Planet Urth Boxed Set

by Jennifer Martucci

  “Yes Arianna. She’s fine. Just has a cold, that’s all.”

  “Oh good,” Arianna blurted accidentally.

  “Well, not so much for her, I’m guessing,” he said and quirked a dark brow at her.

  “No, no, that’s not what I meant,” she began.

  “I think you did mean it,” he kidded. “I think you’ve been trying to get me alone for a while to, you know, have your way with me. You probably even planted a sick person’s snotty tissue in her purse, all part of your elaborate plot to claim my virtue.” He’d used a feminine, sugary Southern accent she didn’t know he could possibly produce with his deep voice as he’d said claim my virtue and she laughed out loud. She laughed so hard, tears sprung from her eyes.

  “Hey, it’s not that funny,” he pretended to pout.

  She found a rumpled tissue in her purse and was about to blot her eyes with it when she paused. “Should I be worried about this tissue?” she asked him.

  “No, why?”

  “With the rash of snotty tissue droppings, I just want to be sure I’m not a target,” she said and started laughing again.

  “What?” he asked with mock indignation. “Are you suggesting it was me who planted the snot bomb? Little ole me?” he finished with his accent again.

  Arianna laughed so hard her sides ached. She doubled over clutching her stomach and could not compose herself until they were nearing the driveway of Herald Falls High School. It had felt good to laugh, to truly let go, even if just for a few minutes. Luke had a knack for making her forget her problems, for making her laugh; for making her happy.

  “Let’s take a road trip together, you and me. Let’s skip school for a day and go to Rockdale,” she heard herself say and couldn’t believe the words had actually fallen from her lips.

  Luke slid her a glance, his silver eyes dancing with delight.

  “What’s in Rockdale?” he asked casually.

  “My friend Lily. I lived in Rockdale before I came here,” she began.

  “Yeah, I heard you telling Mike and the gang when you first met them. Why not just call this Lily?”

  “I’ve been trying since I got here. I can’t get in touch with her. I’ve tried her house phone, her cellphone, sent her text messages and emails, and haven’t heard a word from her.”

  “Maybe she’s pissed at you, you know? Maybe she just doesn’t want to talk to you,” he said gently.

  Arianna was quiet for a moment, thinking about what he’d said. The possibility existed that what he said was the case; that Lily was simply done with her, their friendship terminated. But something inside of Arianna, a feeling she could not explain, niggled. She had known Lily well, as well as she could in the nine months she had spent in Rockdale. Cutting off all contact so abruptly was not Lily’s style. She was not like that. She was not rude or cruel. In fact, there did not seem to be a mean or vindictive bone in her body, which is likely why Arianna had felt so protective of her, not the theory Desmond had suggested.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Luke said and broke her concentration. He reached a hand across the console and placed it on her hand tenderly. He had clearly misread her silence as sadness.

  “You didn’t,” she replied. “I was just thinking about her. She wasn’t like that. She wasn’t the kind of person who would do that, I think. And if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I’ve just been worried about her and wanted to see her with my own eyes. At this point, I’d be happy to get there and find out she’s blown me off. At least I’d know she was okay.”

  Luke directed the truck down the drive of their school and searched for a parking spot. The lot was emptier than normal, their arrival earlier than most. Arianna was grateful for the extra time they would have now, without Stephanie, and hopefully on their trip to Rockdale.

  “Rockdale, huh?” he said. “That’s what, five, six hours away?”

  “I’ll give you money for gas and pay for our motel room,” she offered.

  “Motel room? Why didn’t you lead off with that?” he joked and was back on his game.

  “We’d have to stay in a motel room,” she flirted. “We’d be leaving after school, today if you want, and we’d need to rest, naturally.”

  “Naturally,” he agreed and his cheeks flushed.

  “Why Luke, I do believe you’re blushing,” she said leaning across the console and touching the tip of her finger to his chin. “Aren’t you ready to be rewarded for all your wooing?”

  She did not give him time to respond. And judging from the expression on his face, she doubted he had a response. She climbed out of his truck and slung her backpack over her shoulder, satisfied she’d intrigued him by turning his tactic on him. She had bluntly offered him exactly what he claimed he’d been wanting. Whether either of them would go through with it remained to be seen. She glanced over her shoulder at him and saw that he smiled his broad, mischievous smile at her from behind the windshield.

  “Come on,” she called to him and gestured for him to follow.

  He rolled his window down and called back, “Just give me a second okay. I just need a second.”

  She laughed and leaned against the passenger side door, waiting for whatever physiologic response he’d been beset by to pass.

  After a few minutes had passed, Luke jumped out. “I’m in,” he announced. “Let’s take a road trip.”

  “Yay!” Arianna cheered. “When do you want to leave?”

  “Let’s go today, after school.”

  “Really? Are you serious?”

  “Yep. We can miss school tomorrow. There’s a stupid assembly that’s gonna eat up half the day anyway. Let’s do it.”

  “All right. Sounds like a plan!”

  “We can meet here after school, go back to our houses and grab a few things then leave. Will your mom be okay with you and me going away overnight together?”

  “You’re joking, right?” Arianna asked sarcastically. “I’m eighteen, and even if I wasn’t, my mom doesn’t say a word about where I go and who I go with. I’ve been coming and going as I please for as long as I can remember.”

  “Sounds like my mom,” he said tightly.

  “So it’s settled. I’ll see you here in a few hours,” she said and rose on to her tiptoes. She wrapped both arms around his neck tightly, her body pressing to his and kissed his lips.

  She kissed him for several seconds then released him and dashed off.

  “Oh, that’s just wrong!” he called after her. She turned to look at him and saw that he held his books low over his waist.

  “See you soon,” she called back and smiled.

  ***

  The more than six hours of her school day had seemed like an interminable stretch of time. She’d glimpsed the clock on many occasions throughout the day certain hours had passed, only to find that mere minutes had passed. When the last bell of the day finally rang, Arianna felt as though she’d survived a marathon, tired and worn. But once she stepped outside and the cool fall air greeted her, she felt invigorated. As she approached Luke’s truck and saw that he waited for her, excitement stirred within her. Though she was going to Rockdale under troublesome circumstances, she was looking forward to taking a break from her new school, from the idea that she was the Sola, from her life, and hanging out with Luke. He was fun and funny and they got along well. She felt certain that the six hours they’d spend together in the car would be enjoyable ones.

  “Hey you,” she said and smiled.

  “Hey,” he replied and smiled. “Ready to go?”

  “Yeah, I’m ready. Where to first?”

  “Let’s go to your house first and get what you need then we can head to my little circus tent so I can grab a few things.”

  “All right,” she said.

  Luke opened the passenger side door for her then climbed in to the driver’s seat. His truck protested twice, sputtering and choking, before the engine turned over, roaring to life grumpily.

  “That doesn’t inspire a lot of confi
dence with a six-hour drive ahead of us,” Luke commented.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Arianna agreed.

  They drove for less than ten minutes, chatting lightly about their respective days, until Arianna’s trailer park came into view. A depressing display of metal, synthetic turf and plastic ornaments intended for rolling green living lawns, it resembled a junkyard with paths carved through the mountains of debris. Tires of varying brands and sizes littered nearly every front porch, and clothing lines laden with atrociously patterned clothes spanned as far as the eye could see. To many who enjoyed a more lavish lifestyle than she, her community was the material of nightmares, offensive and tasteless. To her, it was home. After years of living in one trailer park or another, she’d grown tired of apologizing for where she lived and what she didn’t have. She’d made peace with the fact that belongings, were just, well, stuff. And stuff was not what made a person interesting or exciting or worthy of respect, character did.

  Luke stopped in front of her trailer and turned the engine off. He reached a hand out and was about to pull the lever on his door when Arianna asked, “Oh, you’re coming in?”

  He froze for a moment. “Not if you don’t want me to.”

  “No, nothing like that. It’s just that this place is cramped and smelly. It belonged to my uncle and he was either a slob or had rented it to slobs.”

  “Arianna, you saw my drugged out mother unconscious near a pool of her own vomit. Nothing in your house could be as bad as that,” he said sincerely.

  “Fair enough,” she said then added, “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  The walked together, up three worn wooden steps, to the front door. Arianna unlocked it and they stepped inside. The small living-room area was free of fat men sleeping on the couch and there were no fast-food boxes or bags cluttering the coffee table. That was always promising. They walked past the living room and a quick glance at the pea-colored vinyl flooring made Arianna suspicious. A strong lemon scent hung in the air and the floors looked freshly mopped suggesting that her mother had cleaned. And Cathy Rose cleaned for one reason and one reason only: for a man. A man was either coming over in the next few hours or had just left. Either way, a new man in her mother’s life did not bode well for them remaining in Herald Falls for long.

  “This isn’t bad at all,” Luke said from behind her. “No drugs, no vomit. Already it’s an improvement from my place.”

  She reached behind her and took his hand in hers, gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it. They walked down the short, narrow hallway past the bathroom to her room. She emptied her backpack of books and began grabbing things she’d need. A change of clothes was chief among them, then underwear and something to sleep in.

  “So this is your room,” Luke smirked and sat on the sleeping cushion that served as her bed.

  “Yep. And that thing is not where I sleep.”

  “Good ‘cause it stinks like mold or something.”

  “I know. It’s gross. Most nights I crash on the floor or the couch. That’s when I can sleep at all.”

  “I hear you. I know what that’s like,” he nodded somberly.

  She smiled sadly because he hadn’t the vaguest idea what she was talking about. He’d assumed she had referred to her life with her mother, about the hard times she’d had. But he’d been wrong. Of course, she did not blame him. How could he, or anyone else for that matter, guess that being a witch with untapped phenomenal powers could cause so many sleepless nights? Having a group of people hunting you with the intent to murder you didn’t make for a good night of sleep either. But Luke had no way of knowing those were problems that existed in the world, let alone in her daily life.

  “Let me grab my toothbrush and some cash and we’ll get out of here,” she said.

  In the bathroom, she lifted the lid of the toilet tank and reached her hand inside. Her fingers felt the cool, smooth surface of a plastic bag. She picked it up, but not before allowing as much water to drain from it as possible, and opened it. Inside was a roll of money, mostly twenty-dollar bills. She took three hundred dollars from the bag then returned her savings to the toilet tank. She washed her hands, grabbed a brush and her makeup bag and opened the bathroom door.

  “I’m all set,” she said.

  “Really?” Luke asked surprised. “I thought we’d be here for hours.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. Every time my sister packs, she takes forever. I thought all girls were like that.”

  “Well, I’m not like other girls, and I’m not like your sister,” she said and winked at him.

  “No, no you’re not,” he said seriously. “And I’m really glad you’re not.”

  He moved toward her, slowly closing the distance between them. She stepped back instinctively and found her back flush against a wall. He placed both hands by her ears, trapping her between him and the wall. But she did not feel trapped. Her heart raced excitedly. He stared at her, allowed his gaze to drop to her mouth. She ran her tongue over her lips, readying them to be kissed, tempting him to kiss her. Luke dropped one of his hands and placed it on her hip. He pulled her close to him so that her chest pressed against him. She felt the planes of his body, warm and hard, touching the softness of her own. Kiss me already, her mind screamed. He slid his hand from her hip up the side of her body grazing the side of her breast and cupped her face in his hand tenderly. She felt his hot breath on her face and did not want to wait any longer. She tipped her chin up and kissed him.

  She did not kiss him with the tenderness he’d touched her with. Instead, she kissed him with abandon, wrapping both arms around his neck then raking her fingers through his hair. He lowered his hand and grabbed her backside. She could feel his excitement through his jeans pressing against her belly. She writhed against it and heard him moan.

  “Do I need to get a hose in here, or something?” she heard her mother’s voice say suddenly.

  Neither of them had heard her mother come in.

  Luke let go of her embarrassedly. She saw ribbons of scarlet streak his cheeks as he hunched forward to hide his excitement.

  “Hi Ms. Rose,” he said, his eyes darting anxiously. “Nice to see you again.”

  “Nice to see you, too,” she crooned. “Luke, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied sheepishly.

  “Ma’am. I like that. So respectful. Arianna, this one’s a keeper,” she said loving every moment of Arianna and Luke’s discomfort. Then she turned back to Luke and said, “Did I do that to you?” gesturing to the obvious bulge below his belt.

  “All right, mom. Enough! Can you give us a minute?”

  Her mother did not say another word. She disappeared in to the kitchen. The clanking of pots reminded them that she hadn’t left and intended to ruin any further romance they may have had in mind.

  “She’s a human mood killer,” Arianna said then giggled.

  “You’re telling me,” Luke agreed. “I’m going to, uh, use the bathroom and um, splash some cold water on my face before we leave.”

  “You do that,” Arianna said and smiled. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

  Arianna walked to the kitchen and saw her mother smirking by the sink.

  “Well, well, well. It looks like you and loverboy were having quite a moment there,” her mother snickered.

  “Please, mom,” Arianna cringed. “I’m going out tonight and I won’t be back until tomorrow night.”

  “Oh really?” her mother asked. “Just use protection. You don’t want to end up knocked up like me.”

  “It’s not like that.

  “It sure looked like that.”

  “We’re going to Rockdale.”

  “Rockdale? Why?”

  “Lily, I haven’t heard from her since we moved here.”

  “So maybe she doesn’t want to be your friend anymore.”

  Arianna didn’t want to have this conversation again. “Whatever, I’ve been worried and I want to check on her,” she said cu
rtly.

  “Suit yourself.”

  “Can you call me in sick at school tomorrow?”

  “Sure, no problem. Just leave me the number.”

  Arianna pulled a pad from the drawer below the telephone. She scribbled the school’s attendance office number on it and left if near the phone. “Thanks mom.”

  “Have fun and be safe,” her mother said just as Luke came down the hallway.

  “Don’t get my daughter pregnant, you hear?” her mother warned him.

  “Mom!”

  “Yes ma’am,” Luke said.

  Arianna grabbed Luke’s arm and pulled him out.

  “Good-bye mother,” she said testily.

  Outside she apologized for her mother’s comment.

  “I’m so sorry about that, about her, I mean,” she fumbled.

  “Don’t worry about it. She’s just worried about you. She loves you,” he said offhandedly.

  She was sure her mother had meant well, but her tact and timing left much to be desired.

  “Yeah, well, she has a funny way of showing it,” Arianna said and folded her arms across her chest.

  “At least she’s, I don’t know, conscious,” he said and the sadness in his voice made her heart lurch.

  “I guess,” she said and reached in her bag for her cigarettes. “Mind if I smoke?”

  “No. Mind if I join you?”

  “Not at all,” she said and lit his cigarette first then hers.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re trying to get in my pants,” he said impishly.

  “You wish,” she joked and climbed in the passenger seat.

  He closed the door. “I don’t know, Arianna. I think you want me,” he teased.

  “Keep dreaming!”

  “We’ll see,” he said and started the car.

  They drove away from her trailer and out of her complex on to the main road. Faint rays of sun waged a fruitless war against leaden clouds that encroached, advancing like a fleet of warships. The wind had picked up and shook flame-colored leaves from treetops sending them cascading to the ground like burning embers. Arianna watched as they fell chaotically, heard the wind hiss through the dried leaves and branches like a thousand voices whispering at once. A strange sensation washed over her and made her skin crawl as though innumerable spiders raced across her bare flesh. Perhaps it was the just the eerie way the wind sounded or how the leaves fell like cinders to the earth, or perhaps it was something far more intrinsic that had unsettled her, but Arianna believed a warning had been issued; a warning that she may not return the same person she was leaving as.