t w e n t y - t h r e e

20 3 2
                                    


Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.


The drive to the school was silent.  

I was also 46 minutes late.  Now 47.

Our drama this morning was flying above our heads, looming in each nook and cranny of our minds.  

Floating.

Creeping.

I still shivered when I remembered Peter's outburst.  Sure, I understood that he had a past, just like me, but now, I knew that I had to be careful around him.

He was broken like me.  Shattered.  He just hid behind a wall, like I did.

Peter muttered a good-bye to me, before driving off to his college.  

It's amazing how one day can be a horrible for one, but normal to the other.  Scholars were still walking around, talking to their friends, like on a normal school day.  No one would ever guess that Peter had just shouted at me, like he had never done before.  

You might think- He just shouted at you!  Big deal.

Not for me.  

My walls have been torn down with a sledgehammer.  I'm vulnerable.  So vulnerable I can admit that I'm this close to falling down.  On the outside, I look fine.  Clothed, clean, and maybe a little pretty. 

On the inside, I'm drenched in mud, shattered and ugly.  

Nothing in my life has mattered more than it does now.  Because I'm at the stage where I don't know what to do next.  I'm lost.

But no one can see that.  

Except for maybe Peter.  The thing is, he's lost too.

How can a lost person help another?


I walked into the school, holding the straps of my backpack.  I kept my head down, counting down the seconds till I reached my locker.  

Instead, I walked into a human being.

A boy actually.

Trevor reminder alert.

I expected the "WHAT THE HELL?" shout from the guy.

"Oh- hello!"  the guy said.

I looked up to see a tall guy, with brown hair and ice blue eyes.  A baseball cap was covering his head, a jacket slung across his shoulders.

Hot.

"I'm sorry for slamming into you," I said.

The guy looked surprised.  "I'm sorry for being in the way."

I smiled a little. 

"I'm Joey."  he introduced.

"Ch- Lottie," I remembered.

We BrokeWhere stories live. Discover now