Loving the Broken

Karli Richards ducks into a classroom. Once again, she must escape the guys who refuse to stop flirting with her. She sits in the back of the room and buries her head in her hands. You see, Karli has always had exceptional looks. She's the one girl in the school who doesn't like attention, yet she is the one who guys pine after.

She stays in the back until the bell rings and other seniors start piling in. Then, she moves to her assigned seat in the front row.

"Hello class," Mrs. Jen, our English Lit teacher begins, "before we start class, I would like to introduce our new student, Mr. Adam Rivers."

Whenever she says his name, Adam walks through the door. He's tall and a bit muscular with dark hair and green eyes. Of course, all the girls are staring, but he pays no mind to them. The teacher gives him a seat in front right next to Karli.

Karli turns and smiles at him, but he never even tries to smile back. He just looks down and begins to write something in his notebook. Karli sighs and faces the front as the teacher begins the days lesson.

At lunch, Karli takes her lunch outside to sit under the big oak tree by the lake like she does every day, but when she gets closer, she realizes there's already someone eating under it. Adam Rivers had taken her spot.

"You mind if I sit with you?" She asks him a bit shyly.

He just shrugs but his annoyance is obvious.

Karli sits next to him and unwraps her sandwich. She peeks over to see what Adam is eating and realizes he doesn't have a lunch. Either he forgot it or he can't afford to buy anything. It is a poor neighborhood, so she feared it was the latter.

She pulls out her other sandwich and holds it out to him, "here. I don't really want my other sandwich, so why don't you eat it?"

He glanced at her for a moment, "I'm not hungry," he says and turns away.

"Come on. I told you I don't want it," she says and then the worst thing possible happened. Her stomach growled, loudly. Her face flushes red.

He scoffs, "don't want it, huh?"

She sighs, "never mind."

Later that day, Adam doesn't show up for 7th period. When the teacher asks where he is, Karli volunteers to search for him.

While walking down the hall, Karli notices a note on Adam's locker. She tears the note off the locker and begins to read it.

Mom,

I'm sorry I haven't been the son you deserve. Hunter was the dad I always wished for, and when he died, I drifted away instead of being there for you. I'm afraid I can't stand to live with the sadness anymore, so here I am betraying you again. I left some money I saved up on the kitchen table. I'm sorry. Goodbye.

-Adam

Karli releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Shoving the note in her pocket, she began to run to the lake. She's felt like that's where he would go to try and end his life. As she ran, thoughts flooded her mind that seemed more like a scream in her head. What if I'm too late?

When she made it to the lake, she saw his bag by the water, and without hesitation, she dove in. She struggled underwater to move and look around. Her eyes stung and she couldn't hold her breath much longer, but she persevered. It payed off when she finally caught a glimpse of dark hair. She grabbed him and starting trying to swim up. When they broke through the surface, she could tell he was unconscious and feared the worse. She slung him on the shore and put her head to his chest to try and hear a beat. She heard his heartbeat, but it was fading, and he wasn't breathing.

Putting her CPR classes to use, she begins making short compressions to his chest. When that doesn't work, she places her lips to his to give him mouth to mouth. 

"I'm sorry, but you are not going to die, today!" Finally, Adam begins gasping for air. 

Relieved and without thinking, Kari wraps her arms around him and starts crying. It must've took him a moment to register what was happening because he just sat there before pushing her away.

"No one was suppose to save me!" He growls.

"Well, that's too bad!" Karli yells, "Because I wasn't going to stand by knowing you were making the worst, and, well, last mistake of your life!"

"Screw you!" He yells.

"No, screw you!" She yells back and then takes a deep breath, "I found your note, but I don't get it. Why do you want to die so bad?"

He narrows his eyes at her, "why should I tell you?"

Kari folds her arms, "gee, I don't know, because I just saved your life?"

He folds his arms back at her, "I never asked for an annoying little snob like you to save me."

"Fine," she says, "I guess I'll have to help you without knowing your backstory."

"Help me?" He scoffs, "I don't want to be helped. Can't you see that? Oh wait, you're one of those spoiled brats who had a perfect little family growing up and who doesn't realize that some people can't be helped!"

"You're wrong! Happiness is possible for anyone who works for it. By taking your life you're just giving up! It takes courage to live. You're a coward!"

"You can't force this down my throat!"

"That's what she said!" Karli yells and then realizes her timing is bad, "I mean, I can and I will! You are going to be happy again Rivers. You and I are now officially friends!"

He groans.

"Hey!" She yells, "you don't have to sound so disappointed."

For the next week, they ate lunch together every day and Karli would always sneak sandwiches into his back pack, so maybe he would eat them later.

One day, they were out eating by the lake when another student, Hadley Thomas approach them.

"Would you look at that?" Hadley asks, rhetorically, "miss perfect thinks she can cure depression."

"Go away, Hadley," Karli hissed.

Hadley rolled her eyes and looked at Adam, "maybe if you try again, you'll actually kill your self."

Adam just scowled, but Karli had other plans.

Unfortunately, the red, hand shaped mark left on Hadley's face proved that Karli doesn't possess much self restraint, but she decided it was worth it.

That afternoon, Adam and Karli we're walking home together. The sun is setting, so they just stayed quiet for the most part and enjoyed the scenery.

"Thank you," Adam says as they approach his house, "I meant it."

"For slapping Hadley?"

"Um, not what I was referring to, but yea, that too. I mean trying to make me happy again. You did more than anyone else was willing to. The truth is, my father abused me when I was young. I'd always be broken and bruised. Not only did he break my bones, he broke me too. Then, he left and my mom married a man named Hunter. He's the one who taught me to drive and shave. He was the father I always wanted. Then, he died, and that part of me he had fixed broke again. I decided I couldn't live broken anymore, but then this really annoying girl saved me from drowning."

Karli ignored the end and looked at him sympathetically, "I'm sorry I can't do anything to fix you."

"You already did," Adam smiles, "the same girl who saved my life is the girl who I began to fall in love with. She's also the girl who made a broken soul whole again."

"She sounds like a pretty special girl."

"She is," Adam says leaning in until his lips meet hers, and she wraps her arms around his neck.

Karli blushes a little when they pull away, "and the girl who saved your life fell for you too."