Broken

Chapter 1

A new life, in a new town, in a new school. 'This is exactly what you need. A fresh start where you can be someone else, no one will know you; or what happened,' my Aunt had told me. The only reason I agreed to it was because I understood she was trying to do a good thing for me. Now, I'm going to the University of London, leaving my home town of Kings Bridge in Devon. I won't lie, I'm excited to leave, the familiarity there brought up bad memories. Stubbornly, I shook the thoughts from my head, burying my head even further into my book trying to get further into my imaginary world.

"Mae, aren't you excited?" My Aunt asked me, turning her head to face me. I plastered a smile to my face as I replied.

"I can't wait," I lied. She smiled back at me before turning around again. I sighed. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd really miss my Aunt. I'm sixteen, I'm going to be one of the youngest ones there. Plus, I'll probably get a roommate, which will also be a hindrance. This will be a long few years.

Mae Anne Williamson is an incredibly beautiful girl. She has short chocolate brown hair and emerald green eyes. But there is always a strange mist of grief concealed in her orbs. When people notice, they usually leave her be, afraid of her pain. Recently, she has grown to accept this, and usually keeps herself to herself. What she didn't realise when she set off to University, her life was about to change, some for the best, most for the worst.

"Room six-hundred and ninety-eight," the secretary droned on.

"Do I have a roommate?" I questioned her, worry creeping into my voice.

"As we are such a big university, there are many people assigned to each room. You have three roommates," the secretary recited. She sounded so like a recording it was hilarious, but even that thought couldn't shake me out of my stupor.

"Okay, thank you," I said, keeping my face and voice expressionless. I accepted my key from her and made my way to the stairs. I trudged up them, trying not to show how disappointed I was. I navigated my way to room six-hundred and ninety-eight. Slowly, I took a deep breath, unlocked the door and stepped inside. Turning around, I took the room in bit by bit, including the three people already there. It was a plain room, with cream painted walls, a white carpet and four beds, each with a different colour bedspread. The only bed remaining had blue covers, which I was fine with. From there, I turned my attention to the three girls, standing stationary, waiting for me to acknowledge them. A girl with long, thin, sunshine yellow hair stuck her hand out to me.

"Kate Evans," she introduced. I shook her hand.

"Mae Williamson," I told her.

"Hope Black," a girl with cocoa brown eyes and mousey hair told me. I again shook her hand. The last girl offered me her hand. She had hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair.

"Lucy Green," she informed me. Again, I shook her hand.

"Is this my bed?" I asked, gesturing to the empty bed.

"Yeah, sorry you got last pick, I hope there's alright," Lucy apologised.

"It's fine," I told them.

"Your wardrobe is the one opposite your bed," Hope informed me, nodding toward it. I also nodded, showing her I understood. I dumped my suitcase on my bed and began unpacking my things. Hope, Kate and Lucy started gossiping, asking each other if they had boyfriends at home and such lark. I suppose I was meant to chip in, but I didn't. Finally, I finished unpacking. I grabbed a book and sat on my bed, reading. I was disturbed by Hope's voice cutting through my world.

"You don't talk very much do you?" She noticed. I shook my head.

"Tell us about yourself," Kate suggested, trying to interact with me.

"I'm sixteen, I live with my Aunt, I like reading and school, there you go, my life," I told them. It was a complete lie and rather rude, but I didn't care. Since It happened, I've not really talked to a lot of people.

"Come on, there must be more than that. What about your parents?" Kate pressed on, but when she spoke about my parents, she hit a nerve.

"Nothing about my parents nothing about my life. Keep your big fat nose out of my business!" I snapped, throwing my book down and storming out of the dorm room, slamming the door behind me. I ran through the corridors, not sure of where I was going. Before I could comprehend that someone was in front of me, I went crashing into them. It was a brown haired blue eyed, muscular boy who I recognised as a well-known jock. I didn't even bother to say sorry, I just sprinted off again, pulling my wavy mahogany brown hair out of my eyes. Sweat clung to my forehead as I finally reached my destination, the girl's toilets. I locked myself in one of the cubicles and cried. I pulled myself together fairly quickly and I headed to the most familiar place in the world, the Library. There, I could forget myself and my problems while I was someone else. In these moments, I enjoyed reading books about people with problems bigger than my own. Unfortunately, there weren't many books that lived up to this criteria. Eventually, I settled down with one I'd read a million times, and simply lost myself. I didn't notice when the Library closed, and the Librarian didn't see me in my little bundle on the floor, so I was free from judging eyes.

I sat by myself on the floor, lost in my own world until midnight. By then, I'd decided that Kate, Hope and Lucy would all be asleep and I'd be able to sneak in without being seen. Silently, I replaced the novel on the shelf and crept to my room. I unlocked the door, wincing at the slight click it made. Fortunately though, none of them stirred. I tiptoed inside, undressed, drew back the covers and eased myself down. I set an alarm for six in the morning, hours before I had to get up so I wouldn't have to face my roommates. I sighed to myself. I didn't mean to go off at Kate like that. The pain was just so raw. I probably just lost the only chance at some friends I'd ever get. Internally, I was slapping myself. A small part of my mind made me question myself. Why do I push people away? Simple, I don't want to hurt anyone the way I hurt them. The irrational part of myself figured I must be cursed almost, and I didn't want anyone to have to bare the amount of pain I bore. I sighed again. The way I go about things may not always be right, but my heart's almost always in the right place. With this thought still hovering in my brain I drifted off to sleep. Unbeknownst to me, Kate lay awake. She had seen me creep in, and although still hurt by my outburst earlier, she had seen the look of longing and pure grief on my face. Knowing that I was having such an internal battle with myself permanently, knowing that I felt that much pain really struck at her heart and she decided, even if I wouldn't make amends, she wouldn't stop trying to be my friend. With this decision to do some good in her head, Kate also let go of consciousness and fell asleep, a happy, decisive smile on her face.