Free Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2) by Christopher Martucci, Jennifer Martucci Page A

relief.
    “Sorry, Miss Personality will not be joining us today,” he said as he climbed out of the driver’s side.  He walked around the front of the truck and opened the door for her.
    “Not giving up on the whole wooing thing, huh?” she teased.
    “Not until I get what I’m after,” he said and patted her backside playfully.
    He shut the door and rounded the truck then climbed behind the steering wheel.
    “Is Stephanie all right?” she asked and tried to mask her concern.
    “No need to worry about her,” he said picking up on her worry.  “ I’m sure that the stick up her butt bothers her some days.”
    He laughed at his own joke and she smiled.
    “Seriously, she’s okay, right?”
    “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 S outhern accent she didn’t know he could possible 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 dropping s , 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 n earing the driveway of Herald Fa lls 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