Tears of the Broken (9 page)

“
Only three hours to go,” said the clock on the wall in an
arrogant, sarcastic tone.

“
Thanks for the reassurance,” I replied, then looked around
the room. I hope no one heard that. Great. They say the first sign
of being crazy is talking to inanimate objects. And the second sign
is hearing them talk back. One more and I might start getting
chased by squirrels...because they like nuts.

“
What’s wrong, Ara?” A velvety voice travelled into my
ears.

There’s no need to look up, I know who it is. So you found
me? Figures. I knew I should’ve hidden under the desk. I fought the
urge to spin my face away from him. He’s so kind, even though he
thinks I just rejected him, he still comes to be my knight in
shining armour.

David sat beside me and placed his bag on the ground. I kept
my eyes forward. “Is something on your mind, new girl?”

“
I—I
didn’t get to finish what I was saying before.” I couldn’t look
directly at him.

“
I’m
listening now.” He clasped his hands together on the table in front
of him.

“
It’s just that…no one’s ever said anything
like that to me before. I don’t really know
what
to say.” I looked at him then.
It’s true. I just don’t know what to say. All of this is just too
much for me, for one day.

He
breathed out through his nose quietly, and nodded. “Then,
don’t.”

“
Don’t?”

“
Yeah, don’t say anything—yet, okay? Just give it time, and
when you’re ready, I’ll be listening.”

“
Okay.” I breathed out. Those girls were
right—
way
out of
my league. My stomach broke my train of thought with a loud, angry
rumble. David looked down at my belly, and I clasped my hands over
the noise. How embarrassing.

“
Hungry?” He chuckled warmly.

“
Uh,
yeah—just a little.”

Chapter Four

Though the warm weather attracted most of the students
outside for lunch, David led me to a plastic table in the middle of
the large hall and sat beside me.

“
This room is huge—nothing like the tiny window-in-the-wall
where we ordered food at my old school,” I said, watching students
slide trays along the metal railing of a buffet-style
cabinet.

“
It’d be better if they hired enough staff to accommodate all
the students—” David added, “you’re usually lucky if you finish in
line before the bell sounds.”

“
Today was okay, wasn’t it?”

“
Yeah.” He covered his smile with a fist. “Today was quick,
but that’s only because half the football team is serving detention
in the kitchen.”

“
Really? Why?”

“
Something about ditching paper-cannons at a kid in History
class.” David picked up a corn chip and held it near his mouth.
“You planning to eat?”

“
Oh,
um, yeah.” I straightened my tray and leaned my elbows on the
table. “So, what’s the deal here, anyway, like, social hierarchy?
I’m guessing they’re at the top.” I pointed to the group of
well-built jocks at the corner of the room—the ones that waved to
David as we walked in.

“
The
guys having the fruit war?” He smiled as a piece of banana hit the
glass window then slid down into the pile of pulp on the floor.
“That’s the other half of the football team, and yeah,” he nodded,
looking away from them, “they’re pretty much the top of the food
chain. Fourth on the list would be these guys—” he waved at one of
the girls on the table in front of us. “They’re the kids from music
class. They pretty much hang out together. The lowest ranking would
be the boys behind you.” I turned to look at a group of weedy
looking kids—not particularly nerdy, but just lacking the same kind
of cool most the other kids here have. “They’re the chess geeks,”
David added.

Well, the chessboard on the table beside their paper-wrapped
sandwiches and chocolate milks makes that self-explanatory, and if
you missed that cue, the ‘Chess Club’ jacket might be a dead
giveaway. But, if playing chess makes them geeks, then I should
probably be sitting with them. “So where do you fit in?” I
asked.

David looked to the side and drew a breath.
“Well—”

“
Hey, guys.” Emily came up out of nowhere and perched herself
on the seat across from David.

“
Hi
Emily,” I said, then shoved a mouthful of cardboard-like lasagne
into my gob. It’s no roast turkey, but it’ll fill the empty hole
and satisfy the green ogre that dwells within my belly.

“
Emily.” David nodded his greeting and started eating his
nachos.

“
Hey, do you guys mind if Ryan and Alana sit with us?” she
asked. “They’ve got new-girl fever.”

“
No,” I scoffed, “why would I mind?”

David lifted one shoulder. “Fine with me?”

After Emily signalled them over, she leaned forward and a
bright grin lit up her caramel eyes. “So, what’d ya think—a new
love blossoming, or what?”

New
love? My cheeks burned as if a warm towel had just been wrapped
around my head, but as I followed her gaze to the girl and the boy
from music class, walking as close to each other as possible, my
heart slowed. She means Alana and Ryan.

A
sassy smile twinkled in the corners of David’s eyes as they met
mine. “I think you might be right, Emily,” he said, and looked up
at the pair. “I don’t think either of them has figured it out, yet,
though.”

Emily sighed, gazing dreamily at them as they walked up to
our table.

“
Hey, all.” Ryan cupped his hand against David’s and clicked
his fingers as he pulled away, then sat down next to Emily, sliding
Alana’s tray closer to his.

“
Hi,
guys.” I smiled, then shrank back into myself a little.

“
Hey, Ara—so cool what you did to Mr. Grant, today.” Ryan
pointed gun-fingers at me. “I’m sure it’ll go down in high-school
history: The Newbie Bites Back. Part One.” Beneath his docile
tones, he made himself sound like the voice-over for a movie
trailer.

“
I
wasn’t biting back,” I said with my mouth a little full, “not
really. I was just…politely not taking any crap.”

“
So
noble.” Ryan nodded, lost in awe. Alana sat quietly beside him, not
making any effort to stand out.

“
So,
Ara?” Emily said. “We just finished French class—are you taking
French this semester?”

“
Nope. Foreign languages just don’t click up here.” I tapped
my head. “My friend tried to teach me some French once…it was bad.
I sounded like I was trying to spit insults at someone who made me
hungry.”

Ryan
and David chuckled to themselves.

“
That’s a pity—” Emily propped her cheek against her hand. “I
was kinda hoping we’d have someone to take the spotlight off us for
a while.”

“
Spotlight?”

“
Yeah. Our teacher, Mz Sears—” Ryan pointed his chip at me,
“Total cow.”

“
You
mean grenouille?” Emily said.

“
Uh,
Em—” David frowned, “You know that doesn’t mean cow,
right?”

Her
cheeks flushed pink. “Uh—”

“
Well, what’s being a cow got to do with a spotlight?” I
asked. Unless she’s a Broadway cow.

“
Oh,
nothing.” Emily sighed. “I just thought she might play nice in
front of a new kid for a while.”

“
So,
she’s not nice?”

“
Sometimes, but she’s just so finicky. Everything has to be
done a certain way. If you don’t follow her rules to the T she goes
all PMS on you.” Emily added, then looked at Ryan to
continue.

“
Yeah. She’s so stuck up, Ara, like you wouldn’t believe. She
came from some private school in the city, and she just doesn’t
understand our ways.” He waved his hands about in the air, making
‘scary fingers’. Alana shook her head and smiled into her
salad.

“
Well, I come from a private school? I’m not stuck up, am I?”
I asked.

“
You
come from a
private school? No way.” Ryan leaned back in his seat and held his
index fingers over each other—making a cross.

“
Yes
way.” I sipped my choc-milk to wash down my last bite of lunch.
“It’s nothing like this place. A different world.”

“
So
where did you go to school?” Alana finally spoke up.

“
Really far away.” I smirked.

“
How
far?” Ryan asked.

“
Very far.” I wish they’d just drop it.

“
Yeah, you have a bit of an accent there. What is that?
English?” Emily leaned in slightly, as did Ryan and Alana, and the
eager curiosity in their eyes made me want to smile—until I looked
at David. I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t care, or if he
doesn’t want to know, but he sat still, with his fingers clasped
just in front of his chin and a simple smile on his
lips.

“
Okay. Promise you won’t laugh.” I pointed my finger at
them.

Ryan
crossed his heart, and Emily crossed her fingers, laughing already.
Alana and David waited patiently.

“
Okay, I’m…from Australia.” Almost closing my eyes, I awaited
the onslaught of giggling—but they just gawked at me.

“
No
way? You’re all the way from Oz? You’re totally like Dorothy,” Ryan
said.

“
Yeah, and that makes David Toto.” Emily laughed.

“
Yeah, um, Dorothy was from Kansas?” I corrected. “If
anything, I’d be the Cowardly Lion.” Since I’m so afraid to walk
out my own front door.

“
No,
the Tin Man. Didn’t that Aussie guy play the Tin Man in that
movie?” Emily looked up at the ceiling as though her answer would
be there.

“
No
way—Tin Man? Ara has too much heart,” Alana added. “You saw her
play the piano?” She nodded at David.

Mockingly, I tilted my head and sighed. “Aw,
thanks.”

When
Alana ditched a piece of lettuce at me, David’s hand shot out and
caught it—right in front of my face. My mouth dropped and everyone
else burst out laughing. “Nice catch, David.” I looked at him with
wide eyes.

“
Yeah, he used to be on the baseball team,” Emily
said.

“
Really?” I turned to look at David; his timid smile dented
one corner of his cheek.

“
It
was,” he stood up and reached across the table to drop the lettuce
on Alana’s plate, “—a long time ago.” When he sat back down, he
winked at me and leaned his chin on his hand.

“
So, all the way from Australia, hey? You
don’t
sound
Australian?” Emily said.

“
Actually, I do. Just not so much anymore.” I smiled softly.
“I’ve spent the last month or so working on my accent, but you can
hear it when I get upset.”

David shifted in his chair.

“
Are
you ashamed of it?” Alana asked.

“
No.” I shook my head. “I just didn’t wanna draw any extra
attention to myself.”

“
So,
is it different over there to like, how school is here?” Emily
stabbed a carrot with her fork and held it up just in front of her
mouth.

“
Well, we have our school year from January to December, and
we break over summer as well, except it’s over
Christmas.”

“
Christmas in summer?” Ryan stared into the distance. “Weird.
But cool.”

“
Actually, it’s not cool,” I said, “it’s really, bloody
hot.”

Emily and Ryan stared at me blankly. Alana stifled a soft
giggle. “Summer is hot, Ryan?” She nudged his arm. “Not
cool?”

I
looked at David, who shook his head, trying not to laugh at my
terrible joke. Emily and Ryan did the same, half smiling. “Okay,
that goes in the vault as the worst joke of the week.” Ryan pointed
at me again with his ketchup-covered chip.

I
feigned insult.

“
But
you did sound very Australian when you said bloody,” Emily
added.

David chuckled beside me.

“
Yeah, say it again?” Ryan leaned forward, turning his ear
toward me and holding his hand out like he had a funnel to listen
through.

“
She’s not a circus freak, Ryan.” Emily pushed his hand
away.

“
Thanks,” I mouthed. I really do not feel like being on
exhibition. “So where do you guys normally sit?” With my belly
full, all my pre-rehearsed questions came flooding back.

“
Well,” Emily chimed in, “David sits with the giant,
incredibly gorgeous guys that are throwing food at each other.” She
grinned at David. “More like monkeys, really. And I sit with that
group out there by the tree.” She pointed to the windows that cover
the back wall of the cafeteria. Outside, in the sunshine, a large
group of boys in tight-fitting tee’s, with styled hair, and girls
in cheer-uniforms—like Emily—gathered under the oak tree, laughing
and throwing water, or looking at things on each other’s
iPad’s.