She's Broken

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sitting in the library the next day was like finally finding a sancturary. The library, unlike at most schools, was quite popular among students. The canteen was where most of the kids tended to hang out but the library was quieter, out of the way and didn't have as many of the younger students running around.

I heard footsteps approaching and some voices became louder. The chair across from me scooted out but I didn't look up, I kept my eyes trained on the book in front of me, skimming along the words.

"Don't sit too close," one of the girls whispered, pulling the chair out and dumping her things on the floor beside her. Listening to their hushed whispers just made me wish that I had my IPod with me, let me block out the world and let them get on with their gossiping.

My IPod was still sitting at home on my bed, waiting for me. It was there alongside my house keys. I'd been in a rush to get out that morning, my mum had been in an irritable mood since she got back the previous night from watching Blue.

Just to make her mood worse, she'd found the letter that Finn had sent to me and she'd not been overly happy about it. She'd nearly shredded it until I took it from the table and hid it up in my room. I was going to get rid of it at school, chuck it in the bin and bury it in the past, just like everything else. In the end, I didn't have any time to dispose of it at school, with Jenna following me all day and chucking it out at home wouldn't have worked. 

Since Finn had been arrested, my mum had been checking the bins. He used to hide everything in there, just stuff it at the bottom in a carrier bag covered in sweet wrappers. Condoms, bloody tissues, photographs, the lot. That was how my parents had started to put the pieces together, the final secret finally being uncovered when they'd caught him in the act.

The letter had really set my mum off at once, hence the reason I left so early. My mum only knew what my lawyer knew, which meant that she didn't know very much at all. They knew all the vague details but they didn't know that it had been happening throughout my lifetime. The court thought there were two occasions, one of which he was under the influence of alcohol. Nobody knew all of the details, not even my mum. It was something that I had been too ashamed about to speak of. Finn had made sure to scare me into keeping my mouth shut.

My dad wasn't on side, either. He didn't think that Finn was capable of doing something like that, not his Finn. So, he'd told me that I needed to tell the truth, I was getting the attention that I wanted so it was time to drop the crap because it was getting Finn into some serious trouble.

"You might catch something," the other girl whispered. It was then that I looked up to meet the eyes of the two girls. I did't recognise them, probably because they appeared to be a couple years younger than me. Both of them stared back with disgust in their eyes as they moved as far from me as possible.

"She's not contagious. Now do me a favour and go play with your barbies, we've got grown up stuff to talk about." Jenna's voice cut through my daydream, startling the two girls. Their heads snapped up, staring at my best friend in disbelief. They were no match for her, anyway, she just raised her eyebrows impatiently.

"Well? Get lost." The girls grabbed their things, not before tutting and storming away, making the chair scoot back. The sound from the carpet echoed through the room, making the librarian shoot a disapproving look in our direction.

"Grown up things to talk about, eh?" I asked with a grin. She nodded, pulling the chair under the table and resting her elbows on it. Shutting my book, I waited for her to elaborate.