Without You: Book 1 of the Changing Hearts Series (3 page)

Ariana thought for a minute. “Two guys almost got into a fight in the cafeteria. But the teachers stopped it.” Mayra popped her head out.

“What about Lucas?” She looked at her with a smile.

“What about him?”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Eh. Just about the project. And a little at lunch.”

Mayra nodded. “Did you guys pick someone to do the project on at least?”

“Not yet. Tomorrow we will. I’ll let you know.”

“Are we still on for filling out our college applications together next weekend?” Mayra sat back up again, and Ariana put the folder of makeup work on her lap.

“You know it.”
 

“Good. Because that application is long, and I know I’m gonna need your help. Plus I don’t want to be here by myself all weekend.”

For some reason, she felt that wasn’t the reason for Mayra’s slowly-forming smile.

“You need to get Lucas’s number,” Mayra blurted.

“What? Why?”

“Because. He’s cute. You’re cute. Two really good reasons you two should go out.”

“What about you?” She stood up and grabbed her stuff. “I’m not going out with anyone until you do too.” Ariana thought that should buy her some time.

“Okay.” Mayra said coyingly. “You promised.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“That if and when I decide to have a boyfriend, you need to give Lucas a chance.”

“How do we even know he wants a chance? I don’t want to give him a chance. I barely know him.” She was almost shouting for some reason.

“I can
see
the sparks going on between you two.” Mayra said.

“You’re worse than that matchmaker on TV,” she said.

They both laughed.
 

“So what time is your mom getting home?” Ariana asked. She needed to head home herself and grab something to eat before starting on her pile of homework.

“Midnight, probably after.” She was flipping through channels now.

“That sucks.”

“Yep.” Ariana got her stuff together and stood up. “I’d gladly keep you company, but you know my parents. Hey, you want to stay at my house? We can take care of you.”

Mayra sighed. “No thanks.”
 

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t want everyone to see me like this.”

“Okay, well, I’ll swing by later then, check up on you. You want me to bring you some dinner?”

“Nah, not hungry. And thanks.” Mayra gave her a small smile.

Ariana left, feeling uneasy about leaving her best friend home alone and sick.

###

Ariana watched Jimmy stare at Mayra with his mouth slightly open. It was obvious he was still in love with her. His childhood crush on her had morphed into outright love.

It was Friday night, and Jimmy, Ariana, and Mayra were at the mall grabbing something to eat.
 

Mayra was just staring at her almost empty bowl of Chinese fried rice and noodles. She was obviously feeling better.

They had eaten way too much.
 

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Ariana said, standing up. She thought Mayra would tag along, but she didn’t. “I’ll be right back.”

“’Kay,” said Mayra. Jimmy looked up at her and nodded before going back to staring at Mayra with his arms crossed in front of him. His whole body was leaning into her from across the table.

Ariana tore her eyes away and walked off to the bathroom, which was at the opposite side of the food court.
 

A few minutes later, Ariana was headed back, and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She walked slower and hoped Jimmy and Mayra didn’t see her approaching.
 

Jimmy was holding Mayra’s hand and talking to her. She nodded her head and said something back, but Ariana was too far away to hear what it was.
 

She walked up the table quickly, hoping to catch a hint of what they were saying, but Jimmy quickly let go of Mayra’s hand as she approached.
 

Mayra turned and smiled at her. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” She decided to not bring up anything here. Her mind flashed back to last year the hospital, when she had seen them…but she had forgotten about it. Until now.

They got up, threw their leftover food away, and headed back to the car.

“You guys want to go anywhere else?” They had already played some arcade games, walked around at the mall, and gotten something to eat.

“Watch a movie at your house, Mayra?” Jimmy asked. It was still early out.

“Sure,” she said without meeting his eyes.
 

So Ariana headed home. They talked and laughed about the weird people they had seen at the mall as they drove home.
 

Jimmy texted their parents that they were at Mayra’s as they pulled in. Mayra’s mom wasn’t home, as usual.

They walked in and sat down on the couches in the living room. She noticed Jimmy sat on the other side of Mayra instead of by himself in the recliner like he usually did.

“What do you guys want to watch?”

They settled on a horror movie.
 

Ariana couldn’t concentrate on watching the movie, though. She kept glancing over at Jimmy and Mayra in case they were holding hands again. But they didn’t. When the movie was over, Jimmy and Ariana headed home, leaving Mayra to get ready for bed.

“You sure you don’t want to stay over at our house instead of staying here by yourself?” Jimmy asked her as they walked towards the door.

“I’m good. Thanks, though,” she replied as she walked them to the door.

“Good night,” Ariana said.
 

“Night.”

Jimmy gave her a hug. Seemed friendly enough.

As they walked towards the car, she went ahead and asked. “What was that about?”

“What?”

“I know you saw me see you guys holding hands. Is she into you?”

“Nah. We’re just friends.”

“Friends?” They each closed their doors, and she turned on the car.

“Friends.”

“Is that going to change in the near future?”

“I don’t know the future, so I don’t know.”

“So there’s a possibility?” she asked as she pulled out of the driveway and drove the short distance to their house.

He shrugged.
 

She didn’t know what to say.

“Jimmy, just tell the truth.”

“I did. You know I like her. I don’t think she likes me like that, though.” He looked away.

She parked, and Jimmy got out of the car and shut the door. He went inside without waiting for her.

That Monday, Mayra was back in school. Ariana led her to their next class. They zigzagged around the crowded hall, clutching their things to their chests.

“Now you’ll be able to help us out with that project. Not to mention I’ll actually have someone to talk to.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Wish you were still at home?” Ariana glanced at her.

“Yeah, yeah.” They walked into Spanish class. Lucas wasn’t there.

“Where’s your big man?” Mayra said as they sat down.

“Mayra! Someone’s going to hear you!”

She shrugged.
 

They put their books on their desks, and Lucas walked in right as the bell rang. Mrs. Randolph closed the door. “Just in time, Lucas.”

“Sorry,” he replied in Spanish.
 

He sat down at his desk.
 

“Remember, today is the day you have to let me know who you’re choosing for your project and paper. It’s all due next week.” She began handing out packets of stapled sheets as she continued in Spanish. “This contains the instructions and rubric for the assignment. The outline is due this week, and this blue paper lists the kinds of presentations you can choose from. The green is the rubric, including how much time you’ll have to present.”

Lucas passed a packet back to her, and she opened it and began looking through it.

“This is going to be ton of work,” Mayra said.
 

“It’s twenty percent of our grade,” she replied.
 

Mayra sighed. She wasn’t the only one.

“Let’s head to the library then.”
 

A few minutes later, Mayra and Ariana were sharing a computer, and Lucas was on his own right next to them.

“So what’s the plan?” Mayra asked.
 

“We still need to choose someone since we didn’t get to work on this on Friday, but I think we’ve narrowed it down.”

She showed her three artists they liked. “I like that woman with the weird paintings,” Mayra replied.

“You want to do her?” Ariana looked at Lucas.

“Not really. She has a mustache and a unibrow. But I don’t mind choosing her for this project,” he said.

Mayra laughed loudly.
 

“Not what I meant,” Ariana said, turning back to the computer. She could feel her face turning red hot.
 

“I don’t think we’re going to get this all done by next week,” Mayra said, calming down. Ariana was thankful for the change of subject. “I think we’re going to have to meet at my house to work on it this weekend.”

Ariana stared at Mayra, mouth open.
 

“Sounds like a plan. When?” Lucas was still typing. Now Ariana stared at him. He had sounded pretty eager.
 

“Saturday. We can pitch in and get something to eat.” Mayra smiled at her.
 

“Sure. Where do you live?” He turned towards Mayra.

“Give Ariana your number, and she’ll give you my address. I forgot my phone in my book bag back in the room.” She went back to saving some stuff on the screen. “We live on the same street anyway.”

More staring at Mayra. Plus a kick in the foot while Lucas reached for his phone in his pocket. Mayra smirked.
 

“Ready?” he asked Ariana.

She took out her phone. She had no choice. She nodded.

She saved his number as he recited it. She sent him a text with Mayra’s address. “It’s the blue house on the right.”

“Okay. Thanks.” He looked at the message he had just gotten. “I’ll go tell Mrs. Randolph who we chose.”

He left and walked to the opposite side of the library where Mrs. Randolph was helping some students.

“What the hell?” Ariana said as she turned towards Mayra.

“I just did you the biggest favor of your life.” Mayra took her phone out of her pocket and checked it.

“No. You didn’t,” Ariana said. “What am I going to do?”

“First of all, make sure you wear something cute on Saturday. Not those gym shorts you always wear.” Mayra gave her a stern look before putting her phone away.

Her mouth fell open again. “Those are comfortable!”

“Yeah, well. If it’s comfortable, it’s probably not cute.” Mayra went back to the computer.

“Who cares?” Ariana asked, trying to keep her voice down.

“Me. I care. You need to lighten up a bit. Lucas is a really good guy. I’m not saying go out with him. But he’s a good friend to have at the very least.”

“How can you know that? You haven’t even been here.”
 

“I can tell.”

“You sure didn’t tell with Carlos,” she shot back in a whisper.

“Eh. I had a bad vibe sometimes, but it was too late when I finally realized why.” She looked at her. “It’s easy to tell Lucas is a nice guy. And ask anyone. I hear he’s sweet.”

“You’ve been back one day, and you’ve already been…snooping?”
 

Mayra laughed. Ariana looked to see if Lucas was coming, but he was just now talking to the teacher.

“I watch out for my best friend. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to Lucas. Trust me.”

“You know what? I haven’t said anything. Actually, I forgot. But I saw what was happening between you and Jimmy at the mall the other day—”
 

Mayra looked like her eyes were about to pop out.
 

“We’re all set, guys.” It was Lucas. He sat down. “We have ten minutes before lunch. Who wants to help me research what these paintings signify?” He did air quotes with his finger on the last word.
 

“Ariana does,” Mayra said. “I’m working on the outline for the paper.”

###

“What is your problem?” Ariana asked Mayra as they walked to lunch. She tried not to be overheard. Lucas was walking with a group of guys, and she and Mayra had fallen behind.

“What are you talking about?” Mayra kept looking ahead.

“I sense avoidance here.” She pursed her lips as she thought. “You’re in denial.”

“The only one who seems to be in denial is you. About Lucas.” Mayra stopped at the drink machines and put in her dollar.

“I. Barely. Know. The guy. He’s cute. I’ll admit it, but—”

“You really think I’m cute?” someone said.

She spun around.
 

Lucas.
 

“I was talking about another Lucas.” She turned back around, trying not to hyperventilate.

“No, she wasn’t,” Mayra said as she pushed some buttons and waited for her drink.

“Okay. I’m leaving,” Ariana said. She used her left hand to cup her right elbow so that her face was blocked from Lucas’s view and walked off. No way was she sticking around for that conversation.

For maybe the second time in her life, including the one time when they were nine and Mayra had made her drop her just-unwrapped popsicle in the dirt, she was mad at her best friend.
 

She entered the cafeteria and power walked past their usual table. She found an empty table at the back and sat down facing the window. She saw two tears hit the table, and she let her hair fall down around her face as she looked down and put her hands on her forehead. Her elbows were on the table, further blocking everyone off.
 

She was focusing on breathing when someone touched her shoulder.

She wanted to tell Mayra to go away, but she didn’t want her to realize she was crying.

“What’s wrong?”
 

Oh no. Now she really couldn’t show her face.

It was Lucas. He took a seat next to her. She couldn’t see his face through her wall of hair.

She sniffled, trying not to blubber all over the table.