My 9/11

Broken

I burst out crying. I let my arms go limp. My eyes were fuzzy with water.

I had lost Palmer. I had spazzed out at him. At the same time I liked him. It was like losing twice.

He was a part of me, just like Danger and my bean hat and ribbon were. Now that I thought of it, they were all my home and comfort I had. When I had lost Danger, I was heart broken, but it was soon replaced by a new home with Collin, Brendan and Tristan. And when Tony took my hat, I was dreading if he would take it for himself. That would be like torture if he did.

Now Palmer was gone. He hated me. I knew it.

I should never had---no......he was a jerk! He could NOT do that to Bethany, not to her. It was unexceptional.

I cried even harder. My life was awful! So much mess! An orphan, I was once even kidnapped! Hard to believe. The cuts had long gone faded away so no one knew except for my friends.

Good thing Beth's parents weren't home. If her parents were here, that would be embarrassing.

Suddenly I heard someone coming up the stairs. Palmer? I walked to the stairs, still with tears in my eyes. I saw it was Bethany.

"I heard everything,"she said. I also could see mascara smeared around her eyes. At least I wasn't the only one who cried. Poor Bethany.

"You did?,"I questioned her.

"Yes, and before he left, he told me that I wasn't friends with h-him anymore" she said starting to sniffle.

" It's ok," I said giving her a hug. "If it makes you feel better, I don't think he likes me much anymore too," I said letting go of her.

"No, no that's not true. He still likes you,"she said giving me a small smile.

"But what about you?" I asked slowly.

"I'll live,"she said wiping some of her wet mascara away. "I'll probably just forget about in in two days tops,"

"Well, ok," I said concerned "but what about the Truth or Dare marathon?"

"I guess we'll just forfeit," she said spreading a smile across her face. We started giggling.

--NEXT DAY----

----PALMER POV----

I woke up to the "beeping"of my new alarm clock. I slammed the thing to be quiet and got up.

Yesterday was awful. Bethany hates me. Zoey knows my secret and I bet she doesn't like me either for being a jerk. I don't know what to do about. I guess I'll just go on with life and forget that they ever existed.

That would be hard. I shared a seat with Zoey in math and sat between Bethany and Zoey in support. Plus I know Zoey SO well, I don't know. This was going to be tricky....

I walked down my stairs. To the hall old, dark brown and wooden, getting into the kitchen.

"Hey Palmer," my Mom greeted me. She looked like a mess. Un-combed hair, lazy eyes, and drinking coffee.

"You look like a sleepyhead," I joked.

"Ya, well, don't let that worry you, get some cereal and get ready. I got your backpack ready," she said smiling a bit. "How was last night?" she suddenly asked as if she knew exactly what happened and what I was hiding.

"Just Truth or Dare," I answered simply. I didn't want to say something like: "Oh nothing," my Mom would know instantly that something was up.

"Oh, well, Bethany's Mom was talking to me last night and told me Bethany wasn't in a good mood I guess and she always is. I was just wondering if that game you were playing made her feel bad...." she said.