Broken

Chapter 1

Aurora’s POV

“Here comes the wicked witch of the west,” Mia mumbled, rolling her eyes and sighing.

I glanced behind me and saw my brother and his girlfriend. She was smiling and showing off her new nails to one of her friends. My brother looked pissed off.

So, nothing new.

“I really want to beat the shit out of him,” Rhys said, making me look back at my friends. “He is such a fucking dick.”

My heart clenched painfully. He was talking about my twin and hearing him say those words hurt. But what hurt the most was that Rhys wasn’t wrong. My brother was a dick. He was mean and he did everything he possibly could to hurt me. He would laugh at me. He would insult me. He would do anything and everything to make me feel bad about myself.

What hurt so much more is that he wasn’t always like that.

It all started about four months ago when he started dating Amelia. She was the most popular girl in school. She was a classic bitch who stepped over everything and everyone to get what she wanted. My brother was just one of the things on her list and she finally managed to stick her claws into him.

She also hated me for some unknown reason and she somehow managed to convince my brother that he needed to hate me too. At first, I thought that she was crazy for even attempting to do something like that, but what broke my heart completely was the fact that she managed to do it.

My brother hated me.

Having to deal with his hate was the hardest thing I ever had to do. We used to love each other so much. We used to be best friends. He used to be my biggest protector. He used to be the most important person in my life.

I couldn't understand how he could go from loving me so much to hating me overnight.

Unless he never loved me before. Unless it was all just a big lie.

But why? What did he have to gain from lying to me? We grew up together. We did everything together. We learned how to walk and talk together. He was a part of me and I was a part of him. He would get nothing by lying to me for 18 years.

“Let it go, Rhys,” I said as I looked back at the food in front of me. “There is nothing you can do.”

Rhys tried. He tried so hard. He was Sebastian’s best friend and Sebastian threw him away just like he threw me away. Rhys was pissed as fuck and he had every right to be. He tried talking to Sebastian so many times. He even punched him one time. Nothing worked. I gave up a long time ago. I had to find a way to accept that I lost my brother forever. Rhys had to accept that too.

“I can’t let it go, Ro,” Rhys said angrily. “He is being a dick. He is hurting you. He is hurting me. He is hurting everyone around him.”
I looked up at Rhys and took a deep breath.

“Just a few more months and I will be off to college,” I said. “No more Amelia. No more Sebastian. I will start over and forget about them both.”

Rhys clenched his fists.

“Aurora…,” he said sternly, but I interrupted him.

“I don’t care, Rhys,” I said. “He is gone. Accept it.”

Rhys narrowed his eyes at me.

“Oh, God, I hate that bitch so fucking much,” Mia mumbled, making me look at her. “Look at her throwing herself all over Sebastian. We are in a fucking cafeteria, not some cheap strip club.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. If anyone hated Amelia more than I did it was Mia. I was sure that she would pluck Amelia’s eyes out if I let her.

Mia rolled her eyes and looked at me.

“Sebastian is looking at us and he looks angry,” she said.

I sighed and picked up my fork.

“Oh, joy,” I mumbled sarcastically. “I was a bit worried. He hasn’t filled his insult quota for the day. Maybe he will come here and throw a few in, just for good measure.”

“I am not so sure,” Mia said, chuckling. “Rhys is looking at him like he is trying to use that Star Wars force to strangle him.”

I looked up at Rhys and rolled my eyes.

“Stop it,” I told him. “Just ignore him.”

Rhys looked at me and narrowed his eyes.

“Fuck no, Aurora,” he said angrily. “I am not letting him off the hook. He is hurting you and I won’t let him do that.”

I gulped and took a deep breath. A part of me was happy that Rhys was standing up for me, but the other part of me knew it was useless. Sebastian wouldn’t do anything at school, but he would start with the insults as soon as I walked through the front door. It was going to be so much worse if Amelia was going to be there.

But I could handle it. It wasn’t anything new.

“Oh, will you two just fuck each other already?” Mia mumbled, rolling her eyes at us.

I felt heat rushing to my cheeks. I looked at her in shock.

I always had a crush on Rhys and he always had a crush on me, but we never did anything because Sebastian wasn’t okay with that. Not because it was Rhys, but because he didn’t want me to date anyone. He was always very protective.

“Oh, come on,” Mia said, sighing loudly. “That dick isn’t standing in your way anymore. You can just get this thing going so we can reduce the sexual tension between you two.”

“Jesus, Mia,” Rhys mumbled, running his fingers through his hair.

I cleared my throat and started putting everything back on my tray.

“I guess that this is my cue to leave,” I said, keeping my eyes on the tray. “I will see you guys later.”

“Do you need me to drive you back home?” Rhys asked, making me glance up at him.

“It’s okay,” I said as I stood up. “I will walk. I need a bit of exercise. I’ve been sitting all day.”

“Okay, Ro,” Rhys said softly.

“See you later, Ro,” Mia said, looking back at my brother and his girlfriend.

I took a deep breath as I started walking away. I could feel my brother’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him. I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.

I would never show him how much it hurt. I would never show him how broken I was. I would never let him know that I cried myself to sleep every night since he started hating me.

He would never know how alone I felt. He would never know that I sometimes wished for death just to make the pain stop.