The Pull of Destiny (27 page)

“It’s too much
money for one person.”

“We’ll cut some
things loose. That’s it, end of discussion.”

I felt so
guilty that she was so adamant about me not dropping out. She already did too
much for me.
When you’re older, you’d better return the favor.

Hugging her, I
said “Thank you, auntie. I love you.”

She hugged me
back, patting my back. “I love you too, sweetie. Don’t worry. We’ll be okay.”

We sat in the
dark, wrapped in each other’s arms and all I could do was thank God that my
mother had left me in Aunt Kelly’s hands.

Celsi’s
Point of View

Two days
later

“Remind me
again why I’m sitting here in the wind, watching a bunch of oafs chase a pig’s
bladder around the field?”

Shazia put into
words exactly what I was thinking except-.

“They don’t
make footballs out of pig’s bladders anymore,” I corrected her, my eyes
squinting involuntarily as the shrill wind whipped up flecks of dust from the
ground into my face. “They’re made of either leather or plastic.” Shazia gave
me a hilariously exasperated look and I elaborated. “I read it in a magazine
somewhere. Or maybe it was a book, I’m not sure.”

Shazia looked
like she was about to fling the book she was reading at me. “
I
know they’re made out of- Celsi!” she
exclaimed, throwing her hands up in a gesture of despair.

I shrugged,
making myself comfortable on the bleacher benches. “What? I was just saying,” I
said nonchalantly.

“You’re no
match for the nonsense Celsi carries in that head of hers, Shaz,” Robyn said,
affectionately tapping on my temple. “She has an encyclopedia of garbage facts
in here.”

“What can I
say, I try,” I said, smiling brightly at Robyn.

She smiled back
at me then turned to Shazia, who was pushing her hair back from her face. “And
in answer to your question, Shaz, we’re watching Todd train.” Robyn placed her
chin in her cupped hands, gazing out onto the football field where the ‘oafs’
were doing drills in the chilly weather. I could just make out Todd’s blonde
head bobbing amongst his teammates. “Look at him! Even the way he runs is hot.”

“How does
someone
run
hotly?” I mused out loud, scratching my nose in thought.

“Yeah, that’s
something I’d like to know too,” Shazia put in.

Rolling her
eyes, Robyn gave us a haughty look. “You guys have no imagination.”

Shazia and I
stared at each other, and then gaped at Robyn. This was a girl who pretty much
claimed that if she couldn’t see it, it wasn’t real.
Robyn is the queen of
no imagination.

Shazia reached
out to grip Robyn’s sweater clad shoulders. “Who are you and where’s the real
Robyn?” she demanded to know, shaking Robyn by the shoulders.

“I’m in love.”
Robyn closed her eyes and placed her hands demurely in her lap as I laughed
behind my hand. Robyn was a serial dater. She’d never once said she was in love
with any of her short lived boyfriends.
This is odd...

“In love with?”

I
had
to
ask.

Shooting me a
look that just screamed ‘obviously’, Robyn said, “Todd, silly! I think he’s the
one.”

A teasing smile
on her face, Shazia asked, “The one what?”

“My Prince
Charming,” Robyn explained, opening her eyes and staring down at the field.

I stared at my
best friend with renewed interest as her eyes sparkled due to the admission of
her new found feelings.
Could it be?

“You’ve
converted!” Shazia sounded delighted as she stuffed her hands in the pocket of
her bomber jacket. “You’re thinking like Celsi and I do now!”

“What?” Robyn
asked, looking confused.

“You never used
to believe in fairytale romances but you do now, thanks to Todd,” I explained,
knowing where Shazia was coming from.

Flipping her
hair over her shoulder, Robyn protested, “I never said I didn’t believe in
fairytales!”

Indeed. And
rats dance the conga in the sewers of New York.

 “You call us
out whenever you see us read a romance novel!” Shazia exclaimed, a laugh in her
voice.

“That’s because
you two read the cheesiest books imaginable,” Robyn scoffed, pointing to the
book that was on Shazia’s lap. “Just like the one you’re reading right now.”

Shazia held up
her novel. “This is my favorite book!”

Robyn rolled
her eyes. “And it’s a cliché.” She snorted derisively. “I hate cliché’s.”

I giggled. “You
just hate reading.”

Robyn nodded,
not trying to deny it. “That too. But c’mon, ladies. Cliché’s only happen in
those dumb books you guys read.”

Oh no she
didn’t!

Shazia shook
her head. “No, they don’t! They actually happen,” she exclaimed while Robyn
smiled complacently at her. “And you can’t hate clichés coz you’re living one.”

“What?”

“You’re dating
a popular, hot football player.” Shazia smirked at Robyn. “That’s
the
cliché.”

Robyn pouted.
“Humph.” She tossed her head. “I still don’t believe in clichés. They’re an
overused ploy created by Disney to lure people to watch their movies.”

If I had a
dime for every time I heard that line.

“But clichés
are there for a reason,” I told Robyn. “They actually happen in real life.”

“Name one time
you’ve actually spotted a cliché and I might be inclined to believe you,” Robyn
said airily.

I had one for
her. Grinning, I said, “Sara, the band girl and John, the lacrosse player.”

Shazia made a
face. “Those two are still dating?” she asked incredulously.

I nodded.
“Yup.”

“I’ve never
seen them together,” Robyn said.

Sighing, I
said, “That’s because John’s embarrassed to tell his friends he’s dating her.”

Looking
disgusted, Shazia said, “I wouldn’t want that cliché, not for all the money in
the world.”

Curiously I
turned to her. “What cliché would you like, Shaz?”

“That’s easy,”
Shazia smiled, looking wistful. “Love at first sight.”

Ever the dream
killer, Robyn was quick to say, “That’s gotta be the
one
cliché that
doesn’t exist.”

Shazia
brandished her book like a weapon. “Be quiet, wench,” she joked. “Don’t knock
my favorite cliché! I know it won’t happen to me, but I’m living it through
Michelle.”

She waved her
book in the air and I swiped it from her hand. Turning it over, I quickly read
the back, my eyes scanning the words. “Ooh, Michelle has a boyfriend!”

“Yeah, I want
to be Michelle, minus the boyfriend so that I can just get together with Carl,”
Shazia said, ignoring the unbelieving look on Robyn’s face as she spoke
directly to me.

“Carl has
blonde hair and grey eyes and is delicious looking,” I said, reading out loud
from a random page in the book. “Carl sounds pretty hot.”

“You guys- it’s
a book!” Robyn looked set to pull out her hair with frustration. “No Carl! He’s
not real!”

Now who’s
lacking in imagination?

“Wanna know my
favorite cliché?” I said, a teasing smile on my lips.

“What?” Robyn
and Shazia said in unison.

“Best friends
brother.” I winked playfully at Shazia, who groaned. It was our own personal
joke, my tiny crush on Ahmed. Shazia couldn’t understand why I thought he was
hot.

“Ugh, why would
you go for such a jerk?” she asked me.

I grinned.
“Because he’s hot!”

“So you wanna
be Ahmed’s mistress? Because he’s still dating Wendy, so that’ll be kinda
hard,” Robyn said reflectively.

I squealed as a
pair of hands lightly came to rest on my shoulders and a husky voice close to
my ear said, “You want to be Ahmed’s mistress? Really?”

Looking bored,
Shazia said, “Control yourself, Celsi.”

“He came out of
nowhere,” I said defensively, twisting on the bench to stare as Luke jumped
over a bench to sit next to me. “You came out of nowhere!”

“I swear, I
thought you heard me come up behind you,” Luke laughed, shifting slightly
closer to me, his leg pressing against mine. He grinned at a bemused looking
Shazia and a nosy looking Robyn. “Hey, ladies.”

“Hey, Luke,’
Shazia said.

“Luke, let me
tell you something about Celsi,” Robyn started, spreading her hands out in
front of her. “If you value your life, don’t come up behind her and talk or I
swear she’ll do more than try to break your nose.” She finished her little
lecture by giving Luke a knowing wink. “You’re lucky she was sitting down.”

I flushed as
Luke shot me a sideways look.

“CiCi! You talk
about me to your friends?” he asked cheerfully, as an embarrassed feeling swept
through me. “I’m flattered!”

He squeezed my
shoulder as I glowered at a giggling Robyn, and then his eyes alighted on
Shazia’s book, which was still on my lap. Before I could hide it, or something,
he snatched it up from my lap and turned it around to read the back.

“Instant
Connection,” he read aloud, and then snorted with laughter. Looking up at me,
he said, “You read cliché romance novels? Bodice rippers, tear jerkers?”

“It’s Shaz’s
book,” I said quickly, passing it to Shazia as soon as Luke put it back on my
lap.

“Which is not
to say that Celsi doesn’t read her fair share of cliché romance novels,” Shazia
mumbled loudly, shooting me a black look.

I mouthed
‘sorry’ to her as Luke chuckled.

“You guys are
fun,” he announced. “And for the record, I love cliché romance novels.”

There was a
short silence as all three of us stared at him.

Robyn spoke first,
smiling derisively as she twisted a lock of hair around her finger. “Luke, you
don’t even read.”

Shrugging
agreeably, Luke said, “Okay, true. But I like the covers.”

I tried not to
laugh as Shazia shot me a ‘what the-?’ look.

“So, Luke,
who’s your date for the gala?” nosy Robyn asked, changing the subject so that
they could talk about something that interested her.

Luke hid his
face in his hands, his hair curling over his tanned fingers. “Please don’t
remind me about the damn gala,” he groaned, his voice muffled.

“I’m guessing
you haven’t found a date yet?” Robyn sounded smug. She didn’t have to worry
about
her
date. Yesterday, she dragged Todd to a tux store to pick out a
suit that went with her shoes.
Really.

“Nope,” Luke
sighed, lifting his head. “I don’t even wanna go, but I have to.”

He sounded
disgruntled as he stared bleakly at the field. I resisted the urge to put my
arm around his shoulders and tell him everything would be alright.
Then Shaz
would
really
stare at me.

“You should
take Meg,” Robyn said. Luke gave her a blank look.

“Meg? Who’s
that?” he asked, sounding confused.

“The girl from
Jersey. You know her; you’re always flirting at her at these gala thingies.
Brown hair, blue eyes-,” Robyn reminded him, getting into her explanation. Luke’s
eyes lit up as he (apparently) remembered who Robyn was talking about.

“Oh yeah. Meg.”
He didn’t look excited at all as he kicked the bench in front of us with his
sneakered foot. “I think she has a boyfriend.”

Robyn shook her
head. “No, he dumped her. Last week. They had a fight about bacon.”

I couldn’t help
the admiring look that crept onto my face. How does she know everything about
everyone’s private lives?

“Bacon?” Shazia
asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Don’t ask,”
Robyn said giggling. She refocused her attention on Luke. “You should take her,
Luke. You’d look good together.”

Luke shrugged
and nodded, still managing to look very unenthused about the whole situation.
“Yeah, I might as well,” he said and a bolt of jealousy went through me as he
continued. “Do you have her number?”

Always ready to
oblige, Robyn fished her cellphone out of her pocket and recited mystery Meg’s
number. Luke got a pen from Shazia and wrote the number on his hand while I sat
there, feeling secretly envious of this Meg person.
Lucky sucker.

“Thanks. I
guess I’ll call her tonight. Or something.”

Astutely,
Shazia pointed out, “You don’t exactly seem overly enthusiastic about this
gala.”

Luke looked up
at her and shot her a crooked smile. “I’m not,” he admitted, stretching his
arms over his head. “I hate tuxes, I hate the food and I hate the music. I’d
rather stay at home and watch The Care Bears.”