Broken

Chapter 1

Not again. Not this night. This can't be happening. Not on my birthday. I can't bear to hear my parent's harsh words against each other. I can't bear the sound of the smashed glasses, the obvious evidence of my parent's missed targets. Couldn't they just spare me tonight? Why did they let their arguments get in the way of my happiness? I tried to block out the noise, but the walls were too thin, so I ran to Ray's place for comfort. Ray is my best friend, and we've been friends since we were 3. We've always gone to the same school, and we are presently in senior year, high school. He has always been there for me, even when things weren't this bad.

"I was wondering if I could stay here tonight" I said as he welcomed me with a warm smile.

"You know you're always welcome here." He's always so sweet and polite. He closed the door and we walked to the living room. "How was your day? Generally, I mean"

"It was great" I smiled, hoping that it looked as genuine as it felt. I refuse let my parent's fights get the best of me. "They got into another fight again"

"It's okay. You don't need an excuse to come here"

"Thank you"

"Has Robert asked you to prom yet?"

"Yeah he did. He asked me yesterday. I'm sorry, I thought I told you" how could I have forgotten to tell Ray that Robert asked me to prom?

"It's okay. How many times do I have to tell you that you don't need to keep apologizing whenever you forget stuff? I'm your best friend, and I know you well enough to know that you're very forgetful" he chuckled softly and swat my arm.

I got the humour and laughed a little. "I'm guessing you'd take Sophie" Ray has had a crush on Sophie since like forever, and they've been dating since 7th grade. I can't believe they're still together. They look so cute together though "have you asked her yet?"

"No, not yet. I was planning on asking her tomorrow"

"Cool" I smiled, feeling my eyes get heavy "I think I need some sleep. I'm quite sleepy" I sleep over at Ray's place sometimes.

"You should go the the guest room" he said, as he stood up "I'd get some sleep too"

"Goodnight" I said, and he went to his room. Today was fun, apart from the part that my parents had to fight, as usual. I've learnt to used to their fights, but it hasn't always been like this. We lived like one big happy family till I was 10, when my dad came home drunk one one night, and my mom wasn't happy about it. Since then, he's been coming home drunk often, but he wasn't drunk last night. I don't know what caused their fight this time, and I honestly don't care. I've gotten used, too used to their fights to get bothered by it, but it hurts to see them fight everyday. Sometimes I even wonder if they've forgotten that I exist, because they get too engrossed in their fights to notice me.