Page 12 of Every Broken Thing

“I’ll show you respect.”

“What is going on here?” Kim’s voice rang through the hall, and Eric released me, backing away as my legs gave out. I sliddown the wall and landed hard on my ass, gasping through blind panic.

Boyt and his lackeys didn’t stick around, but I caught the low threat he threw over his shoulder as he walked away. “You won’t always have someone around to save your skinny ass, Brigs. I’m a patient guy.”

“Fuck off, you piece of shit!” Kim barked, and if I wasn’t in agonizing pain, I would have kissed her. “Silas, are you okay?”

“I’m good.” I waved her off, my nerves too fragile to handle her touching me. “He just detached my kidney. No biggie.”

“He’s such a bastard. What did you ever do to him?”

“Must be my dashing good looks. They just can’t keep their hands off me,” I laughed again, and it was only sixty percent crazed this time. “The curse of the gay and sexy.”

Her anger softened, and she chuckled. “Yeah, okay.” She held out a hand, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat as I took the offer. “What are you even doing here? We aren’t doing blocking today.”

As I found my balance, I released her hand and gingerly probed my side where Boyt had punched me. “Figured I’d help you run lines.”

“Again?” she asked incredulously. “That’s the second time this week. Are you sick again?”

I batted her hand away as she mockingly placed it against my forehead to check for a fever. “I’m being helpful.”

“You? Helpful?” She snorted. “Has hell frozen over?”

“Ouch. Words hurt, you know?” I feigned a shot to the heart, and she poked my side, causing me to inhale with a whimper. “Damn it, Kim.”

“Oops,” she said, sounding less than sympathetic.

I stuck my tongue out and followed her into the theater classroom, where the actors circled in groups running through scenes. Ms. Acker was nowhere to be found, and I collapsed intoa chair between Harris and a junior girl named Amber who I didn’t know well.

We ran lines for ages. Harris played the role of Romeo, and Caroline was Juliet, but I took over her lines for one of the scenes as she “went to the bathroom.” When it came time for Romeo and Juliet to kiss, I lunged at Harris jokingly. He thwarted my attempt to kiss him by toppling backward with an unmanly shriek, and I guffawed as he scrambled away. Apparently, my interruptions could no longer be ignored, and Ms. Acker—who’d returned sometime during my shenanigans—intervened, ordering me to leave.

I gave Kim a pout and ignored herI-warned-youglare as I gathered my backpack. “See you later, losers.” I fake saluted them with my middle finger, and they returned the gesture as Ms. Acker suppressed a smile.

Leaving the theater room, I kept my eyes peeled for signs of Boyt, but I didn’t see him or his usual backup boys. I spotted Ben standing with a couple swimmers, all with hair still damp from their practice, but I hurried away before he noticed me. I made my way through the school and out to the parking lot toward my truck, ignoring the dull throbbing in my side the whole way.

5

Dear Baby Jesus

I reached my truckand climbed inside, dropping my phone into my cup holder and my backpack on the passenger seat. Thrusting my keys into the ignition, I twisted, but instead of the familiar roar of my engine, there was the slightest clicking noise and then silence. Wait, what?

Repeating the action, I glared at my steering wheel as the same result happened again and again. My truck refused to start. Seriously? As if this day needed to get any worse!

I banged my forehead on the wheel, promising Mabel a new set of tires and a car wash, but she ignored my half-hearted pleas. She was dead as a doornail, and after searching for the cause, I found the manual switch for the lights sitting in the On position. I forgot to turn my lights off this morning.

Resting my head against the leather wheel, I moaned pathetically.

A knock on my window startled me upright, and I knew without checking who it was. Who else would it be on a day liketoday? I already ran into Eric, and now my truck’s battery was dead. Of course, the blond diver of my nightmares appeared to continue the torture.

Ben smirked at me through my window, waving his fingers in greeting, and I grimaced. I contemplated staring straight ahead and ignoring him until he went away, but I couldn’t afford such luxuries. With my dad gone until Friday, Mabel was my only means of transportation, and I was now stranded.

I unlatched my door, and he stepped back to allow it to swing open. “Car trouble?”

“No, I was meditating.”

Ben laughed, and I hated how much I liked it.

“I always pegged you for a meditating guy.” He dropped his backpack on the ground and pointed to the front of my truck. “Wanna pop the hood?”

---