A Broken Thing

Hayden Hail isn't a virgin, she's had more than her fair share of alcoholic beverages, and her addiction to cigarettes give her the ability to smoke several packs a day. She's no angel and she never will be. With no Dad and a Mother who's less than loving, she's left broken by a boy who didn't love her enough to keep himself alive.

Derek Hayes is supposed to be the bad boy. In reality he's innocent and kind, but everyone outside of a select few individuals see a man who is cold and apathetic. Derek has his own problems, he's the youngest in a family who plays house, but then he finds a certain girl on the side of an old railroad that no one else seems to remember. He sees the cigarette in her hand, and the emotions on her face. He sees the empty blue packs piled at her feet, and the shaking of her feeble hands. He sees her messy, knotted hair, her smudged make up, her tired, puffy eyes, her broken little smile, and he can't help but fall in love.

And Hayden knows that she's broken, but when a boy finds her smoking on the side of the old railroad, he accepts her, and she slowly begins to learn that it's not her that's broken.

Please note: I do not own any of the pictures used in this story. Full credit goes to all the original photographers.