Page 64 of Broken

She turned to look at me, and there was so much in her expression. So much sadness, pain, and confusion I didn’t know how to fix. Things I’d hoped I’d helped her with ages ago.

“Do you think he’d hate me now? If he was here? For this?” She lowered her legs and pressed a hand to her stomach.

I shook my head, amazed that she could even think that way. “Your dad would never hate you, Izzy. He might be upset, but it’s me he’d hate for ruining your future.”

“My future’s not ruined, Tucker. It’s just going to be different.”

“But it shouldn’t have to be.”

“No, it shouldn’t,” she agreed. “But it is.”

Chapter 18

ANNIE

There were a million and one things barreling through my head, and for once, I didn’t think running would be enough. Since everything had come out with Izzy and Tucker, things had been more than stressful. Mom had gone off the deep end, fighting with Izzy every second they were both at home, still furious at her and trying to convince her to go for adoption.

Izzy was steadfastly holding her ground and kept hiding out in her studio, doing thirty-minute dance sprints just to keep her sanity. It was worrying the hell out of me after learning how her dedication to dance had been affecting her lately, but she at least swore she was taking it easier now, just doing it to take out her frustration.

Poor Archer didn’t know what way was up, and I’d spent the last few evenings trying to reassure him of everything that wasgoing on. Even having to give him a basics version of the sex talk when he’d just had too many questions. Kid didn’t know when to quit.

Then there was me, once again trying to keep the house afloat while everything was going into chaos. Part of me didn’t mind becausesomeonehad to do it, while the other part of me was a hair’s breadth away from screaming because I was not equipped for any of this shit either.

I mean, my freaking sister waspregnant! And she wanted to keep it. If I didn’t know Izzy, I’d swear she lost her mind. She hadeverythinggoing for her. An amazing audition and talent oozing out of every pore of her body. And here she was, ready to throw it all away because our freaking idiot best friend forgot to wrap his fucking dick one time.

Not that I had proof that that’s when it happened, but follow the logic…

And freaking Tucker! He had just as much if not more to lose. The one thing I’d give him was that he wasn’t running away. He was owning this fuckup. Sticking by Izzy’s side. And when he wasn’t, he was engrossed in basketball, staying late at practice or honing drills in his driveway. Other than that, I didn’t know where his head was. He wasn’t talking. But as long as he had my sister’s back, I could deal.

Then there was Jet. And as hard as he tried not to show it, I knew he was devastated over football. Not only was he missing out on the playoffs for his last season, but his chances of a scholarship were so small now… I was digging deep every day to maintain my hope that one would still come through. That his arm would heal in time and our team would get close enough to the championships for him to still play.

I was basically pushing for a miracle.

One that Jet had to believeIbelieved in for him not to give up.

He was out there on that field every day for practice, working with the coaches and going over plays and drills with his teammates, doing everything he could to still contribute to his team. His heart and soul were in it, but underneath it all, when we were alone and he didn’t have to put up the front, I saw the discouragement and all of his doubts. He’d duck inside his family’s garage every evening to work on his Mustang, tuning it and doing whatever else he could on his car with his broken arm. And I sat in his garage with him for hours, set up with my books on a stool at the tool counter as I studied. My standing as the top of our class didn’t just come from nowhere, but it wasn’t how I usually functioned. I was dealing, though, providing Jet with my company while Izzy buried herself away with her own stress and demons.

We all had our outlets. It was just mine that was getting pushed to the ground and forgotten. There wasn’t enough of me or my time to go around.

So, with a stress-induced panic attack just waiting to pounce from the load on the back of my shoulders, I got permission from Jet’s coach that afternoon to run the outer lane at the track during football practice.

It was utter freedom.

Tension melting from my muscles like butter.

But with letting so much get pent up in the first place, it was hard to drown out the heavy weight of everything that was waiting for me.

It was just enough, though, to help me sustain. To be what each of my friends and my family needed. I could do this.

My body and my sanity just needed to run.

If only running away from it all was really an option.

The thought was wistful, but at the same time, I knew I didn’t really want to. The only thing that would really fix everythingwas turning back time. Like a factory reset to before things started going wrong.

But that was impossible.

The song changed on my headphones,Absolutelyby Nine Days filling my ears, and my muscles itched to take off with the faster tempo. I pushed myself into a full out sprint, everything drowning away, the stress, the worries, thoughts, and obligations. It all fell into oblivion the last several laps of my workout, my body finally reaching that state of numb, adrenaline-fueled euphoria I craved.

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