Tears of the Broken Read Online Free PDF Page A

me
with soft eyes.
    “ I’m not really shy. I’m just quiet because
I’m new. But you won’t be able to shut me up in a few weeks.” I
laughed but stifled it quickly. As if that would be reassuring. And
there I go again with the assumptions. Who says this guy will even
talk to me after today. He’s only here because the teacher forced
him to bring me up to scale. I kind of feel sorry for him now. I
mean, some strange girl comes into the school, falls all over
herself when she looks at you, and then expects you’ll still be
talking to her weeks from now.
    He
suppressed a smile, nodding his head softly. “Well, I look forward
to seeing your more talkative side.”
    Is
he serious? Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough the first
time. Um, hello? I am totally infatuated
with you and I just met you . My inner self
pointed to my chest—shouting the words, psychopath. Crazy. You should run away, now!
    David chuckled quietly to himself. Did I miss something? What
is he laughing at? Maybe my facial expressions are giving away some
strange internal monologue or something. I knew I’d embarrass
myself, I just knew it.
    Since there’s no rock to hide under in here, I’ll have to
redirect my humiliating display with a question. “So, are the
people here nice?” That’s a normal enough kind of question. I was
going to say, “Hey let’s be rebels and ditch class—go somewhere
quiet, where we can be alone, talk for hours and get to know each
other,”—but that is way too creepy.
    After a deep breath, David nodded. “Yeah, mostly. You
shouldn’t have a problem, though. Seems you’ve struck up a
friendship with Emily Peirce?”
    “ Is
that good?” I hope it’s good. Emily seems nice. I’m just not very
good at first impressions. I’d hate to think I’d ended up friends
with the school bully.
    David coughed beside me, and when I looked at him, he looked
away. “Uh—yes, it’s good. Emily’s very popular. She has special
gift for making people like her.” He smiled to himself—probably
passing over a thought about Emily. A good one.
    “ You
like her, then?”
    “ She’s very easy to be around. I think you two will be good
friends.”
    Does
that mean I’m easy to be around? And there I go again, looking for
hidden meanings in words that aren’t there.
    “ I’m
sure you’ll make friends easily here, Ara. You’ve already made two
today and school has only just begun.” He smiled warmly.
    That
was nice of him—to say that. It’s so weird that only half an hour
ago I was terrified to even step off the driveway, and now I’m
here, alone with David, and he just called himself my
friend—completely tarnishing all my first impressions about this
once seemingly nightmarish brown building.
    “ Well, thanks.” I shrugged, but couldn’t contain my
smile.
    It
was a strange sensation, but for the first time in over two months,
I just smiled for real.

Chapter
Two
     
    “ W hy are they all
staring at me?” I whispered to David as we strolled through the
corridors to our next class—the dreaded music
class.
    David grinned, wiping his thumb across his chin.
    “ I’m right, aren’t I?” I scowled at one of
the girls, whose mouth hung open like a frog waiting for a fly.
“They are staring.”
    “ They’ll stop in a few weeks. They’re just fascinated by
anything with colour. And you are—” he smiled at my yellow dress,
“very colourful.”
    Colourful? I wish I could be smaller—small enough to fit
inside a locker.
    “ Dave—way to go, man.” A group of boys wearing the school
football team jackets passed us and waved noisily at
David.
    Hm,
I wonder if there’s some hint of fact to my earlier near-assumption
about David being a jock. He just doesn’t fit the stereotype,
though. But then, I have only talked to him for an hour. I hardly
know him at all.
    David nodded toward the boys and kept walking—close to
me—with his arm almost against mine. If I just stumble and shift
over an inch,