Broken (16 page)

I didn't feel much like playful banter, but I
marshaled a semi-convincing smile and gave it my best go. "Oh I
trust you, I'm just fairly sure you've got much more important
things to worry about. One of these times you'll either forget to
come get me, or you'll forget to tell me you're not coming by
anymore."

Brandon let the silence build for several
seconds. "I'd try and convince you I'm not going to do any of that
to you, but I suspect that's just going to take time."

I was busy kicking myself for having cast
such a pall over the morning, when Brandon sighed. "We should talk
about what happened to you yesterday."

"I don't know what you're talking about.
Nothing happened." Deny everything. It's essentially the motto of
two entire generations now. Make them tell you exactly how much
they know before you admit to anything, and then only admit to the
parts they already know about. It's a crappy way to run a society,
but I'm just one kid. I can't be blamed for just trying to keep my
head down and survive.

We were already pulling into the parking lot.
He must have been driving even faster than normal. That should have
triggered another panic attack, but the tension in the black
Mustang was high enough to distract my subconscious for now.

Brandon smoothly pulled the bulky car in
between a pair of SUV's, and cut the engine before turning and
hitting me with the full force of his gray eyes. "Adriana, I
promised to protect you. I know it's kind of anachronistic, but I
take those kinds of promises seriously. Most of us here in
Sanctuary do. I need to know what you saw and heard while you were
in the bathroom with Lucy and Jasmin, before Cassie arrived."

"You're going to protect me
from Cassie 
and
 Jasmin?"

His face was completely serious as he nodded.
"If necessary, but I need to know what else was said so I know how
serious things are. Jasmin had a really tough childhood. Her mom
was killed while she was really young, and her father was pretty
abusive. Alec's mother did a good thing by bringing her into their
home and trying to give her a decent life, but she's not completely
stable."

My laugh had a touch more hysteria in it than
I'd meant to let slip through. Brandon didn't look at me like I was
losing it though. "You're not the only one to realize she's
dangerous, it's just that Alec's family has a lot of influence, and
so far she's avoided doing anything they couldn't cover up."

I drew a deep breath and nodded. "Ok, I don't
remember exactly what she said, but she was mad at the other girl,
Lucy. Something about staying away from a boy, I don't remember if
she said his name. Then Jasmin said she didn't believe Lucy was
sorry, and that she'd kill her if Lucy didn't stay away from
him."

Brandon nodded slowly, "The boy's name's Ben.
I'm not sure why she's fixated on him the way she has, or why she
views Lucy as such a deadly threat to her chances with him, but
it's essentially that simple."

I felt like my head should be reeling from
the sheer stupidity. Even in a town this small, it didn't seem like
the competition for the available males should be a matter for
death threats. Brandon took my head shaking as denial of what he'd
said, rather than disbelief regarding the situation.

"I promise that every word I just told you is
true. More importantly, I promise I'll make sure nothing terrible
happens to you."

Looking into Brandon's caring eyes, I almost
couldn't believe any of it. Being threatened, and then having the
perfect man come to your rescue didn't happen in real life. Then
again, maybe I was due for some happy endings. With a sigh, I
thanked him for the ride, and we parted ways.

The only thing of note that happened in
Biology was that for a few moments at the beginning of the hour it
almost seemed the near-constant stares had somehow changed, had
taken on a more sympathetic tone than they had previously.

It seemed silly to even entertain the idea.
People my age don't really do sympathy very well. We're much more
inclined towards ridicule and hasty, usually-unfair, judgments.
Still, something had changed. I held onto that hope right up until
I saw Mrs. Sorenson joining everyone else in staring at me whenever
I looked down at my book. There was no mistaking the look on her
face; it was utter distaste, possibly with a dash of disdain.

I was so tired of it all. By the time English
rolled around my natural embarrassment had given way to actual
anger at Britney for starting it all. She tried to catch me at our
lockers in between classes, but I pretended not to hear her, and
made it safely into Mr. Whethers' class before she could catch
up.

Part of me acknowledged how petty it was, but
I avoided her attempts at a whispered conversation during class.
Mr. Whethers unknowingly helped my cause, when he crossly silenced
a couple of girls on the far side of the classroom. He was normally
so even tempered that even his moderate rebuke instantly shut them
up. I probably shouldn't have felt quite so happy about it, but I
was pretty sure from the way they'd been looking at me, that I'd
been the source of their gossip.

When the bell finally released us, I couldn't
avoid Britney any longer.

"Adri...ana, why didn't you tell me?"

I didn't answer for several seconds, not sure
I'd actually heard her right. "Tell you what?"

"Fine, play coy. I just think you should know
it's pretty lame for me to find all that stuff out second hand.
We're best friends; you should totally have trusted me enough to
tell me."

Apparently I'd only thought the anger was
under control. It frothed beneath the surface right now, anxious
for a reason to bite someone's head off, and Britney was the
preferred target. Only I needed her. Not enough to completely
dismiss what had happened though.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but
I honestly wouldn't have told you anything I wanted kept a secret.
Not after the way you told everyone about my panic attacks."

Britney looked like she was having a hard
time getting enough air. She gasped a couple more times, and then
managed to get some words out. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize
you'd care. I thought it would be ok."

I pinned her in place with my eyes for
several seconds to prove I didn't believe her, and then shrugged.
"I don't suppose it matters all that much. I just know now that I
can't trust you with those kinds of things."

Mrs. Campbell's class served as another safe
haven. There were still plenty of looks, but nobody really dared
gossip, and Britney was safely seated on the other side of the
room. I took a little bit of sick satisfaction over the fact that
everyone else was frantic about our test tomorrow. I actually
couldn't have been happier there. This was the first section where
I'd been in a position to sit for the exam with everyone else.

Our lecture essentially consisted of an
extended review, which I quickly realized I didn't need. I broke
out my book and started in on one of my catch-up assignments
instead. At the rate I was going I'd be able to take my makeup exam
way ahead of schedule. It was a pretty lame thing to be excited
about, but just having something going well for a change helped
compensate for the rest of my life.

Amazingly enough, the satisfaction from
having accomplished so much shielded me for most of the rest of the
day. I withstood Britney's varied, mostly unsubtle, attempts to
make me feel guilty for not spilling my guts about whatever big
secret she thought I had, and even held up through the complete
boredom that was Mr. Simms' class. It wasn't until I walked into
Physics that I felt the cold hand of reality reach out and caress
the back of my neck.

Alec was uncharacteristically early, already
sitting at his normal desk. He looked up and briefly met my eyes
when I reached my desk, but there wasn't even a trace of
acknowledgment in his gaze. Mrs. Alexander started class, reviewed
a couple of points that other groups needed clarified, and then
released us to work on our assignments.

I waited several seconds for Alec to make
some kind of move, and then with a flash of anger stood and carried
my things over to the desk next to his. I nearly jumped when he
opened his mouth.

"You'll want to review page 89. It contains
most of the relevant formulas. We'll need to know exactly how they
work. We'll be given an unknown weight, an unknown number of
pulleys, and expect to move it all with the most efficient
arrangement possible."

It almost didn't seem like he was talking to
me. There was no emotion in his voice, no gentle teasing; he didn't
even meet my eyes. I sat down with a slight hope that he'd thaw out
a little by the time class ended, only to shake my head in
disbelief when the bell finally rang and proved me irrevocably
wrong.

Maybe he'd go back to normal after a few
days. There really wasn't any way to know though. I didn't even
know what'd brought on the sudden change. Was he really just angry
I'd overheard Jasmin threaten Lucy? Why did I even care?

Spanish seemed to drag by at a snail's pace,
but somehow before I knew it, I was walking with Britney towards
the tutor lab. I should have been surprised when we rounded a
corner to find Brandon casually leaning against the wall, obviously
waiting for us, for me.

"You still ok to go home with Brit
today?"

He acted like it was all my choice. It gave
me goose bumps. Britney almost tripped over herself assuring
Brandon that we were still the best of friends, and she wouldn't
even think of leaving me without a ride. Obviously if it wasn't
convenient for him to take me, she would love to make sure I got
home ok.

Brandon's face remained serious through
Britney's torrent of words, but he winked at me when she looked
down to catch her breath.

"Perfect. I'll go take care of some stuff
then. You two enjoy all of that math, and I'll see you tomorrow
morning. Maybe you'll even wait for me at your house this
time."

It unsettled me a little that such a simple
statement could cause industrial-sized butterflies to spontaneously
appear in my stomach, so I tried to push the thought out of my
mind. I hesitantly returned Rachel's tentative smile, and then dug
into my homework.

Mrs. Campbell stopped by for a few minutes,
obviously checking to make sure that I was over my aberrant
behavior from yesterday. I got the feeling she would've liked to
chat for a bit longer, but we had the predictable surge in
attendance given the coming test.

I gave her my best reassuring smile as she
left, and then watched as she and the other tutors all bounced from
one student to the next answering questions. As much as I would
have liked to just call it a day, another good effort added to what
I'd done earlier would put me two or maybe even three days ahead of
my personal schedule.

With a sigh of resignation I found my place
on the page again, and started sorting out another set of
variables. Forty-five minutes later I'd nearly completed another
two sections, and was more than ready for a breather.

Sometime while I'd been
studying, most of the kids had left. I hadn't expected all of them
to stay until my shift started, but I expected more than the two or
three I usually had. Only it didn't look like that was going to be
the case. Apparently most of them hadn't been serious about
learning the material, they'd just wanted to come to the lab, make
a half-hearted attempt, and then leave secure in the knowledge that
if they failed the test they could whine to their parents about how
hard they'd worked. 
But mom, I even
went to the lab.

I guess it made sense. If they'd been serious
about acing the test, they'd have been here every night for the
last two weeks instead of trying to cram a few more morsels of
knowledge into their heads at the last minute.

Mentally shrugging at the stupidity of it
all, I pulled out my Spanish and studied my vocab for a few more
minutes until Mrs. Campbell came by to wish me goodbye.

"It looks like most everyone's gone again.
The last few will probably leave in the next ten minutes." She
dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I actually prefer
they do. That way when their parents phone in to complain about how
poorly they did on the exam, I can point out that the lab was open
for another hour, but they didn't bother to stick around for the
extra help."

It was a speech that made her sound like a
grouchy old lady, but I was starting to know her well enough to
take it in the proper context. She would gladly have done just
about anything to help a student who really wanted to learn, but
was tired of having students try and use her as an excuse for their
own laziness.

I waved goodbye to everyone as they left, and
then made a quick round of the remaining students. Rachel and
Britney were both in their accustomed places, Rachel studying away
as always, and Britney actually making some weak efforts to do
likewise. Two of the other three, a boy and a girl that I
recognized from second hour, but whose names I couldn't even begin
to remember were already packing their books into a pair of book
bags, one of which was a fairly utilitarian item, the other of
which looked like it probably cost as much as my whole
wardrobe.

I couldn't place the last boy for all that he
looked really familiar. He had incredibly dark skin and features
with a slight middle-eastern cast. When he shifted in his seat, I
realized he was built like a football player. Not like a lineman,
but like a running back, or maybe a quarterback. He wasn't as big
as Brandon, or even as Alec, but he was obviously well muscled, and
he moved with an echo of their grace.

None of which helped me figure out where I'd
seen him before. He wasn't a regular at the tutor lab, and didn't
have the hectic, desperate look of someone cramming for a test.
Instead he looked completely at ease sitting in one of the no-man's
land tables with a pair of books open in front of him. By the looks
of things he wasn't going to need any help.