On Broken Stars

Chapter 6

Geneline sat in the bathtub scooping water over her shoulder absentmindedly. The first bruise had healed but another had appeared on her back. The aftermath of being pushed against the table after class. She remembered her crush on Jason ending as soon as she collided with it and tumbled to the floor. He transformed into a monster when she refused to let him touch her. For a moment, he looked murderous. His anger melted away after a few moments of watching her whimper on the floor. He dropped to his knees beside her and brushed her hair, apologizing. He had helped her to her feet and became tender once more. He had retrieved a slab of chocolate from his bag and handed it to her. A rare commodity in the town. He had requested she eat it herself without sharing it with anybody. He had lifted her onto the table and drawn uncomfortably close to her.

"Do you know how beautiful you are my love." He'd whispered into her ear as his hands snaked up her thighs, pulling her pink dress up.

A knock had saved her. A girl had forgotten her pen and she burst in to look for it. Geneline had taken the opportunity to hop off the table, gathered her belongings and ran out. He didn't try to stop her but she could feel his eyes on her. In the hallway, she'd collided with Elizabeth.

"Watch where you are going. Why don- " Elizabeth had stopped shouting as soon as she had seen Geneline's tears threatening to spill over, "Are you alright?"

Geneline shook her head on the verge of crying.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." Elizabeth had offered.

Geneline revised the incidents of the day as she stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around herself. Through the floorboards, she could hear her mother's laughed from the kitchen downstairs. Coralia was probably telling her another one of her absurd stories of the locals. For a second, Geneline's throat clenched at the thought of her sister. She envied the way she floated through life like a cloud and she had the professor's interest. Genuine interest. No one could mistake the way he looked at her, touched her and hovered protectively over her. She wanted Jason to be that way. Less monstrous.