Without You: Book 1 of the Changing Hearts Series Read online

  “Whatever. You’ve taught me too much. I know you like someone.” She looked over at her. “Is it someone I know or what?”

  Mayra began to open her mouth. Then Jimmy opened the door and got in. “What’s up, guys? Did y’all miss me?” He messed up their hair.

  No way Mayra would say it now. They each brushed their hair out of their faces. Mayra put her magazine away and put on her seatbelt.

  Ariana started the car, and they headed home.

  “How was school, Jimmy? Did you learn anything today?” Ariana asked.

  “No. It sucked. I can’t wait until basketball season starts.” He looked out the window.

  “Are you passing your classes, though? Remember you need to be keeping your grades up.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m passing. I have Bs. It’s just boring. I’d much rather be playing basketball.”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  ###

  Ariana was walking to Spanish class on Thursday when Lucas fell into step with her.

  “Where’s Mayra?” he asked.

  So he was interested in Mayra? She made her mind shut up before answering the question.

  “She’s out sick.” She stared at his hands out of the corner of her eye and noticed the way they gripped his books and notebook. He nodded.

  “Tell her I said to feel better.”

  “Sure.”

  They walked into Spanish class. She went right to her seat, but Lucas went over to a group of guys. She was a bit bummed. Maybe he was interested in Mayra then.

  She had no one to talk to today since Mayra was home sick with a nasty stomach virus, and she didn’t really talk to anyone else as much anymore. They used to have a couple of other good friends, but those friendships had died away last year. Now she only talked to Mayra, Ryan, or the people in her DECA class. And she preferred things that way.

  She still hadn’t forgotten those few weeks of school last year. It had been torture for a little while, but everyone seemed to have forgotten about what had happened. There was one other girl in this class, Megan, that Ariana talked to sometimes, but she was busy talking to Francisco at the moment. She grabbed a library book from her stack of books and opened it.

  She was just getting into the story a minute later when someone said, “Watcha reading?” It was Lucas, and he was right in front of her. She hadn’t even noticed him sit down.

  “Oh. Just a book.” She closed it, and he laughed.

  “Well, that much was obvious,” he said. He twirled a pencil in his hand. It reminded her of Carlos and the way he would put a pencil behind his ear. She made her eyes go back to her book briefly before meeting Lucas’s eyes.

  “It’s about a girl who has to fight to the death against twenty three other teens,” she said. “And she finds out one of the guys has been in love with her forever.”

  “Wow,” he said. “I think I saw the movie.”

  “Trust me. The book’s way better. It’s actually the second time I’ve read it.” She tried not to internally groan because of how nerdy she just sounded.

  He grabbed it from her desk and looked at the cover. He turned it over and flipped some pages.

  He put it back.

  “Do you like to read?” she asked.

  He looked away. “Sometimes.” He looked back at her. “Not really. I like drawing and art better.”

  She nodded. “Well, you should give this one a try. It’s really good.”

  He nodded but kind of pursed his lips. Ariana tried not to cringe. She wanted to ask him about the drawing, but the bell rang. Mrs. Randolph shut the door and walked around the room.

  “Buenas tardes, amigos.” She began in Spanish. “Today, we’ll be continuing our unit on Hispanic art. So we’re going to go to the library to conduct some research on an artist you’d like to know more about. You’ll end up doing a presentation and a paper on the artist.” Some people groaned.

  “In Spanish.” More groans. “With correct Spanish grammar and spelling.”

  “Mejor mátenos ahorita,” one guy said.

  “I do think death would be a better option,” muttered Lucas. Ariana laughed quietly. He looked back at her and smiled quickly before turning back around. Her stomach fluttered, and her mouth fell open for a second before she snapped it shut.

  “You don’t have to choose an artist today, but browse around. And think about who you want to be in a group with. We’ll have groups of three. You’ll need to let me know by the end of class on Monday who you’ll be working with and who you’ll be researching. We’ll be in the library working on this project this week and next. It’ll be twenty percent of your grade for this nine weeks. Let’s line up.”

  Everybody got up at a snail’s pace and headed to the library. They were more of a huge blob than a line as they went there, but the great thing about Mrs. Randolph was that she didn’t mind as long as they didn’t get too loud.

  Lucas and Ariana headed straight to the computers against the wall.

  “There are plenty of books over there too.” Mrs. Randolph indicated some tables stacked with books, but no one took her up on her offer except one group. And only because there weren’t any computers left.

  Ariana sat down, with Lucas right next to her. She knew Mayra would be in her group, but she didn’t know who else could be in it. She said it before she could doubt herself. “So you wanna be in my group? Mayra and I will need one more person.”

  Lucas turned to her. He was leaning back in his chair.

  “You’re smart, right?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Just kidding,” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, I’ll join your group.”

  What a relief, she thought. It would have been mortifying if he had said no.

  And it meant that she’d spend more time with him for the next week and a half. Inside, she pretended she didn’t know why that idea appealed to her.

  ###

  Mayra was pale and up to her neck in blankets when Ariana arrived at her house to see her. She had a sports drink on her nightstand that she drank out of every few minutes.

  “We have to do a presentation and a paper together on the artist,” she finished explaining to Mayra.

  Mayra groaned rather loudly.

  “Lucas said he’d be in our group,” Ariana said while playing around on her phone.

  Mayra sat up. “Interesting,” she said. “So he asked to be in the group?”

  “Yeah,” she said quickly. “He didn’t have one.”

  “Hm.” she said. And then she smiled.

  “So when are you coming back to school? Did it suck being here all day in bed?” Ariana sat down on the bed and laid back with Mayra.

  “I should be back Monday. Might as well go ahead and take tomorrow off since it’s Friday.”

  Ariana rolled her eyes but smiled.

  “And yeah, it sucked. Someone’s supposed to take care of you when you’re sick, but my mom said she couldn’t miss work.” She pulled the covers up and stared at the television.

  Ariana patted her hand. “Well, I’m here now. That reminds me.” She pulled a folder out of her bag.

  “I picked up all of your missing work for today. And tomorrow, in case. Good thing I did.”

  She handed it to Mayra, who opened it and groaned again, this time loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear her.

  “I don’t want make up work.” She threw it towards the end of the bed.

  “At least you’ll have something to do tomorrow,” she said.

  Another roll of the eyes, and she laid back down and put the covers over her head.

  “So what else did I miss today that has nothing to do with actual work?” Her voice was muffled.

  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.

  chapter three

  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.