Mending a broken heart.

Part 3

As I am unlocking my bicycle, I feel an uncanny presence behind me. My heart starts skipping and I stop struggling with my chain. Standing up straight, I turn around, only to be startled by an idle Sean, standing directly behind me and staring at me with an emotionless face.
I grab onto my bike for balance and he smiles.

"Do you want a lift?" he asks proceeding to take a step forward.

My heartbeat accelerates and I reluctantly take a step backwards, "No, no I'm good," I reply rather quickly and the smile that was on his face fades setting the tone of the atmosphere. I clear my throat and look down at my bike's chain that's still locked.
A few students walk past us and a few stare at us. His reputation doesn't go unnoticed in this small school and a small part of me knows soon people will start talking and rumours spreading because that's what people do here. We gossip.

"Okay," he clears his throat, "I heard about your dad by the way."

I swallow the bile in my throat and he continues after a while, "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," I reply.

We stare at each other for a bit, the awkward silence thickening, but before I can think anything through, the words spill out of my mouth, "I'm sorry about yours too."

He looks at me with a raised eyebrow and I open my mouth, but nothing of substance comes out and he continues watching me like fish fresh out of the water but not before collecting myself.

"Word travels fast," I try to save myself.

He continues to nod and jingles his car keys in his hand, "Thanks," he says and walks off towards the parking lot.

Well, that was awkward!

Soon after Sean is gone, I struggle a little bit more with my chain before setting off home. Luckily today the sun isn't as scorching hot, so I am able to take the long route through the city square.
I come to a street crossing and to my utter luck, the light turned green for the pedestrians to cross. I don't stop and peddle onto the high way, but my happiness is short-lived because a few seconds later I'm laying on the ground my bicycle discarded just by my feet. I lift my head up and a man on the pavement is staring at me worriedly, "Are you alright," he asks and I nod standing up before he continues on his way.
In front of me, a car has stopped and the man has his head stuck out and his hand waving aimlessly shouting profanities, "Next time fucking look where you are going child," he continues screaming as a small buzzing sound fills my head.

Fuck!

I brush myself off and pick my bicycle up shaking my head, "Well next time don't fucking buy your licence," I point at the robot. "The light was fucking green, you moron."

Once I have crossed I lean my bicycle against a garbage can and bend down to look at my knee that is now bleeding, blood running down my leg. The wind was a nice touch today for a bicycle without having to sweat like I had done a marathon, but of all days, of course, today I had to fall and have the wind brush against my bruised knee.
People pass and almost everyone has a confused look on their face, but i ignore them and giving up on the bicycle, I limp through town. A few blocks down, I stumble into the pharmacy just to grab a pack of bandages and a bottle of water.

"Will this be all?" the cashier asks me as she scans the bar code and I hand her the money with a forced smile. I grab the small pack of bandages and the change, slipping them into my blazer.

Why do cashiers do that? Ask people if that's all they will be getting. Of course, that's all, because even if I had more you'd still ask me that stup-

I stop in my tracks and stare down at the end of the aisle were an angry-looking Beth stands, one hand on her hip. But before I can decide my next move, she turns her head as if she sensed it that someone was looking at her. I pretend to read what's on one of the condom boxes next to me by the aisle. The minute she turns her head away again I drop the condom box back and with my bruised knee I run out of the pharmacy.

leya

Leya

LEYA

"LEYA!"

Suddenly I'm brought out of my trance by someone screaming into my hear, "Hmm?"

"I said what did you get for question 7," Chelsea says back in her normal voice. "Are you okay?"

By now everyone at the table is staring at the hand in my mouth. I instinctively stop biting my finger and drop it from my mouth, wiping it onto my shirt, "Yeah, yeah, just thinking," I reply.

"Okay, but can you think faster, I want to finish this before going home."

I ignore her and stand up to grab a packet of chips for us to eat from the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're fine? That's a pretty bad limb," Josh comments looking at y now bandaged leg. I walk back into the dining room where we're busy with our homework. Suddenly pain shoots into my foot as I step onto a discarded pen onto the floor.

'What do you think actually happened with Sean?" I change the subject from their obsessive questions on whether I still have a pulse or not after a simple fall from my bicycle, as I pick the pen up, "the charges and everything?"

"Why are you asking?" Chelsea asks biting her pen.

"Just curious."

"You want him, don't you?" James snorts grabbing the pack of chips out of my hand and opens them, popping a couple of chips into his mouth.

"Chew with your mouth closed," I remark throwing the pen onto his chest.

"Yeah, I can see it, Leya. You guys have a lot in common," he continues.

"Dead fathers I assume?"

"No," he says defensively, "I meant you're both smart."

"So we'd talk about grades and dead fathers?" I question with an eyebrow raise, "Anyway, what I mean is think about it, why were his charges dropped? Beth seemed to have a strong case against him, it doesn't make sense that they were just dropped."

"What got you so curious anyway?" Chelsea asks.

"Horny," James mumbles my way and I ignore both of them.

"You could always ask him you know, Leya" Josh adds.

"And say what? Hey, why were the charges pressed against you for drugging Beth dropped?"

"Yes!" James and Josh reply simultaneously.

"No," I scream, "you guys are idiots."

"Or Chelsea could always just take a tiny peep into one of her daddy's files," James says.

She gives James a dead gaze, "And get in trouble just because Leya got curious?"

"To be honest we are all curious," I say, "even your boyfriend. Don't let his silence fool you."

Josh points his middle finger in my direction, just as Chelsea sighs, "Not going to happen. Can we actually go back to doing our homework?"