Broken Souls (Souls #1)

Chapter 17 - Matthews

I stand in front of my locker and stare at it. My body may be here but my mind is elsewhere. It is back in the art classroom where Destiny asked me if loss was a feeling. Her voice sounded so broken when she asked me I think my heart broke for her. I never got around to telling her yes though because I was too busy watching her deep blue eyes grow distant, like she was conjuring up a memory from long ago. In her eyes I saw pure raw pain. My heart broke again. The pain I saw shinning in her eyes immediately transported back to when I was nine years old with a burning car in front of me with my Mother trapped inside.

Strong arms suddenly wrap around me in a playful headlock and I'm brought back to the present. The arms drop and I turn around to face none other than Nico.

"Forgot your lock combination again, Matthews? I can't believe it! I swear, you got the brain of a goldfish!" He says with theatrical effect and sighs loudly. He nudges me out of the way and then a few seconds later opens the locker door with a flourish. He grabs my afternoon binders out of my locker and drops them into my awaiting hands. Before he turns away I catch his eye and I see something in it that most people probably missed. I grab his arm and he turns to look into my narrowed eyes.

"What's wrong, Nico?"

He lets out a pent up breath and kicks the locker door closed behind him.

"It's him," he says through clenched teeth.

Nico and I have had enough conversations with each other for me to know who exactly him is. Him is Nico's Uncle Pedro. Him is Jasmine's Dad. Whenever Nico's like this it could only mean one thing. Her Mother ran away - yet again - and her Dad is taking all of his anger out on their only daughter, Jasmine. Jasmine's Mom is known for running away often. She goes for over a week, heaven knows where, after her husband and her have an argument and then returns like nothing has happened. She leaves Jasmine with her monster of a husband to fend for herself.

"How long has it been?" I ask.

"Two days so far."

Whenever this happens Nico's family lets her stay with them. It's her hideaway. It's actually her real home rather than the one that should be.

"So, she'll be staying there for about five more days?"

He nods. "More or less," he says. Nico looks over at me and tips his head at the side thoughtfully. "So, what's up with you?"

I let out a shaky laugh and run my fingers through the longer hair at the top of my head. "Am I that transparent?"

Nico shakes his head, "No, not really. But, I know you better than anyone else so I can read you like an open book - just like you can read me."

"Ain't that wonderful?" I say with a touch of sarcasm.

Nico leans against the locker and stares at me. I turn my head away, foolishly thinking that if I do not look at Nico then he will drop the conversation. But everyone who is familiar Nico Romero knows that he is the definition of relentless. He won't give up on anything which he deems important.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on your mind now, or are you just going to continue staring at that wall, which is by the way just a wall and nothing magical."

"You're relentless, you know that?"

"Tell me something I don't know," he says and I glance over to see him smiling at me. I know the 'tell me something I don't know' is his not so subtle way of telling me to tell him what's on my mind.

I sigh and then say, "There are actually many things that are bothering me at the moment but I'll just tell you worst." I pause and then rest my hands on my hips. "Remember Lizzie?"

"I wish I could forget her," Nico bursts out. "I try to forget about that she-devil every day since the day I met her." He screws up his face and says, "I think she's a child hater or something."

"She and my Dad just got engaged."

Nico swears and then covers his mouth when a teacher passing by gives him a dirty look.

"Sorry, Mr. Williams!" Nico apologizes.

Mr. Williams gives him a hard last glare before turning away and walking into his classroom.

"You're kidding me, right?" Nico asks, looking at me worriedly. He knows that I won't joke about things like this, but there is a small part of him wishing that this was all just a cruel joke. When I don't answer he cusses again and slaps a hand down on my shoulder. "I'm really sorry."

I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and rounding the corner comes Hayden. He looks at Nico's hand on my shoulder and the tender look on his face before letting his gaze slide over to me.

"Am I interrupting something here?" He asks as he walks our way, "A little bromance?"

I shake Nico's hand off my shoulder and then tuck the binders under my arm.

I ignore his question and ask him, "What are you doing here? Missed us so much that you decided to come and find us?"

"Very funny," Hayden sneers and comes to stand right in front of me. His face suddenly turns serious, an expression I do not see often on Hayden, and he takes one step closer to me. "Destiny skipped lunch and is doing laps on the track," he says. "Do you know what triggered that?"

"Destiny? What's wrong with her?" Nico asks, looking worried as he turns to look at me.

"It's...complicated. But it's something she does to...relax, I guess."

He nods and stays quiet. Nico is one of the few guys I know who understands what complicated really means. His life is that. And, no one really knows so because of his facade. He hides how he really feels under humour. But every so often you can see the real Nico if you look really closely. The one who is tired. Stressed. And does what he does because he loves his family so much.

Nico snaps his fingers in front of my face. "Don't go there," he tells me sternly.

"You really can read my mind, can't you?"

"Years of friendship can do that."

I turn to Hayden and tell him what happened in art class today, because I know without a doubt that that is what triggered her to do laps on the track. Then he suggests, "Maybe you can talk to her? She won't even listen or acknowledge me. She may listen to you though."

"Why would you think that? She's been hell bent on ignoring and distancing herself from me too since the football run in we had."

Hayden nods. "She has been distancing herself more from you than me."

"Exactly," I tell him.

"But, that only means that she probably cares about you more. And therefore may listen to you - even if it is for a short period of time, it is still something."

Now that, that's something I hadn't thought of. But dammit if I didn't want it to be true.