It Starts With L (The Letters of Love Series Book 1)

  The last book that stood in her way of getting to the ones she needed got stuck as she tried to pull it out. She angled it a couple different ways before she ripped it out, falling right into a pair of legs that had been standing behind her.

  This was way worse than the first day of school. Almost in slow motion, she tilted her head up, still lying on whoever’s legs stood behind her, until her eyes landed on Blake’s blue ones.

  Her cheeks flamed. “Um, hi?” she said with a questioning tone.

  He picked her books up off the floor, holding them as if they weighed nothing, grinning from ear to ear. “Hi. Having some issues?”

  She grabbed the books from the bottom of the locker as Blake handed her the others. She almost dropped them, but shoved them inside, even the one that should have never been a text book anyway since it wouldn’t even fit in a locker. When she tilted it sideways, it fit fine…she should have known that. She did…but she had forgotten and now looked like an idiot. She sighed and met Blake’s eyes. “Thanks for the help. I’m having a rough morning.”

  He nodded. “We all have those.” She slammed her locker and started walking, almost jogging, toward her class. Blake kept pace beside her. “Where you heading?”

  Arielle pointed down the hallway. “Down that way. You?”

  Blake pointed the opposite way. “Geometry.”

  Since Blake was a senior, they didn’t have any of the same classes. Most of his classes were in the downstairs hallway, something about seniors having the easier route. She would think they would give it to the freshmen, but who was she to tell them that? Hers were upstairs, until science, where she had to haul ass and get to the basement before the bell rang. So much fun.

  “Guess I’ll see you later?” Arielle waved and started to walk away.

  “Ari, wait,” Blake said, jogging to her side.

  “What’s up?” Arielle asked.

  Right then, Karla Lust walked by, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes at both Blake and Arielle, but she didn’t taunt or tease Arielle. It was kind of nice.

  Blake chuckled. “That girl doesn’t like to be told off, does she?”

  Arielle shook her head. “Not one bit. She’s horrible.”

  Blake bit his bottom lip as he met her eyes. “So, would you want to ride home from school with me?”

  Arielle pulled her books closer to her chest. “Sure. You could meet my dad, then. If you want to…”

  Blake smiled at her. He had nice, white teeth. “I’d love to. Since we are going to be hanging out a lot, it would be best if he knows who I am.”

  Arielle’s cheeks got hot. “Okay. I’ll meet you out front after school?”

  Blake nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”

  With a fluttery feeling in her chest, she walked toward her classroom, a wide smile plastered on her face. If a bug flew by, it would go right in her mouth. Not that she would care.

  As she slid through the doorway of her English class, the bell rang. She’d had a great time with Blake Friday night, and although he’d called her his date, she didn’t know if she could classify it as one or not. It hadn’t been planned, after all. Weren’t dates usually planned? Either way, she wanted it to be because it had been the best one she could have asked for. After he met her dad, maybe they could drive around again.

  ***

  At the end of the day, Arielle rushed out the main entrance before the jock boys had a chance to block it. Homework consisted of a worksheet for algebra, so she’d gotten it done during last period after she’d finished her assignment for Spanish, which meant her whole night was free. If Blake didn’t want to go anywhere, and if her dad liked him, maybe she’d invite him to stay for dinner.

  When Arielle squeezed through the double doors, someone grabbed her around the waist. She started fighting her way out of the person’s grasp, but their hands tightened on her.

  Warm breath touched her ear. “Hey, Ari. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Blake. Hearing his voice made her relax into him. Resting her back against him felt nice, but it also scared her how perfectly they fit, like pieces of a puzzle. At sixteen, fitting together with someone shouldn’t be at the front of her mind, but it had been the first thing that popped in her head, so she had to deal with it. Later that night, when she wrote in her journal, she would. For now, she shoved it to the back of her mind.

  Writing in her journal had become one of the most important things in her life. Sometimes she would get angry or nervous without any inclination as to why, but when she wrote her feelings out, it helped take away the anxiety building inside her every day, all day long.

  Blake started walking, tucking his arm into hers.

  She laughed. “So, I thought the girl was supposed to put their arm in the guy’s…”

  “What can I say? I’m unconventional.” He opened the passenger door for her. “Okay. Let’s get this whole meet and greet thing over with.”

  Arielle sat down, sticking her arm out as he tried to close the door. “Are you nervous or something?”

  He shook his head. “Of course not. Parents love me. Don’t you worry.”

  “I’m not worried for me,” she mumbled.

  He crouched down at her side, his chin hitting his chest as he raised both his eyebrows. “What was that?”

  She looked at the steering wheel. “Nothing.”

  “I don’t think I believe you.” He leaned over her, hovering, as he tucked his fingertips into her armpits.

  Arielle stiffened. “Don’t you da—”

  She burst into a fit of giggles as his fingers wiggled at her sides. She tried crawling into the driver seat, but he tightened his grip even more so she couldn’t move and continued his attack. Arielle laughed so hard tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes. “Okay. Okay.” She giggled as he kept going. “Stop. Stop.” Maybe if she said each word twice, he would listen.

  She hated being tickled because most of the time it made her almost pee her pants and she couldn’t stand that feeling. As he pulled his hands back, she fell back into her own seat, away from the center console digging into her stomach. She couldn’t catch her breath, but even though tickling irritated her, she couldn’t stop smiling.

  He extended his hand toward her. “Truce?” A humorous glint glowed in his eyes.

  She smacked his hand away, laughing. “You can’t call truce when you started it. Plus, I haven’t gotten you back, so no way am I accepting a truce.”

  He crossed his fingers over his chest. “I cross my heart I won’t try anything else until after I meet your parents.”

  “You’re meeting my dad, not my mom. She’ll be at work. She works all the time, so I don’t get to see her much.”

  Blake bit his lower lip. “That stinks. I’m sorry.”

  Arielle shrugged. “No biggie. I make it a point to spend as much time with her as I can when she isn’t working.”

  “Okay, well, until after I meet your dad, then. Do we have a deal?”

  She shook his hand. “Deal, but after, you’re fair game, unless Dad hates you so much he throws you out.”

  “You need to chill. Quit worrying so much. Trust me.” He jogged to the driver side and hopped in the car, then stared at her for a minute with his hand on the ignition. “Fair game sounds like it could be fun though.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows.

  She slapped his arm. “Head out of the gutter.”

  He chuckled and started the car, heading out of the parking lot, which took longer than expected because there were a ton of teens who drove to school. Arielle couldn’t wait until she had her own car so she wouldn’t have to depend on everyone else to drive her around.

  When Blake pulled out of the school, it grew quiet, a thick, awkward silence Arielle couldn’t stand, so she broke it. “So, how do you like it up here?”

  “Great. I’m making some new friends.”

  Arielle snorted, a very unladylike sound. “Of course you are. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with the cute new
guy?” Her cheeks flamed. She didn’t know what was wrong with her because most of the time she never spoke up, but with Blake, she had a case of word vomit.

  “Cute, huh?”

  “Uh, yeah. About that. I didn’t mean to say it.”

  “What did you mean?”

  “Well, I meant it. You’re cute…but I didn’t mean to say it out loud. So how about we forget it?”

  He chuckled. “I can, but on one condition. You have to go out with me tonight.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “Where?”

  “I have to go decorate this house with my family for some Christmas thing. It might be lame, but if you were there, it would be way more fun.”

  “Um. Not to be an idiot, but isn’t Christmas, like, four months away?”

  “Christmas is four months away, but they like to get a head start. They go all out. Every room gets decorated, furniture moved around. They open their house up to whoever wants to see it.” Blake paused. “Oh, and the outside gets done too. Can’t forget the outside. It’s called the Christmas Trail, but if you think it might be lame, you don’t have to come.”

  Arielle shrugged, trying to act cool, but inside, her heart screamed with excitement. “I would love to come, if Dad will let me. I don’t have anything else to do.”

  He smiled at her, but his eyes never quite left the road. “Sure thing. We’re here anyway.” As he pulled into the driveway and shut his car off, he glanced at Arielle, running his finger along her cheek. “By the way, I think you’re cute too.”

  Before she could respond, he hopped out. She didn’t have a choice but to follow.

  Nobody had ever called her cute before. She guessed there was a first time for everything. Not that she looked terrible, because she didn’t, but she’d never been super thin like most of the other girls in school. When people used to bully her, call her “fat,” she used to argue with them. She had big bones, which didn’t make her fat. They’d only continue to laugh and point and tease. Eventually, she gave up arguing. Let them think what they wanted. But she realized she cared too much. The thoughts were constantly floating through her mind and she couldn’t stop them from attacking.

  At one time in her life, she used to cry herself to sleep because of the teasing, but Jess always cheered her up and made her forget about the mean kids. At least for a little while. Bullying happened, even though the schools did everything they could to stop it. It was just the way things were. Writing about it in her journal helped. She had a feeling one day she’d reread her journal and write a novel from all the bad things that happened to her in high school.

  It took her a long time to realize she wasn’t ugly. Everyone held a beauty inside them which shone on the outside as well. Accepting her beauty had been one of the hardest lessons she’d ever taught herself. She still struggled with it a lot more than she cared to admit.

  Blake stood at the door, knocking, as she walked up behind him.

  Arielle laughed. “Blake, I live here. You didn’t have to knock.” She pushed past him but Dad already stood at the front door.

  “Ari, what ya doing? Who’s that behind you?” Dad asked.

  “Dad, this is Blake.” Arielle swallowed hard, pulling Blake in the house and closing the door.

  Blake stuck his hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

  Dad raised his eyebrows and shook Blake’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Blake.” Dad paused. “Come on in, you two. Unless you are going out.”

  Blake took a few steps into the old country home. “If it’s okay with you, I’m volunteering tonight to decorate a house for the Christmas Trail and wondered if Arielle could come with me.”

  Dad’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Sure, as long as you can answer me one question.”

  Blake leaned against the back of the couch in the living room. “Sure, anything.”

  Dad smirked, leaning against the wall opposite Blake. “Where’d you learn how to drive?”

  Blake shrugged. “The state of South Carolina.”

  Dad laughed. “I guess that will have to do.”

  Arielle chuckled. Her dad didn’t like many people, but he sure seemed to like Blake, which made her like him even more. He’d been right, she shouldn’t have worried. But she didn’t understand how he’d gotten her dad to not kill him on the spot. After all, Arielle was the baby and the only girl.

  Her dad’s laughter pulled her back to the conversation happening in front of her. “You know, they say you can tell a lot about a man by his handshake, and if the claims are true, I think you’re gonna turn out pretty darn good.”

  Blake grinned, but looked away. “I’m glad you think so, sir.”

  Dad settled in his chair and started rocking back and forth, inspecting how close Blake stood to Arielle. Days like these she wished her mom was home because she would never embarrass her like Dad did, but he couldn’t work because he fell a long time ago while at work and hurt his back. He hadn’t worked since because most days he could barely walk.

  Dad smiled, showing his tobacco stained teeth. He didn’t smoke, but he chewed tobacco, which Arielle hated. “So, what are your intentions with my daughter, young man?”

  Arielle could hear Blake swallow as her own cheeks turned to fire. She couldn’t believe her dad. He couldn’t be any more embarrassing. She tossed her backpack in the corner of the room and sat down on the couch, tugging on Blake’s arm to have him join her.

  She shook her head at her dad, mouthing, “Stop it,” to him, but he grinned wider in response. “Dad, you don’t need to go all super-protective father on me now. Be nice.”

  He put his hands up in surrender. “I am bein’ nice, Ari. Asking this fine young man what his intentions are is nice.”

  Arielle opened her mouth to respond, but Blake stopped her by placing a finger over her lips, then dropped his hands to his sides “My intentions are simple. I would like your permission to take Ari with me tonight. I would like to get to know your daughter. She is something special, I think.” Blake met her eyes, fixated on her and only her. The moment was intense and Arielle looked away first.

  Dad raised his eyebrows. “Well, I’d say you have my permission. You guys leaving, then?”

  Blake stood. “I have to get some homework done, so I will pick you up around five.” He paused to meet her dad’s eyes. “If five is okay?”

  “That would be all right. And, Blake, just so you know, you can also tell a lot about a man by his eyes and his ability to make eye contact.”

  Blake smiled. “What do mine tell you?”

  Dad laughed. “The jury’s still out, son, but making eye contact is a good start.”

  Blake waved and then went out the front door as Reed came in. “What’s going on around here?”

  Dad winked, nudging Arielle with his shoulder. “Your sister’s got a boyfriend.”

  “Do not, Dad. Stop it.”

  He broke out in song, with Reed joining about k-i-s-s-i-n-g in a tree and Arielle had enough. Dealing with the guys in her house tested her limits. The fact that they thought they were way funnier than they actually were didn’t help.

  With her face burning, she grabbed her backpack and ran upstairs to her room, the whole while hearing her Dad’s and brother’s laughter following her. Being the one girl in the house really made her wish Mom didn’t work so much.

  Chapter 5

  Another Perfect Moment

  When Blake picked Arielle up, it had started to sprinkle. He came to the porch, where she was waiting for him so he wouldn’t have to go inside.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Dad said to make sure I’m home by nine.”

  “I can do that.” He grabbed her by the hand and together they ran to the car through the drizzle.

  Arielle hadn’t noticed standing on the porch, but the sky had turned dark with angry clouds swirling through it. Any minute, heavy rain would fall for sure, so better to be safe inside the car. Since she’d worn a white t-shirt and no jack
et, she didn’t want to get soaked.

  In the car, Blake didn’t say much, but then again, neither did Arielle. For some reason she couldn’t get her leg to stop bouncing up and down…and they hadn’t even left the driveway. She picked at her fingernails—there wasn’t much to pick at—for about a minute before she brought them to her mouth and began biting. If she could ever leave them alone, they might grow, but so far, that hadn’t happened.

  Arielle pulled a nail off with her teeth, but it came off too close to her actual skin, leaving a trail of blood. “Crap.” She spit the nail toward the ground, then wiped the blood on her pant leg, hoping Blake hadn’t seen, but she had kind of given herself away by speaking. When she raised her eyes to him, he stared back at her. She frowned as she gazed out the windshield, realizing they were sitting at a stop sign.

  She turned back and widened her eyes at him. “What?”

  Blake laughed. “You know, you shouldn’t bite your nails.”

  She rolled her eyes. “And you shouldn’t watch me all the time because then you wouldn’t see me biting my nails.” She pressed her finger into her jeans to staunch the bleeding.

  He made a right turn, then lowered the volume on the radio. “Listen, I know it’s a habit. I used to do it myself, until I realized how many germs live down underneath your nails, and you are putting those right into your mouth.” He made a face. “Ick.”

  Arielle’s stomach turned. “Okay. Point made.” She reached down and turned the music back up, then turned it down again. “Shoot. I forgot to call Jess. She told me to call her when I got home from school.” Arielle almost mumbled the words as she spoke to herself.

  “Do you have your cell phone?” Blake asked.