She's broken

Nine

"Tori?"

The older lady was shocked to see the young girl, laid on her front porch. What alarmed her even more was the tinted snow next to the bruised teen.

"Oh sweetie! Let me help you."

She pulled Tori up to her feet and helped her walk into their house. A tall boy with dreadlocks walked over and his eyes widened.

"Quentin, get her bags for me please."

"Okay ma." he said and did so.

"Oh my God! You came here without any shoes on?!"

Viola sat Tori on a chair and took a better look at her face. Her eyes were completely red, she had cuts on the side of her head, her hair was dirty and she was covered in bruises.

"Thank you." Tori croaked out after receiving a warm, thick blanket and fuzzy slippers. Her voice was raspy from all the pleading and crying.

"Honey tell me what happened..." Viola asked softly as if talking to her daughter.

Tori closed her eyes to prevent new tears from escaping and shook her head. Viola sighed but smiled.

"That's fine. I'll clean you up okay?"

She nodded and watched her best friend's mother walk off. Speaking of, Zack came down the stairs right after and went to the kitchen.

"We have a guest over?" he asked his mother.

"Yes we do," she answered, grabbing the first aid kit from on top of the fridge "and you should go see her."

"Okay... Where is she?"

"Living room."

He nodded and went to the living room. His eyes widened when he saw Tori silently crying. He rushed up to hug her but she flinched away.

"Don't. Please."

"Right, sorry." he said awkwardly and dropped his arms "What happened?"

She shook her head. He frowned, wanting to know what made the toughest girl he knew cry.

"I'm serious Tori, what happened?"

She still didn't reply. Viola walked over with some medical supplies.

"Here, I can do it." Zack suggested and grabbed the things "Can you leave us alone please?"

"Of course. Your brother is setting up the guest room for once you're done with her."

He nodded then looked back at his best friend. She was looking at her feet and was slightly shaking, but he didn't know that it wasn't because of the cold.

"Who did this to you?" Zack asked in a low voice but got no answer "You can trust me you know."

Could she really? They've only known each other for about two weeks. Was that enough to really know someone? Will he stay loyal or will trusting him bite her in the ass later? She never spoke of her personal issues, not even to her "friends". Only her best friend from middle school knows about her situation, but only because she was nosy then put two and two together.

Zack was tired of the silence and grabbed a tissue. He wiped a bit of the sauce out of her hair and the blood running down her face. He took out a disinfectant wipe to clean the cut on her forehead.

"That shit is huge." he mumbled.

Tori winced because of the sting, making Zack retreat his hand right away.

"Sorry."

She didn't reply. He frowned and continued disinfecting. He grabbed a bandage and stuck it on her cut. He then removed the blanket so he could move on.