Broken

Chapter 8

My head was spinning. Why would the most popular boy in school want to pick me up for school every morning?

"You don't need to do that; I can always just ride the bus."

Brandon flipped open the passenger door and motioned for me to get in. I started around the vehicle, stumbling and nearly falling before I finally made it to my destination. Brandon waited for me to get my seatbelt on and then gunned the engine, flipping around 180 degrees in a maneuver I'd never seen anyone perform outside of the movies.

"Of course I don't have to pick you up. It's more a matter of wanting to if I can say that without making things all weird. I have obligations at school, people who depend on me. I can't spend the time I'd like getting to know you there, so it just made sense to free up some time in the mornings to make that happen."

Everything was just too unreal. I couldn't believe it was all happening, so I chose to ignore the implications of what he was saying. Boys like him didn't go for girls like me. They didn't even acknowledge the possibility unless they were after something.

We'd been driving in more or less comfortable silence for several minutes before I decided to act before things got uncomfortable. "So, tell me about yourself."

"There isn't much to tell. I was born here, and I'll probably die here."

"More of the obligations you were talking about?"

Brandon nodded, staring off in the distance for a second. "Yeah. It sounds pretentious, but a lot of people depend on my family. Half the businesses in the town are owned by my family, the other half are owned by Alec's mother."

The revelation was a bit of a shock. I'd known all along they were both ridiculously rich, but them owning the livelihood of nearly every person in the town was mind boggling.

Brandon seemed to know where my thoughts were headed. "Pretty amazing huh? Anyways, I've been raised to believe I have an obligation to the town, to the people that work for us. Part of that includes making sure other people with substantial resources don't abuse their power."

It was probably about as good of a chance to really find out what was going on under the surface as I was going to get, but something inside me shied away. It was like I'd be entering a new world, one in which some of my illusions would be shattered. I'd have to face a colder interpretation of certain people's actions.

Brandon successfully defused any awkwardness, chuckling as he pulled into the school parking lot. "You really didn't know any of that?"

I shook my head, more or less speechless, and he reached out and playfully tapped the side of my face with one finger. The touch left my skin warm and tingling.

"That's what's so amazing about you. Almost everyone else at school was born here. They essentially look at every action as choosing between Alec and I. Britney, who could have legitimately stayed neutral, has been trying to get in my good graces almost since she arrived. You on the other hand could care less who has the most money."

It was an explanation. Not an iron-clad one, but good enough for now. I thanked Brandon for the ride, and was rewarded with one more wide, open smile before we split up and headed our separate ways.

I kept telling myself not to get caught up in the idea of being with someone for the first time in my life, but still went through the first two classes more or less in a daze. Mrs. Sorenson was just as nasty as she'd been every day this week, but I didn't care when she managed to stump me on her second question.

I found myself subconsciously comparing Heathcliff with Brandon during English, and Mr. Whethers had to ask me a question at least twice before I realized he was talking to me. I hardly even blushed at the inevitable giggles. I made a mental note to find out from Britney if I'd caught his question on the second or third repetition, but I rather suspected I'd forget.