broken // branded sequel // heathers au

sixteen

Elody's POV

"911, what's your emergency?" The operator asked me.

"My boyfriend is hurt." I cried out.

"What happened to him?" The operator questioned.

"My dad shot him." I sobbed.

Earlier That Day

"Why aren't you eating?" My father asked me.

"I'm not hungry." I replied, keeping my sleeves balled in my hands.

"Just try to get something down." My mother said. I sighed and reached for my fork, taking a bite of my green beans. My sleeve rolled up as I moved and everyone noticed.

"What the fuck happened to your wrist?" My father asked. Auden looked at me nervously. She already knew what happened.

"Nothing." I said, yanking at my sleeve again. My father opened his mouth to speak but my mother put her hand on his. A sign that he needed to calm down.

"Elody, was that a bruise?" My mother questioned softly.

"Just drop it, okay?" Auden said, coming to my defense again. Then there was silence. Dinner continued on normally but when I reached for a roll, my father caught my arm.

"Let me go!" I shouted as he slid up my sleeve and saw the shape of my boyfriend's hand on my wrist.

"It is a bruise!" He proclaimed loudly, as if he solved some great mystery. I tried to yank my arm away but his grasp was too tight.

"JD, let her go." My mother said and my father did as told, apologizing for grabbing me so roughly. "What happened, Elody?" My mother demanded to know.

"It's nothing." I lied.

"No, it's a bruise." My father corrected. "Now tell us how it happened." He added.

"Ezra and I got into an argument. He said he was sorry." I told my parents and Auden sighed, because the weight of keeping it a secret was off her chest. My mother put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Is this the first time something like this happened?" My father asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Liar." Auden mumbled.

"Shut up." I hissed back.

"Why don't you take your lipstick off, El?" Auden asked sarcastically.

"What's under your lipstick?" My father asked.

"Nothing." I answered. My mother surprised me and picked up a napkin, rubbing off my lipstick as much as she could. It was enough to reveal the split lip my loving boyfriend gave me.

"What the fuck happened to you!?" My father shouted, angrier than I had seen him in months.

"Ezra smacked her." Auden told him.

"God, do you know how to keep your big fucking mouth shut?" I asked her, seeing the hurt in her eyes as I stormed upstairs. I locked my bedroom door and finished taking off the red lipstick I had worn today. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt like a real fuck-up. Maybe I was the one who needed to keep my mouth shut.

Within a minute, my mother was at my door, knocking. "Elody, can we talk about this please?" She asked and I let her in, where she sat down at my desk. I curled up on my bed, pulling my knees to my chest.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything." I apologized.

"Did Ezra threaten you?" My mother asked and I nodded into my knees.