Destiny and Deception: A 13 to Life Novel by Shannon Delany

Author:Shannon Delany [Delany, Shannon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic
ISBN: 0312624468
Google: f-TYeOhaFV0C
Amazon: B005J4EVFM
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2012-01-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jessie

We paused between classes—I’d finally succeeded in luring Pietr to a stairwell where we’d spent some time in the past. Kissing. Reaching up, I tugged his hair forward, pulling it across his right eye like he used to always wear it.

He looked at me, puzzled, and swept it back so both his eyes were clear.

I sighed and, looking up into his pale blue eyes, I said, “I love you.”

“I think you say that too lightly,” Pietr complained.

“What? What am I saying too lightly?”

“Nyet. Ugh. Don’t get me wrong. I love to hear it, but you say ‘I love you’ all the time.”

“I do not.…”

“Every time you hang up the phone with your sister or father—no matter how good or bad the call—‘I love you.’ Every time I head to a different class, or the bathroom,” he griped, “‘I love you.’”

“So?”

“At what point is it habitual and less meaningful?”

“Never,” I protested.

He looked away.

“You don’t believe me.”

“You developed quite a reputation for lying,” he pointed out.

“Yes, Captain Obvious,” I growled. “But I don’t lie when I say ‘I love you.’ Ever.”

“Do you need to say it so often? Doesn’t that—cheapen—the effect?”

“Does my love seem cheap to you?”

His eyes widened in realization. “Oh, shit. Nyet … there’s nothing cheap about you.…”

“Quit backpedaling and tell me this: How much time do we have, Pietr?”

He checked his watch. “Three minutes before the tardy bell.”

“No. I mean how much time—overall—do we have, Pietr. You and me. In our lives?”

He paused and swallowed.

“A decade? A year? A month? A day maybe?” I pushed. “Do you know what tomorrow will bring?”

“Of course not,” he snarled.

“Neither do I. I have this moment and maybe the next, if I continue to be lucky. You’ve taught me that life is short.”

“You’ve taught me that life is precious.”

“Then understand. This is my mother’s influence. She did this same thing—telling me she loved me so much, spreading it around like the words were nothing. I called her on it, too. I called her on it, Pietr. I told her that. That all her little ‘I love you’s’ were shit because she tossed them around like nothing. Do you know what she said?”

He shook his head.

“She reminded me we’re farmers and said it takes a lot of shit to make something beautiful grow. And after I’d shut my mouth, totally stunned, she explained that she always figured if she said those words often enough that when she was finally gone, although I’d doubt and I’d forget a bunch, at least I’d remember she told me ‘I love you’ a few times. And you know what, Pietr? Now she’s gone, and all I want is to hear her say those words. Again.”

“I didn’t realize,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” He gathered me to him, and we stood silently together in the hallway and just let the tardy bell ring.

Alexi

I’d taken the VW Rabbit to Johnny Bey’s to try my luck with the Tuesday night crowd. As the convertible was not quick

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