Breaking the Arm, Healing the Heart

by Ashley Andrews

  Zane,

  You want to be my date to the dance? I asked your best friend and she gave her permission. What do you say? :) Don't embarrass me, you ass. I was planning on asking Bryce but he's apparently bringing Mischa. What do you say, my leftover?

  xoxo, Bailey

  "Wow," Zane said, genuinely shocked. "In a paragraph that's like three sentences long she managed to insult me several times and still add in gossip about Bryce, and she expects me to say yes?"

  "Yeah, I do, actually," a familiar voice returned, cutting short Zane and Sicily's conversation.

  Bailey materialized between the two as she grabbed the letter she wrote, from Sicily. She eyed the paper with amusement. “I’m good, huh?” She couldn't believe she wrote Zane a letter. He was probably going to tease her for all eternity. "This is so grade school," she said, rolling her eyes at her own lack of maturity.

  Sicily shook her head before she responded sarcastically, "Not even. Kindergarten is more appropriate."

  She got a hard punch in the shoulder from Bailey, and even after a minute, the upper part of her arm still stung. She only hoped it wasn't going to bruise. Damn her. "God, are you a professional boxer in disguise?" Sicily asked in mock anger, rubbing the spot Bailey hit. "My arm hurts like a bitch."

  "You hit my best friend, and you still expect me to say yes?" Zane then teased, snaking an arm around Sicily's waist. "You're delusional, B."

  "And the suspense is killing me."

  Sicily, Bailey, and Zane shared a laugh before they left the building and headed over to one of the parking lots. Luckily, Sicily and Bailey didn't have cheerleading practice for the day so they had lots of free time to just bum around wherever they pleased. At the moment, they decided to hang out with Zane since his basketball practice hadn't started yet.

  They busily talked about random topics—from their unbelievably boring teachers to upcoming crazy and over-the-top parties.

  Finally Bailey couldn't handle it any longer. She just wanted to know if she had to worry about finding a date. She turned to demand and answer from Zane, but he beat her to it.

  "I think we're going to have a great time," he said, genuinely happy, as he put an arm on Bailey's shoulders. "If this were Prom, we'd probably win King and Queen."

  Sicily cut in quickly. "Hell no," she said with a chuckle. "You're not taking that away from me, B." And another round of laughter ensued from the three.

  * * * * *

  The moment the lunch bell rang, Tanner got up quickly, picked up his books, and left his classroom in long strides. Languidly carrying his books in one hand, he went to his locker and there he found Mallory, Adriana, and a few other cheerleaders who had been hanging on him like leeches, asking him if he wanted to go to the dance with any of them.

  "Are you free next Saturday?" one of them asked, her eyes blinking suggestively.

  "Go to the dance with me, will you, Tan?"

  "Tanner? I know you'll have fun with me."

  "Such fabulous offers," he said, smirking to himself while Mallory rolled her eyes at her posse's stupidity. "But I have to choose only one of you lovely ladies."

  Lucas, along with Zack, arrived just in time to see a group of bimbos crowding around Tanner. He was making the girls look incredibly stupid by the way he played with them. Not like the females cared for their dignity anyway. They didn’t care about anything but going to the dance, and this lot had set their sights on Tanner.

  "What is this?" Lucas asked, his voice a mixture of confusion and irritation. "I didn't know you had a circus with you," he said, looking at Tanner.

  The other boy smirked, before he instinctively replied, "You're just jealous because you don't have a crowd of girls or even one of them hanging onto you."

  It took a few seconds before Tanner realized what he’d said, and he regretted it the moment the words registered in his brain. "Oh, fuck," he said in a loud whisper.

  Being an inch smaller than his captain, Tanner looked up to meet Lucas' eyes. They were a dark, almost-black shade of grey and he worried that it was because of what he said, but Tanner was partly mistaken. Lucas' eyes had been cloudy and dim for the past few days, not because of what Tanner had said, but because of his problems in relation to Sicily.

  Lucas knew that he could get any girl he wanted, but the problem was he didn’t want anyone except for Sicily. "Every one of those girls dangling on you," he said, eyeing Tanner with a small, suspicious smirk. "I've dated all of them, in case you’ve forgotten." And then he winked.

  "You're never going to give up a fight, huh?" Tanner joked back. "Not even for a good, good friend?"

  "I have an ego to feed," Lucas returned, laughing.

  "Shit,” was the profanity when Lucas realized what had just happened. He couldn't believe it. Did he just laugh? In front of his friends? He shook his head before burying his face into his hands. Damn Sicily.

  "Sicily…huh?" one of the females asked, truly confused.

  "Mal, isn't Sicily the bitch who-"

  "What's going on, Luke?" Mallory demanded.

  Lucas cursed a string of blasphemous words inside his head. Of all the times he could mess up, why did it have to happen during a time when everyone could hear and see him? He had to say her name out loud, didn't he? He moved his head from left to right. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this.

  "I'm hungry," he said, rubbing his stomach for emphasis. "I'm going to get lunch."

  He started walking, not waiting for any of his friends to follow him.

  The pack of women that had been crowding around Tanner decided to move on to new prey. They, along with Mallory and Adriana, headed over to the cafeteria where Lucas had gone.

  Zack and Tanner looked at each other, each guy leaning on a locker.

  "I didn't know he was this serious about her," Zack said. It worried him. It meant he would have to be nicer to her. Maybe even accept Sicily as part of their group.

  "Our man has fallen…" Tanner said with a small laugh. "Hard."

  The other guy could only nod in agreement.

  Ever since they became best friends, Zack had never seen Lucas act so lost and confused. This was something new and unexpected. His friend had come into school today looking uncertain and disappointed. He even walked to school, and it gave him, Lucas, a humanly exterior that was the total opposite of what everyone thought him to be—smart, hot and talented—in other words, perfect.

  Lucas was still smart, hot, and talented, but he didn't take pride anymore in letting the world know he was the best in the school.

  Zack smiled and shook his head in amazement with the realization that Sicily was the reason for the change in Lucas. She had some good in her after all. She was perfect for him. "So what are we going to do now?" Zack asked Tanner, knowing that the latter knew more about what was going on since he was closer to Sicily than Zack was.

  "Maybe we should call her after school," Tanner suggested, and Zack immediately approved of the idea. "And I haven't hung out with her in a while anyway."

  * * * * *

  Time passed quickly, and before either of them knew it, half an hour had gone by and so, they had to say goodbye.

  Zane waved farewell as he jogged to his locker to change for practice while the two females decided to go on to Sicily's place and hang out for awhile.

  On the way home, Sicily's phone rang, and she answered through the cars wireless speaker connection so she could keep her hands on the wheel while she drove.

  "Heya," she greeted, still not knowing who was on the other line. "Sicily here."

  "Sicily!" a happier-than-usual voice returned. "Miss me?" the caller then said, his voice familiar to Sicily's ears.

  Bailey was trying to figure out who it was.

  "Of course I missed you, Tanner!" Sicily quickly remarked. "No one's been using all those tired, sex-related, pick–up lines on me anymore."

  Chapter 17: The Color Green

  Tanner was a good friend of Sicily's, and maybe, he was her
only friend from Lucas' group, except for Lucas himself. Well, Lucas if he wasn't mad at her.

  How could she think that of Lucas? Well…he had been ignoring her for over a week now. Sicily turned away from her thoughts of Lucas. She had been thinking about Tanner, she reminded herself, and despite Bailey's suspicions that Tanner was up to no good, she agreed to meet up with him later for dinner.

  They were going to meet at around six to grab a bite at the nearby steakhouse. It wasn't a date. Not at all. They were just going to hang out like good friends normally would.

  "He's up to something," Bailey told Sicily, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "I just know it."

  Sicily laughed, and then asked, "You're talking about Tanner, right? Unlikely," she said in finally, "He's probably be the last person to have a serious hidden agenda."

  "But he would, right?"

  Sicily shrugged. "Just for the fun of it."

  Bailey didn't know what to say since she didn't want to get into an argument with her friend. The last time she'd seen Lucas' dearly beloved friend was at Zane's New Year's party, and if she remembered clearly, he played Twister and was flirting with Sicily.

  That's a relief, she thought, not.

  "I can take care of myself, B," Sicily said, grinning. "Seriously."

  "I don't know…I just think tha-"

  Sicily cut her friend off before she could continue her 'I'm-just-looking-out-for-you' speech.

  "Well, if you're really nervous, you can come with me," she then told her, uncertain that it would be a good idea. "And besides, he said he was bringing a friend."

  Bailey raised her eyebrows, and before she could say anything, Sicily beat her to it once more.

  "He was a hundred percent adamant that the friend wasn't going to be Lucas."

  "That actually makes me even more suspicious of Tanner."

  The first day Lucas stayed at Sicily's house, Bailey saw how much the two had in common. The laughed a lot when they were together, teased each other, and joked around. Bailey wasn't going to lie to herself nor sugarcoat her words. She really had hated Lucas, before. Just as Sicily had.

  But that was all before Sicily broke his arm. Since she’d witnessed firsthand Lucas' and Sicily's interaction, she was comforted with the thought that the guy really liked Sicily and that he might be a good influence on her friend. He already had been. The head cheerleader was nicer than before, and the whole of Sun Coast noticed that. Knowing that Lucas was going to be absent for dinner later, Bailey couldn't help but think that Tanner had something planned.

  "Oh come on, B," Sicily said, her voice whining. "Just come. Tanner's not bad at all."

  Bailey looked thoughtful for a moment. She had a hand on her hip and another under her chin. She was really thinking. "Fine, fine, fine," she said after taking forever. "I'm inviting Zane, too."

  Sicily rolled her eyes. Since when was Bailey ever this protective? "Ugh, fine," she said, her voice slightly irritated. It wasn't like she could do anything anyway to change Bailey's mind. "I'll call Tanner and just tell him."

  Bailey, being a good friend, was going with Sicily tonight as she didn’t trust Tanner as far as she could throw him, which wasn’t far at all. And she wanted backup. So Zane. Bailey patted the top of her friend's head before she let out a small, not-at-all polite laugh. She didn't really know what would happen or what could happen later, but she was sure it was going to be fun, especially with Zane there.

  "Hey Tanner," Sicily, halting Bailey's thoughts, spoke on the phone. "Yeah it's me, yeah…Bailey and Zane want to come…you sure? Seriously? Tanner, I love you…!"

  After a few more minutes, Sicily put her phone back into her bag before she eyed Bailey with a cocked-up eyebrow. It was her turn to look doubtful.

  "You happy now?" she asked with a small smirk. "He's fine with it…more than fine actually."

  Bailey returned Sicily's smirk with a grin. "I am unbelievably happy." Of course, she was being sarcastic.

  * * * * *

  After school ended Lucas hadn’t wanted to hang out. He just wanted sometime to himself. He headed home, and he used the same means of transportation that he used earlier. His legs. Usually on weekday afternoons, he would be at his school's gym for basketball practice. That wasn't even an option now that he couldn't even play real basketball. He shook his head and then said to himself, "Just one more month," and then he could play again. Of course by then the season would be just about over, unless his team won their way into some of the state tournaments. He could only hope.

  The iron gates of his home opened automatically and he took his time walking to the front entrance of the house. Ever since his injury he had been a bum, walking, talking, and thinking much slower than his usual pace. You could say he lost his drive and productivity because the things he was best at required the use of his arm, the most obvious of those things being basketball.

  "You're home early,” his father's said.

  He only had a sentence to say to him. "I told you I'd be home by four thirty." Lucas frowned. He couldn’t remember the last time his dad was home when he got home from school. This was just freaking weird. The guy was around all the time now. Lucas hated it. Really.

  Don shook his head. He didn't understand why his son acted so cold towards him. Here he was trying to spend some quality time with him, something he hadn't done in a long time, and Lucas was just acting like he didn't care about the effort he was exerting at all. Teenagers, he thought to himself before he nodded his head and moved his lips to say, "Get ready before six. I want to take you and Theodore out to dinner."

  "Where?"

  "The steakhouse,” was Don's equally emotionless reply.

  Lucas didn't know why he’d bothered asking. His dad always wanted to eat at the steakhouse. He took a step forward, starting to make his way up the stairs, when Don put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. Lucas turned around to look at his father. The resemblance was obvious. But Lucas swore that while he might be like his dad physically, he refused to be like him in other ways. He may be a player, but definitely not a cheater when it came to women.

  "Do you mind if Luciana comes?" His father asked.

  Lucas rolled his eyes secretively. The obvious answer was, yes, he did mind. But his father never listened to him. Why would this situation be any different?

  "It's not like I have a true choice, you’ll do what you want."

  Don immediately let go of his son. He knew Lucas was hurting because of the divorce, and worse, because he found out about Don’s relationship with another woman. What his son didn't understand was that when you don't love someone, you don't love them anymore. Period. And that was what he felt towards Rebecca, Lucas' mother. He just didn't love her anymore. "Lucas."

  The eighteen-year old just shrugged. He was used to his father's irritated voice and it didn't scare him anymore, and besides, he had a bigger built than Don. He was taller and definitely much stronger. He could stand up for himself.

  For the next hour, Lucas locked himself inside his room. He just wanted to think about his problems, and by thinking about them he hoped he could make them all go away, but instead, Sicily came to his mind. He shook his head.

  "Damn her."

  He got his phone of the bedside table and just stared at it as he browsed through his Contacts List, stopping when Sicily's name was highlighted. Instinctively, he smiled just at seeing her name, and like all the other instances where that had occurred, he cursed.

  "Ugh,” was his annoyed response, followed by a grunt. He shook his head and threw his phone to the foot of his bed. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. Wondering what to do? Then suddenly, an idea popped inside his head—the Valentine's Day dance.

  * * * * *

  "So, Zane's just meeting us there?" Sicily asked, putting on a pair of skinny jeans, while she looked at Bailey who simply nodded. Her friend was too preoccupied retouching her make-up.

  "What is he trying to do?" Sicily smirked. "Is he trying to prove to Tanner th
at he isn't scared of being outnumbered two-to-one, him being the one?" Sicily couldn't help but laugh at what came to her mind. She suddenly remembered the numerous times Zane and she had been surrounded and outnumbered by Lucas' gang. She remembered how scared she was during those instances, but she wasn't anymore. Sicily considered Tanner a friend, and Lucas was one too. She knew that Lucas wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her now that they were better terms.

  Sicily perked up. He liked her, she suddenly remembered, and she liked him back.

  "Are you okay?" Bailey suddenly asked. "For the past minute you've been smiling and staring off into space."

  "Huh?"

  Bailey let out a small chuckle, and Sicily didn't understand why Bailey was laughing. So she checked the mirror but saw nothing on her face. "What's so funny?"

  Bailey chortled again. "You've been daydreaming haven't you? Damn Sicily, that's the last thing I expected from a girl like you."

  "Doesn't every girl do that?" Sicily said to her defense.

  "But not you," Bailey said with mischievous eyes. "Usually, guys daydream about you, not the other way around." And Bailey couldn't help but laugh at her friend's anxious expression.

  "Let's go. I'm hungry," was Sicily's excuse.

  A snicker erupted when Bailey found the whole situation amusing. "So who's the guy that's making you laugh and act stupid?" she asked, and then she gasped. "Don't tell me it's Tanner?" She gaped. "Sicily!"

  "Oh God no!” was the very quick reply. "Tanner? No way!"

  Bailey sighed breathlessly as she put a hand on the left part of her chest for exaggeration. "Thank God."

  Sicily grinned.

  "Why? What's so bad about Tanner?"

  "Nothing, really," Bailey then said with an indifferent voice. "It's just my own personal opinion, but if Tanner has a hot friend, a very, very hot one actually. Like Lucas, you know," she continued, letting out a few fake coughs and a wink. "I'd go with his hot friend, which in this case, is Lucas."

  Smiling, Sicily only nodded. “Subtle you are not.”

  "So, really. Who's the guy?” was Bailey's happier-than-usual tone of voice.