The Pull of Destiny (43 page)

You’re
reading too much into this, stupid
.

He probably
hadn’t even noticed I had walked in the room.

I got to my
seat without doing anything stupid (like falling over my feet, dropping my bag,
bumping into tables) and sat down, still breathing deep. Why was I still so
shook up over this? I’m pretty sure that Luke had forgotten about it, so why
couldn’t I?
It happened three days ago; shouldn’t I be over it by now
?
Were Robyn and Shazia right? Was I (gasp) sprung?

No. Definitely
not. I shook my head briskly, settling more comfortably in my chair and staring
right ahead at the board. All I needed was concentration to get through this
class.

Concentration?
Yeah right.

 A few minutes
later, as Miss Swanson droned on about formulae’s, (a mind-numbing subject if
there ever was one) someone tapped me on my shoulder. I gave a small smile,
reaching back with my hand as Rick slipped something into it.
Note passing
time.
Bored students passing notes were an everyday occurrence in Miss
Swanson’s class. The fact that I was the one usually used to pass them didn’t
really annoy me, even though I never got any notes myself. And I had gotten
really good at passing and receiving notes unobtrusively.
That’s a skill you
can use later in life. Or not.

I slipped the
note under my desk and looked at it for a name. The front and back was blank.
Great,
note writing genius.
How the hell was I supposed to know who this was for?

Waiting for
Miss Swanson to turn to the board, I turned to look at Rick, who had his
customary ‘too cool for school’ expression on his face.

“Who’s this
for?” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.

Without saying
a word (I’ve known Rick for 4 years and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk
to anyone) he pointed his pencil at me.

A note for
me? Bewildering.

“Who’s it
from?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. Rick pointed his pencil (a trusty
aid in conversation) behind him, right at-

Luke?

As I gazed at
him, he turned from Jasmine, grinned at me and mouthed, “Open it.”

Like I needed
any more persuasion after that.

Turning to face
the front of the class again, I quickly unfolded the note. Yes, I was super
excited. Note passing in class was something I hadn’t done since 5
^rd
grade, when my teacher caught me with a note and made me read it out to the
whole class. Can you say embarrassing? I felt like crawling under a rock for
the rest of the day.

The note was
written in Luke’s small, neat writing.

‘You look
super bored. Wanna chat? :-). Luke’
.

My heart leaped
to my throat. How sweet! He was concerned that I was bored! He-
chill out,
girl! Have a little self-respect!

So I waited a
full minute before I replied, so as not to appear desperate, you know?

‘How can you
see that I look bored? You can’t see my face- can you? Celsi.’

I passed the
note back to Rick, who gave a long suffering sigh but handed it back to Luke
regardless.

His reply came
back almost immediately and the note writing marathon began.

‘I wish. I
can tell from your shoulders. You have really expressive shoulders. I bet your
eyes are as glazed over from boredom as mine are. Luke.’

He had no idea.

‘Expressive
shoulders, huh? That’s a first! I’m gonna have to do something about that.
Celsi.’

‘Don’t! I
like your shoulders the way they are. So, how are you? Luke.’

Even when Luke
was writing notes, he still managed to change the subject rapidly.

‘I’m great.
How about you? Celsi.’                  

‘Eh, could
be better, could be worse. Do you realize we could text each other instead of
passing notes? Wouldn’t it be hilarious if we got caught? Luke.’

Uh, no!

‘Yeah, I
think texting would be safer. Celsi.’

“But not as
fun. I haven’t passed notes in years! It’s worth the risk, right? Luke.’

I had to smile
at Luke’s enthusiasm.

‘If we get
caught I’m so putting the blame on you. Celsi.’

‘I’ll say I
couldn’t help it. You drove me to it, CiCi. So, I was thinking… Luke.’

‘Wanna let
me in on what u were thinking or is it gonna be a surprise? Celsi.’

‘U got
jokes, huh? Are you busy after school today? Luke.’

‘No, how
come? Celsi.’

‘Do you
wanna come to the hospital with me? Luke.’

‘How come?
You got a checkup? Celsi.’

‘No. I wanna
go give blood but I’m scared of needles. Can you come hold my hand? Please?
Luke.’

‘You’re such
a baby! Celsi.’

‘I know, I’m
pathetic, right? Say yes, please, say yes! I’ll love you forever if you say yes
:-) Luke.’

I rolled my
eyes. Ahmed was right. Luke was smooth. And even though I knew I would end up
going with him, just to hang out, I decided to play hard to get.

‘So this is
what you call making up for it? Celsi.’

I heard him
laugh from behind me. A few seconds later, his reply was in my hands.

‘Trust me,
when I make up for the gala, you’ll know. So… is that a yes? Luke.’

And he was
persistent.

‘Okay, I’ll
come hold your hand. It’s about time we started getting serious with your list
anyway. You need to prove to your dad you can take it all the way. Celsi.’

‘I’d rather
prove it to myself. And to you. I don’t wanna let you down. Luke.’

I smiled at
that, a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach.

‘You’re not
going to, I can feel it. Celsi.’

‘You’re a
really awesome girl, CiCi. Like really. Luke.’

I flushed. No
one had said that to me in recent history. It felt- awesome.

‘Thanks :-).
Celsi.’

‘No problem.
So, I’ll meet you at Mt Sinai at around 4? Luke.’

‘Sure. I’ll
be there. I might even join you and give blood too. Celsi.’

‘I hope I
don’t faint. I’m really scared of needles. It’s almost crippling. Luke.’

‘Well, this
is a great chance to face your fear. Celsi.’

‘Hmm. That’s
a good one. I’m gonna put it on the list! Luke.’

“Okay, Lucas,
Celsi, Sharon and Blake, do you want to leave the class and pass your notes
outside or you think you can hang on a little bit longer?” Miss Swanson
suddenly asked sarcastically, just as I was in the middle of jotting down a
reply to Luke. Blake’s pen clattered to the floor as he sat up straighter in
his seat, staring red-faced at the front of the class. Several people giggled
and I saw Joanna stare from Luke to me, a confused look on her face.

Crap.

Making a mental
note to make tracks as soon as class was over, I settled back into my seat to
listen to Miss Swanson drone on and on for the rest of the class.

Luke’s Point
of View

I was totally
screwed.

You know that
saying, out of sight, out of mind? It’s a false statement. I hadn’t seen CiCi
since the gala and yet all I could think about was that freaking kiss. And then
she walked into Science class and it was all I could do not to stare.

Why, though?
I’d known the girl for years, why was I thinking about her like this now? And
why had I kissed her and lied about it after?

‘My vision
doubled.’

My voice echoed
in my head and I groaned, shaking my head. Jasmine gave me a quizzical look and
I smiled, trying to act normal. But nothing was normal. Wanting to hang out
with CiCi all the time- that wasn’t normal. Writing notes to her in class
without caring about the consequences- not normal. Staring at the back of her
neck and wondering what she was thinking- creepy. Wanting to kiss her again- a
thought I could do without.

I ran a hand
over my face, feeling rather warm. This wasn’t me. I never obsessed about
girls. I could have any girl I wanted (I’m not being conceited) so why was I
constantly thinking about the one girl I couldn’t- hell, shouldn’t have? She
wasn’t even my type, for God’s sakes. I liked party girls, not perfect,
hardworking girls with smooth brown skin, amazing hazel eyes and soft pillow
lips.

I have
got
to quit thinking about her lips.

This wasn’t
healthy at all and I didn’t know what to do with myself. I shook myself, trying
to get my confused thoughts out of my head. Sexy Jasmine leaned in closer to me
and whispered, “Are you okay?” in my ear. I nodded, breathing in her perfume.
Spicy. Jasmine had been flirting with me ever since I broke up with Joanna and
I had always flirted back. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even concentrate on the
way her hand was squeezing my arm because all I was thinking of was Celsiana
Sawyer. I stuffed the notes from her into my pocket and got to my feet. I
needed some air.

Miss Swanson
sighed as she saw me stand. “Sure, just get up and leave, right in the middle
of my class.”

“I’m just going
to get a drink of water,” I protested, fighting to keep a smile off my face at
her frustrated expression. My pulse sped up as CiCi turned to glance at me, a
bemused expression on her pretty face.

“No, don’t
worry.” Miss Swanson shook her head. “There’s only five minutes left and, truth
be told, you wouldn’t learn anything if you were in my class for a year. Bye.”

She stood in
front of her desk, hands on her hips as she waited for me to leave. I shrugged,
picked up my unopened book and walked out of the class without a backwards
glance. She was right. I wasn’t going to learn anything, so why bother? At
least it wasn’t only my dad who thought I was useless; my teachers were
catching on to it too. Why not start a ‘We hate Luke Astor’ fan club while they
were at it? Sighing, I headed to my locker.

At least this
afternoon I would get a chance to hang out with CiCi again. Then I could figure
out that thing that she had that made her so magical and figure out a way to
deal with my- crush. Because I knew what it was now. I had a crush on Celsi
Sawyer and it was scaring the crap out of me. When, why and how? I didn’t know.
All I wanted to do was get a hold on myself and shake it off. Getting rid of
feelings you had for a crush object couldn’t be that hard, after all. It wasn’t
as if I was in love, after all. I laughed to myself. Hell no. I was just in
like. And it wouldn’t last.

All I had to do
was make sure Ahmed didn’t find out. After the gala, he cornered me, wanting to
know exactly what had gone on between CiCi and me during the night. I didn’t
tell him about the kiss coz I had a feeling that if he knew about it, he would
have taken a swing at me. The thought that Ahmed probably had a crush on CiCi
had occurred to me once or twice. Well, now I was in the same boat…

I rested my
throbbing head against the cool locker door as the bell signaling the end of
classes (and school) rang. Another day closer to my operation. At my checkup
yesterday, Doctor Khan had the same news for me- aneurysm is the same size, we
can’t operate, etcetera, etcetera. The cynic in me thought that dad was paying
him not to operate because he wanted the aneurysm to rupture, just for fun.
Well, that was just in my twisted little mind and even though dad didn’t like
me that much, I knew he wouldn’t stoop to that level. I hope.

“Luke, sweetie,
there you are!”

I turned my
head only to see Joanna bearing down on me, a smile on her face. She obviously
didn’t care about Timothy’s suspicion towards me. He gave me threatening looks
every time we passed each other.

Joanna gave me
a quick peck on the lips then stepped back, still beaming. She shook her hair
back. “So, my parents are out of town tonight. Wanna come over? We can hang out
in the hot tub.”

Sounded
tempting, but I knew I wouldn’t be hanging out with Joanna today. I was going
to give blood, working on the list she didn’t know about, and hanging with
CiCi.

If only I could
find a way to let her down easy.

Placing my
hands lightly on her shoulders, I said, “I really wish I could, but I got stuff
to do. How ‘bout a rain check?”

Wrong thing to
say.