Broken

6: 'The Hotter One'

Quote: In order to succeed, we must believe we can.

"What is this place?" I ask Toby, as he sets up the targets.
"It's a safe place for Brokens." He says.
"Your Broken too?"
Toby hesitates before he replies, "Yes." He says firmly.
"So your my... Instructor?" I wonder after a while.
"I guess," He laughs, "So you better listen to me."
"Sure." I smile.
I pick up a pistol and put some bullets in it, once Toby's done setting up the targets.
"I never thought I'd be holding a gun yesterday morning." I say, "Or even getting bullet wounds stitched up."
Toby grabs his own gun, and inserts a couple of bullets as well. He hands me a pair of glasses, then positions himself in front of a target. He spreads his legs out, parallel to his shoulders, and aims the gun, clicking the bullet into its chamber. Then fires, leaving a small hole in the centre of the target. I raise my eyebrows at him, impressed.
"Your turn." Toby says, walking towards me.
He positions himself beside me. I mimic his stance slowly, starting with my legs, ending with my arms.
"Okay," he says, scanning me, "Focus, and when you're ready, shoot. Take your time."
I inhale, then exhale, focusing on the red circle. Inhale, exhale, shoot. My arms alter upwards from the impact. I scan the target to find where, or if, I hit the target. I chipped the top of the target. My cheeks feel warm.
"Good." Toby says.
I roll my eyes at him.
"Hey," He puts his hand softly on my good shoulder, "At leased you hit the target. Even I couldn't hit the target on my first try."
"Whatever, there's still room for improvement." I say, hiding a smile.

***

"How's training?" Tay asks.
We are now eating lunch together, at the cafeteria. It almost seems foolish, sitting here pretending like this is normal. Normally, we'd be at school now, then taking the subway home, to see our family. I wonder if anyone has noticed that Tay and I vanished from their lives, starting a different one. Is my sister-
"Hello? Earth to Jo! Are you still in there?" Tay snaps her fingers.
"Sorry," I stab my fork into my pasta, "Just thinking..."
"Did you learn how to use a gun?" She asks.
"Yeah, but I can barely hit the target." I say.
"You hit the target?" She raises an eyebrow.
"Chipped the corner, what about you?"
"My bullets didn't even get near the target!"
"That's okay, you'll get it soon."
She leans on me, setting her head on my good shoulder. We stay like that for awhile.

Toby and Aidan walk towards us. Toby alters a step, eyeing me.
"Umm... Why don't we continue training?" He says, not meeting my eyes.
"Sure." I say, suspiciously.
I follow him down a couple of hallways, and into the training room. He closes the door behind me.
"I didn't know that you and Taylor are... Together!" Toby says.
"What?!" I avoid his eyes.
"Don't pretend that you don't know! Isn't it obvious? Jeff told me-"
"Jeff?" I demand. How can they possibly think that I'm interested in Tay?
"Jeff told me that you two are closer than friends, but I didn't believe him then. Now I can see it!"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, holding hands, walking close to each other, leaning on each other... And the way you look at each other."
I finally look into his eyes. I expected to see anger and confusion, but instead I see sadness.
"I'm not interested in her, Toby. I'm... I don't know... I never knew that it looked that we liked each other that way." I shake my head.
Toby walks across the room and squeezes my hands, meeting my eyes.
"I'm sorry that I ever thought that, it's just..." He trails off.
I squeeze his hands back, still looking at him in the eyes. We stay like that for a long time.

***

I walk towards my dorm after dinner. I haven't seen Tay or Toby since training, so I sat with Aidan instead. We didn't really talk much, but he seems like a nice guy. My shoes squeak against the floor as I break into a jog. I glance through one of the very few windows; it's dark outside.

I don't hear anything as I reach the dorm. I open the door slowly, as if something was going to pop out from the other side and stab me. But instead I find Tay on the bed, staring at her shoes.
"Hey." I say as I sit beside her.
She looks up at me, her hazel eyes eyeing me.
"What?" I ask softly.
"What did Toby say?" She says tersely.
"Did Aidan say something?"
"No, but I know Toby did." She narrows her eyes.
I sigh choosing not to answer. I don't know what would be worse, lying or telling the truth.
"What's wrong?" I say.
"I feel like your keeping a secret from me." She says, leaning closer to me.
I bite my lip, thinking of Toby's words.
"You can trust me." She looks at me.
"Of course, and right now, I'm trusting you to trust me."
She smiles and wraps her arms around me. I wrap my arms around her hesitantly. Friends hug each other, right? That's normal. She pulls back. We're so close that our noses barely touch each other.
"Let's leave Toby out of this. Who cares about Toby!" She whispers.
Then, her lips start to collide with mine. That's when all the puzzle pieces come together; I don't love her in that way, but she loves me in that way. I dodge her kiss and pull back. Her mouth drops open and her cheeks flush red. Before she could say another word, I snap into a standing position and rush out the door.

I sprint down the hallways, I don't know where I'm going. I don't care. Tears form in my eyes. I can't cry, not now. I never knew Tay liked me that way, I never would have guessed. I find an empty hall and lean against the wall, slowly making my way down to the ground. I close my eyes and start to empty my mind.

Damn, damn, damn! I just... WOW! Ugh, sorry I have nothing to say so I'll make it quick; thanks for reading!!!

Tara <3