Book of Luke (Book 2) (4 page)

I couldn’t wait to find out what my best
friend was ranting about.

My Monday started off like any other. I—and
every other girl in the place—waited in anticipation for my
boyfriend to make his entrance through our hall’s double doors.

He’s not
trying
to be a superstar,
the girls at our school just think he is.

It’s a sight.

It’s hot.

It’s slow-motion worthy.

Seriously, and no one rolled out a red
carpet?

When the doors opened, his blond hair was
the first thing to come into view—followed by his amazing arms, his
silver chain, his tight muscle shirt, and his Italian bestie of
gigantic proportions, Gino Barone.

Like alphas they emerged. The sea of sore
losers that made up the male student body parted for them, and they
walked through in cool, smooth, unmatchable strides.

Girls practically swooned left and right.
They gripped their hearts, or their boyfriends’ shoulders, and
cried, “Why can’t
you
look like
that
?”

And here’s the unbelievable part: Luke acts
like he doesn’t even notice.

I spent the next few minutes on cloud
nine—lovestruck, my knees wobbling at the sight of him, my heart
fluttering as he stood before me. My best friend beside me rolled
her pretty blue eyes.

Gino’s bulky arms coiled themselves around
Lilly. I could smell the leather jacket attached to his body. His
dark hair was gelled back, his cologne strong, and his sapphire
eyes shimmered. “Hey, baby,” he whispered in his hot New York
accent, and moved in for a kiss.

“Ew!” she protested, smacking his stubble.
“Shave!”

It didn’t matter
—
he kissed her
anyway. And I could tell she totally liked it.

Luke grimaced. “Get a room!”

Lilly reached over to smack his head, but he
ducked and laughed. “Grow up, Lukasz!”

Then she looked at Gino. “Did you think
about what I said the other night?”

Luke cleared his throat. “What happened the
other night?”

Lilly shot him a look like it was none of
his business, but Luke still waited for an answer.

Gino sighed, bent down and pecked her cheek.
“See you after class.”

“
What!”
she demanded as he walked
away. “Gino Barone, are you serious?!”

Luke looked confused, and he wasn’t the only
one, but I guess he shrugged it off. He gripped my waist and kissed
me tenderly. “Did you ask your dad if you can go?”

I bit my lip. “Working on it.”

Our foreheads touched. “Okay. See you in
writer’s workshop.”

I grinned. “Can’t wait.”

~ ~ ~

Apparently whatever Lilly was pissed about was this
big secret, and she didn’t intend on letting me in on it anytime
soon. It’s like she was punishing me for not staying on the phone
Saturday night.

She stewed through our geography class. I
even went to
lunch
, hoping to hear about it. Anna and I
watched her pick at her sandwich, looking grossed out.

Anna tossed some dark curly locks over her
shoulder, bit out of her granola bar, and cleared her throat. “So
are you going to to tell us, or are you going to make us
guess?”

Lilly sighed and pushed her tray away. “You
already know I plan to move to Hawaii, but my
boyfriend
decided he likes to ski, he wants to be around his new
best
friend
and he says starting over making friends sucks, so he
wants to move by Lukasz in British Columbia.” She crossed her arms
and slouched in her chair. “And he sees nothing wrong with
this!”

“So why don’t you just move with him?” Anna
suggested.

I know
I
certainly wouldn’t mind
having her around! I mean
Hawaii
—she might as well move to
Mars!
It’s not like anyone there was waiting for her,
either.

Lilly shot her a look. “That’s not the
point. We had plans, and he’s backing out, with no regard for our
relationship or anything! You don’t think it’s a jerky thing to
do?!”

Anna shrugged. “What’s more important, the
beach or your relationship?”

Lilly put her hands on her hips. “What’s
more important,
his
relationship, or skiing with
Lukasz?”

Anna looked at me, clearly not intending to
press the matter.

“I love him. I can’t believe he’s doing
this!”

I set my hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be
okay, Lilly. He has a few months, maybe he’ll reconsider.”

She rolled her eyes. “Doubtful.”

We fell silent. She looked at her tray
thoughtfully, near tears. I just couldn’t give anymore unsolicited
advice.

After a few moments she wiped her cheeks.
Our eyes met, and from years of experience I
knew
she was up
to something.

“What?” I asked, scared of the answer.

She sniffled, and a weak smile crept upon
her lips. “Yeah, he’ll reconsider! I’m going to make him!”

Anna and I exchanged looks. It
didn’t
sound good!

Lilly pulled out her compact mirror and
checked her lipstick. Her smile grew slightly. “He’s going to have
to think like a big boy, because I’m going to tell him I’m
pregnant!”

We crinkled our noses at her. “But you’re
not,” we said in unison.

Lilly shrugged. “
He
doesn’t know
that.”

“And what happens when he finds out you’re
not pregnant?” Anna bit into her chicken sandwich.

“He won’t. I’ll just say I had a
miscarriage. In health class they said something like seventy
percent of pregnancies end in one—not exactly unbelievable. He’ll
get a chance to think about it, and realize I mean too much to
him!” She shrugged. “It’s a little white lie, what harm can it do?
It’s perfect!” She looked impeccably pleased with herself. So
pleased, in fact, that I was hesitant to say anything.

Like tell her her idea is
stupid
.

I wanted to tell her to forget the beach;
that that’s sort of a mean trick to play on a guy. But she didn’t
give me the chance—she’d made up her mind, got up and left.

The next time I saw her, she was with Gino
at her locker.

And, may I add, she did not look happy.

“What’s going on?” Luke motioned to them
with his nose. They were about fifteen feet away.

I wrapped my arms around him. “I’m not
really sure. Something about him wanting to move to British
Columbia.” I was hesitant to say more.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, leaning against the
locker, pulling me into his arms. “He’s not very good at making
friends, he feels. And he’s not all that crazy about the beach,
either.”

Their conversation was getting heated.
Things were
not
looking well.

When Lilly stormed by, Gino waved her off
and headed in the opposite direction—we were
stunned
.

“Hey, Rapunzel, what’s wrong?” Luke
called.

I pulled away from Luke, about to head after
her. He held my hand tight for a moment, like he didn’t want me to
go. Then he released.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I caught up to
her. “Are you okay?” I grabbed her arm when she didn’t respond. She
stopped and looked at me, her face soaked.

“He dumped me!” Her head fell into her hands
and she began walking again, but at a slower pace. “Oh my God, I
didn’t think he’d
dump
me!”

See, I knew that idea was
stupid.

I jumped when I saw Luke beside me. He
grabbed her shoulder, but she pulled away. “Hey, Lil, why are you
crying?”

“Leave me alone, Lukasz. This is all
your
fault!”

Luke frowned, still trying to get her to
turn. She pushed him away. “How is this
my
fault? Tell me
what I did!”

I grabbed his bicep and he looked at me. I
don’t think I’d ever seen him so worried. “It’s okay,” I breathed.
“I’ll talk to her.”

Eventually, Luke nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you
after class?”

“Yeah.”

Then he called for someone and took off down
the hall.

I sat beside her in archaeology. She was
still crying, and clearly trying to hide it, wiping runny mascara
off her face.

“You know sometimes I really do feel like a
dumb blonde,” she said.

“W-why did he dump you?” I stammered.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeves and
sighed. “I think I scared him. Oh my God, I’m freaking
stupid
.” She sobbed again. Half the class watched.

Not knowing what else to do, I gripped her
shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” I whispered. “Just tell him you were
kidding.”

She broke into a laugh. Tears still rolled.
“What! Tell him I was
kidding
?! How will that get him back,
exactly?”

I looked around nervously. I don’t think she
intended to be loud, but it seemed everyone but me had been phased
out. She gets very emotional—I’ve learned that the hard way.

“Well if you just scared him, he’ll take you
back,” I said. “Tell him you had the miscarriage.”

She laughed. “Should I tell him now, or wait
for tomorrow?” She raised her hand. Our teacher just stared at
her.

“I have to go,” she informed him. “I left my
brain in the cafeteria.”

~ ~ ~

My best friend is weird. She thought she had
problems
before
, and she managed to take them to the next
level in under ten minutes.

I always thought
I’m
the only one
talented enough to do
that!

When the bell rang, Luke was already outside
my classroom. He looked about for her. “Where did she go?”

“I’m not sure. The teacher let her
leave.”

Luke checked his phone. Then he looked
around, and back at me.

I wondered if it would be best to tell him.
Though she didn’t say I can, and I thought it might end up
embarrassing her, so I didn’t.

“Wanna grab lunch?” he asked.

I looked down the hall, still hoping to spot
her. “Sure, why not?”

I got my stuff out of my locker and we
headed out.

It was a relatively warm day—only four
degrees below zero. We didn’t even zip our coats.

His Jeep started right up, and after a brief
wait, he peeled out of the parking spot. We drove to Denny’s this
time, because he wanted to eat at a booth.

We were seated by a really pretty
hostess—
ugh, I hate that!
I was kind of wondering if he
noticed her hotness, but he seemed too distracted by his phone. As
he messed around with it, it rang a little Mozart tune, startling
him. He pushed a few buttons.

Then it beeped, and he read the screen.

His eyes widened for a moment. He noticed me
watching, and he put it away.

Our fingers locked. I wanted to ask what had
just happened, but the last time I’d brought up his phone and who
was on it, it caused a huge fight. The last thing I needed was him
not talking to me again.

“Are you okay?” I uttered. He looked
absorbed.

“I’m okay,” he said after a thoughtful
moment.

“Have you talked to Gino?” I asked, hoping
the call—or text—was from him.

“No, I couldn’t catch up to him. I guess
I’ll see him tomorrow.”

I hugged myself, feeling a bit anxious.

“Cold?”

I shrugged. “Not really.”

“Nervous?” he asked with a wink.

“Yeah, my mom is supposed to talk my dad
into letting me go today.”

“Ah…” he said, leaning back. “Well if he
doesn’t let you go, I’ll steal you.” He grinned. “I’ll climb up
your balcony.”

I laughed. “I’d need to borrow your sister’s
hair!”

He grew serious. “So, do you know why she’s
ticked at me? What I supposedly did?”

I hesitated. “She’s mad that Gino wants to
move by us. She thinks it’s your fault.”

He rolled his eyes. “
Everything’s
my
fault.” After a thoughtful moment he said, “British Columbia has a
medical school. Hawaii doesn’t.”

I frowned. “Gino’s going to med school? Why
didn’t he just say that?”

“Well it’s competitive and he’s not all that
sure of his academic abilities. He doesn’t want to say he’s going
and then end up not. So he wants to go there for his undergrad and
see if he’ll get accepted to their medical program, since they give
preference to their local grads.”

“I didn’t know,” I said. “I guess Lilly
doesn’t know, either.”

He crossed his arms. “Lilly doesn’t know a
lot of things.”

“Maybe you should tell her.”

He laughed and sat back in his seat. “More
drama. Gino’s looking for a roommate. He mentioned moving in with
us, but I sort of want the privacy.”

The waitress arrived with our milkshakes,
and took our order—burgers and fries to share. When she walked off,
he nudged my foot under the table, and I nudged his back.

I was tempted to tell him about Lilly’s
white lie—you know, the one that just ruined her life? But I
thought, it’s none of my business. I thought, perhaps she’ll patch
things up with Gino tonight. Perhaps he overreacted. Perhaps she
can come up with something, like tell him he heard wrong.

Or that she’s evil.

~ ~ ~

“Hi, sweetie,” Dad said from the couch as I walked
through the door. He wore sweats and a tee shirt, and was typing up
a storm on his laptop. Mom sat opposite him, in sweats herself,
writing on a stack of papers that rested atop a clipboard. More
stuff for work, I assumed.

I sat on the love seat across from them,
hugging myself. Dad looked really serious, and I could already
picture him saying
no
.

“How was school?” he asked, still
typing.

“Okay,” I said, trying to figure out if Mom
told him.

“That’s good. I heard Luke wants to take you
skiing in the Alps,” he said, still not looking up.

Mom glanced at me. I took a deep, strained
breath. “Yeah, he’s going with his
stepdad
—who’s giving a
lecture at an astronomy seminar—so they’ll be there for a few
days.”