Broken

Chapter 3 [EDITED]

    The next morning, I walk into class, still cautious, but ready. On the drive to school Alex handed me a paper with everything I might need to say. Hopefully Danny won't ask any unpredictable questions. I sit down and avoid looking at Danny again.

    “Lucy.” He has stopped calling me Broken. That must mean something. He taps my arm. I look up. “We need to talk again.”

    “About what?” Gary asks. I stay as calm as I possibly can on the outside, when on the inside, it's a mad-house. My thoughts are scattered and my heart is beating so fast it feels like it's going to pop out of my chest.

    “You know what,” He stares into my eyes. I realize I'm not looking at his mouth. I shift my eyes downwards. He had to have noticed that. “Just wait for me outside the door after class. Okay?” I nod. “Good.”

    Should I wait for him? Should I not? I focus on Mr. Thomas' lips as they form around each word he says. I'm not paying attention to what he's saying. I look around and memorize his facial features, his green eyes, his thin lips, long nose, big ears. He might be good-looking if he wasn't old.

    I do what Danny tells me, although I'm still hesitant. I wait outside the door until he comes out. He grabs my forearm and pulls me down the hallway. He lets me go and turns around. “Something weird is going on around here Lucy. I have a feeling it's all because of you.”

    “I don't know what you're talking about, Danny. I'm not doing anything wrong.” I feel the lie burn within me. Why is it so hard to lie to him all of a sudden? It's not this hard when I lie to my dad. It's not even me talking to him. It's Gary.

    “Don't give me that. I talked to Alex yesterday and he was all freaked out when I said what I had observed about you. He was nervous,” Danny folds his arms and glares at me.

    Eyes down I tell myself. “You don't believe me? You don't think I'm telling the truth?”

    “No, I don't believe you. Would you believe me if I told you that I was superman? No, you wouldn't!” He yells at me. I hate it when people yell at me. I try not to cringe. I'm not supposed to hear volume.

    “Of course I don't believe that. You have the wrong hair color to be superman." I crack a smile at my lame attempt at a joke.

    “That's not my point. My point is that your lies are too easy to detect. I know about your little secret,” Danny looks at me again. I look up and meet his eyes.

    My little secret. Does he really know? Or is he trying to trick it out of me? I must keep pretending. “What little secret?” I ask, trying to keep my face void of all emotion.

    He leans toward me and I take a step back. He whispers in my ear, “That you aren't really deaf. Or mute.” He leans back. He smirks at me, amused. His hands slip into the pocket in his sweatshirt as he rests against the wall.

    I must look stunned because his smile gets broader. He really knows. I bite my lip. Do I say anything? Do I confirm anything to him? I could slap him, make him feel bad for being mean to a deaf, mute little girl. No. That's a bad idea. That could get me in trouble. Instead, Gary just mutters, “Uhh-”

    A voice cuts me off. “You can't tell anyone about our secret, Danny.” Alex places his hand on my shoulder. I reach up and touch it, squeezing tightly. “She's not ready for anyone else to know. You need to respect that. You can't even tell your parents, okay?”

    Danny looks shocked. “Wait. So you really can talk? And hear? I was just trying to get you to confess to something, anything. I thought that if I said I knew something that you would give it up. I just said the first thing that popped into my head.”

  He did what now?

    I open my mouth. “...Yes, I can.” I switch to Gary, “but you can't tell anyone about this. It's like Alex said. I'm not ready.”

    He stands there with his mouth open then he says, “So you've heard everything I've ever said about you. You heard me insult you.” He puts his fingers on the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. “Lucy, I am so sorry. I don't know what to say.”

    “There isn't anything you can say, Danny. Even if she couldn't hear, doesn't mean you should insult her. She's still human. She's still my sister,” anger rises in Alex's voice.

    I look up at him and I grab his hand harder and drag him away, leaving Danny behind us, speechless. “Alex. You didn't have to do that. I could have handled him. You just ruined your friendship with him.”

    “Well, it's not much of a loss considering everything he's done.” He stops moving. He takes a deep breath and frees himself from my grip. “I'm sorry for losing myself back there, though. I should have controlled myself more.” He slides against the wall and hits the floor with a thud.

    “Don't feel bad for what you did. Even if I could have done it alone, thanks for helping me.” He's still moping. I need to keep talking, but I don't know what to tell him. “Just relax. We need to go to class now. We're already late. I'll see you after school, okay?” He nods. I walk away.

    I see Alex and Emily standing in their normal spot after school and I run up and give him a hug. He hugs me back. “Let's go home now.” I feel him nod. We go outside and start walking. Alex tells Emily the whole story, about how Danny found out that I am not actually deaf or mute. That I'm not 'broken' like everyone thinks.

    As we walk up the stairs to the door to my house, someone calls out to us, “Hey! Lucy! Alex!”

    I turn around, “Danny? Did you follow us?” I don't care if I talked. Danny already knows my secret and no one else around here scares me anymore. I start to move toward him, but Alex holds me back by simply putting his hand on my arm, as if he can tell what I want to do. It's not like me punching his face in is a bad thing...

    “Yes, I did,” Danny steps toward us. “I just want to talk to you. Just, just hear me out.” He's panting, trying to catch his breath. “Please.” I nod him on. “I just want you to know that no one will find out anything. I promise that my lips are sealed.” He pretends to zip his lips closed. “I just thought you should know that you can trust me.”

    I smile at him, “Thank you, Danny. That means a lot to me.” Which isn't a lie. I really do think that he is able to keep my secret safe. I don't know when I decided that it was okay for him to know the truth, maybe I just decided, maybe I've known the whole time. I don't know. Either way, it's nice to have another person know the real me. Only seven people other than me know the truth. That number feels safe. It's a small enough number that not everyone knows, and it's big enough so I feel safe wherever I go.

    He nods at me. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Lucy.”

    I turn back and walk into my house. I put Gary down. Alex watches me put him down, but doesn't say anything about it. He's still cautious for me, but he'll let me do what I want. Does he still feel bad for losing his temper earlier? Maybe in the future, he'll stop caring for me so much. Maybe he'll finally realize that I'm not his little sister that needs protecting. That I'm stronger than he thinks.

As the afternoon turns into night, I can't seem to focus on anything going on around me. My thoughts are going all over the place, thinking of different situations that could occur from Danny knowing the truth about me. It could end up really bad or nothing could change except having Danny know who I am. Either way, there's nothing I can do. It's all up to him.