broken | shyland ✓

chapter one

s h a n e

i was sleepy when they arrived. my head was resting against the glass, my small body sat in the bay window as i stared into the dark. it was ten pm, not too late, and a removals van, along with a small car trailing behind, had just pulled up outside. after several door slams, raised voices could be heard from outside as a family climbed out of the car.

it confused me as to why a family would be moving in next door to me at such an ominous time. the sky was midnight blue, the air chilling. it was a surprise to me that a new family was moving in; the house had been empty for many years, used as a holiday home for an elderly women. there was never a 'for sale' sign by the house, so i'm guessing the people outside had inherited it from a relative.

the first person to leave the car was a man, tall and lanky, followed by a women, hair pulled into a scraped back bun. i assumed that they must be the parents, as i saw the silhouettes of two others in the back. a few more slammed doors occurred before another figure appeared. a girl, looking a few years younger than me - perhaps fifteen or sixteen - with blonde hair. finally, the last person left the car with a subsequent bang.

it was a boy. i could see him clearer than the others due to his lean body being leant against the dark grey lamppost, golden light cascading over him. he had light brown hair, a milky chocolate colour, styled upwards into a messy quiff. i wondered what colour his eyes were, or what his voice sounded like.

he dressed very simply, too. skinny black jeans and a navy v-neck sweater, along with a pair of black trainers. i knew they were nikes from the way the lamp reflected off the white tick.

it was too dark to read the boy's expression, or see his face at all, even if he was lit up in comparison to the rest of his family. despite this, i could tell he was sad, or angry, maybe even both. i cracked open my window as quietly as possible in the hopes of hearing something. nothing exciting ever happened around here, let alone right next door to me.

'ryland, you need to come inside.' the women said about twenty minutes later. all the boxes had been unpacked from the van by the two delivery men that had driven the van, and the two adults had brought all the remaining belongings inside. the girl had gone inside straight away, leaving just the boy - ryland - on his own.

'do i?' he snapped back. his voice was a nice tone. warm, sort of smooth, and quite high, for a boy anyway.

his mother frowned. 'we all agreed that it was best to get a new start. away from everything.'

he shook his head, scoffing a little before running his hands through his hair. 'no, mom, you agreed. dad agreed. morgan and i did not agree.'

i suddenly felt like i was intruding, that perhaps the right thing would be to shut the window, go to bed and pretend i hadn't heard anything. it wasn't any of my business. regardless, being my nosy self and accepting the fact that i had nothing better to do since my parents were asleep, i carried on listening in the hopes of learning more.

i heard his mom sigh heavily. 'get inside, ryland. i've had enough of your crap.'

'you've had enough of my crap, mom?' ryland raised his voice, hinting at a sarcastic tone, 'well, guess what? i've had enough of your crap, too.' he stormed inside, brushing past his mom, who followed closely behind. his voice broke on the last few words, making my heart clench. he sounded so very broken.

and maybe i could fix him.