Broken Souls Don't Cry

Chapter 10

Sara

Sara ran to her car. She had heard Kai call after her, but she wouldn't stop, and she would definitely not look back.

The car door slammed shut behind her as she sat in her car. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles were turning white. Emotions switched from anger to fear every couple seconds as tears freely fell down her cheeks and her breathing turned ragged.

Thoughts and memories swirled through her head. Memories of high school, of hard fingers. Sara kept her eyes shut tight. Why would he think that after all this time? Deep breath. He hasn't changed one bit, he's still the jerk he was in high school. Another breath. I need to ask Professor Larsen for a reassignment. I can't work with him. She knew he was going to continue to taunt her, just like he had in high school. Just like he, and every other person, had.

No one at this school knew her past, except for Casey and Sara wanted to keep it that way. She didn't need the pity, the questions, the ridicule that she let it happen as if she was the one at fault. She had come a long way since it happened, while she knew she was still broken in ways most people could never understand, she was stronger. She had mended her broken pieces together. Just like Kintsugi, broken pottery that the Japanese would fix with a special tree sap glue and then painted the cracks gold or silver. You could see the break, but it carried its own beauty and function.

Once calm, Sara took another breath and opened her eyes. Turning the car on Sara left the school and headed home. She would email Professor Larsen for a reassignment once she got home.

**

Professor Larsen,

I need to ask for a reassignment on the project. My partner, Kai Jenson, and I have a difficult past with unpleasant memories. Unfortunately, it is getting in the way of collaborating with each other. Please consider moving us around to different partners.

Sincerely,

Sara Ashton

**

Sara,

Unfortunately, I will be unable to move you around. We all need to learn how to deal with unpleasant circumstances, situations, and people. It is a part of life.

Sincerely,

Professor Larsen

**

Sara looked at her email during her break at work and frowned. She knew asking would be a long shot but the knot in her stomach remained. Closing out of her email she headed back out to the lobby to speak with AJ. Most of the dogs had been taken care of and she only had one dog left to visit, Bruno.

"Hey AJ" Sara said as she plopped into the other office chair behind the desk.

"Sara!" AJ grinned at her in greeting. "How are all the puppy dogs today?" He swiveled his chair to face her yet continued to swivel slightly back and forth.

"They're doing pretty well today. I saved Bruno for last. He needs a bath, and I didn't want to go work most of my shift in clothes that smelled like wet dog."

He gave a chuckle. "Yeah, wet dog smell is not the most pleasant." He stopped swiveling in his chair. "How are your classes going? Any tough professors or classmates?"

"It's like you read my mind. I've got this giant project that's going to take up most of my time for the semester and my partner for the assignment is giant jerk. He doesn't work well with women. Thinks everyone just wants to sleep with him..."

"Well, do you?" he asked with slight hesitancy.

"No way!" she said firmly. "He and I have history; we went to the same high school back in California. He was a jerk then and not much has changed. I can't stand being around him. We were supposed to work on our project after class today, but he was being an asshole, so I left. I asked our professor if we could switch but she refused." She sighed, "I don't know how we're going to get along well enough to do this project"

AJ was thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Call him out on it. Every time he's being a jerk, tell him and then leave. I can't stand a lot of my teammates, some of them are class-A assholes. One thing our coaches tell us is that 'if you have a problem, use your words instead of punching each other.' Communication is key. So, call him out on it. Maybe that will help."

Sara was somewhat comforted by his advice. AJ didn't open up about a lot of things. He was a cool and funny guy, but he didn't do personal. "Thanks AJ. I'll send him a message after work and tell him off"

"That's my girl" he says and awkwardly punches her lightly on the shoulder.

"Well, I better get out there and help get the stinky off Bruno." Sara stood up and headed towards the kennel area. Maybe Bruno would be her sounding board on how exactly to tell Kai to shove it.

After she finished with Bruno, Sara looked at her phone while getting ready to leave. There was a message from Kai. Sara decided to mull over her response on her drive back to her apartment. Maybe even consult Casey if she was home.

**

When Sara walked through the door she called out to Casey but had no response. Her door was closed but the light was off. Sara figured she was probably still at the library studying. Sara dropped her bag once she entered her room then fell face first onto her bed. A giant sigh escaped her lips as she debated on either going to bed early or responding to Kai's message.

It's not like she could avoid him forever as they had to turn their proposals for the project on Tuesday. Yeah, they had a few ideas on what they could do, but nothing definitive yet, nor have they made any contact or outreach with the potential businesses or foundations they'd work with.

Sara looked at her phone before sending him a quick text.

Sara: About the project?

She closed her eyes waiting for his response. A few minutes later her phone pinged with another message.

Kai: No, about what happened at the library.

Sara: Then no.

Sara didn't wait for a response this time. She sent Casey a quick message letting her know that she was turning in early for the night, "So don't wake me up!" then turned put her phone on silent before climbing in bed and crashing for the night.

She would deal with Kai another day.