He's Not Bad, He's Broken

Chapter 32 - Hurt

Bradley

I've been watching Kale closely. Not, in the creepy weird stalker way, but observing.

He's been. . .off. He smiles, and laughs, and jokes around, so to anyone else he seemed normal. Of course, no one knew that anything happened, so they had no reason to look into it.

But, I paid close attention.

One smile would equal a frown. After he would laugh, he would zone out. And when he made jokes, they were out of pocket.

He's turned into a different guy almost, in my eyes. To everyone else, I assume they believe he's the same.

Kale was hurting. And he took it out on others.

He would push around the freshmen in the hallways. I guess it made him feel superior.

He got mad when people bumped him in the hallway, especially if it was a girl. He would say rude things, and I would apologize.

I was not sure if this was how he was before he met me, because the guys seemed to be used to this. Jess ignored it. I despised it.

It was hard for me to comprehend that the same people that have been here for me since I moved here could be like this.

Though, they were known as the 'bad boys' and 'bad girl' of this school, no matter how dumb that sounds.

Their only friends were themselves, no one outside of the group.

I never said anything though. I was always on my tippy toes around Kale. I didn't want him to snap.

I wish I didn't think like that, for god's sake he's my boyfriend, but I did.

"Get out of the way." I watch as Kale bumps into a sophomore girl that I've seen around before. She nearly fell backwards from the force of them bumping into each other.

I rushed forward to grab her arm and stable her.
"Woah, are you okay?"

She looks at me gratefully and smiled. "Yes. Thank you." She spoke softly, walking quickly in the other direction.

I stood straighter, due to the anger I felt towards him and took a deep breath.

I hated that he acted this way. He wasn't a bad guy. He was hurting. But, he didn't need to act this way.

I paid close attention as he glanced back at me, looking confused, then he grabbed my hand and pulled me so I was at his side, then threw an arm over my shoulder.

I nearly melted into his body, loving the feeling of being so close to him. It was hard being mad at him, because he's had a hard time, but I still didn't agree with his "healing process". And I never would.

"What are you doing after school?" He asked me, as we walked through the cafeteria doors.

I push myself in front of him quickly to avoid running into someone, watching as he glared at the poor freshmen, and answered him. "Practice."

He groaned. "I wanted to hang out with you." He placed a hand on my waist.

I smile and pat his hand. "After."

"Gross." Damon gagged. "Please stop." He looked disgusted as he sat down at our lunch table. I laughed sitting across from him as Jess sat on my left and Kale in my right.

Justin and Lucas sat on the left of Damon. The seat to his right was reserved for Collin. No one knows about Damon and Collin yet, they don't even expect it. He's just another guy that sits with us at lunch.