Broken

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

For the first time in longer than I could remember, I woke up two minutes before my alarm went off. I was showered, dressed, and ready to go ten minutes before normal, but after pulling my books together, I just sat down on the sofa.

Today was the day. I hadn't consciously planned it when I went to bed, but circumstances were perfect. If I was wrong, mom was not only home, judging by the noises filtering down the stairs, she was awake and only a few minutes away from coming downstairs.

Even filled with the near certainty that Brandon's parents, and by extension him, were our secret benefactors, the next fifteen minutes were some of the longest in my life.

When Brandon's Mustang finally appeared around the bend in the lane, I found myself smiling so hard my face was starting to hurt. Breathing silent but heartfelt thanks that mom was in the shower and therefore couldn't hear the low rumble of the Mustang's engine, I slipped out the front door and skipped down the concrete steps.

"I figured you were either too sick to get out of bed, or you finally decided to trust me."

Brandon's gray eyes twinkled as he made a show of checking me over. "Looks like you're not sick."

I didn't know it was possible to blush and smile at the same time. "Nope, not sick."

After such a beginning, my day could hardly be anything but great. One class after another rolled by, and all of the things that normally would've bothered me just went whipping past without managing to stick.

I couldn't remember the second phase of cell division in Biology. I'd forgotten to reread the last chapter of Wuthering Heights, and Britney went out of her way to snub me. The only thing I cared about was making it to lunch so I could see Brandon again.

I dawdled on my way to Algebra, so much so I was nearly late for class. It wasn't until I sat down at my desk and felt a wave of disappointment slither through me that I realized I'd been hoping to see Brandon in between classes.

Mrs. Campbell caught me before I could leave for lunch. "Adriana, your homework is progressing along very well. At the risk of having you slow down, I'm going to admit that you're well ahead of where I'd hoped you'd be. Another couple of weeks and you'll be caught up and ready for your makeup test."

I shrugged uncomfortably. When teachers praised me, it always made me feel like I was socially deficient. I didn't necessarily mind the fact that I spend hours more on homework than any of my peers, but being praised for it always felt like a backhanded insult.

"It's ok, I'm not going to slack off. I want to be done with extra assignments as badly as you want to be finished with having to grade them."

My feeble joke evoked a smile, but I wasn't quite free to go. "Well your homework is easier to grade than most. I also wanted to let you know that I'm happy with what you've been doing at the lab, and to give you this."

As unbelievable as it was considering that most of my classmates seemed more concerned with working their fast food jobs than with doing homework, the plain envelope she handed me contained my very first paycheck. Ever.

I all but skipped out of the classroom. Sure later I'd probably complain about how small it was and wish I had enough to go shoe shopping, but for now it was just nice to know I had some discretionary money.

Brandon looked up as I walked into the cafeteria, and waved me over. As I threaded between a pair of closely-set tables I noticed that Alec's table seemed unusually unsettled. If a shouting match could be conducted in whispers, it was being done by Jasmin and James, neither of who looked like they were happy about whatever was being discussed. Alec wasn't talking, but from the way he was scanning the room, he didn't want to be there anymore than the rest of them.