Book of Luke (Book 2) (19 page)

Mom heaved a sigh. “Did you know this would
happen?”

Lilly grew serious. “No…”

“It wasn’t intentional. We all made mistakes
when we were silly young girls. We’ve all learned the hard way. You
love Gino and you’re only human.”

“He won’t take me back, though, right?”

Mom shrugged. “Only time will tell.
Honestly, he’s probably more relieved that you’re
not
pregnant than anything.”

Lilly bit her lip. “Maybe you’re right.”

“What happens happens,” Mom said, setting
her hand on Lilly’s shoulder. “If he comes back, it’s fate. You’ll
both be okay either way.”

The next day,
everyone
knew about it:
The teachers, the hall monitors, the principal, the
entire
student body… even the servers at McDonald’s.

And there’s a reason for that!

“Can you believe this crap!” Lilly sobbed at
her locker. She shoved a paper in my face. “
Look
at it!”

I read the headline on the front page:
“Local Girl Fakes Pregnancy to Get Baby Shower at The Italian
Affair.” I looked at her, breathless. “Do I want to read more?”

Lilly wiped some snot with her sleeve. “You
know nothing happens around here when my pregnancy makes the news!”
She tore the paper from me and turned to Anna. “Why would she go to
the media! Why go through all the trouble!”

“I was reading that,” I said, reaching for
it.

Lilly crossed her arms. “I’d rather you
not!”

The girls across the hall chuckled as they
read the copy they shared. “Dumb blonde,” one said, and they broke
into a laugh.

I grabbed the guy’s next to me. “Borrowing
this, thanks,” I said. Irked, he walked away.

“Things didn’t go quite as planned for a
local girl, Lilly—whose last name is withheld because she has not
been charged with any crime—when she confessed that she isn’t four
months pregnant during a baby shower at The Italian Affair
restaurant on Main Street. Guests were outraged when Lilly declined
her boyfriend—the owner’s only son—’s marriage proposal with the
revelation that she isn’t really pregnant; she just lied to trick
him into moving to the beach with her.”

I took a deep breath and continued reading.
“‘It’s ludicrous! I took my Diaper Genie and marched right out of
there! And you can bet I told the clerk at the returns counter how
psycho this girl is!’ said a guest, Karma, who asked that her last
name be withheld to protect her privacy.”

We looked over the paper at Karma, who
waited with Jenna by the school doors for my fiancé—or boyfriend,
or
acquaintance,
if that’s what it boils down to—to make his
grand entrance.

“
Idiot
,” Lilly sneered. “Look at her,
she’s dressed like a prostitute! Is that a skirt or a bandana? And
whatever-it-is doesn’t match her
shirt
, if you can even call
it that.”

With another painful breath I kept reading.
“Not only did things not go as planned for Lilly, but her friend,
Adonia, got shamed and dumped for siding with her until the bitter
end. When asked if she felt bad for Adonia’s misfortune, local
senior Jenna—whose mother is a friend of the Barone
family’s—replied, ‘Oh my God, are you kidding? She just made the
stud she’s dating, like, the school’s most
eligible
bachelor! This fake pregnancy is the best thing that’s ever
happened to me!’”

I whimpered. “Is this a newspaper or the
Enquirer?
”

“They need something new to report, pronto!”
Lilly sniffled. “Earthquakes, corrupt politicians, a scandal, an
impeachment…” Her attention shifted to Karma. “A mysterious
death
.”

The doors opened. Gasps filled the hall as
three heartthrobs emerged. All in black jeans, all in blue
tank-tops, all masked with shiny dark sunglasses; two in a leather
jacket and one in an unzipped parka with dreamy, flowing long
hair.

“Oh my God!” some girl gushed. “Who’s
that
guy?!”

No one answered, because no one knew. No one
but me, Anna, and Lilly, who seemed to grow weaker with every step
Troy took toward her.

Jaws dropped to the floor. Silence filled
the hall. A sense of wonder filled the air.

Stress built in the chest of every member of
the male student body.

The heartthrobs stopped before us. Luke
removed his sunglasses, looking us over.

I crossed my arms, part trembling, part
relieved.
He’s talking to me—everything will be okay.

“Yes…?” I whispered gently, looking up at
him through dark, mascara-drenched lashes.

Luke’s godlike eyes locked with mine.
“You’re in our way.”

We looked about. Somehow, we’d ended up in
the middle of the hall. Students and backpacks littered the sides
by the lockers.

“Oh,” I said, near tears, and we moved aside
for them.

As he walked by, he looked like he wanted to
say something. And after brief hesitation, he did. “Thanks.”

I swallowed a sob and gripped my ring. The
ring he’d put on my finger. The ring that symbolized the love he
felt for me.

Key word:
Felt.

~ ~ ~

I couldn’t bear to sit through geography. The
glances, the giggles, the pointing—it was just too much. Because I
had to go
somewhere
, I went to see Mr. Bias.

“Miss Morrison!” he greeted, removing his
feet from his desktop. “I’ve been expecting you!”

“You have?”

He nodded with his permanent grin, and held
up the morning paper. “I‘ve cleared my schedule!”

I groaned and fell into the blue
interrogation seat. “I didn’t think not telling him she’d lied
would get me into
this
much trouble. This is downright
ridiculous.”

Mr. Bias nodded. “It is kind of harsh.” He
read through the article cheerfully. “It does not say exactly why
you were dumped.”

“Well, when Luke found out Lilly was
pregnant, he slammed Gino into a locker and called him an asshole
for dumping her.”

Mr. Bias smiled thoughtfully. “Well, I do
believe I just saw them together in the hall. Aside from the
irritated looks at girls constantly throwing pens at their feet,
they seemed to be okay.”

My head fell into my hands.

“Who’s the guy with the long hair?” Mr. Bias
inquired. “You know, the one who couldn’t peel his eyes off Lilly
long enough to avoid tripping over that backpack?”

I chuckled. “He tripped? I didn’t see
that.”

Mr. Bias laced his fingers on the desk.
“Absolutely. Is he new here?”

“He’s new to town, I met him in the Alps.
He’s already out of high school and is renting a place from Luke’s
parents. I guess they’re just hanging out before class.”

“No kidding! You know the moment I graduated
high school, I refused to step into another? Then I got a job
here,” he breathed, his smile evaporating. His eyes became glossy
and distant and his chest heaved.

His grin returned when his mind did. “How do
your parents feel about this?” he asked, pointing to the paper.

“My mom was there when it happened. She
feels bad for us, and she said everyone makes mistakes.”

“It’s true!” he said. “Absolutely! Most
aren’t this dumb, but then again, it could have been worse!”

I wondered why I even bother coming to see
this guy. “What do I do about Luke?” I pondered.

Mr. Bias cracked his knuckles. His gaze
rested on the hula poster above my head, but he was back shortly.
“All couples have periods of disagreement. His friendship is fine,
and I think he will sort out his feelings and determine what’s
really important to him, eventually.” He raised his eyebrows. “Does
that help?”

I shrugged. “I guess.” I showed him my ring
finger. “He got me this before dumping me.”

Mr. Bias’ eyes popped. “
Damn!
” He
covered his mouth instantly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to swear,” he
hissed. “That must have cost a fortune! He didn’t ask for it
back?”

“No,” I said. “Is that a good thing?” I
always figured jewelers won’t give refunds on engagement rings,
because if people break off the engagement then the ring is
considered cursed, and can’t be sold to anyone else.

“That depends,” he said. “Is he rich?”

“His dad is.”

Mr. Bias held his chin. “Hmmm. Well, he may
want you to keep it as a memory of him; he may want to torment you
with it; or maybe he doesn’t miss it, and neither does his bank
account.”

I rolled it around on my finger. None of
that really made me feel any better.

“How do your parents feel about that?” he
asked, pointing to my ring.

“My mom’s happy for me,” I said. “I didn’t
tell my dad yet. He’ll freak.”

“Good, good,” he said, and fell silent for a
moment.

My throat began to hurt, and I knew I was
close to breaking down.

“Did you decide if you’re still going to
college?”

I shook my head no. “I was still going to
move with Luke to Prince George, but then this happened,” I said,
motioning toward the paper with my nose. “So who knows what will
happen now.”

Mr. Bias nodded thoughtfully. “And how are
midterms coming?”

“They’re not for a few more weeks,” I
reminded him.

“I meant, are you studying for them?”

I shrugged. “I’m not exactly behind in my
classes.”

He grinned. “That’s what I like to
hear!”

I looked down at my lap. “I guess I should
go. I don’t want to be late for writer’s workshop, it’s the only
class I really like.”

“Good, good,” he said, his fingers tapping
the desk. “Well, Miss Morrison, if you need anything else, don’t
hesitate to ask! I’m here to help!”

~ ~ ~

I was relieved Luke still sat next to me in class.
Surely if he hated me, he wouldn’t bother.

He was writing when I walked in. As I went
to be seated, I could feel his eyes do a roll down my body.

I wanted to say “Hey,” like nothing had
happened. I wanted to smile at him, to see if he’d smile back. I
wanted to get him to talk to me again.

And if none of that worked, I wanted to beg
him to take me back.

After adding my incomplete project to the
pile on Tweezer’s desk, I sat beside Luke. His scent was heavy in
the air, and it was making me hot. Wistful. Hungry.

And I’m not talking about
food
.

I pulled out my notebook and peeked over at
him. When I caught his gaze, he licked his lips and looked
away.

The room quieted down, and it was then I
heard it, coming from Jenna and Karma’s table. My blood turned cold
when Karma said,

“I should sleep with him.”

Jenna giggled. “Oh my God, you today, me
tomorrow!”

“Well now that he’s single, think of the
possibilities!”

They laughed.

I sensed he’d heard that, because he froze
when she said it. And
not
looking for his reaction was the
hardest thing I’d ever done.

Tweezer entered the classroom. “Quiet down!”
he ordered, and started taking attendance.

I stopped breathing so I could hear their
whispers. And when they’d finally shut their traps, I had a hard
time starting to breathe again, because I was edgy as hell.

Luke’s leg brushed mine; or maybe I’d moved
mine, or imagined it? I couldn’t be completely sure.

I stressed about how Karma planned to get
him to sleep with her. Sure he said he’d never cheat, but that was
before he and his friends stormed out of my life. That was before
he “dumped” me—to borrow a word from our town’s personal
Enquirer
.

I saw him watching me with my peripheral
vision. When my head turned ever so slowly, he still held his gaze.
From his intense stare, I had an idea of what he was thinking, and
it wasn’t about classwork.

And, admittedly, I liked that.

“Adonia!” Tweezer said in a huff. “What do
you think?”

“Karma’s a
bitch!
” I blurted.

People roared with laughter.

Cheeks red and in a panic, I looked at
Tweezer. “What? I didn’t hear you.” I glanced at Luke, who was
still looking at me, but with his crooked smile. Next my glance
moved to Karma, who wasn’t impressed.

I
so
wanted to shoot her look back at
her, but I was afraid I’d look jealous, and he’d know I am.

Although he probably figured out I’m the
jealous type when I scoured his pockets to read texts from his
freakin’
cousin
.

“I said, what do you think about this
article?” Tweezer pointed to the newspaper.

And that not only made me nervous, but I
found myself profusely angry. “It’s poorly written. The reporter is
a moron, it is gossipy and inaccurate and the interviewees,
including Karma—who asked that her last name be withheld to protect
her privacy—is clearly more stupid and
psycho
than my
best friend
will ever be. Her friend Jenna can’t even answer
some interview questions without saying ‘Oh my God’ and ‘like’
every five seconds. They are
both
tasteless,
shallow,
and they need a new
hobby
because I think even the
football team
is getting sick of them.”

It all came out faster than I thought. In
fact, I don’t know where the words even came from, because they
seemed to shoot out before they even crossed my mind.

People gasped. Some guys chuckled.

My blood still boiled when Tweezer raised
his eyebrows. “That was more in-depth than I was looking for, but
thank you, Adonia.”

I shrunk in my seat a bit.

“Why do you stick up for Lilly?” Jake asked
me. “What she did was plain stupid.”

“What’s stupid,” I spat, “is that the whole
town is reading about it in the paper because two ditzes went to
the media for attention. Well Lilly’s my best friend and I don’t
care what
any
of you think.”