Unbroken

Chapter 4: I Spy

Emma:

I moved quickly out of the school after gym. Mom had sent me a text letting me know that she was waiting out front. I found her SUV and hopped in the back. "Hey, Baby Girl. How was school?" Her blonde hair was pulled up in a perfect bun. Her clothes were perfectly straight, not a wrinkle in sight, even though I knew she'd been unpacking all day. I wasn't surprised. She woke up every morning this put together.

I shrugged a shoulder. Somehow, I was pretty sure that telling Mom it sucked wouldn't go over well. She sighed. "You were supposed to try harder here," she scolded lightly. Ari climbed into the passenger seat, waving at a group of girls.

"It's only the first day, mom. I'm sure things will get better." I didn't really think that was true. I told her the words I knew she wanted to hear. She shook her head. I had a feeling that I exasperated her.

Mom took me through the Starbucks drive thru to get a drink. "I am proud of you for being very adult about switching schools, Sweet Pea. I know it's not easy for you." It was probably easier than she realized. I didn't have any friends and had hoped a fresh start would make things better.

"Thanks for the drink." I sipped on my chocolate frappuccino and stared out my window. I was happy that she finally turned her attention to Ari who'd been silent up until now. We drove a few more blocks before turning onto our quiet cul-de-sac. I sat up a little straighter and blinked a couple of times as I recognized the guy walking down our street. His longish dark hair curled a bit more than I remembered from earlier, but there was no mistaking that it was Nix. I wondered where he was going when he turned and walked across the lawn of the house next to us.

Mom pulled her SUV into the garage and turned it off before hitting the garage door remote. "Your father is home. He's in his study, working. He did promise that he'd be done soon."

"Really? I thought he had to go into the office all week." Ari swept a strand of her blonde hair out of her eyes, making them appear bigger. I understood why Ari was surprised. Dad was able to work from home every couple of weeks, which I loved. My favorite thing was when he'd get us ice cream cones and we'd just sit together while we cloud watched.

Ari headed upstairs as I quickly raced through the kitchen and down the hallway before gently tapping on Dad's office door. "Come in."

I stepped inside. "Hi, Daddy." I was a little amazed that the office seemed completely unpacked. When I'd left this morning, the only things in here were the couch, desk, filing cabinet, and a potted plant. Dad wasn't really a plant person. He kept trying to kill it off so that Mom would get rid of it. At one point he told me he was sure it was related to the dandelion and would grow and thrive in any condition, even when it wasn't watered. I hadn't had the heart to tell him that I'd seen Mom sneaking to water it. It was sort of like a silent battle that neither of them knew they were fighting.

"Hey, Pumpkin. How was school?" He stood up and moved around the desk to give me a hug.

"I hate school," I replied honestly.

He chuckled as he stroked my hair. "I know, but you're so good at it."

I shrugged a shoulder and changed the subject. "I was going to go take a shower. Do you know what time we're having dinner? Or what we're having for dinner?"

Dad spun me around. He used sign language to answer. "Don't tell Mom, but I think I'm going to insist on take out tonight. The kitchen isn't fully unpacked, so do you think she'll go for it?" My paternal grandmother had been deaf most of her life. My dad learned to speak sign language at a young age. He taught me. My mom and Ari had never made the effort to learn the language. It was like Dad and I shared a secret language.

I suppressed my lips in an effort to stop the giggle that wanted out. "I hope so. She's been dying to make lasagna, though." I informed him.

"Shit. I better go let her know about my plans now. Lasagna takes a while to make," he grumbled, quickly leaving the room. It wasn't that we were being mean to Mom, but her cooking left much to be desired. She frequently tried to take short cuts while cooking, which resulted in burned or undercooked meals. She always blamed it on the stove or the way things were packaged, but I'd seen her cook. It was all her.

I headed upstairs to shower, stopping at my room to drop off my bag and grab clean clothes. The water was blissfully warm, relaxing my muscles after the stressful day. I finally coaxed myself out and got dressed, braiding my hair. There wasn't much homework for me to do tonight, but I headed to my room and sat in my window seat to get it out of the way. A small part of me was also hoping for another glimpse of Nix. I was safe from this distance. The odds were slim that I'd see him again. My window looked directly into one of the windows in his house. A girl could hope.

After my homework was done, I went to see if I could help my mom do some unpacking. The sooner the house was unpacked, the sooner I'd be able to curl up with a good book to read. I opened the door and ran directly into my dad. "Hey, Kiddo. I was just coming up to let you know that I'm going to run to grab some Chinese. Would you like to go with me?"

"If it's alright with you, I was going to go see if Mom wanted help unpacking."

"Oh, that's a good idea. I'll be back in just a minute. Orange chicken and fried rice?"

I nodded. "Yes, please."

He headed back down the stairs as I helped my mom unpack until my dad got home with food. Ari finally joined us as we all sat at the table and chatted about our day while we ate. After dinner and some more unpacking, I headed upstairs, laying my clothes out for the following day and to get ready for bed.

Twenty minutes later, light started shining through my window from the neighbor's house. I sat up and moved to my window curiously. It surprised me to see that it was Nix. I could tell he had music on in his room because I could feel the beat. He must have had the music on pretty loud.

I covered my mouth with my hand as he played the air guitar and jumped off of his bed, then started doing some hip thrusting dancing. I shouldn't have been spying, but he'd made me curious. This was a safe distance to be curious from.

I watched him dance around his room for another couple of minutes before I decided to head to bed. I started to turn when more movement caught my attention. A large man stalked into Nix's room and yelled at him. Nix must have said something that the man didn't like because the man suddenly grabbed at Nix's ears and yanked. He stormed out of the room without another word. It looked like Nix was going to run after the man, but instead, he moved swiftly to his bedroom door and slammed the door so hard that his window shook. He moved to his stereo and half-heartedly swiped at one of the buttons before falling onto his bed face first.

I slowly made my way back to my bed and climbed under the covers. What had I just witnessed?

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