Broken (The Outsiders Series) (8 page)

“Ryan, I have a project with her. I don’t talk to her unless it’s English class. And when I do try to talk to her, she leaves the library. So I have a feeling I’ll fail English this time around. And I’ll have a real reason to be older than everyone.”

Ryan sighs and sits down on my couch. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know this was so stressful. Why do you even care about school so much? You have it made. And if your parents are as rich as they sound, then you have nothing to worry about, Carter. Your future sounds pretty set.”

I wish. But the lies are running my life again. I sigh and sit down next to him. I don’t really know what to do anymore. I have a feeling that Vandelya’s not buying my crap. And I don’t blame her either. I’m not doing a good job of playing the rich kid. I’m just a loser runaway from outside of Atlanta.

8

I walk out of History and find myself being hounded by Candy.

“Did you find the girl yet? Who is she?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” I say as we head toward second block class. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t feel like going to the winter formal.”

“You can always ask
me
, Carter.” There it goes. That’s what she wanted. And I’m about to come back with a witty response when something catches my eye. It’s up ahead of me, and around the corner, so I have to keep walking to see it. When I get there, it’s plain as day. There’s a banner on the wall that says:

              For Sale: Vidalia Onions

             
Where: Locker 432

             
When: Between Classes

             
Why: To Get Rid of Smell

“What’s this?” I ask Candy.

“That is an ad for Vidalia Onions, Carter. What do you think it is?”

I look down at her, but don’t miss the snickers and fingers that point at the sign. “Seriously, Candy. What is it for?”

She shrugs and tilts her head to the side. “It’s probably for Agriculture,” she says as she points to a smaller piece of paper near it.

I sigh and take her answer. But something about the sign is weird. And I have to figure it all out. For now, I’ll head into Chemistry. Ms. Davis is doing a lab with us, and I’m pretty excited about it. She said it’s something called Sunset in a Bag, and we’re going to experience the endothermic and exothermic reactions we’ve been learning about. So I push the sign out of my head and walk into Chemistry, where Todd and Ryan are sitting on opposite ends of the desk.

They are mad at each other
still, and Colton and Todd are blaming me. The girls don’t seem to care. I think they’re just happy that the guys are fighting over them, or one of them.

“Today,” Ms. Davis says as she walks in, “you will be working at your tables.”

“As usual,” Todd mumbles a little too loudly.

Ms. Davis fires back. “Excuse me, Todd?”

He shakes his head but doesn’t talk. For one second. “I was just saying that Carter and Ryan would probably prefer to work alone. I think they have a thing for each other.”

Ryan stands up and I stick my arm out to hold him back. He sits back down reluctantly, and I turn toward Todd.

“See, Ms. Davis. They stand up for each other. I wonder though, who is who? Which one of you is the…”

He doesn’t get to finish because Ryan jumps over me and punches Todd in the nose.
Todd falls off his stool, laughing. But that doesn’t last long because Ryan is wailing on him, and his nose starts to bleed on the floor. The girls in class think it’s gross, but the guys keep trying to get a better look. I wait a few moments before pulling Ryan off of Todd. Can’t let the guy get in trouble for nothing, but I can’t let him seriously hurt the kid, even if Todd is a douche about it. Even if he deserves every punch.

“I’m fine,” Ryan says as he pushes me away.

I let him go but stand there, waiting. Principal Wiggins walks in and looks from Todd to Ryan to me. “Mr. Daniels, fancy seeing you here today. Don’t forget what I told you on your first day here at Mason County. Now come.”

We all three go. I walk with Ryan, and Todd walks next to Principal Wiggins. Todd gets dropped off at the nurse first, and Principal Wiggins takes Ryan and
me into his office. He tells Clare to hold his calls. This is serious.

And I haven’t even been here a whole week. I make friends. I make up lies. I make out with Lane. I get offered favors from Candy. I almost get in a fight. I can’t get Vandelya out of my stupid mind. And now I break up a fight. Mason isn’t as perfect as I thought it was. This place is wacked out.

Principal Wiggins clears his throat. “Ryan Somerfield, your father will be disappointed to hear that his son was in the first fight at Mason County in five years. I’m sure you would prefer to call him yourself? Or would you like me to do the honors?” Principal Wiggins picks up the phone and holds it out to Ryan.

Ryan takes it and dials his number. While he waits, Principal Wiggins turns on me. He’s ready for some answers, and I can tell he blames this all on me.

“What happened?” he asks me.

“Todd was being disrespectful, sir. He kept insinuating things about Ryan and me.
” I shrug, not really wanting to add more to the story without Ryan.

“Dad,” Ryan starts
. “Can you come up to the school? There’s a situation, and I need you.” He hangs up.

“You couldn’t tell him over the phone, Mr. Somerfield?” Principal Wiggins asks.

“He would want me to tell him in person, Mr. Wiggins. He taught my older brother and me to wait. Some things you just say when you’re face-to-face.”

Mr. Wiggins doesn’t wait to pick up the phone again. “Your turn, Mr. Daniels.”

“I can’t,” I say. “My dad is out of town right now.”

“Don’t you have a mother, Mr. Daniels?” Principal Wiggins shakes the phone in front of me, and I take it for some stupid reason. I try to fake-dial a number but Principal Wiggins knows exactly what I’m doing. He pulls the phone from my hand. He turns toward the computer, ready to look up my records, but I know that he won’t find anything.

“Principal Wiggins,” I say, “I didn’t want to tell you this, since I figured you wouldn’t approve, but my mom went out of town with my father this time.”

Principal Wiggins stops typing and turns toward me. He places his arms on the desk. He looks into my eyes, searching for the truth, and I hold my gaze. Finally, he leans back. “It is quite inappropriate to leave you at home, Mr. Daniels. However, that is fine since you are eighteen.
We cannot do anything about that now.” He looks from me to Ryan then, and thankfully, he forgets all about the call.

“Now what happened?” he asks us both.

We tell him about Todd and the embarrassment and bullying. We tell him that I tried to hold Ryan back. We say that I pulled Ryan off of Todd. And then, when Ryan’s dad comes in, we do it all over again. By the time Todd comes in, bandaged up, the adults are scowling at him.

“What?” he asks. Then, immediately, he gets defensive. “I should sue y’all or press charges. My father is going to come up here and kick all y’all’s asses.”

“Would you like to tell him that you threatened two adults before or after?” Principal Wiggins asks as he picks up the phone. Todd swallows and sits down.

By the time we get out of there, it’s halfway through lunch. Principal Wiggins takes us down to the lunchroom and tells us to get right in line. Then, he keeps me after the others walk inside.

“Mr. Daniels, I hope that you will accept my apology. It was wrong of me to assume that you had anything to do with Mr. Somerfield’s and Mr. William’s problems.”

“It’s okay,
sir. I was standing up, and I probably looked like I was part of the whole thing.”

Principal Wiggins smiles and shoos me inside the cafeteria. Once there, I’m bombarded by questions and comments from all kinds of people. By the time I make it to my table, I’m tired. I sit down next to Ryan and Anne Marie.

“Heard you kicked his ass,” she whispers to Ryan.

Ryan looks up but doesn’t smile. “It doesn’t really matter,” he admits. “He was my friend and now I’ve lost him for good.”

Anne Marie leans forward. “Well, between you and me, you were better to Katie. Katie’s embarrassed now. No one wants to date a loser, Ryan. And Brooke’s lucky to have you. You won.”

I look down at my food to keep from rolling my eyes.
I guess it’s possible that Anne Marie changed a lot over the years. And even though she’s kind of okay, she still weirds me out with how shallow she is. And that comment didn’t really help my opinion of her either.

We sit in silence for a few minutes before Ryan speaks up. “Hey,” he whispers, “I thought your mom stayed home when your dad left? Did you lie to Principal Wiggins or something?” He shoves some corn in his mouth while he waits for me to answer.

I shrug. “I can’t get in trouble,” I say. And that part is true at least.

“Why not? Parents on your ass or something?” he asks. “Or is your dad worse than mine? If he is, I don’t blame you at all, man.”

I kind of half smile. “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” I say as I chug the rest of my chocolate milk.

“I totally understand, Carter. I do,” Ryan offers as he stands up and grabs my tray. I get up with him and we head out right when the bell rings.
We laugh and continue talking, but I can’t help but hate myself for lying. This mess is starting to get even messier.

When
we make it to the main building, I head to Creative Writing. The banner is still hanging up in the halls, and people are laughing and joking about it. I still don’t know what it’s for or why it’s up, and I try to head to that locker before class starts. I’m halfway there, when I catch a glimpse of Lane and Brooke near the girl’s bathroom. They’re standing there, hands on their hips, blocking someone.

I start to walk toward them to see what’s going on. And that’s when I see Mr. Preston walking through the hall. This must be his planning period
or something, because he always catches me after lunch – if he wants to talk. And I’m sure I’ll be meeting Vandelya in the library again.

Lane and Brooke scatter, not wanting to be caught blocking the exit to the
girl’s bathroom, and I stay just long enough to see Vandelya walking out moments later. She’s clutching her books to her chest, and she’s walking pretty fast. Her eyes are glued to the ground but everyone kind of gets out of her way. This is pretty weird now. I thought that no one talked to her anymore.

I bite my lip and think about following her, but I don’t. I turn around and go to Creative Writing. I’ll just ask her about it when I see her during fourth block, and s
he won’t just walk away from me either. She has to tell me.

---

Turns out, she doesn’t even have to show up. And I’m sitting in the library for about forty-five minutes when I realize she isn’t coming. I stand up and pack my things. This time, I will find her.

I rush out of the library and walk out the door I used last time. This girl has a knack for skipping classes. What else does she do that she shouldn’t? And this time, I don’t have to wonder, because I’m going to find out. There is no way that I’m not going to find out. She will definitely tell me because I’m going to find her. I’m not giving up
this time.

And my persistence is rewarded. I stand at the edge of the field within twenty minutes. A
nd there she is, sitting on the same log as last time.

Without thinking it through, I step out into the field. I keep my steps quiet, and she doesn’t hear me until I’m almost there.

“Think you’ve got me figured out yet, Carter?” she asks.

I stifle a laugh and sit down next to her. “Not yet,” I say as I lean forward. I rest my elbows on my knees. “I’m still working on it. And I intend to find out who you are Vandelya Tucker.”

She rolls her eyes but lowers her legs from her chest. “My middle name is Lynn,” she offers sarcastically.

“And mine is Ian. See, now we’re doing this the way we should be. This is your place too. I like it, Vandelya. It’s quiet
here.”

“It was until you got here,”
she states.

I sigh. “What’s with you, huh? Anne Marie and all them have you painted out to be some bitch that thinks she’s too good for everything. You’re not.”

“Took you long enough to figure it out.”

“Me? It took you long enough to see that I’m not the bad guy.”

“You could be,” she whispers. It’s so soft that I hardly hear what she said. But I did, and I turn to face Vandelya.

“Do you really think that?” I ask her.

She looks down and I reach out to lift up her chin.

“Do you really think I’m the bad guy, Vandelya? Be honest.”

She moves so that I can’t touch her face anymore. “I don’t know, Carter. You could be. That’s all that matters to me.”

“What about me
makes you think the bad guy, Vandelya? I don’t understand it at all. You won’t tell me a thing.”

“Neither will you, Carter. Don’t act like I’m supposed to tell you everything, when you don’t have to. Conversations are two-sided. You’re pushing me to tell you all of this stuff, but you don’t offer any information. Why not?”

“I don’t know,” I lie.

“You do,” she says as she crosses her arms and turns away.

We sit there in silence for a few minutes. I have to decide what I’m going to do now. Do I like her enough to blow my cover? I don’t know. Because it seems like the only thing I want is answers. And since I don’t know what I want from her, I keep the lies up.

“I don’t really get along with my parents. That’s why they gave me that apartment. Since I’m eighteen, they figured it was better than me running away or something.” There, that wasn’t a complete lie. I don’t get along with my parents. Even though I don’t know my real dad.
And I did run away, so I’m clueing her in on my past. In my own way.