Tears of the Broken (3 page)

“
Nice? Ara, he’s
lovely
.” She looked at the ceiling
for a second—almost singing in praise. “He was our new kid before
you came. Okay, well, not new, since he’s been here for two years,
but newer than anyone else.”

Great. So I won’t be old news until
after
I graduate. “So, you don’t get
too many new people then?” I asked, feeling shaky as we neared the
classroom.

“
Nope. So,
everyone’s
going to wanna meet you.
They’ll all be talking about you. But anyway, you’ll be fine, and
I’m sure David will just snatch you up.”

“
Should I be worried?” I’m not partial to being snatched—or
talked about.

“
No
way. You’d be lucky. I think he’ll just fall all over himself for
this little lost lamb thing you’ve got going. Plus that dress,” she
looked down at my yellow sundress, “is totally cute.”

Relief. But Emily’s assurance that my dress isn’t too fem for
school isn’t enough to ease my inability to breathe. This school
may have air-conditioning, but it’s definitely short on oxygen. We
stopped by a door on the ground floor and Emily looked at me,
pausing with her hand curled into a soft fist in front of it. “Take
a deep breath,” she said.

The
walls swayed around me as I inhaled, held it safely in my lungs and
tried to ignore the giant fist in my chest, punching my pulse into
my throat.

“
Okay, you can let it out.” She laughed. “You
ready?”

My
head moved—I think I nodded. Then, Emily rapped lightly on the
door, sending my nerves into a frenzy. Don’t get me wrong, I can
handle nerves, and butterflies in my stomach are just yesterday’s
breakfast, but these feel more like bats. Big black, hairy
bats.

A
sound, like a chair being scraped over sticky vinyl floors, halted
my recently discovered ability to breathe. The door clinked and
popped open a little, revealing a shiny head with a light tuft of
hair around the ears. “Emily? What can I do for you?” The man
grinned with warm eyes, and his grey-brown moustache curved up over
his lips.

He
mustn’t have spotted me hiding here so close to the cold brick
wall, since he didn’t look at me. Maybe I’ve blended in with the
yellow floors—except the colour of my dress is actually
pretty.

Quiet whispers from inside the class disturbed the empty
halls. Mr. Benson’s body blocked my view of the room behind him,
shielding me from seeing the students—or from them seeing me.
That’s a very good thing.

“
This is Ara. She’s new.” Emily presented me in much the same
way as she had the office door.

“
Ah,
yes. Of course. Ara?” He turned to face me with one eyebrow raised.
“Not Amara-Rose?”

I
shook my head—maybe I should’ve nodded. Who knows?

“
Well, Ara, I hope you’re a much quieter student than this
lot.” He jerked his thumb to the now not-so-quiet room behind
him.

“
I
don’t think you need to worry about that, Mr. Benson. She’s hardly
said two words.” Emily smiled, pretending to hide the whisper with
her hand.

Mr.
Benson looked back at me. My heart raced as if I’d just run here.
Everyone’s going to stare at me as soon as I walk into that room.
I’m not ready for that—or for the quiet whispering and giggling
about me. I just want to run home and not come back. Except, it
might look a little immature if I spin on my heel and bolt to the
end of the corridor.

Okay, facing the inevitable it is.

Mr.
Benson straightened up a little and frowned at my shrinking
posture. “Are you nervous, Ara?”

No,
I’m about to start tap-dancing, what’d you think? Jeeze. I nodded
slowly. “I’ve never been to a new school before.”

“
Well,” Mr. Benson touched his chin, “I tell you what…” He
looked behind him and signalled to someone, then turned back to me
with a smile on his face. “I have a solution.”

A
boy stepped up before I expected him to, and a short gasp escaped
through my lips—making my heart skip a beat that it will never
recover. I wanted to grab Emily, who stifled a giggle beside me,
and shake her for not warning me that there were gorgeous boys at
this school.

Just
like the boy whose feet had faced me from behind the glass when I
first arrived here, this one wore the same dark clothing, with the
sleeves of his shirt rolled up over his elbows—emphasising the
bulky contours of his arms. As he settled into his lean on the
doorframe behind Mr. Benson, his casually dishevelled dark-brown
hair fell into his eyes, and he swept it back with his hand,
smiling at me as he did.

Any
hope of breaking eye contact withered away with the hold of that
smile, how his dark-pink lips sat closed and turned up sharply in
the corners, and his gaze fixed mine in place. He seemed completely
unfazed by my totally obvious ogling.

My
lips parted and I felt myself rise onto my toes—wishing I could
shove Mr. Benson out the way and steal a kiss from this
boy.

He
must think I’m so rude. I’m sure my skin is going to give-way soon
and drop my bones all over the floor, and I don’t even know his
name.

“
Ara? This is David,” Mr. Benson said, obviously noticing my
failure to compose myself.

Time
came rushing back in wave of hazy volume. I know I need to close my
mouth, but what can I do? I’ve never seen anything like him
before.

David’s smile changed then, became more of a friendly
greeting, and as his emerald-green eyes lit up, two dimples showed
in each of his cheeks. “Hello, Ara.” He nodded, almost like a
bow.

Breathe, Amara-Rose, just breathe. I lifted my hand a little
to wave. No words came out, though. Pathetic.

“
Ara, David is my best student,” Mr. Benson said, then looked
at the boy. “David?”

"Yes, sir?" David stole his gaze away from me, his head
turning before his eyes left mine. He shoved his hands into his
pockets and his shoulders lifted.

“
Ara’s a little worried about coming in late to a new class,”
Mr. Benson said. “Would you take her to the library and fill her in
on this week’s lessons, please?”

A
sudden wash of relief brought my body back to life. I want to hug
Mr. Benson for being so considerate. David smiled at me again. “Of
course, sir, it would be my pleasure.” His voice ran through me
like milk for my soul, liquid with maturity, yet somehow kind of
weightless.

My
cheeks flushed hot. I looked down at my feet and chewed the inside
of my lip to stop from grinning like a little girl in a candy
store.

“
Okay. Well, Ara, you take care, and I’ll see you in class
tomorrow.” Mr. Benson smiled and patted my shoulder.

“
Thank you,” I said, looking him directly in the eye this
time.

“
You
are more than welcome.” He grinned and turned to face the boy.
“David, you can get your stuff.”

For
a split second, as David and Mr. Benson walked away, I braved a
glance into the room of dread—seeing only a desk and a whiteboard.
Looks normal enough. I’d imagined fiery pits and wailing
souls—guess I was wrong.

I’m
glad no one can see me from here. If I’d had to walk in there right
now and meet my panel of judges—or peers—I’m not sure what I
would’ve done. Being the centre of attention has never been my
forte. Well, not when I don’t want to be. I can’t even imagine what
it would’ve been like if I’d seen David for the first time in front
of a room full of people. Embarrassing.

Emily squeaked, bouncing up and down on her toes when I
looked at her. I actually want to squeal, too. She was so right. He
is so hot!

“
Oh, my God. Ara, you’re
so
lucky,” Emily whispered loudly,
holding her hands out like spirit-fingers.

I
know I’m lucky. Not only am I saved from the anguish of walking in
late to my first class of the day, but also, I’m going to sit in
the library for forty minutes with a really cute guy. Although, the
trouble is, now, I have to be alone with a really cute guy—for
forty minutes. Yikes! “I don’t feel so lucky, Emily.”

“
Trust me, Ara. You’re going to
love
David. He’s so
sweet.” She rolled her head to one side and her smile dropped for a
second. “Well, he’s sweet to some people. But I’m sure you’ll be
fine.”

“
Does he have a girlfriend?” I asked. Hm, maybe that was a
little too obvious.

Emily smiled widely and leaned closer. “He—”

“
Sure thing, Mr. Benson—” David’s smooth, mature voice filled
the hallway a second before he stepped out of the classroom,
carrying his bag and a stack of books. He looked at Emily as she
straightened up and tried to hide the conspicuous smile on her
face. “Everything all right, Emily?”

“
Mm-hm.” Her eyes held the humour of near-embarrassment. I
don’t think he’d be too sweet to me if he found us gossiping about
him.

David looked at me then and studied my face carefully with
slightly narrowed eyes—as if maybe he was trying to figure me out.
I wish him luck.

“
You
ready?” he released the words in a soft breath.

My
lips pressed together and I managed to nod. Somehow, staying with
Mr. Benson seems less scary right now. I’m going to make a fool of
myself in front of this boy—I just know it.

“
Don’t worry.” Emily placed her hand on my arm. “David will
take good care of you.”

“
She’ll be fine, Emily,” David said.

He’s
reassuring
her
?
I’m the one about to spill the contents of my breakfast all over
the cheap, yellow vinyl.

“
Okay, well. Have fun, Ara, and…I’ll see you at lunch?” she
asked, her eyes round and hopeful.

Terrific, I’ve just made a new friend without even trying.
I’m not sure how I feel about that yet. “Thanks, Emily, and
yeah—sure, I’ll see you at lunch, then.”

Emily beamed. She spun on her heel and winked at me, mouthing
what looked like “He’s so hot” as she fanned herself. I forced a
small smile, which broadened when David turned around and caught
her juvenile display. She quickly pressed her hands behind her back
and giggled as she disappeared around the corner, leaving David and
I completely alone.

I
forced myself to look up from my shoes at the tall, beautiful boy,
and my nerves bubbled into nausea. What now? I don’t have anything
to say. I sat for hour’s last night scripting topics for just this
sort of occasion, but it’s all gone—escaped me completely. All I
can find is a white cloud of wordless stupor. I’m without
ammunition, alone in the wilderness, with a lion.

“
Come, I’ll show you to the library.” He started
walking.

Frozen still, for a second I just watched him walk away, my
shoulder pressed firmly to my new friend, the wall. He’s very
well-built for a teenager. My guess is that he must work out at the
gym—a lot. But he doesn’t act like a football jock or anything.
That might’ve been my first assumption for a guy that’s this—hot.
But his eyes are too gentle and clear. I can almost see right
through them into what looks like a kind, mature, and strangely
enough, well-brought-up boy. Weird.

“
Are
you coming?” David turned around and smiled—walking
backward.

This
world is unnaturally cruel, yet so unbelievably giving.
Of course
I’m coming.
I’d be crazy not to, even if my nerves are itching to break through
and force me into a nervous, girly little giggle. I bit my tongue.
Hard. My cheeks burned and the heat spread to my ears, but my feet
obeyed my heart—shuffling one over the other until we reached
David, who strolled along silently, focusing on the path
ahead.

Should I talk? Or should I wait for him to say something?
This feels all wrong. My heart is beating too fast, and we aren’t
exactly walking with exertion, so what’s with the rapid breathing?
I’ll just put it down to nerves. There’s no way I’m going to admit
that this one beautiful-looking boy, that I just met, can cause
this kind of reaction in a level-headed, strong-minded girl like
me. No way.

I
have to think of something to say. This silence is turning into the
uncomfortable sort. I just don’t know what, though. I’m no good at
being new.

“
What were you focusing on in your last school—for English
studies?” he asked in that same soft, silky tone as before. It
sounds like his voice is made of butter, like, if I could swallow
it in one gulp, it wouldn’t even touch the sides of my
throat.

“
Hemingway,” I murmured.

He
nodded. “That’s pretty standard. Do you read much?”

I
shook my head. “Not anymore.”

He
went quiet. I want him to keep talking. I just don’t want to answer
any questions.

“
Why
not?” he asked with a sassy grin.

“
Ah,
no reason. What do you like to read?” I fumbled over my words,
shuffling the question in his direction.