Burnouts

A Little Romance

Scene 1: Addington High

Heather Blakely

Jace waves at me from down the hall. He's with a few friends but motions me over toward him.

"Hey, you're back," I say in surprise.

"And good as new." He smiles and wraps his arms around me.

"I'm glad," I pat his back and then wriggle out of his grip before it gets too uncomfortable.

"Can I walk you to class?" He asks kindly.

"Oh, no that's okay."

"Really? It's right by mine..."

"I'm fine, though. Thank you anyway."

"You're stepping in boyfriend territory," James teases, and Jace laughs with him.

"Is this a Rylin thing?"

"Well..." I shrug coyly.

"Am I a threat?"

"No, it's not that."

"Come on, Heather, we're just friends."

"I know, but it's a weird situation...you understand."

"Sure, I understand, you can't be seen with me until that necklace comes off," he teases.

"This crap?" James motions toward it. "What, is it a shock collar?" He snatches it off my neck and throws it across the floor.

I gasped as soon as I felt the chain pull apart.

Leo gave me it to show how he felt before we officially got together.

That necklace means everything to me...

"Why would you-" I try to speak, but my voice begins to crack the dam of tears.

"Heather," Jace says cautiously as he watched me pick it up, "he'll pay for it. I'm sorry."

I ignore him and walk away, letting tears fall onto the broken jewelry like they can somehow mend it.

Without it on, I feel underdressed. There was hardly a day where I went without Leo's charm on my neck.

I stop to wipe the tears from my face before I enter the classroom. It might hurt his feelings to know the necklace is broken, and I'll feel even worse.

Leo looks up at me when I walk in, and I press my lips into a smile for him.

"What's wrong?" He says immediately.

I shake my head, "nothing."

"Heather," he turns my chair so that I have to look him in the eyes, and when I do, I tear up again.

I grab his hand and drop the necklace into it.

"Aw, butterfly," Leo pulls me into a hug. "It's okay. I can get you a new one."

"I don't want a new one. I want this one."

"Things break, don't beat yourself up about it."

"I didn't break it," I say in offense.

"One of the links snapped, they do that sometimes."

"When someone snaps them," I mumble

"What?"

"James...he ripped it off of me. He wanted to prove some stupid point for Jace, I guess."

"Who the fuck is James?"