Broken

Chapter 2

I woke up the next day, the piece of paper with Taylor's number stuck to my face. I pulled it off and set it on the nightstand next to the phone.
I got dressed and went on a mission for food.
I found a small diner across the street and walked in.
I looked around half expecting to see Taylor sitting there. I laughed at the idea, and took a seat.
I looked over the menu and ordered a small stack of pancakes.
"Do you know of any place that's hiring?" I asked the waitress as she brought me my food.
"Well it's your lucky day sweetheart," she said. "Were looking for a waitress for the graveyard shift."
"Really?" I said.
"Yeah," she said. "Let me send the manager over here to talk to you."
I thanked her and ate my pancakes.
I talked to the manager and he agreed to hire me even though I didn't have any references or experience. He agreed to pay me under the table too. No questions asked.
"Everyone here has a backstory they don't want known," he had said. "Don't worry about it. I believe in second chances."
I thanked him. He told me to be back that night so I could start training.
I just needed to make enough money to get back on the road again. I couldn't stay here too long, in case Mitch was looking for me.
He gave me my uniforms and told me to be back by 10 p.m.
I was nervous. I had never had a job before. I just hoped I could do good enough to earn enough money to keep traveling. I wanted as much distance from my past as possible.
I went back to my motel room to drop my uniforms off, when I saw a familiar blond haired boy knocking on my door.
I almost hid until he left but I wanted to talk to him again. I felt drawn to him.
"Can I help you?" I asked, coming up to him. His hair was down this time and I saw that it came to just above his shoulders.
"Oh hi," he smiled. "I wanted to see how you were doing? Maybe take you out to breakfast?"
"Oh I already ate," I said.
"Oh," he said, his voice dripping with disappointment.
"But you can stay and talk if you want?" I said quickly. I bit my lip as soon as the words escaped my lips. What was I doing?
"Sure," he said, tucking his hair behind his ears. "If you don't mind?"
"No," I said, unlocking my door. "I don't mind."
"Cool," he smiled and followed me into the room. I set the uniforms down on the dresser and sat on the bed.
"What's this?" he asked looking down at them, before sitting in one of the chairs at the little table.
"Oh um nothing," I said, nervously. "I just got a job at the diner across the street."
"Your family isn't coming to get you?" he asked curiously.
"I have no family," I said, sadly.
"Oh," he said, then smiled. "Well I'm glad you were able to find a job quickly."
"Thank you," I said.
"If you don't mind me asking," he started after an awkward silence. "What happened to your family?"
"I never met my father," I said. "And my mom died last year."
"So were you in foster care or something?" he asked.
"No, I lived with my step dad," I said, wincing at the mention of Mitch.
"What happened to him?" he asked curiously.
"I-I don't know," I said, looking away. I could feel the tears streaming down my cheeks and I couldn't stop it. I buried my face in my hands.
"I'm sorry," he said, rushing to my side. "I shouldn't have brought it up. It's none of my business."
He put his arms around me and I let out a yelp and jumped up away from him.
"I-I was just trying to comfort you," he said, softly. "I wasn't gonna hurt you."
"I'm sorry," I said, choking back sobs. "I'm sure you weren't. I just don't do well around people."
"What happened to you?" he asked.
"N-nothing happened," I lied, wiping my cheeks. "Everyone has bad stuff in their life. It's no big deal. Maybe you should go?"
"I shouldn't have brought it up," he said. "I'm sorry, please don't kick me out. We can talk about something else. Anything else."
"Why do you want to stay?" I asked, suddenly suspicious. No one had ever wanted to be friendly with me. The kids in school all made fun of me. No one ever cared how I was doing without wanting something in return.
"I just want to be friends," he said. "I've been thinking about you since last night."
"Why?" I asked. "I'm not anybody. I told you I don't have anything for you."
"I don't want anything from you," he said. "You just look like you could use a friend. And I want to be that friend."
"I've never had a friend before," I admitted softly. "Usually people just make fun of me, is that what you're doing? Is this some kind of a prank? Or did you lose a bet?"
"Wow, you're paranoid," he joked softly. "I'm not making fun of you or pulling a prank and I didn't lose any bets. I honest and truly want to be your friend."
"Sorry," I said embarrassed. "I have a hard time trusting people. No ones ever shown an interest in me without wanting something from me."
"Well, all I want is friendship," he smiled.
"That's it?" I asked. "Nothing more?"
"More like what?" he asked, confused for a minute before he finally caught on. "Oh no no no, nothing like that! I swear. Don't get me wrong you're beautiful as hell but I would never take advantage of anyone in that way."
"You think I'm beautiful?" I asked, softly.
He blushed and nervously ran his fingers through his hair, "I - well - yeah."
I started crying again.
"What'd I say this time?" he asked, concerned. "I really am not trying to upset you."
"You didn't upset me," I choked, wiping my eyes again. "No ones ever called me that before, ever."
"Really?" he asked, surprised. "Was everyone blind where you came from?"
I laughed and shrugged, "You probably think I'm crazy?"
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I don't know what all happened to you but I definitely don't get the wacko vibe from you."
I smiled, "Well thanks."
"Okay, no more tears missy!" he said, pulling me back on the bed and drying my cheeks for me. "When do you start work?"
"Tonight at 10," I said.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"16," I replied.
"Me too," he said. "Can you work a graveyard shift? What about school?"
"I dropped out," I admitted, again embarrassed.
"Hmm well that's no good," he said. "You need to graduate. Come with me."
"Where?" I asked, suspiciously.
"To my house," he said. "My moms a licensed home school teacher. I'm sure she'd be happy to teach you that way you can still work too."
"Oh I don't know Taylor," I said. "I appreciate it I do but I don't know if that's a good idea."
"It's a great idea," he said. "You can't quit school."
"I-I dunno," I said.
"Let's at least talk to her," he said, pulling me to my feet. "She wants to meet you anyway."
"You told your mom about me?" I asked, curiously.
"Yeah," he blushed. "But just that we helped you and that I was coming today to see if you had gotten ahold of your family. That was before I knew - well anyway, let's go."