bed right now, why would we even worry about Marina?" Zane added, heightening the intensity of the situation.

  Zack and Tanner, two big guys
with muscles, started to make their way closer to Sicily and her friend.

  She knew what could happen if Zane if they didn't leave. There would be a fight, and they didn’t have enough backup. She didn't want to put her friend and herself in danger, and more importantly, she didn't want her reputation to get stepped on by someone like Mallory. So she did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed Zane's hand and pulled him out of the restaurant. She looked back and saw that they were being pursued.

  "Get in," she said, pushing Zane to the driver's side of his car. "Hurry up!"

  He started the engine and easily drove off leaving Mallory and her crew standing in the parking lot of McDonald's. She looked away from them and breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe for now.

  "That was messed up right there," Zane said, honking loudly to a car which was taking two lanes at the moment. "We could've handled them better."

  "No we couldn't," Sicily answered. "We were clearly outnumbered and they are pissed off and just realizing that there season is going in the toilet."

  That was the truth, and she wasn't going to deny it. If they had stayed longer, she could have embarrassed herself, and she wasn't going to let that happen. She had a reputation to keep up. She wasn't going to risk getting it ruined by someone like Mallory. She also didn’t want to get hurt.

  "You know how unfair those people are," Zane added, laughing now as he pulled into Burger King. "They always get us when we’re alone. That would have gone very differently if more of our peeps had been with us."

  Sicily could only laugh politely in return as the two of them got out of Zane's car, and hand-in-hand walked into their second fast-food restaurant choice. They headed over to the counter and gave their orders.

  "Eight dollars and twenty-nine cents," the cashier said to the two of them as she began collecting their orders and placing them onto the tray.

  Zane got out his wallet and pulled out a couple of bills, but before he could slap it down onto the counter, Sicily interfered. Zane was the richest in the whole town, even richer than Lucas, and she knew all too well he could easily pay for her. Hell, if she told him to buy her a new I-Pod, he probably would, but Sicily had enough money, more than enough actually. "You aren't paying for me," she said, closing his hand to tell him to keep his bills.

  "What does it look like I'm doing?" he responded, forcing her hand away from his.

  "Paying for me?" she answered with a small grin playing on her lips.

  "That's right."

  Before she could step in and demand that he listen to her it was too late. Zane had already paid and was carrying their tray to a nearby booth. He placed it at the center of the small table and handed Sicily her food.

  She’d ordered a medium-sized burger and regular fries.

  "So, tell me about your new job?" he said, smirking.

  Zane may have hated Lucas and may have wished him dead, but he still enjoyed coming against the guy. Zane’s life sort of revolved against competition against Lucas. The two really enjoyed playing that rivalry up and actually respected each other.

  Sicily knew that even though Zane was her best friend, he wouldn't stop her, ever, from taking care of Lucas. He might get a good laugh out of Lucas’ situation, but he also knew that Lucas wouldn’t dare lay a hand on Sicily because Zane would kill him. Besides, Lucas was very much a player, and she was a woman, one who had breasts and everything. Lucas would eventually appreciate that.

  "There's nothing to tell," she answered in all honesty.

  "For now."

  Sicily slapped Zane's shoulder in a teasing manner before she picked up a fry. She chewed and then swallowed it, and after, opened her mouth to speak again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Oh, I don't know," her best friend returned, wearing a look dripping with mischief. "Nothing can happen if you're with Lucas Mercer."

  "What are you talking about? What do you think is going to happen? I can barely stand the guy. Have you been hypnotized just like all the other bimbos in his school?" she teased. "Oh Zane, I never knew you've been hiding inside The Closet."

  That earned her fierce face from Zane, who looked at her in disgust. He took a big bite of his hamburger, put his meal down, and continued with the conversation.

  "Hell no! You…you…crack whore," he said, suppressing a laugh. "How dare you impinge my manhood? I thought you knew me better than that!"

  Sicily could only giggle. Her friend had managed to raise her spirits. He always made her laugh. Several people had commented that Zane and Lucas were a lot alike. Sicily wasn’t sure, but if that were true, then she'd probably have a fun time babysitting Marina Del Ray's king. Oh, she wished. But she doubted he’d relax and forgive her enough after the way he shouted at her and called her names at the mall and the way he snickered when she was getting reprimanded by her parents. The guy wasn't going to let her have a good time. He was going to use and abuse her, and have fun at her expense.

  She turned back to Zane, "You have complimented the guy, telling me he is a lot of fun and that I should enjoy myself,” she accused him.

  "He is fun, honey," he answered, sipping his Coke. “No matter how fun it might be to pull your chain right now, he is a pretty decent guy. If you could get over your middle school nightmare, you would probably like him."

  The only thing Sicily could say was, "Are you drunk?"

  "No, Hun, only crazy," Zane answered with a playful wink.

  "You're whack you know that?" she returned, ready to badmouth Lucas Mercer. "The guy's an ass, and you know that."

  "Yes, I do know," he returned smirking. "And I also know that you're just saying that because he didn't like you back when we were still a bunch of stupid twelve-year olds."

  "Oh, shut up," she said, closing her mouth grimly. "That's not true."

  It was the truth. Lucas used to be and still was the guy every girl wanted to date, and Sicily had been head-over-heels, maybe not in love—but infatuated with him. He had that superb face and body, the money to spoil and impress any girl, the athleticism that had everyone drooling over him and more importantly, the confidence. His pride was unbelievably humongous. Lucas thought a lot of himself, and his blunt and often sarcastic remarks could cut deep if you where the one he’d focused on. Often Lucas could make the entire school laugh with him, even though he was humiliating some poor soul.

  Just like Zane was definitely having a great time while humiliating Sicily, at the moment.

  "I'm surprised you're not over that," he continued. "Maybe I should call him and remind him that you were in love with him in middle school."

  "You wouldn't," she warned.

  "Oh, I would, darling," he said to her, a mischievous smirk obviously plastered on his face. "I may hate the guy, but I'm still decent enough to keep his number in my contact folder."

  Lucas Mercer and Zane Lowe may have disliked each other and harbored feelings of angst towards each other, but both loved having a good time. They lived for competitive sports, and each was the other’s rival. Once and awhile they would team up for some prank, working together to get some one else. Right now it felt as if that someone else might be Sicily. And she didn't like that. Hell, she wanted him to get his cast removed already even if that meant he'd be able to play basketball. Maybe that'd teach Zane to keep his mouth shut.

  "Since when did you have a sex change?" Sicily countered. "If the guy were here, he'd probably be blushing with the way you're complimenting him."

  Zane didn't answer.

  "Oh, come on, now," she said, wearing a serious look although her insides were twisting in laughter. "Feed his pride."

  "Oh no, never expect me to feed his ego," Zane said, and Sicily was getting thoroughly confused. "I'm just saying that your life may not be so boring anymore."

  "There you go again calling him fun, enjoyable or whatever," Sicily returned, holding her hands up in the air in exaggeration. "Isn't that something good? Something like food for someone's pride? And by the way, my life is already
fun."

  "Oh, honey, it doesn’t matter if you are in heaven or hell," he drawled. "You can have fun in both places."

  With that, she knew what he meant. Lucas Mercer had the power to make her life over the next few months’ heaven, or a living hell. Zane thought she could expect Lucas to be sarcastic, and pissed off. She would be in his power, required to pretty much do what he said, when he said it. He’d called her Barbie at the mall, well, that’s what he ended up with, his life-sized Barbie doll to bend and shape at his will.

  And why was Zane so happy with all of this. Well, Sicily could see that after years of defending her from horny bastards and mentally-challenged perverts, Zane Lowe was going to sit on the sidelines and watch the fireworks between her and Lucas. Zane felt this was his reward.

  * * * * *

  The luxurious hospital room was clean and the décor more like his expensively furnished living room at home. The door was at the far right of one corner. The walls were newly-painted, but they didn't have the nauseating aroma of a recently-renovated place. There was a small table across from the bed which held a small vase containing fresh new flowers, daisies to be specific.

  The bed itself was big enough to fit two people. The bed even came with a remote, and could be positioned as a reclining chair. At the moment, Lucas was comfortably resting on it, though he was bored to death.

  He watched his parent’s talk, argue actually, in front of him. They were fighting about business, as usual, and that had him wishing he had his earphones. He breathed deep, fighting down panic. He didn’t have his earphones because he hadn’t expected to be in the hospital on a Wednesday afternoon.

  He had just been walking around the mall with Zack and Tanner, trying to find an outfit to wear to Zane Lowe's New Year's bash in two days. When out of nowhere, someone had knocked him over and he’d fallen, shoulders first, onto the hard marble.

  Zane Lowe, the ever-popular host, and Sicily Carmichael, the bitch who ruined basketball season for him…he knew the two were best friends. Maybe they had come up with a conspiracy to keep him from playing. It had certainly dropped him into his own personal hell. Scratch that. They had given him hell, every nook and cranny of the Underworld, on a golden platter encrusted with Swarovski diamonds. That was how much he hated his life at the moment. He knew he should hate the two Sun Coast-goers, but he couldn't.