Read Online Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci - Free Book Online
Authors: Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci
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she heard herself say. “And the thought of living where I’d lived with her seemed, I don’t know, unbearable.”
“Wow,” he said and frowned sincerely. “That’s awful. When did this happen?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Shit,” he breathed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean, shoot ,” he caught himself.
First, he ’d let her snarky principal comments roll off his back, then he’d made the suit comment, and now he cursed. She liked him more and more by the minute.
“No worries. I say shit practically every other word,” she said and wasn’t lying.
“Two weeks ago? You lost your mom just two weeks ago?”
“Yes.”
“How are you and your dad coping?”
“No dad; it’s just me?”
“You’re all alone? No family to look after you?”
“Nope. I’m eighteen, so I’m on my own. Not that my mom had anyone lined up for me. She was an only child and my dad, well, who knows who he is.”
“That’s terrible,” he said.
Arianna hadn’t discussed any of her feelings since losing her mother, Luke and Lily. Hearing another human being offer a simple sentence like Principal Keller just had, his sympathy, actually mattered to her. He came across like a cool uncle or father. Of course, she did not have a barometer by which to gauge such family members, but she’d heard of them, had seen their types depicted on television. To her, kind or understanding male family members were like the Yeti: elusive, fabled beings she’d never encountered.
“It has been.”
“What are you doing here, if you don’t mind me asking? Why not finish out your senior year in an online program?”
He sounded like Desmond, but for different reasons, naturally. Keller didn’t know she was a witch, a deadly one at that, who was essentially followed by death.
“My mom always wanted me to graduate from high school. She wanted to see me in my cap and gown, walking in the procession, soaking up all the pomp and circumstance, you know?”
He nodded solemnly. “I do.”
“So I guess I just want to honor her by doing it the old-fashioned way she would have enjoyed,” she said and heard her voice crack with emotion.
She stared at her lap and feverishly blinked back the tears that threatened, determined to make it through her first day without crying. But when she looked up and saw that Keller’s eyes had welled up, too, several slipped down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said and wiped them. “Shit, I didn’t mean to get all talk-show-guest-emotional on you.”
“Are you kidding me?” he asked. “Are you actually apologizing for being upset that your mother died?”
She thought about what he was saying. He was right. She was apologizin g for no reason. “I guess I am.”
“Well don’t. My wife, Marla, she passed two years ago; cancer. Two years, and I’m not over it, not by a long shot. And here you are two weeks out of the gate and trying to honor your mom’s memory by finishing school. I don’t know what to say. Either you are a masochist or a superhuman.”
He seemed so close to guessing what she was. Both of his guesses were wrong, of course, but close, damn close. She was a witch and therefore a supernatural being, not a superhuman.
“I’m neither,” she said. “I’m just a girl trying to push forward with her life, I guess.”
Keller pursed his lips and stared at her for several moments.
“So when do I meet with the guidance counselor and take the school tour?” she asked nervously.
“Oh, really, you were expecting those? ” he asked and stroked his chin. “Well, I guess I could arrange for it, if you’d like. But I’ve always found those things so unnecessary, and a bit stupid if you want to know the truth.”
“You think guidance counselors are stupid?”
“No. Not really. The tours, now they are stupid. Guidance counselors just make bigger deals of things than needs to be made
“Wow,” he said and frowned sincerely. “That’s awful. When did this happen?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Shit,” he breathed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean, shoot ,” he caught himself.
First, he ’d let her snarky principal comments roll off his back, then he’d made the suit comment, and now he cursed. She liked him more and more by the minute.
“No worries. I say shit practically every other word,” she said and wasn’t lying.
“Two weeks ago? You lost your mom just two weeks ago?”
“Yes.”
“How are you and your dad coping?”
“No dad; it’s just me?”
“You’re all alone? No family to look after you?”
“Nope. I’m eighteen, so I’m on my own. Not that my mom had anyone lined up for me. She was an only child and my dad, well, who knows who he is.”
“That’s terrible,” he said.
Arianna hadn’t discussed any of her feelings since losing her mother, Luke and Lily. Hearing another human being offer a simple sentence like Principal Keller just had, his sympathy, actually mattered to her. He came across like a cool uncle or father. Of course, she did not have a barometer by which to gauge such family members, but she’d heard of them, had seen their types depicted on television. To her, kind or understanding male family members were like the Yeti: elusive, fabled beings she’d never encountered.
“It has been.”
“What are you doing here, if you don’t mind me asking? Why not finish out your senior year in an online program?”
He sounded like Desmond, but for different reasons, naturally. Keller didn’t know she was a witch, a deadly one at that, who was essentially followed by death.
“My mom always wanted me to graduate from high school. She wanted to see me in my cap and gown, walking in the procession, soaking up all the pomp and circumstance, you know?”
He nodded solemnly. “I do.”
“So I guess I just want to honor her by doing it the old-fashioned way she would have enjoyed,” she said and heard her voice crack with emotion.
She stared at her lap and feverishly blinked back the tears that threatened, determined to make it through her first day without crying. But when she looked up and saw that Keller’s eyes had welled up, too, several slipped down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said and wiped them. “Shit, I didn’t mean to get all talk-show-guest-emotional on you.”
“Are you kidding me?” he asked. “Are you actually apologizing for being upset that your mother died?”
She thought about what he was saying. He was right. She was apologizin g for no reason. “I guess I am.”
“Well don’t. My wife, Marla, she passed two years ago; cancer. Two years, and I’m not over it, not by a long shot. And here you are two weeks out of the gate and trying to honor your mom’s memory by finishing school. I don’t know what to say. Either you are a masochist or a superhuman.”
He seemed so close to guessing what she was. Both of his guesses were wrong, of course, but close, damn close. She was a witch and therefore a supernatural being, not a superhuman.
“I’m neither,” she said. “I’m just a girl trying to push forward with her life, I guess.”
Keller pursed his lips and stared at her for several moments.
“So when do I meet with the guidance counselor and take the school tour?” she asked nervously.
“Oh, really, you were expecting those? ” he asked and stroked his chin. “Well, I guess I could arrange for it, if you’d like. But I’ve always found those things so unnecessary, and a bit stupid if you want to know the truth.”
“You think guidance counselors are stupid?”
“No. Not really. The tours, now they are stupid. Guidance counselors just make bigger deals of things than needs to be made
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