Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3) (10 page)

“Did you have a good first day here, Arianna?” he asked.

“It was fine,” she answered.

“Can you believe
this is the third school Arianna has transferred to?” Jess chimed in.

Arianna would have bristled at her comment in the past, despite the neutral tone she’d used.  But this time, she just took it for what it was: nothing.

“Really,” Scott replied as he riffled through his backpack.  “That kind of sucks doesn’t it?”

“Depends on who you ask,” Arianna replied
tightly and shrugged.  “Gotta make the best of every situation, right?”

Scott smiled and he pulled a pack of Camels from his backpack.  “Absolutely,” he said and slid a cigarette from his pack to his lips.  George pulled a lighter
from his pocket and tossed it to Scott.  Scott lit his cigarette and spoke with it dangling between his lips.  “Hope you don’t mind if I smoke,” he said coolly.

“Nope, not at all,” Arianna said and smirked as she pulled her own pack from her purse and flashed them at him. 

“See, I knew right away there was something I liked about you,” he said and raised one corner of his mouth.

Arianna swore she saw a glint of amber gleam in Scott’s brown irises as he’d spoken to her.
She wondered whether it was the sun in his eyes or whether her own eyes had deceived her.  She guessed too much time spent in the company of paranormal beings could have that effect on a person.  After all, she hadn’t experienced the slightest tremor of energy radiating from him. 

“Need a light?” George interrupted her thoughts by asking in his odd monotone.

“Uh,” she patted her pockets for her own lighter and realized she’d left it in the car.  “Sure.  Thanks.”

He tossed the silvery rectangle to her.  When she caught it between her hands, a small
burst of light flashed and a shock nipped her palms.

“What the hell?” she muttered.

“Sorry,” George said.  “Static electricity; got to watch out for it.”

“No big deal,” Arianna said and matched George’s lifeless tone.

He locked eyes with her briefly and she tried to focus her energy on him, to get a read on him, but came up empty.  As far as she could tell, he was just a gangly kid unfortunate enough to have a striking resemblance to Herman Munster. 

“Did you ask her yet?” Scott asked Jess and effectively ended
Arianna’s meager interest in George.

“Ask her what?” Jess asked as
her face screwed up in confusion.

“About tonight,” Scott said.

Jess’ features were suddenly smoothed by recognition.  “Oh yeah!  No, I didn’t ask her yet.”

“Hmm,” he said and took a long drag from his cigarette.  “I guess I’ll have the honor then.”

“Ask me what?” Arianna heard herself ask, her curiosity piqued.

“There’s a party tonight,” he began.  “A bunch of us are getting together.  I would like it if you could come.”

Arianna wasn’t sure what to say.  Part of her wanted to say, “Holy fuckballs! You want
me
to come?  Hell yeah! Count me in!” But she knew that reaction would certainly get her uninvited.  She had never been invited to a party of any kind in all her school years, least of all a party including the “in” crowd.  This was a first.  She began to wonder whether her loneliness had been her own doing all along, whether the not-so-subtle
fuck off
expression she’d always worn like a badge of courage had kept people away.  Perhaps the Sola prophecy was all bullshit.  Maybe she didn’t have to be alone the rest of her life.  She did not know for sure.  She’d never seen any documentation of this mysterious, centuries-old prediction.  Maybe it was even subject to change.  She did not know. 

Hope swirled in her belly dangerously. 

“Well, what do you say?  Do you want to come?” Scott asked and she swore she saw the amber glint again.

“Oh come on!  You
have
to come!” Jess whined.

Arianna let the question linger in the air for a moment in an attempt to
not
come across like the over-eager loser she felt like. 

“All right, I’ll come,” she said as if they’d somehow convinced her. 

“Yay!” Jess said and clapped.

Scott glanced at his
phone and checked the time then said, “Shit, I gotta go.  Don’t want to be late for first period.”

He dropped his cigarette to the pavement and stepped on it.  “I’ll see you at lunch?” he stated more than asked.

“Maybe,” Arianna replied, though in her head she said,
bet your sweet ass I’ll be there
, certain she would join him and his friends.

“Cool,” he said and smiled amusedly.  He looked at her in a way that
made her feel as if he’d heard her thoughts.  She knew he hadn’t, but felt heat creep up her neck and touch her cheeks anyway.

“See you later, Arianna,” he said.

Arianna watched as Scott left, with George in tow like an emaciated Frankenstein.

“Oh. My. God.” Jess enunciated each word with restraint so flimsily harnessed, it threatened to blow at any second.  “Scott totally likes you!”

“No he doesn’t,” she lied again.

Scott made plain his interest in Arianna.  She wasn’t about to tell Jess that
, though.  Girls did not like it when other girls were confident.  If she’d blurted out,
No shit! Really?
she knew it would not be well received. 

“Yes!  He
so
does!” Jess gushed.  “You’re so lucky.”

Hurt tinged
Jess’ words.  She wasn’t sure why, but Jess’ hurt bothered Arianna.  She’d only met the girl yesterday and had no real reason to care about her feelings, but found herself hoping she wasn’t the one responsible for the hurt.

“Jess, do you like Scott?” she asked.

“No, well, I don’t know, sort of,” Jess replied and seemed tortured by the partial admission.

The last thing Arianna wanted was to get caught up in a love triangle.  She liked Jess
and thought she was sweet.  And she had no intention of hooking up with Scott.

“Have you ever talked to him, you know, about how you feel?”

“No.  We’ve always been friends.  Nothing more.”

“It doesn’t have to stay that way
, you know.”

“Yes it does,” Jess said and blinked
back tears that threatened to fall.  “He likes you, and so do I.  Besides, I’ll be going away to college before you know it.  So will Scott.  What would be the point of creating drama for a relationship doomed to last only a few months?”

Arianna nearly fell over. 
Jess’ comment was lucid, intelligent and mature.  She’d never known a teenage girl to be all those things.  Hell, she hadn’t known any women to be all those things. 

“Wow, I’m impressed.  You’re really impressive,” Arianna heard herself say and wondered whether it were too much.

But Jess’ expression said it all.  A broad smile spread across her face and pride touched her eyes.

“Thanks.  That means a lot to me,
” Jess said and touched Arianna’s forearm lightly.  “I’m glad you’re here, I mean, I’m glad you moved here to Hallowed Hills.”

“Me
, too,” Arianna admitted.  “All right, enough with this tampon commercial sappy bullshit!” She said and smiled.  “Let’s get to class before I get my ass tossed out on my second day for skipping.”

Jess laughed and shook her head.  “You are a piece of work, Arianna.  Anybody ever tell you that?”

“No never,” Arianna deadpanned.

Jess froze.  Her face transformed into a mask of nervousness. “Oh. I was just kidding.  I didn’t mean,” she began
, but Arianna cut her off.

“I’m just kidding!”
Arianna laughed.

Jess breathed a sigh of relief then slapped her in the arm.  “Bitch!” she said playfully.

Arianna had never been so happy to be called a bitch in her entire life.  It was the playful profanity of a budding friendship.

Walking side by side, Arianna and Jess entered the front doors of Hallowed Hills High School
.  Arianna stopped at her locker just beyond the entrance.

“My locker is upstairs,” Jess said.  “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Okay,” Arianna said and stifled the excitement she was feeling.

Jess turned from her and dashed down the hallway.  Arianna grabbed a notebook and shut her locker.  As she did so, she glimpsed Beth making her way in
to the building.  Dressed in all black, wearing heavy black makeup around her dark eyes and with dyed, blue-black hair, her skin looked abnormally pale.

“Hey Beth,” Arianna said and tipped her chin toward the pallid
, pint-sized girl.

Beth
ignored Arianna’s greeting and breezed past her. 

“What the fuck?” Arianna mumbled under her breath. 

She wondered what exactly the girl’s problem with her was.  It was only her second day, and she’d done everything in her power to be unlike she’d ever been before.  She’d even said hello to her not once, but twice now, only to get humiliated then ignored.  Luckily, Paul, Josh and Chris walked in shortly after, then Meg and Kit strolled in right behind them.

“Hey Arianna!” they called one by one.

“Did the first bell ring yet?” Chris asked and Arianna noticed that today, he looked much cuter than he had the day before.

“No, it hasn’t,” she replied.

“Whew!  I didn’t want to get stuck sitting in detention for being late again today,” he said as he passed.  “See you at lunch!”

“See you at lunch,” Meg and Kit smiled and went in different directions.

Josh and Paul hung back and walked with Arianna to her first class.  She was not used to so much positive attention.  Their friendliness and acceptance of her was nerve-racking. 

“You have Dickinson first period, right?” Paul surprised her by remembering.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Arianna said and could not help but smile.

“Is he as awesome as everyone says he is?” Josh asked.

“Um, so far he seems pretty awesome.  Yesterday he started class by saying school was too early and he hadn’t had his first cigarette of the day yet.”

“That sounds like Dickinson all right,”
Paul laughed and shook his head.  “I’ve had him before.  He’s a pisser!”

“I’ve never had him.  I had Mr. Jackson
every year.  Jackson’s a total douche!  You guys are lucky,” Josh grumbled.

Arianna was so happy to be walking and chatting with her new friends, she nearly walked right passed her class.

“Oh shit, this is my class, Mr. Dickinson’s room.”

“Whoops!  We almost took you with us!” Josh commented.

“Almost,” Arianna smiled and started to go inside.

“I’ll save you a seat in the cafeteria,” Paul said and smiled then disappeared down the hallway.

Arianna was left clutching her books over her chest with a warm feeling in her heart for the first time in what seemed like eternity.  Though it was not long ago that she’d had a boyfriend, someone to hug and kiss and talk with, her relationship had been cut short, violently.  Luke’s death, and her mother’s death, had left her feeling as though she’d never smile again, never be truly happy again.  Desmond had been the only glimmer of hope on her otherwise bleak horizon, but even he had hurt her in a devastatingly monumental way.  Yet, here she was, impossibly, enjoying the newness and excitement of a group of strangers that were fast becoming her friends.  She smiled and turned to go inside.

Mr. Dickinson’s class, and all of her other classes, flew by. 
Lunch, in particular, had sped by so quickly that if someone had told her the hands on the clock had been manipulated forward, she would have believed them unquestioningly.  The entire day had felt like that.  Before she knew it, she found herself standing before her locker gathering her belongings and about to leave.  She’d slung her backpack over one shoulder and was about to leave when she saw Beth approaching.  Arianna stepped in front of her, so that there could be no confusion as to whether or not Beth had heard or seen her, and spoke.

“Hi Beth,” Arianna said flatly.

“Look, I was joking yesterday,” Beth snapped.  “But now I’m beginning to think you’re into me.”

“What?” Arianna asked confusedly and stepped back.  “No!
It’s nothing like that!”

“I’m not interested
, sweetheart,” Beth said and held up a hand.  “Take a hint.”

Arianna was about to launch into one of her signature tirades when Beth slipped by her and out the front door.

“Damn it!” Arianna muttered.

She didn’t know what it was about Beth, why she felt compelled to make friends with her.  She’d originally thought that perhaps Beth posse
ssed powers.  Now the notion made her cringe.  How cliché would that have been, a witch who dressed from head to toe in black, wore black lipstick and black makeup?  Beth might as well have worn a pointed hat and towed a broomstick behind her.  All of it would have been too absurd to be possible. Arianna had felt the slightest tingling whisper through her when they’d first met and thought it would be worth a try getting to know her.  But not now, not after Beth’s continued accusation that Arianna was interested in more than just friendship.  She would not keep making an ass of herself with Beth.  She’d been drawn to Hallowed Hills; that much she knew.  Why or to whom she’d been drawn remained a mystery.  One thing she was certain of: she would not be wasting any more time or energy on Beth.