She left her bathroom and headed over to her desk to collect her cell phone, her iPod, and her wallet, before she went back to her closet to get one of her Indian-inspired embroidered bags to hold her things. She left her room, went downstairs, and headed straight to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and saw a leftover slice of pizza from last night. She got it, heated it for a few minutes, and then ate it before she left her house to go pick up Lucas.
* * * * *
"Lucas!" Sicily cried out the moment they stepped foot on the beach. "What are we doing here at nine in the morning?"
"Why not?" he asked, looking out at the ocean. "Breathe in the fresh air and feel the sun on your skin."
Sicily let out a sigh. She had wanted to sleep in today but couldn't because Lucas wanted to get philosophical at the beach. She was so not a morning person and Lucas had better figure that out.
"Fresh air my ass," she said rolling her eyes before she slapped his shoulder. "We could just come here a little later and breathe the air then!"
"But I want to now," he reasoned out, acting like the child he was deep inside. "This annoys you, doesn't it?"
"What do you think?" she asked, kicking the sand. "Fuck that crap-colored dust," she then said when a few grains landed in her eyes, irritating them.
Lucas grinned before laughing softly, and that caused Sicily to look at him disdainfully.
"Why are you laughing?" Sicily asked with furrowed eyebrows. "I believe irritation of the eyes is not a laughing matter.
Lucas ran a hand through her hair and instead of calming her medium brown hair, her waves became disheveled, looking messy and sleep tumbled.
"You're just exaggerating," he said to her as he grabbed her hand and sat her down on the blanket she brought. "Now, come on. I'm in the mood to have a picnic."
Sicily looked at the guy standing before her, and after doing so, blinked her eyes rapidly at him. He was being nicer than usual and that freaked her out. After a couple of minutes, she couldn't help it anymore and had to ask what happened.
"Tell me the truth. Have you been possessed by an alien being?" she asked, taking out a burger from the Tupperware Lucas had brought with him.
In return, the guy looked at her before gifting her with his signature, one-hundred percent cocky smirk. Honestly, Lucas didn't know what made him want to have a picnic and with Sicily for that matter—probably because none of his friends would like the idea of just sitting down on the sand while talking. Besides that, he was in need, a real bad need, to de-stress himself from his parents' divorce. Sicily was his drug of choice.
"Or maybe you plan on poisoning me," she said in mock-suspicion before she spat out the contents of her mouth. "Nice try. Almost got me there."
"What the hell, Barbie?" he asked as if in agony. "That was a gourmet burger or in layman's terms, it was damn expensive for you to just spit it out like that!"
"Barbie?" she said in a questioning tone. "I'm not blonde for sure," she continued, twirling her brown locks around her finger.
"Well you acted like that plastic blonde-haired, big-breasted, long-legged, extremely spoiled bimbo, when you spit out your food," Lucas returned, raising his voice.
"Sorry, mother."
They turned towards each other and leaned in. The argument brought them face-to-face, just a few inches apart. Each stared at the other as if they had laser vision and could burn the other’s face. The only thing separating them was the food on the blanket.
"Don't mother me," Lucas answered rolling his eyes. "I have a dick, you know."
"Oh," she said, pretending confusion. "Well then, sorry father."
Lucas let out a grunt which clearly told Sicily he was fast becoming annoyed with her. Good, he was the one that made her get out of bed this early on a Saturday morning.
"Don't call me that!" he then returned, sounding genuinely irritated. "I'm not like that bastard!"
Sicily let out an exasperated sigh before she held her arms in the air in a show of irritation. It was happening again—they’d been acting all nice to each other one second only to get at each other's throats the next. Sicily shook her head. Damn patterns and love-hate relationships.
"I'm going to go for a swim," she said as she began to remove her top. This action exposed her washboard abs, the stomach she’d worked hard for, exercising, cheerleading, and going to the gym. Her silver bellybutton piercing gleamed in the sun.
Lucas tried not to stare, but failed miserably. God, she's hot, he thought. He really tried to get rid of that idea but failed. The she removed her shorts, exposing her long, tanned legs. He gave up the pretense of not watching her.
She didn't speak to him anymore and simply ran to the clear-blue ocean.
He continued to keep an eye on her from afar.
Sicily swam for several minutes while Lucas continued staring at her from a distance. He didn’t mind that she was in the water and he couldn’t be because of the cast. He certainly wasn’t complaining about the view. Sicily had a really nice body. For some her unrestricted attitude and uncensored mouth might ruin the package. But Lucas actually enjoyed that about her, as most of the time she was funny, sarcastic, and blunt. This was, for him, a turn-on. Sometimes he wasn’t in the mood, but she’d also been able to dial those things back and be serious.
"The water's actually a bit warm," Sicily said, running up to Lucas to sit on the blanket beside him and towel off. "And the wind is calming."
Lucas smirked, and Sicily knew right then and there he was going to make fun of her like always. "You probably urinated in the water," he said to her with his lips curved up in a conceited fashion.
Sicily stood up and snapped her towel at Lucas, raising a red welt on his arm.
He immediately screamed an expletive before he stood up and started to chase her. Soon enough, he caged her with his good arm around her waist.
With the amount of force that she used trying to escape, she ended up bringing the both down to the sand. Lucas, who was above Sicily, tried to support himself with only one arm until he rolled over, with his back now against the sand, in exhaustion.
"It's only ten-thirty in the morning, and I'm tired," Lucas said, looking at the sky above them. "Who knew you could run that fast?"
"Obviously, you didn't," she said as she sat up and looked down on Lucas as he lay on the sand.
She breathed a deep sigh. She was tired as well, but she still didn't feel like leaving. She enjoyed the beach—loved it actually and wanted to make the most out of her time there. She’d had a great time with Lucas, especially when he’d chased after her, but she was never, ever, going to say that thought out loud. During the chase, her heart sped up and she didn't know if that was because she was just running and her muscles were working overtime or whether it was because of Lucas being right behind her. She exhaled again. She preferred the former option if anyone was listening to her prayers.
"I'm hungry," Lucas said, though he remained horizontal on the sand. "Can you get me a hotdog?"
Sicily rolled her eyes at his imperious command before she furrowed her eyebrows and said, "Mind you, I only broke one of your arms and the other one is still functioning."
"But my mind isn't working right at the moment," he said to her, as he put a hand over her knee and squeezed it. "I'm hungry."
"I think it is," she said and knocked on his head. "It's working perfectly fine."
Sicily could feel the warmth from Lucas' hand. It was a nice feeling to be in sync with him for a bit and stop arguing. She wanted his hand to stay on her knee, so she kept still. She rolled her eyes and thought, God, I'm pitiful.
"No, it's not," he said, sitting up. "If I was sane right at the moment, I would be as far away from you as I could get."
Sicily stood up and dusted off the sand on her legs, shifting the granules onto Lucas' body. She smiled when she saw Lucas making disgusted faces.
"Damn you," Lucas cursed, spitting out the sand that entered his mouth. "Maybe I should poke your eyes out. You'
re already acting like you’re blind, anyway."
Sicily laughed before she held his arm in order to help him stand up. They then headed back to their blanket and picnic basket before they continued their conversation.
"Maybe you should," she said smiling. "It will probably stop the nightmares I keep getting from looking at you."
Lucas flashed his ever-knowing, narcissistic smirk.
"Maybe you were looking at a mirror before you went to sleep," he offered.
Sicily shook her head before she got a can of soda from the basket. "No, no, I'm sure you're the reason I can't sleep at night."
"Oh, in that case, I'm sorry," Lucas said, not looking apologetic at all. "I’m deeply sorry for filling your thoughts."
Sicily didn't mean to, but she couldn't help it, she accidentally spat out her drink, on Lucas' shirt. Though afraid to see the expression on his face, she still looked up to face him. He seemed shocked at first, then angry, then okay. He slowly turned his frown into a thin lipped smile.
"Help me remove this," he said, gripping the hem of his shirt. "I'm sticky."
"It's your fault," Sicily replied, never taking the blame for anything that went wrong between them. "You just had to say that, didn't you?" She reached out to help and instinctively drew her hands back and said, "Eww! You're damn sticky!"
"Now, it's your fault," he returned. "And babe, I personally prefer whipped cream if getting sticky is what you want."
Sicily laughed until tears came to her eyes. She slapped Lucas in the head, and then helped him remove his shirt. She had a very, very good view of his torso. Lucas’ six-pack, his firm chest, his tightened and tone arm muscles, and the V between his hips, was every girls’ dream. She could die now that she’d had a chance to see this, she thought.
Instead of letting him see how his body affected her, she stood up and said something sarcastic. "Yeah, you go ahead and dream mister. Why don’t you wash your face with water, the coolness might help the swelling in your head go down, I can see it getting bigger," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Even better, dunk your head in the ocean, it might be big enough to absorb all that ego."
His smirk was still there and Sicily knew it wasn't going to go away anytime soon, and to increase her anxiety even more, he still didn't put on another shirt, or his hoodie. He was probably never going to get dressed until they got home. And by then she’d have lost all of her working brain cells.
"I'm not salty, Hun," he replied. "I'm sweet."
"Uh, huh," she said, returning his smirk with one of her own. "Says the one who barely speaks."
"I speak to you, don't I?"
Sicily decided to go back to the sea for another swim, and this time, she brought Lucas with her. Sadly though, they could only play in the shallowest part since Lucas' couldn't get his cast wet. Speaking of the plaster, it was graying and getting smelly. He obviously needed it changed.
"And why do you speak to me anyway, in a slightly-civilized manner I must add?" she asked, oblivious to the fact that she was starting to thread dangerous waters—her past. "You know I hated you the moment I saw you."
"No, I didn't know that," he said, patting her head. "What I do know is that you had a crush on me."
"Yeah," she said, admitting the truth. "Until that bitch came and…"
"And what?" Lucas asked, stepping closer.
"Nothing," she said, finally shutting up.
Sicily didn't want to talk about what happened to before. It was in the past and she and Lucas weren't really close. Not yet anyway. Besides, Lucas was a guy and he wouldn't understand what a sensitive topic it was for her. Besides, so much of it concerned him.
In return, he said, "Okay." He didn't want to press her into saying anything she didn’t want to share. He was being a little selfish, not wanting to get into anything heavy and spoil the mood. Besides, he didn’t really care about gossip and he was going to stay that way. It didn’t really matter what had happened to her so many years ago. The past is really in the past. Besides, it didn’t really concern him.
"I think it's getting hotter," she said, slipping on her sunglasses as she looked at the sun above her. It was getting close to twelve and the sun was high, bright and hot above them, even though it was still January.
"You're right," Lucas said, walking back to shore. "We should go back. Theodore's probably looking for me."
"Aww, he's so adorable," she said, grinning. "I'd want to play with him and hug him to death. Such a cutie pie."
"Of course he is," Lucas said in a matter-of-fact tone. "He's my brother."
* * *
Before going back home, Lucas decided to make a quick stop at the nearby Target store to buy a few things for Theodore. In the last few days it had already become a habit for Lucas to bring him something if he left the house without his brother. It was a sort of sorry present.
Sicily thought it was a sweet gesture, and she couldn't help but study Lucas. She was only starting to get to know the real guy underneath the attitude. She now thought that she saw him in a new light, a much brighter and better one, and honestly, it was getting hard for her to continue hating him.
"What do you plan on buying him?" she asked, making a left at the nearest turn before parking the car at one of the spaces near the entrance.
The two got out of the Audi and walked side-by-side with only a few inches separating the both of them. Until Sicily stopped and remembered she was still in her bikini. The tank top she wore over her swim suit was starting to get annoyingly wet.
"Damn," she muttered. "I fucking forgot. Would you mind lending me your jacket?"
Lucas furrowed his eyebrows in thoughtfulness before shaking his head and saying, "No."
"Just give it up," she growled, annoyed with the fact that she was wet at the moment and they were just a few steps away from the entrance. What if someone from her school saw her all drenched, with wet, tangled hair?
Worse… What if someone saw her with Lucas?
"I was just joking," Lucas said, laughing softly. "Here you go," he told her as he handed her his Adidas hoodie.
"No, I'll just wait for you here," she said, turning around and unlocking her car. When she heard the little beep, she opened the door. "Just make it quick."
"No," was his reply. "I don’t want you to leave me like you did last night," he then said teasingly, and that made Sicily wince.
She forgot about that tiny incident and leaving Lucas stranded in the parking lot after he had kissed her.
"I forgot about that, but it's a good thing you brought it up," she said smirking. "I think I want to try that again."
"No, you're not," he said smiling which took Sicily aback. "That's why you're coming with me."
Before she knew it, he’d grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the department store. Sicily immediately felt cold since the humongous air conditioner seemed to rush over her sea water drenched hair and suit.
Unlike in the movies where the hero hugged his soul mate to warm her, Lucas kept his grip on his jacket and led her to the clothing section. "There are a lot of jackets," Lucas said. "But you can still borrow mine, you know."
"We're already here, aren't we?" She told him. "I'll just buy new clothes since I can't stand this sticky feeling." Sicily was looking around for a jacket she would like, and soon enough, something caught her eye. It was a brown-and-pink striped hoodie and she got it the moment she saw it and then headed over to the shirts section of the store. She immediately turned on her heel when she saw a bunch of Lucas' friends, specifically Zack, Tanner, Mallory and Adriana, in the store.
The moment her eyes landed on them, she smelled trouble and she was so not in the mood to talk to any of them, except Tanner of course. The guy was great and more importantly, he was nice to her.
"Lucas!" a recognizable voice shouted out to him. He, in return, turned around to face the caller.
"I'll just meet you later," Sicily quickly said. "Bye!"
He tried to stop her from leaving,
but he was too late, and to added to that, his attention had been sidetracked by his friends. They were heading over to him. He looked after Sicily and realized that she hadn’t run from him, but from his friends. She was a tiny speck at the other end of the store.
"Was that Sicily?" Tanner asked.
At the mention of her rivals name, Mallory let out a snort. "Why do you keep hanging out with her?" she asked Lucas as she brushed her finger against his arm. "She's not good company."
"She needs to hang out with me," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's her punishment."
"Hun, hanging out with you is never a punishment."
"That's good to know," he then said in a dry tone. Lucas had to believe that Mallory was a nice girl despite Sicily's beliefs. If not than he realized the girl had been living a lie for three or four years and that would be insane. The only real problem with Mal was that she acted very controlling, even though she and Lucas had never really got together. She always hung on him and called him 'Hun' or 'babe.' Lucas had no problem calling Sicily babe, but Mal calling him those things was a different story. It just didn't seem right.
"No wonder you've been looking so gloomy for the past few days," she said when no one spoke. "Look at what she's doing to you."
"Uh, Mal," Tanner interjected. "I think it's your fault he didn't look too happy when we came up to him."
Mallory furrowed her eyebrows at Tanner before she glared at him, and he, in response, only shrugged his shoulders and smirked.
"You're practically throwing yourself at him," Tanner said, eyeing her from head-to-toe. "Please don't do that. His ego's big enough. You've got to stop feeding it."
Lucas smirked and nodded his head in agreement before he turned to Zack and asked him what they were doing at Target at twelve in the afternoon. "Why are you guys here?" he asked, eyeing all of them. "I never expected this to be your hang-out."
"We could ask you the same thing," Mallory returned with her hand on her hips. "And with her for that matter," she finished, rolling her eyes.
"I want to buy my brother something," he said, avoiding eye contact with any of them. "Why are you guys going all Hitler on me? What's with the interrogation?"
Breaking the Arm, Healing the Heart Page 12
