Broken (22 page)

It was hard to believe that Brandon had
stepped in and done so much for us, but the pieces fit together so
tightly. Brandon was even more wonderful and amazing than I'd
thought before.

Part of me expected this new revelation to
keep my mind whirling so fast that it would take me hours to go to
sleep. I was only partly right. It took quite a while for me to go
to sleep, but this time the culprit was the light outside my
window.

Chapter 14

For the first time in longer than I could
remember, I woke up two minutes before my alarm went off. I was
showered, dressed, and ready to go ten minutes before normal, but
after pulling my books together, I just sat down on the sofa.

Today was the day. I hadn't consciously
planned it when I went to bed, but circumstances were perfect. If I
was wrong, mom was not only home, judging by the noises filtering
down the stairs, she was awake and only a few minutes away from
coming downstairs.

Even filled with the near certainty that
Brandon's parents, and by extension him, were our secret
benefactors, the next fifteen minutes were some of the longest in
my life.

When Brandon's Mustang finally appeared
around the bend in the lane, I found myself smiling so hard my face
was starting to hurt. Breathing silent but heartfelt thanks that
mom was in the shower and therefore couldn't hear the low rumble of
the Mustang's engine, I slipped out the front door and skipped down
the concrete steps.

"I figured you were either too sick to get
out of bed, or you finally decided to trust me."

Brandon's gray eyes twinkled as he made a
show of checking me over. "Looks like you're not sick."

I didn't know it was possible to blush and
smile at the same time. "Nope, not sick."

After such a beginning, my day could hardly
be anything but great. One class after another rolled by, and all
of the things that normally would've bothered me just went whipping
past without managing to stick.

I couldn't remember the second phase of cell
division in Biology. I'd forgotten to reread the last chapter of
Wuthering Heights, and Britney went out of her way to snub me. The
only thing I cared about was making it to lunch so I could see
Brandon again.

I dawdled on my way to Algebra, so much so I
was nearly late for class. It wasn't until I sat down at my desk
and felt a wave of disappointment slither through me that I
realized I'd been hoping to see Brandon in between classes.

Mrs. Campbell caught me before I could leave
for lunch. "Adriana, your homework is progressing along very well.
At the risk of having you slow down, I'm going to admit that you're
well ahead of where I'd hoped you'd be. Another couple of weeks and
you'll be caught up and ready for your makeup test."

I shrugged uncomfortably. When teachers
praised me, it always made me feel like I was socially deficient. I
didn't necessarily mind the fact that I spend hours more on
homework than any of my peers, but being praised for it always felt
like a backhanded insult.

"It's ok, I'm not going to slack off. I want
to be done with extra assignments as badly as you want to be
finished with having to grade them."

My feeble joke evoked a smile, but I wasn't
quite free to go. "Well your homework is easier to grade than most.
I also wanted to let you know that I'm happy with what you've been
doing at the lab, and to give you this."

As unbelievable as it was considering that
most of my classmates seemed more concerned with working their fast
food jobs than with doing homework, the plain envelope she handed
me contained my very first paycheck. Ever.

I all but skipped out of the classroom. Sure
later I'd probably complain about how small it was and wish I had
enough to go shoe shopping, but for now it was just nice to know I
had some discretionary money.

Brandon looked up as I walked into the
cafeteria, and waved me over. As I threaded between a pair of
closely-set tables I noticed that Alec's table seemed unusually
unsettled. If a shouting match could be conducted in whispers, it
was being done by Jasmin and James, neither of who looked like they
were happy about whatever was being discussed. Alec wasn't talking,
but from the way he was scanning the room, he didn't want to be
there anymore than the rest of them.

I made it to Brandon's table, and was still
pulling my meal replacement drink out of my bag when the
loudspeaker clicked on with the obligatory burst of static.

"This is Principle Gossil and I've got an
exciting announcement. The school is sponsoring a trip to Las Vegas
to see the production of Les Misérables that just started. Tickets
are available at a discounted rate in the office for the next two
days."

It was like someone had rifled through my
mind to pick out my biggest disappointment in recent days, pulled
it out and rubbed salt on the wound before cramming it back inside
me. Of course I'd go see how big of a discount the school had
gotten the tickets at, but it was extremely unlikely my tiny check
would end up being enough.

It took me a moment to realize Mr. Gossil
hadn't ended his announcement. "...those wishing to be entered into
the drawing should stop by the office between today and noon
tomorrow."

In the face of the near-universal apathy
expressed by the rest of the student body, it took my mind several
seconds to process exactly what had been said. I grabbed Brandon's
arm and shook it to get his attention. "Did he just say they were
drawing for free tickets?"

Brandon looked slightly amused. Cassie, who
I'd just interrupted, looked very much not amused. "I think so. I
wasn't paying very close attention, but I think he did."

The sound that came out of my mouth was
disturbingly close to a squeal, but I was too excited to care. I
waved goodbye as I stood and headed towards the doors.

Amazingly enough, there was already a line in
the office by the time I got there. Either the nerds who liked
musicals didn't actually eat in the lunchroom, or some of the
people who maintained a cool, disinterested facade actually wanted
to see it. My enthusiasm ebbed lower and lower as I waited in line
behind a number of people who it turned out didn't even want to see
the show, but figured that this would be a great chance to get away
from their parents for the better part of twelve hours.

By the time I signed my name to a
brightly-colored pink slip of paper, dropped it into the box, and
walked out past the ridiculously-long line of people still waiting
to enter the drawing, I knew for a certainty that I wasn't going.
They'd posted the cost of the tickets, and I'd been right. My
paycheck wasn't going to cut it.

I was still trying to decide whether or not
to head back into the cafeteria, when the first bell rang,
signaling a fitting end to a disappointment-filled lunch.

History wasn't any better, and we had a sub
for Physics. Alec actually walked into class, saw Mrs. Alexander
wasn't there, and then turned around and left. It was possibly the
most brazen act of class cutting I'd ever seen, and somehow it
didn't surprise me in the least. Even so, I spent the rest of the
hour stewing while working on the pointless, busywork assignment
the sub handed out.

Mrs. Tiggs still hadn't finished grading our
tests, which meant I still had no idea how I'd done.

By the time I finally half-collapsed at my
normal table in the tutor lab, all I could think about was how nice
it would be to see Brandon one more time as he drove me home. I
looked around to verify that all of the usual suspects were there.
Geeks, check. Jocks, check. Rachel and her sinister side-kick
James, check.

I smiled at Rachel and then flipped open my
math book. Everything went just like normal, and promptly at five I
closed my binder and started stuffing books into my backpack. I
looked up to find Rachel standing in front of my table.

"Are you ready? James had to leave early, but
don't worry, we've still got a ride home."

I think I managed to keep the disappointment
off of my face. Rachel at least didn't seem to notice. Somehow I'd
lost track of the fact that it was a Wednesday, and Brandon
therefore wouldn't be taking me home.

"Great. Britney's been avoiding me like the
plague. I didn't even see her leave today."

I'd never noticed that Rachel's laugh was
possibly the prettiest I'd ever heard. Tinkling bells and all that
aside, it really did sound like the kind of laugh you'd hear
described for the princess of a fairy tale. Had I really never
heard her laugh before, or was it just that she hadn't ever really
meant it before?

"She left about five minutes before James
did."

"Still chatting up her prime candidate for
the big dance?"

Rachel nodded as we skirted the last two
tables between us and the one exterior door in the tutor lab.

"Yep, she's definitely settled on Tim
Parsons, who's perfect if you like your men fairly handsome,
moderately popular, and built like an ox."

I wanted to protest, but if anything Rachel
was being too kind. I'd seen Tim trying to sound out the captions
underneath the pictures in Sports Illustrated of his favorite pro
football players.

I was just about to ask who we were going to
ride with, more as a way of changing the subject than anything
else, when movement off to my right answered the question.

"Alec!"

The last thing I was expecting out of Rachel
was for her to all but run towards Alec with her arms out as if
expecting a hug. Even so, that was less surprising than the fact
that Alec accepted the hug, turning slightly to the side to receive
her, but still reaching out with his left arm to pull her in close,
albeit only briefly.

"You didn't think I'd forget did you?"

"Not forget no, just maybe be a little
late."

As abruptly as that, the interplay between
the two siblings ended, leaving an uncomfortable silence as odd as
the affection from a moment before.

We walked to Alec's car in silence, the pair
of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts, and me wondering why
Alec had agreed to give me a ride home. I wasn't enough of a car
aficionado to recognize the vehicle other than the fact that it was
a mat gray and had the kind of smooth, exotic lines all of the high
end vehicles seemed to be striving for right now. Rachel slipped in
the backseat while I was still wondering how this seemingly
low-profile ride matched up against Brandon's Mustang.

"Did you enter the drawing for Les Misérables
tickets?"

I looked over to find Rachel sitting in the
middle of the seat, happily leaning forward so she could talk to
us. "Yes, but so did everyone else. My chances are so dismal
they're not even worth mentioning."

Rachel looked like she was going to argue, or
say something cheerful, but the back of my mind had been trying to
figure out how she could be even with us, but still sitting in the
back seat. I did a quick check to verify my suspicion.

"Rachel, you should be wearing your
seatbelt."

"Why? It isn't like anyone is going to pull
us over and give us a ticket."

It was more difficult than I expected to
formulate a coherent answer while fighting off the first quivering
indications of another attack.

"She's right, Rachel. You should be buckled
in."

I expected her to argue with him. No girl on
the planet liked it when her older brother sided with her friends
against her, but Rachel just frowned a little before scooting back
so she could do up her seatbelt.

Was she really that scared of him? I stole a
glance at him out of the corner of my eye. He didn't look
threatening, well at least no more so than usual. Anyone with that
many muscles was at least a little threatening. But he was just
sitting there casually, driving along, seemingly without a care in
the world. In fact, he wasn't buckled in either.

"Isn't that a bit hypocritical? I mean you
tell her to buckle up, but you're not buckled up yourself."

Alec shrugged, "Yes, I suppose it does look
hypocritical at that. Let's just say Rachel would be missed if we
hit another car, but nobody would need to miss me."

The answer was like something you'd expect
from a politician. It conveyed absolutely no information, and his
supreme confidence was infuriating.

Luckily, I wouldn't have to hold my tongue
for very long. We were already gliding around the last bend in the
road before our lane. I expected Alec to slow to a stop and make me
walk like James had. He slowed, but just enough to make the turn
down the dusty lane.

Rachel jumped out of the car as soon as it
slowed down and opened my door for me. "Enjoy the rest of your
night, and don't lose hope on Les Misérables. You never know when
you're going to beat the odds."

Shaking my head in amazement at Rachel's
unfailing optimism, I turned to thank Alec for the ride. He was
scowling a little again, which almost made me get out without
saying anything. My thanks received only a nod in return, and then
Rachel was waving goodbye as they backed down the lane.

The Jeep was gone of course. I wiped away the
beginnings of perspiration as I climbed our steps. It was still hot
enough outside that I knew it was going to be miserable inside.

By the time I reached the door I was
contemplating just finding a decent tree and spending the afternoon
outside. The sight of a white envelope, barely visible against the
off-white door, was enough to drive those thoughts out of my
head.

It had my name on the side that'd been facing
the door. I pulled it down as I walked inside the house. Mom was
gone, there wasn't any reason I couldn't read whatever was in the
envelope in the living room, but I found myself quickly climbing up
our creaky stairs and closing my bedroom door behind me.