Breaking Loose

Going Home Broken

Chapter 2
Life in a Cast

The bell rang for the last time in the school day and everybody wasted no time in getting up with their backpacks to hurry out of the classrooms. That was a good thing, nobody was going to annoy her with questions and stares. But on the other hand, it meant that she was again the invisible girl.

Skylar shifted herself sideways in her school chair to take a better look at her friend Cristina The Broken.

"Time to go home" Skylar knocked with her knuckles on Cristina's cast and it made that hollow sound, "Hey, that sounds fun!" she knocked again on the cast.

"I am broken, that is not funny. How am I going to explain this to my parents?" Cristina pointed at her cast.

"If they are going to beat you up, then you are in serious trouble," Skylar grinned, "Otherwise use it to your advantage, no house chores for a while."

That made a lot of sense to Cristina. Now, she had an excuse to not wash the dishes after dinner or wash the bathroom.

"But now we have to get going or the bus will leave you."

Cristina placed her hands under her thigh and lifted that dead weight to lower it onto the floor, except she was not very careful and she let it fall from a few centimeters.

"Ouch!" the cast made a horrible hollow sound as its heel hit the concrete floor. Then she helped herself up after picking up the crutches and positioning them under her arms. She had almost forgotten it until her sore ribcage reminded her that the following minutes on crutches were going to hurt a bit.

They walked out of the classroom before the professor closed the door behind them. Skylar walked along with her slower friend, watching her casted leg propped forward with those pretty toes curled as if they wanted to go someplace else.

"Eh, why don't you relax?," Skylar commented, "It is not that everybody is out to peek at your pretty toes, you know?"

"I guess, but I would prefer if they did not"

Skylar's mobile phone rang, she hasted to get it out of her backpack and answered. They had already reached the upper part of the long stairs that connected the forecourt with the bus esplanade.

Cristina stood there with her crutches looking at those stairs like David looking at Goliath, except she was not feeling valiant enough. She threw Skylar an inquiring look.

"Yes, okay," Skylar said over the phone while gesturing Cristina to wait a while longer.

Cristina hovered her long leg cast over the mouth of the abyss. She moved the tips of her crutches closer to the edge, trying to figure out how to best tackle this new challenge. Since she was good in most subjects at school, she analyzed the scenario and figured that she would first lower the tips of her crutches one step down, keeping her cast propped forward but somehow leaning back a bit to keep her center of gravity as low as possible and aft of her to minimize the risk of her worst scenario, losing balance and tumbling down the stairs with a cast, crutches and end up with a limp body with a broken neck.

"Hey, wait!" Skylar motioned, patting Cristina on her shoulder, "my mom is coming to pick me up, we can give you a ride home."

Cristina felt a relieved that she had been saved from getting herself down this long staircase on crutches and facing that idiot on the bus, at least for today.

They walked towards the front school entrance as fast as Cristina's pace allowed. When they got to the external porch they sat down on its side that was high due to the plants.

There were a handful of students there too, and some of them stared at Cristina's cast with a curiosity which made her immediately uncomfortable to the point her face blushed constantly.

Skylar, who knew people well, and especially her friend did not fail to recognize the situation her poor friend was in.

"Poor thing, I guess I will never get her to wear sandals," Skylar thought, smiling at Cristina.

Skylar saw one of the cute guys stare much longer than usual at Cristina's foot. Cristina was already hot to the point of sweating as if his sight was simmering her like a lobster in a pot.

She curled her toes in a futile effort to get them away from his penetrating stare.

Skylar noticed the poor toes curling as if they were screaming "help! get us out of here!" and yes, there was nothing they could do. They were free to move but attached to the rest and its impossibility to move for quite some time.

She decided her strange but loving girlfriend had endured enough for today. Skylar leaned forward all the way down, grabbed Cristina's cast by the ankle and lifted her casted leg to her lap leaning the ankle of the cast on her thigh.

It felt heavy on Skylar's skinny thighs and she wondered what it must be like to wear a cast. Curiosity was getting the best of her as well. Skylar then cupped her right hand over Cristina's exposed toes to isolate them from the direct stares. She looked at Cristina raising her eyebrows and Cristina pursed her lips briefly. Now, the two cute guys stopped staring at her foot. Every now and then they stared at her cast but that did not worry Cristina.

Skylar stared back at the guy -a senior she believed- that stared at her cupping Cristina's foot. Unconsciously, she had been caressing her friend's toes, they felt soft and tender and she just left herself enjoy the feeling. Cristina, in turn, closed her eyes; you would not know whether she wanted to isolate her mind from the stares or was simply enjoying the moment.

The stare of the guy was relentless. Skylar lifted her chin up looking at him as if to ask what was the matter. It had the effect she wanted, the guy stopped staring and looked away.

Skylar realized she had been caressing the soft toes and stopped doing it, somewhat embarrassed herself. When she looked at Cristina she found her in a state of calm as if enjoying the moment.

"So you like it, you foxy little friend!" Skylar woke up Cristina from her entranced state. It was a rude awakening and now she was blushed once again.

Skylar turned to the left and took out a small package of cookies from her backpack. She opened it and offered it to Cristina who took a pair. Then Skylar popped one cookie with her fingers and brought it to her mouth.

"Aw!" Cristina put her hand on her mouth, "you put it in your mouth with the same hand you had on my foot!" stress done on the last word.

"And? Are they dirty? You do not even walk barefoot or in sandals. Your feet are so clean I could eat on them!" Skylar took the cookie out of her mouth and showed it to her in half the size it originally was and then put it back in her mouth smiling back at Cristina.

A claxon sounded and when they looked it was Skylar's mom's SUV pulling on the front porch of the school. Cristina grabbed her new friends and quickly hobbled to the car together with Skylar. One hurdle less for the day, soon she would be home but she had to figure out how to break it (no pun intended) to her parents.