Being Broken

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

•Justin•

After helping Aidy clean up after breakfast, I slowly walked up to Brielle's room. Aidy and Noah had just walked out the door, and they told me to say goodbye to her for them.

Knocking softly on the big, white door, I frowned when I didn't get an answer. Tapping a little louder this time, I was surprised when I still got no response.

Cracking it open slightly, I peeked in. Brielle was sitting at her desk, and her hand was making soft, gentle strokes on something, so I assumed she was sketching.

I slowly walked over to where she was. She was facing away from me, so she either didn't hear me, or she didn't care that I was here. If I had to guess between the two, it'd be the first.

Looking down at the piece on paper, I saw the most amazing, accurate sketch of the beach. It may not sound like much, but the detail was incredible. It almost looked like it was a picture rather than a drawing. Waves were crashing up on a sandy beach that was littered with occasional shells here and there. The lines formed together to make something you would only see in an art gallery.

"That's incredible," I blurted out. Brielle jumped hard, let out a little squeak from being so startled, and slammed her notepad shut.

"What are you doing in here?!" she yelled, turning to face me.

"Nothing. I came to see what you were doing," I replied, taking a seat on her bed which was only a few feet away. "Aidy and Noah left. They said for me to tell you goodbye for them. But hey, that drawing was outstanding!"

Brielle's expression turned to one of pain. "You weren't supposed to see it," she muttered.

"See what?"

"My picture."

"Why not? It was amazing!"

A cute blush swept across her cheeks, and she looked towards the ground.

It was quiet for a minute before I spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"

Brielle lifted her head to look at me. "Um, I guess."

"Why the beach?"

She frowned. "What?"

"Why draw the beach?"

She shrugged. When she spoke, she spoke barely above a whisper. "I don't think about what I draw. It just comes to me, and I do it subconsciously. But, I've never been to the beach, so I don't know why. I've only seen pictures of it."

I swear my jaw dropped open. "You've never been to the beach?"

She shook her head.

"But you live twenty minutes away from one!"

"I know, but there's . . . too many people there," she said timidly.

"Oh," I said stupidly. Why didn't I think of that?

Suddenly, I had a really great idea. "I'll take you!"

Brielle's face paled and morphed into one of fear. "N-no, that's okay," she said, her voice shaky.

"Oh come on," I smiled. "It'd be fun!"

She shook her head no.

"Please?" I asked, putting on my best pouty face.

Shaking her head a little harder, she said, "I can't," said said, making it almost sound like a sob.

Thinking back to the story Aidy told me about Brielle's past, I knew that if I wanted to help her, I'd have to start soon. Looking at her now, I could see that even if she wanted to go to the beach, she physically couldn't. She couldn't because she was too scared. That much was easy to see.