Unbroken (49 page)

“A girl puppy.”

“What are you going to name your puppy?”

She makes her unbelievably adorable thinking face again, this time reaching up to twirl her fingers through one of her loose curls. She stares up at me, then shakes her head.

“Can I pick when we get it?”

I laugh, realizing that my daughter is much smarter than I gave her credit for.

“Sure, Bug. Go get your suitcase. It’s almost time to go.”

I watch as she races upstairs to get her Tweety Bird suitcase, reveling in the idea that she has no idea what’s truly going on. She has no clue about the double meaning behind my words.

COMING SOON-JASMINE CAROLINA

Take It All

Reflection Series #1

Coming Summer 2015

Aislinn

Four Years Ago

Fat bitches need love, too-Neanderthal

His is the first face I notice when I walk through the front doors of Barton Public Academy. At six feet tall, with tousled auburn hair, stunning chocolate brown eyes, and a smile that would instantly drop even a nun’s panties, that’s not a surprise at all.

It’s me who notices him first, because a million things go through my mind the minute I lay eyes on him.

Do I have spinach in my braces?

Is my hair too flat? Everyone seems to be rocking the Snooki poufs these days.

Does he think I’m totally lame for wearing a Harry Potter backpack with a Gryffindor tie wrapped around my waist?

Oh, God. Why did I wear overalls today?

I instantly start smoothing my hair down, even though I know there’s nothing I can do to tame these unsightly curls, but I do my best anyway.

He’s standing off to the side, against a row of lockers talking to some girl, and he glances up at me momentarily but doesn’t say anything as I walk past him. I’m holding my backpack against my shoulder, averting my gaze from the row of football players that are walking in the opposite direction that I am.

I glance at
him
once more, and then I make to walk around the corner when I hear it.

“Did you see how she looked at Breckin?” Football Dude Number One says.

So much for going unnoticed. I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

“You can’t blame her, Tommy. Fat bitches need love, too,” Football Dude Number Two says, and not a moment later, the rest of them burst into raucous laughter.

I screech to a halt and try to act like the comments and the laughter don’t hurt me, but I feel my heart stutter to a stop inside my chest. I turn on my heel and stalk up toward them, taking deep breaths and digging my fingernails into the palms of my hands so that I don’t start crying.

“Hey, fuck you,” I tell the second guy, and I glare daggers at the one called Tommy. “You’re nothing but a bunch of below average high school jocks. You’ll peak at seventeen, and the skinny cheerleading
whores
you’re dating will either be fat or pregnant by the time I get accepted to an Ivy League school. You wanna know what our lives look like ten years from now? I’ll be the CEO of a plus-sized fashion empire, and you—” I look at their clothes, “you’ll be lucky if I let you wash my car.”

They both look like they’ve swallowed something vile, but Tommy straightens up, and laughs at me.

“You’ve got spinach in your teeth.” He smirks, like he’s telling me something that I don’t know.

No matter how much I brush or floss after one of Mom’s “green” diet shakes, I
always
end up with spinach in my braces.

I make it a point to go to the bathroom and pick it out later as I roll my eyes at him. “Yeah? And you’ve probably got a small dick. Neanderthal.”

As I try to turn away from the group of guys, I run straight into a tall, built guy and I go tumbling to the floor after my books are knocked from my hands because of the impact. I close my eyes and wince when I hit the ground, and before I know it, a large, rugged hand reaches down to help me up. Reluctantly, I take it, and the guy pulls me to my feet. I don’t get a good look at him, because once I’m standing on solid ground, he begins worrying over my books which are strewn across the floor. I watch as he stacks them in his hands, my cheeks flaming. He turns around with a large smile on his face, and my heart drops to my stomach. Oh, no.

It’s
Breckin.

I’ve heard about him. Of course, I never thought I’d get to see
the
Breckin in the flesh.

“I’m so sorry about that,” he says, handing me my books.

I’m completely frozen in shock. I’m staring into his large, brown eyes and wishing that I were anywhere but here right now. He gives me another grin before extending his hand for a shake.

My hand seems to take forever to reach back and grasp his, but when it does, holy shit. Electricity. We shake hands and I avert my gaze. He moves his head slightly to the right like he’s gesturing for me to follow him. I do, but I’m not sure exactly how I’m getting my feet to move because I’m completely flustered right now.

“I’m Breckin. Why don’t you let me walk you to your next class? Maybe then the guys won’t bother you,” he says.

I stop short, and I turn on him. “I’m perfectly capable of handling myself,
Breckin
.” I say his name with disdain. I can’t stand when guys think girls need protecting. I sure as Hell don’t. “Your football buddies have the IQ of chimpanzees. I don’t need your help getting them not to bother me.”

He smiles a bit, then shrugs. “Okay, well how about you let me walk you because I want your company?”

No matter how independent I think I am, I don’t have it in me to say no to
that
. What’s the worst that could happen?

“Sure.”

We walk in silence, him still holding my books when we reach the staircase.

“Is your class on this floor?” he asks.

“No. Third.” I gulp. The
last
thing I want to do is pass out right now in front of the hottest guy I’ve ever seen after walking up three flights of stairs.

He must see me tense up, because he places a hand at the small of my back and leads me away from the staircase. I turn to give him an inquisitive look, and he flashes me a knowing smile.

“I had to do suicides during practice this morning. The last thing I want to do is walk up three flights of stairs. We can take the elevator,” he says.

We turn the corner, and there’s an elevator. I’m incredibly grateful to him for leading me away, because I was about to make a fool out of myself. He presses the button, and I just stare at him, taking in his appearance.

He wears a form fitting v-neck t-shirt, jeans that hang low on his hips, and he’s wearing regular black Vans. He walks with an easy grace, like he doesn’t give a shit about anything, but at the same time, he commands attention from everyone that passes us by. Everyone’s looking at him the same way that I’m looking at him, and that makes me uneasy. I know there’s not a chance in the world of me ever being able to be with him, but still. I don’t want to have to see that every girl here is thinking of him the same way that I am.

“We should be friends,” he says, at the exact moment that the elevator dings and the doors open for us to step inside. He places a hand against the opening and allows me to walk in. When I’m inside and so is he, he smirks at me. “Nice backpack. What House do you think you’d be sorted into?”

I don’t realize until he’s done with his question that I’ve been holding my breath. I was waiting for him to make fun of me. I exhale, giving him a shy smile. I’m glad he’s striking up conversation, because if he weren’t, this would be a long, awkward elevator ride. “Ravenclaw. I like to think Luna and I would have been best friends.”

He laughs and the doors to the elevator close. He leans against the farthest wall and sighs. “I think I’d have been a Slytherin.” I must make a surprised expression because he grins. “Not
that
kind of Slytherin. I wouldn’t be a little tool like Malfoy. More like someone who was misunderstood at first and did the right thing at the end like Regulus Black. And I would’ve been hitting on the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girls in between classes because…well, why the Hell not? They’re the smart ones.”

I never would have guessed that Breckin was a nerd. But I’m glad I know, because now I don’t feel like he’s a god that I can’t touch. Now it’s like we’re equals, and that feels good to me.

We’re silent as we ascend the hallways, not speaking until the doors open once more and he’s allowing me to step off.

“We should be friends,” Breckin says again.

I turn on him immediately. I know he’s just being nice, but I know guys like him. Guys like him are only nice to girls like me because they want something. And I need to know his angle. “Why? So you can protect me from your football buddies? I don’t need protection. I can just sit on them.”

I smile a bit at the joke I’ve made at my own expense, but Breckin isn’t laughing.

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t be so Goddamn self-deprecating. There’s nothing wrong with you.” I’m stunned by his words, so I don’t respond. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “Look, I don’t want anything from you. I don’t even know your name. I just want to be your friend because I can’t
not
be your friend. Not after you put those assholes in their place earlier. You’re so fucking unprecedented and I just want us to get to know each other, okay?”

I just blink at him. I’m thinking about how to respond when a guy walks past us and laughs.

Breckin tenses up, his fists clenching as he turns around to face the guy. “What the Hell is your problem?”

The guy glances between Breckin and me, and then laughs again, but harder this time. This seems to piss Breckin off, so he storms over to the guy and sets my books on the floor. He grabs him by his shirt and slams him against the wall.

“What the Hell is your problem?” he asks again.

The guy shakes his head. “I just…had to laugh at the chick you’re slumming with. Did she eat one of the cheerleaders you were talking to at football camp this summer?”

I step back, backing into a row of lockers and wincing. My heart starts racing and my hands clench into fists. My fingernails dig into the palms of both of my hands as I struggle to fight back the tears that are forming. I’m staring at Breckin, wondering what it is that he’s going to do or say. Most guys would just walk away. I wonder what he’s going to do at the same time that I wonder how I’m going to get through this day with a target on my back because I took an elevator ride with him.

“Watch your Goddamn mouth when you talk about her. That’s the sweetest girl I’ve ever met,” Breckin says, pointing at me. “You see her in the hallway, you turn the other way. You have some snide comment about her? You better not say it aloud because I have eyes and ears all over this school. You so much as look twice in her direction, I’ll know about it. If you fuck with her off the field, I’ll fuck with you on the field. You’ll wish you’d never been born by the time I’m through with you. You leave her the fuck alone, got it, Smith?”

The guy nods, and Breckin lets him go, scooping my books up and walking back over to me. He smiles, like he didn’t just threaten a guy in my presence, and then places his hand on my back again.

“Where’s your class?” he asks.

“308,” I reply, my voice small.

He walks me to my class in silence, and when we get to the classroom, he walks me inside, lets me choose a seat, and then sets my books down on my desk. He leans forward and kisses my hair, and then he sighs.

He’s about to walk away when I grab his hand. “Hey, Breckin?” He doesn’t answer me. He just turns and glances warily in my direction. “Okay.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Okay, what?”

I smile a bit, my emotional pain from earlier fading with every minute I’m in his presence. “Okay, we can be friends.”

He grins, extending his hand again like we’re meeting for the first time. “I need your name, Friend.”

I laugh, shaking his hand. “Aislinn.”

Nodding, he shakes my hand back and then exits the classroom. I watch his retreating figure, and I close my eyes as I collapse into my chair, wondering what the Hell this guy just did to my heart.