Ten years later
Esther
I didn't mean to do it.
I just stumbled an inch to the right, and I watched as a boy scrambled to pick up his books and papers off the floor. His hair was rusty, his eyes reminding me of the night sky. I attempted to help him, my feet guiding me to him, but several students pushed me to the side to be the good people they really weren't. I listened to the chattering, the screaming, the stomping.
"Oh god, are you okay?" someone asked. I turned around but I could see they were staring at him, not me.
Through the commotion, I heard him grumble, "Can't believe it. We're not even one week into school, and that girl already turns into a bully."
That girl? That girl has a name, if you didn't know that.
After a few agonizing seconds of the majority of students just standing around like statues, he stood and hurried to his class, not even glancing back at me.
"I-I said I was sorry!" I called to him. Of course, he didn't turn toward me, didn't reassure me. Of course he didn't.
Someone shoved past me, hissing a word in my ear that I couldn't catch due to the crowded hallways. He slipped into his classroom as a teacher emerged from the adjacent room, rushing toward the auburn-haired boy from earlier.
"What happened?" the teacher demanded, her hand on his shoulder. Her hair shielded her dark face, her lips dry and cracked. The boy lifted a shoulder, though I can see the forced desperation behind his navy optics.
"Some girl shoved me to the ground. Didn't even help me. I'm so glad I'm not clumsy. Most accident prone freshmen are."
I'm so glad I'm not a teacher's pet. Most inconsiderate freshmen are.
The teacher looked up into the horde of students after he finished speaking, locking eyes with me for a split second, then glossed right over me. As she did, I released a breath of relief as I sidled to my first class, my cheeks burning. I saw my older sister through the window, sitting down in her seat next to the auburn-haired boy, and it took every bit of willpower to tear my gaze away from them.
As I made my way to my seat, I felt my blood run cold as I heard several voices from behind me.
"Did you watch the news last night?" a female voice piped up.
"Apparently, there's something going on with the military and the government," another replied.
"Someone's missing. A military officer, a sergeant, but they didn't catch his name." I tried to move to my seat, but I couldn't. Not at first, anyway.
Something with the military and the government?
Did it have to do with me?
Or was it just another lie to cover up the truth?
YOU ARE READING
Broken
Ciencia FicciónEsther's dad left her when she was young, and she never understood why. The only thing she was told was that his work needed him there. She believed it up until the point where and when she finds the secrets he was protecting, the dangers of keeping...
