The Broken Boy (AMANDA)

When We Fell- Hard

||Are u are u coming to the tree
Where dead man called out for his love to flee
Strange things did happen there no stranger would it be
if we met a midnight at the hanging tree.||

    Those lyrics haunted my nightmares for the next three days of my suspension. It was torture. And I mean torture. I had major anxiety with a touch depression. My mind replaying the moment in my head. The punch. The fall. The boys. Just the thought of all of them at home being scolded made me nauseous. I stood outside 90% of the day even though it's 50 degrees in the middle of December.
     On the 2nd day of my suspension I was sitting on the couch looking at the birds when the phone rang. I ignored it. My mom picked it up. She says hello and after a second or two she looks at me. She walks outside. Uh oh. She was out there for an hour or 2. Who was it was it my dad taking about if they should send me to Townsend with Isabella or her mom who is very ill or her doctor. She comes in and sits down, her hands are as cold as ice. "It was Riley's mom. She said you defended him... I'm so sorry I should have listened to you." My mom starts to tear up. "She said no has ever stood up for him... She wants to meet you." I sit in shock for a little. And I finally say " I would love to." I lied. I'm concerned about meeting his mother. I've never met an abusive parent. Will she hurt us? I have to do this though. For Riley.
    On the third day we met up with Riley's mom Lauretta. "You must be Amanda!" I carefully shake her hand. I'm so shy and it doesn't help that I'm standing before someone who's hurt Riley.  I manage a meek hello. "I have heard so much about you, you are so pretty!" "Thank you..." she sits down and I can't help but stare at her giant purse with a little metal flask peeking out the top. I try not to look at it too long. "I just want to say thank you for what you did sweetheart that meant so much to my little Riley. You see me and his father have gone through some hard times over the years and didn't pay enough attention to Riley. After a while he began to just shut us out and he never told us what was going on and now that you defended him he's told us everything." I could the tears building in my eyes but then I look at her purse again and I get a strange feeling. I ignore it and say "Life isn't fair, but I want to change that. No one has the right to get in the way of that." She gets up and gives me a hug. We finish up lunch we go our separate ways. "Wow..." that's all my mom could say when we got in the car. I couldn't help but keep thinking of the flask in her purse. He said his parents were abusive... She seemed so nice. Yeah they've been through stuff... But... They can't... I try to forget about it.
    We get home; it's about 4pm and I'm exhausted! I go straight to bed. I sit there staring at the wall. Tomorrow I go back to school...
    I woke up at around 5:15 and when I opened my eyes I saw something falling outside. It was snow! I ran out the door in my pj and burst into tears. Never in a million years have I seen snow in Chino Hills! I hurry and get dressed I can't wait to see my... My friends... What am I going to say to them?! I get dressed; I wear kind of a dark outfit. Boy aren't I a hot mama... Not! I'm wearing a kiss shirt with ripped jeans, I look emo... Oh well! I walk into school with caution. Are they taking about me? Where are the boys... Where's Riley? I don't even know if I want to see him after what happened. I sit down at a lunch table.
    I wait probably about 10 min then I spot Matt who just got off the bus. He looks different... I don't really know what though... I can't put my finger on it. I call Matt with a shaky voice. He comes over, he seems taller, and more mature. He gives me a hug. It feels good for someone to genuinely comfort me. " You okay? You seem uneasy." " I'm fine I'm just tired." My number one excuse in life.He walks away.
    I'm alone again, in the cold... It's not snowing anymore. The magic died. I didn't see Albert or Riley that morning. The bell rings I start to walk to history.
   I do see Austin though,  " Hey" "Hey" we walk in silence for second. Then he comes closer, leans in and says "You know they've been talking about you." "...Who?" Austin explains when me, Matt, Albert, Riley, and the kid who was holding me captive were taken to the office. The others only got detention and spread rumors about us. I choke back tears. "Riley..." I say under my breathe. "Thanks Austin I'll see in 5th."
    I walk into history and everything and everyone grows quiet. I walk slowly to my seat. Scared that I would trigger chaos. Celine finally comes over to me and gives me a tight hug and whispers in my ear,"It's okay..." My eyes start to water. I walk to my seat. This is worse than I thought.
   The next two periods went by terribly slow. No one would talk to me. Layla only came up to say hi and walked away. Finally I go to third period... What am I going to say to Albert. Relax we can do this... I walk to the blacktop. Unlike all the other class nobody stared at me! Khalifa still gave me hug. I walk to my number and I gave Matt a hug. I let go and sit down I feel light headed. Joann says hi and I smile back like I'm okay and say hi. Then here comes Albert... He has a brace on his hand...
    Oh God... He's gonna be mad... He's probably gonna walk over and flip me off... Or worse. He walks over and gives me the tightest hug I have ever received. I felt like I was going to suffocate. Then he just walks away. I stand there and try to comprehend what just happened. He turns around and says,"Really that shirt again!" He thinks my kiss shirts are weird. The bell rings and Mr Martin comes out. He gives me and Matt the dirtiest look. Does he know? "Where have you slackers been?" We don't answer. "Yeah that's what I thought" Oh God this is gonna be a long period. We have to run... Grrrrrrrr...
    Is it me or was it me or did Mr. Martin go extra hard today. Luckily we did ping pong. Me and Albert were partners like always and we were very quiet. Like usual, we sucked. Nothing out of the ordinary. PE ended and I was relieved. No one got mad at me no fights no drama... Peace is restored for an hour, finally! Now let's tackle math... Oh God Riley!
     I walk to math by myself, Albert left without me. Brianna is standing at the door and she asks, "Where have you been?" "I'll tell you later." I walk in and the creepy Asian kids look... Almost scared...wow. Maybe I'll like this. I sit down. I don't feel as uneasy. Until Riley walks in... I think I'm gonna cry again. He has a cast on his hand and a black eye. I swear under my breath. He looks horrible, but he looks taller, and more confident; the same change I saw in Matt this morning. He looks like a man...my man.
    My heart starts racing. Wow... I have never felt this way about a boy... He looks... Happy! He's smiling like when we were singing in the field, his medium wavy hair is combed, his shirt looks new, it's a DC shirt, it's bright blue which brings out his brown eyes. I push up my glasses and stroke my hair, I do this when I'm nervous. He look over and says,"Hey!" "Hi." "I love your shirt; I'm a sucker for oldies." Is this the same guy who wouldn't say a word a week ago? It's like night and day! I can't help but smile. The bell rings and I'm at ease... Peace.