Page 10 of Pretty Broken Things

“Then what’s the issue?” he asks.

I shrug. I’m not sure I can put words to what I’m feeling. Until Friday night I wanted nothing more than to put this town and all the people in it in my rearview mirror, Shane excluded. Now though, I don’t know. Sitting in that dark house with Tessa, I realized something. For so long I’ve thought if we had enough money life would be better. Tessa has a fat bank account, and she’s still missing the same things I am; love, support, a family. Money isn’t going to fix my life, because I know now that money won’t make my dad stop drinking, it won’t make him use his words rather than his fists, and it won’t make my parents love each other.

I hadn’t really seen her until that moment. I made the same mistake she and her friends do about those of us from the Park. I’ve relegated her into a box and refused to see her any other way. In my mind she was privileged, and I hated her for the life I thought she lived. I didn’t expect to find a sad girl sitting alone in a dark house. I certainly didn’t expect her to be so grateful not to be alone that she’d spend the evening with me.

For a couple of hours we forgot who we are here at school. She wasn’t the spoiled Countess, and I wasn’t the poor quarterback. I was surprised to find she’s actually funny when she’s not trying to portray a certain image. I’m not foolish enough to think our truce will hold now that school is back.

The first bell rings, beckoning everyone to their first period class. Shane and I fall into our familiar roles. Our shoulders roll back, and we stroll to the school as if we own it. We might not have rolled up in a foreign car or be wearing designer clothes, but we rule this school whether the rich assholes want to admit it or not.

My eyes roam the hall trying to catch a peek of Tessa. I find her holding court with her collection of clones. Our eyes meet for a second before she turns away, pointedly ignoring me. My eyes narrow, so that’s how she wants to do this. I’m good enough for her when we’re alone, but it appears the Countess is back now.

Shane blows out a breath. “I get it now. I thought there was an undercurrent there between you two on Friday, but I hoped I was wrong. She’s not going to change, Ford. For her there will always be a canyon between your world and hers.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I deny.

He shakes his head. “If that’s how you want to play this, fine. I know you portray an asshole to the rest of the world, but I know the real you. That girl is dangerous for you.”

Tracy strolls over and pokes me in the side. Getting close, her lush tits press against me, but there’s not a single stir below my belt. That’s a first. I’ve only just turned eighteen, way too young to have equipment failure. “I saw you checking out our queen. Doesn’t look like your cold war has thawed any.”

“You need to take extra care of our boy here. He’s a bit preoccupied with the Countess,” Shane says to Tracy.

A rumbling growl starts in my chest. It’s too fucking early to deal with these two ganging up on me. “Would you both drop that shit. I’m fine.”

Under normal circumstances Tracy and Shane are the only two people I never get irritated with. These aren’t normal circumstances. The last thing I need is them keeping tabs on me. I’ll admit that there’s a part of me, deep down, that is fascinated by the bits of the real Tessa I got a glimpse at. I don’t like the bitchy persona she puts on around all our classmates, but I got a sense that the girl I met at her house was the real version.

Seeing her revert so easily to the popular mean girl has me disappointed in her. Not that it wasn’t expected, but I did hope she wouldn’t. That was my first mistake. I’d thought my life to this point had taught me the futility of allowing hope to fester, but sometimes I surprise even myself.

Tracy doesn’t deserve my irritation though. She’s always had my back. The biggest disappointment of my life will be not being able to love her the way I wish I could have. We were each other’s first everything. My first kiss was with her behind the Dairy Shack when we were ten. Hers were the first pair of tits I touched, while playing seven minutes in heaven with her at Carter William’s twelfth birthday party. The first time I drank, which was also the first time we had sex, was in my bedroom at home when we raided my dad’s beer a couple of years later. Unfortunately, that was also the night we realized we didn’t love each other.

Still, if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a thing. She might not be the love of my life, but I can’t think of anyone I’d trust with all my firsts. Well, with the exception of being my first love. We’re cut from the same cloth, she and I. While we don’t see hearts and flowers when we look at each other, that doesn’t stop feelings of lust from coming through. Tracy is one of the sexiest women I’ve ever laid eyes on in real life. When the mood strikes, and we’re both available, we use each other to get off. We’ve come a long way from awkward fumbling in the dark. Now I flick the lights on and watch her ride me like the goddess she is.

That’s not what I miss when she takes off though. I miss my friend, the one who doesn’t take my shit, and pushes me to be more than what the Park would have me be. At least I normally appreciate it, but right now I’d like nothing more than for her to let me live in denial. Maybe this is why she leaves every time she finds the “next love of her life,” she doesn’t want to face the truth any more than I do. Sometimes those of us with the hardest exteriors are trying to protect the most vulnerable soft spots inside.

We all split to head to our first period classes. No one talks to me as I enter. Due to my academic load there are few Parkers in class with me. That means I put the meanest scowl on my face, and take a spot in the back. I spread my legs out wide. My six-four frame stretches the desks to their limits, and with me sitting the way I am, no one dares sit next to me. Thankfully, the student to teacher ratio is low, and the classes aren’t full to bursting.

Heels clack against the tile floor, and I look up to find Tessa looming over me. Her hand is propped on her hip, and her eyes are narrowed on me. “You do know this is AP English, right? I think the remedial classes are down the hall.”

“Poor doesn’t mean stupid, Countess,” I snap back at her.

“So we’re back to that, huh?” she asks quietly. I am surprised to hear a note of sadness.

I shrug. “You set the tone. I’m just matching your energy.”

She drops down in the seat next to me, brushing against my thigh as she settles in. “Could you move your big body?”

“No. Why don’t you just move? It looks like your minions are setting up in the middle of the room,” I point out.

Tessa rolls her eyes. “I do not follow. Besides, I thought you and I had a truce.”

The corner of my mouth curves up, but it’s not a friendly smile. “That ended the moment you went back to acting like a rich bitch. I won’t be your friend in secret. You either have the guts to speak to me in public or fuck off.”

She mumbles something about me being a stubborn ass under her breath, which almost makes me laugh, and settles in. “I’m talking to you now, isn’t that enough?”

I turn to face the front of the room, as the teacher enters from the hallway. “We’ll see if you keep it up.”

ChapterFive

Tessa

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