Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2) (18 page)

As she did so, she began to pick up on snippets of conversations from neighboring tables. 
A familiar voice nagged at her ear, Cheryl’s voice.

“Aww, look at her,” she said sarcastically.  “She has no one.  Even the rejects don’t want her anymore!”

Arianna glanced up and saw that Cheryl watched he
r, and that a few of her friend
s had turned in their seats to watch as well.  None of them knew that she could hear them.  None of them knew of her powers; she hoped. 

“She’s looking at us,” a female voice said concernedly.  “Do you think she know
s
we’re talking about her?”

“That trashy bitch has no idea.  Just s
mile like you do at your stupid-
ass poodle, Lisa,” Cheryl said.

Lisa smiled at Arianna as she was told and Arianna was sure she knew just who the dumb bitch among them was. 

“See, she has no idea,” Cheryl hissed encouragingly.

Lisa laughed nervously and Arianna smiled in their direction before erecting her middle finger at them.

“I told you!” Lisa accused Cheryl.  “She heard us!”

Cheryl ignored Lisa, her focus on
Preppy-boy
who had just sauntered into the cafeteria.

“How does my hair look?” she asked Lisa and smoothed her golden locks.  “Do I look okay?”

“Yes,” Lisa replied exasperatedly.  “You look the same as you always do.”

“Good because he wants to do it again today after school and I want to look as…
appealing
as possible,” she crooned and unbuttoned the top button of her sweater. 

“Oh God,” Lisa groaned.

Arianna
was done listening to Cheryl’s nasty conversation and decided it was time to leave.  Lunch was almost over and three more classes were scheduled before the school day ended.

She endured English class, barely, and had nearly sprung from her seat when it finally ended.  She was eager to leave the class, leave the school.  But she needed to speak with Luke, if for no other reason than to discuss how she would get her motorcycle back from him.  She regretted accepting his offer, regretted ever meeting him.  She had allowed him the smallest sliver of access to her heart only to be frozen out.  She’d seen her
m
other go through breakup after painful breakup, and seen her lose a bit of herself each time.  Arianna did not want to be like her mother, even if it meant never loving another person.  She’d come so close that night in the motel, so close to surrendering to Luke’s sweetness and innocence.  Her fantasy of Desmond had been a blessing in disguise.  It had snapped her back to reality.

Her mind swam with frustration, so much so that she only caught the tail end of a rude comment hurled at her from a small cluster of people gathered by the lockers to her left.  She heard her name and the word “
loser” attached to it.  She stop
ped and glared at the group.  A staccato laugh
followed by blonde hair being tossed arrogantly over one shoulder divulged the source of the comment.  Cheryl stood with
Preppy-boy
, a nervous looking Lisa and two other girls she did not recognize.

“See, she knows her name,” Cheryl said in a cloying, bitter tone. “She
responds
when we call her ‘loser.’”

Cheryl laughed again and Arianna felt her insides heat, her blood simmering and pulsing through her veins. 

“
What are you looking at, loser?
” Cheryl
asked acidly
.

Unable to withstand the vicious taunt any longer, Arianna dropped the books she clutched in her arms and strode up to the group.  “What did you just say?” she asked, inches from Lisa’s face.

The two unfamiliar girls stepped back, away from Lisa, and away from Arianna.  “I-I didn’t say anything,” Lisa replied in a trembling voice.

“How about you, bitch?” Arianna said directing her icy gaze to Cheryl. 

The chatter in the hallway hushed as Arianna concentrated and focused all of her attention on Cheryl.  Cheryl tipped her chin up haughtily and tossed her hair over her shoulder.  “Ha!
You’re
calling
me
a bitch?  Aren’t you the loser who got dumped by the biggest rejects in this school?  You’re pathetic!”

Without warning, a crimson shade colored Arianna’s vision.  She reached out both hands and shoved Cheryl.  Surprised, Cheryl
flew
backward
, a blur of blonde hair and designer clothes, slammed
against
her locker
then
la
nded on her backside, hard
. 
Preppy-boy
, eager to defend his partner of convenience, grasped Arianna’s upper arm.  All she felt was the bite of fingers digging into her skin and she turned on him, and gripped the wrist of the hand that held her.  She yanked it from her body and twisted it. 
Preppy-boy
howled in pain.  But his pain did not deter Arianna.  All she could see was red shapes, red shapes who had hurt her. 

Holding the arm she’d twisted behind his back, Arianna pushed
Preppy-boy
headfirst
and he smashed
into a row of lockers
.  He fell to the ground, his eyes dazed an unfocused.  She was about to turn to the group and see if any of them had
insults
to offer
when a vice-like grip seized her arm and spun her around. 

“Arianna!” a
voice spoke
.  “What the hell are you doing?”

The scarlet cloak that shrouded her eyes evaporated and she saw a pair of
gray
eyes glowering at her.
  Luke squeezed her upper arm.

“Luke,” she said struggling to catch her breath.

His face held no anger, and it held no affection either, just fear and something else she could not name exactly.  But it was not good.  His expression was a blend of shame and disgust,
of
embarrassment and
repulsion.  He looked
at
her
as if he was
seeing her for the first time, but only saw a monster, not her.  He slowly released his grip on her arm and shrunk back, and she knew his feelings f
or her had slipped
away just as readily. 
She tried to draw in breath,
the pain in her chest sudden,
but
her lungs felt like they ha
d shrunk, refusing
to fill.  The air she breathed burned in her throat, ached in her
core
.

Luke lowered his eyes to the floor and turned his head.  She took a last look at his profile, his spiky black hair, his
full, soft lips, then
ran out of the building.  She did not
know where she was going, did no
t care, but knew she could not s
pend another second in Herald Fa
lls High School.

She’d only made it to the edge of the parking lot where school property met with the main road when Desmond appeared.  His large biceps bulged intimidatingly as he crossed both arms across his broad chest.  His face, typically the epitome of calm, looked livid and she could see a small muscle in his jaw tense and flex.  She’d had an awful couple of days, and judging from the look on his face,
knew that her day was
about to get much worse. 
He leveled his sky-blue gaze at her and with her own eyes, pleaded with him wordlessly to go easy on her.  When his features softened and his arms dropped to his sides, she wondered whether he’d heard her silent plea.  She also could
not
help but notice how
,
e
ven in the harsh gray light of the
gloomy day
,
he lo
oked like a golden god cast to E
arth from the heavens, an angry god, but a god, nonetheless. 

When she was close enough to smell his spicy aftershave
mingling with the faint
scent of leather, he spoke only three words.

“Come with me,” he said in his rich, soothing voice.
  He reached out a large hand and she placed hers in it.  With her hand in his, she felt a tingle begin in her palm and travel up her arm as gently as a summer breeze blowing across her skin, warm and welcoming.  The inviting sensation was immediately followed by his energy flowing through her, thrumming in time with her heartbeat, wafting through every part of her.  The anguish she’d felt over recent days began to fade, replaced by a sense of peace.

The world around them, leaden
and dreary, began to fade.  Desmond pulled Arianna close to him and enveloped her in his powerful arms. 
Her legs threatened to give way beneath her as all of her worries seeped from her.  She closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of his body against hers, his masculine scent; his protection. When she opened them, lush fields of green
dotted
with blossoms in vibrant shades of pink and purple surrounded her.  Herald Falls had disappeared completely.  The clouds and drizzle were replaced with
brilliant sunlight
that kissed the vivid landscape.  The stagnant air polluted with the stench of car exhausts passing on the county road they’d stood near moments earlier had been traded for a refreshing breeze that stirred tall grass and the faint sound of birds chirping.
She recognized the field they stood in immediately, it was where he’d taken her the night she’d encountered the attackers at the Blue Ivy nightclub. 

Desmond stood just inches f
r
o
m her, bathed in golden light that caressed each of his magnificent features.  She wanted to remain encircled in his muscular arms, breathing in his intoxicating scent, but reluctantly stepped back. 

“We need to talk,” he said gently.

“Amazing, someone actually wants to talk to me,” she said dejectedly.

Around Desmond, she did not have to pretend.  She did not need walls to protect her.  He knew what she was, had always known, and did not reject her. 

“I am sorry for what has happened to you, for what is happening” he began.  “Nothing has ever been easy for you.”

Arianna blinked feverishly, fighting tears that welled and fell despite her effort. 

“But it is imperative that you learn to control your emotions,” he continued. 

“That’s easier said than done,” she mumbled.

“I know.  Believe me.  I have been through it myself,” he surprised her by saying.  “But your powers are far greater than mine were or will ever be.  And you need to control them.  What happened today, at your school, can
never
happen again.  Do you understand me?”

“Of course I understand you!  Do you think I want to be this way?  I have no one.  No one at a
ll,” she said her eyes overflowed with emotion.

Desmond reached out and took her hands in his.  “You are
never
alone,” he assured her.  “I am always a heartbeat away.  You have me.”

Arianna looked up into his cerulean eyes and saw nothing but kindness and warmth shining in them.  She wanted to believe in something, in him. 

“But you’ve only come to me a handful of times.”

“You’ve only ever wanted me a handful of time
s
,” he replied softly.

“I always want you,” she murmured and buried her face in his chest.

The sudden realization of what she’d said sent her pulse racing and color to her cheeks.
  She hadn’t given any thought to her words, had just blurted them out. 

“I am here,” he said and surrounded her with his arms, with his body.

She allowed her form to meld to his, felt the heat of his skin through his fitted T-shirt. 

“You will learn to manage your powers,” he said. She looked up at him and he brushed her cheek with his knuckles.  The contact sent a shiver across her skin.  “It will get easier.”

“How?” she asked.

“First, you will need to stay away from people who evoke strong emotion
al
reactions from you.”

“So, I’m guessing no school, right?”

“And no Luke,” he said then added
thoughtfully
, “You should not have given yourself to him.  He isn’t worthy of you.
”

“Wait, what?” Arianna asked and wondered how Desmond could have possibly known about her night with Luke.  “How did you know?”

“I saw,” Desmond replied
evenly
.

“You saw?” she asked incredulously.  “As in you saw us, you know, doing it.”

Arianna felt her cheeks blaze and leaned back.

“Unfortunately, yes.  I saw the two of you begin your intimate moment,” he said and Arianna thought she heard a hint of jealously in his voice.  She quickly dismissed it, though.  How could Desmond possibly be jealous of Luke?  The fleeting thought seemed outlandish.  Desmond looked like a god, and Luke looked like an average teenager.  Regardless, she decided to accuse him, if for no other reason than to punish him for invading her privacy.