Broken

Chapter Seven: Robyn

Hi readers! Here's the next chapter (a little late, I know), but it's here nonetheless. I hope you like it! Keep reading and voting! :)

______________________

Robyn

The U-Haul was parked outside my house when Charlie drove me home Thursday afternoon. I was glad to see that behind the U-Haul was my Aston Martin. I jumped in joy when I saw them. That meant I could sleep in a bed again instead of the shitty sleeping bag I’d been using and drive my own car.

“Dear God,” Charlie choked. “You own an Aston Martin? How rich are you guys?”

“Charlie!” Faith reprimanded from the backseat. “Way to be blunt! I’m sorry, Robyn, he didn’t mean it.”

“Yes I did,” Charlie replied, getting out of the truck in a trance to examine my car.

I smiled. “You like it?”

“Like?” he asked. “That’s an understatement. I am seriously lusting over this car right now. How does she drive?”

“Like a dream,” I replied wistfully. “Maybe I’ll let you drive her sometime.”

I looked at Kate. She really was a beauty, with her shiny black paint and leather interior. I stroked the top of my car. I was so glad she was back, I could’ve kissed her.

“Well I’ll be damned, look who it is!”

Charlie, Faith, and I looked up at the house where the voice had come from. I smiled at the short, blonde woman on the porch. “Hi, Mary.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” she said, dancing down the steps to come hug me. I met her halfway. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too,” I said, squeezing her as hard as I could. “Thank you so much for driving Kate.”

“Oh, it was no problem, Sugar. Plus, it was an excuse for me to visit my favorite niece,” Mary said, laughing.

“I’m your only niece.”

“Then you should be happy you don’t have any competition,” she joked. She lowered her voice and leaned in. “Although, if you did have siblings, you’d probably still be my favorite.”

I chuckled. “Thanks, Mary.”

“Come on, Sugar. Let’s go in and talk.”

I said goodbye to Charlie and Faith, who smiled and waved from the truck, and followed my aunt into the house. There were boxes all over the place, in every room. The kitchen table and couch were already in their designated spots. It would take days for us to unpack.

I looked around, then said to Mary, “Well, let’s get started, I suppose.”

***

Mary and I looked at the bed and smiled. It had taken us a long time to put together my frame and an even longer time to carry the box spring up the stairs. Mary was so short that she’d struggled under the weight and I’d struggled to keep it from toppling onto her as I dragged it up the stairs.

But that was over. I now had a bed—a real bed—to sleep in at night. I smiled and jumped onto it. Mary chuckled and jumped on with me. “So…”

“So…” I repeated.

“Notice anything different?”

I looked around my room, taking everything in. Hm…what was different? Then I noticed. “Oh my God, you guys painted my room!”

The walls were now a pretty shade of light blue. The sunlight from my window made the room seem bigger and brighter than before. I sniffed the air. Now that I thought about it, there was the slight scent of paint.

Mary smiled. “Your mother and I painted it this morning after you left for school. Been airing out the room to get the smell out all day. How do you like it?”

“Anything’s better than pink.”

She chuckled. “I thought you’d say that.”

Mary propped herself up on one elbow, watching me intently. Her eyebrows knit and wrinkles formed across her forehead. I knew she wanted to ask me something—it was blatantly obvious. But I had a feeling I knew what she wanted to ask…and I didn’t want to talk about him.

Unfortunately, Mary wasn’t the kind of woman to think about someone’s feelings before saying something. So she asked me anyway, despite my warning glare.

“So…” she began. “Have you talked to that boy of yours since you been back?”

I took a deep breath. “Yep,” I replied tersely.

She waited a few seconds to see if I’d say more. When I didn’t, she continued. “And what happened? What’d he say?”

“He doesn’t want anything to do with me. He’s still mad that I left.”

I knew that wasn’t it. There was definitely something else that Sawyer wasn’t telling me and I had to find out.

“Well, you couldn’t help that!” Mary practically shouted. “You need to knock some sense into that boy and tell him he’s acting like a fool.”

I smiled sadly. “It’s not really that easy, Mary.”

“Of course it is,” she pressed. “The thing you have to understand about men is they give in real easy if you show them what they’re missing out on. They like attentions, so when you stop giving them attention, they come crawling back to you.”

My forehead scrunched up. “So you want me to ignore him?”

“Not just ignore him. Show him that you won’t be available forever. Once he sees that, he’ll come running back to you.”

“Mary, isn’t that a bit shallow?”

“Darling, that’s not shallow. That’s love.”

I didn’t know if I agreed with her, but I was willing to try anything.

***

That night, I opened my window to let the cool breeze in. It was hot in my room, so it felt nice when the chilly air caressed my warm skin.

I sat down on the windowsill, letting my left leg hang out. I could’ve reached out and touched Sawyer’s window, it was so close.

I sighed, feeling my eyes sting.

My body shivered violently. I was just about to go back inside when Sawyer’s light flickered on. I froze, staring into his room. There he was, stepping through the door, rubbing his temples. 

My heart dropped into my stomach. When he noticed me, his face got hard and he violently pulled down his blinds.

I sat there and stared. How had all this happened?