She's Broken

Chapter 30

Chapter 30. Not proofread so please ignore grammar mistakes, I will fix them when I finish. 

                Jenna rolled onto her stomach and gave me a sour look, her already tanned back glowing brown under the sun, contrasting with the grass. I had no idea why she’d suggested sunbathing, considering that she knew I hated bikinis and she was already tanned, but because I had barely seen her in three weeks, I decided to go along with it.

                “So, is she okay?” she tried to clarify. I’d told her all about Ana’s disappearance and how Eli and I were back on track, well, as back on track as we could be. There was still part of me that was hesitant about telling him things that I didn’t want others to know.

                “She seems fine. I’ve only seen Eli once since he picked her up and took her home. Spencer said that she was doing okay but he was very vague,” I said, twiddling my thumbs. Jenna rested her chin on her arms and looked at my shirt with her nose turned up.

                “As cute as it is that Eli gave you one of his shirts, take it off! You’re meant to be catching some sun,” she exclaimed, gesturing wildly with one hand. I just rolled my eyes, shaking my head.

                “No, I just burn, there’s no point.” She let it drop and looked over my head at Carter, who was struggling with a tray of drinks.

                Carter nor Jenna had said anything more about the fact that they’d slept together, they weren’t acting any differently, either. I was beginning to wonder if I’d imagined Carter telling me that they’d done the dirty.

                “What’s happening?” I asked after they’d spent a few minutes with the small talk. Carter shot me a warning look to which I raised an eyebrow.

                “With what?” Jenna enquired, bringing the straw from her lemonade to her lips.

                “The fact that the pair of you slept together and nobody is saying anything!” Jenna sighed, pushing the straw away from her mouth.

                “We slept together but decided it was a mistake and isn’t to happen again,” she remarked. I glanced sideways at Carter, who seemed pained. “Right, Carter?” Carter jolted at the sound of her voice and nodded.

                “Right.” I gave him one final longing look before giving up.

                While the two of them talked, I watched Tempest trot around with Eli. He’d been trying to get on her back all afternoon and had spent the majority of that time on the floor, looking up at his rival. All he needed to do was get on and gain her trust, let her know that he wasn’t the one trying to hurt her, only the one trying to help her. Tempest had never really given in easily; she’d even proved volatile with Finn. He was one of the first that she’d put her faith in and when he failed her, that was seemingly it.

                Eli caught my eye on his way back up to his feet. He gave me his usual nod with a small raise of the hand before turning back to his horse. I diverted my attention back to my friends, who were looking at me expectantly.