Broken by Vic Johnson (accelerated reader books txt) 📕

‘Your dad and I are going to bed now sweetie. Don’t stay up too late’ she said.

‘I won’t’ I said smiling back. ‘Goodnight mum’

‘Goodnight Brooke’ then she was gone. I couldn’t decide if I liked the mum who cared too much or the one who didn’t care at all the most. It was very confusing.

I woke up the next morning feeling better. Not thinking about Charlie before I went to sleep meant I didn’t dream about him. I had a weird dream about my mum and a tractor but at least I slept through the night. The TV was still on and the DVD menu kept repeating itself. I fell asleep quicker than I thought. I turned it off and headed to the bathroom. After my shower I looked out the window to see what clothes to wear. It looked like another beautiful day. Tonight was the Halloween party. I was going to make Beth come with me and she was going to dress up weather she wanted to or not.

I got ready and went to pick her up.

I pulled up at her house and beeped my horn. A few minutes later she came out. She looked really mad. She got in and I pulled away.

‘What’s up’ I say looking over at her.

‘I’m grounded. Grounded. I have never been grounded in my life’

‘But tonight is the Halloween party’

‘Mate I can’t go’

‘You have to’ I needed this party ‘What if I talk to them’

‘They will say no. There pretty adamant about it’

‘You’re out now’

‘Yeah cos you’re not Jackson and I told them it was planned weeks ago’

‘Can you sneak out?’

‘I’m in enough trouble as it is’ she looked at her phone and smiled. Jack must have text her.

‘What did you do? Apart from going missing’

She sighed ‘I accidently told them Jackson and I were sleeping together’

I actually laughed ‘oh my god’

‘I know but he was stood right there and Jessica all high and mighty was all like he will get in your pants then dump you and I just blurted out that he was already in my pants’

‘Good Jessica impression’

‘Really I think it needed to be more whingey’ we both laughed.

‘Please come tonight, please’ I begged.

‘Fine! Pick me up at 10 that’s the earliest I can do and park down the street so they don’t see your car’

‘Yay’ I said clapping. She just rolled her eyes.

We went for breakfast then went to get our costumes. I was going as a sexy devil and Beth just picked a witch outfit.

After I drove her home and told her I would be back at 10. On my way home I drove past Charlie’s house. I stopped the car just past the house and sat there for about 20 minutes. I was ready to talk to him but not ready to see him. I reversed the car and then pulled into his driveway.

I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I found the spare key and let myself in. The house was dark and cold. It was as if nobody lived here. I heard a noise upstairs so I followed it. I opened the door to his bedroom and he was stood on top of a step ladder painting. He was wearing shorts and no shirt. I forgot how sexy he was. He had earphones in his ears that were connected to something in his pocket. He wasn’t singing or dancing though like I had seen him do so many times before. He looked disconnected. Like he was on autopilot.

He hadn’t heard me come in so I just stood watching him. Thinking about happier days.

Then he looked at me. He smiled a relieved kind of smile but it was only for a moment before that smile faded. He pulled the buds out of his ears and put his shirt back on.

‘Hey’ I said half smiling.

‘Hey’ he said back.

‘Well this is awkward’ I said after a few minutes of silence. He laughed which broke the tension a little. ‘Where’s your mum?’ it was Saturday and I knew she didn’t work weekends. His face dropped and he sat down on a paint can.

‘Rehab’ he said. He threw the paintbrush he had in his hand so hard at the wall that it made a dent. I didn’t know what to do. He looked up at me and he had tears in his eyes. ‘I am so sorry Brooke. You will never know how sorry I am. Everything in my life was falling apart. My mum was passing out drunk every night, my dad and his new girlfriend are getting married and she’s pregnant. Where does that leave me? I know that’s selfish but it’s hard enough to get time with him as it is. I just wanted someone to love me and I wanted to take comfort from you and you rejected me and I guess I took a leaf out of my mums book because I got drunk and ran into Maddie. At first she just wanted to talk about Jack but then she kissed me and I didn’t stop her. You know what happened next’ he looked really beat down ‘I woke up and saw your necklace and I couldn’t believe what I had done and that’s when I realised that I love you. I’ve loved you since I was about 12. If I could have just told you that a few hours earlier we wouldn’t be in this mess and I wouldn’t have lost the best thing in my life’ he stood up and started pacing. ‘Then Jack was mad at me too and you told the whole school which I get I really do but nobody would talk to me. Then I saw Beth in that burger place near the mall. She is a really good friend to you and to me one day I hope. She told me to give you time. She told me how good her and Jackson were and with what they went through it gave me hope’

Wow he just laid himself bare. What was I supposed to say to that? Sorry you have all this shit going on but I can’t trust you anymore? I don’t think I could trust him. He kept all this to himself.

‘Why did you not tell me any of this?’ I asked

‘I felt weak. I didn’t tell anyone’

‘Not even Jack?’

‘No. The first person I told was Beth last night. It was like I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I asked her not to say anything but obviously she told Jack’ I smiled. ‘He came round and I told him everything. We went to see his mum and she came here and we took my mum to rehab. A place she can’t get out of. There sending the bill to my dad’ He laughed and shook his head ‘he will love that. Anyway I’m staying at Jacks till everything is sorted’

‘So why are you painting?’ I said looking around ‘and where’s your bed?’

‘I thought that if we could sort things out you wouldn’t want to come here and see the same image every time you walked in of me and Maddie so I was changing it up a bit. I threw the bed out. I’m going to bring one in from one of the spare rooms. I didn’t think you would ever want to sit on it’

‘You’re doing all this for me?’

‘Yeah’

‘You know I can’t forgive you in like 3 days right?’

He laughed ‘yeah of course I do but what else am I going to do?’

I said good bye then and I left. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

As I was leaving Jack was just pulling up.

‘Hey’ he said looking shocked that I was here. I just smiled. ‘You guys talked?’

‘Kinda. He told me everything about his parents. I’m glad you’re looking after him’

‘I just wish he had told me sooner. You know he wasn’t eating for days because his mum was too drunk to go shopping’

‘What? No I didn’t know that’ I felt terrible now.

‘Look you don’t have to forgive him, you can hate him forever if you want but I can’t’

‘I know. Thanks for been my friend though’

‘I’ll always be your friend’

I smiled ‘I’ll see you at the party’

‘I’m not going. Beth’s grounded so there’s no point’

‘Beth’s going’ he turned to look at me. ‘She is going to sneak out. I’m picking her up at 10’

‘Wow that will end badly for her you know’ guilt trip much.

‘I’ll get her in and out without been seen’

‘Ok’ he sceptically ‘I’ll see you tonight’ and he walked into the house.

Should I tell Beth not to come tonight? I know she wanted to go before she got grounded. Am I just going to make it worse for her? Am I been selfish? I sent her a text

Hi, was just thinking

That you’re in enough

Trouble as it is so if you

Don’t want to come out

Tonight then you don’t

Have to. I don’t want you

To get into more trouble x

It was only seconds later that she text me back.

It’s fine don’t worry

How much more trouble

Could I get in really?

They have already

Grounded me ;) see you

Tonight x

So I went home to get ready. I didn’t have to rush since I wasn’t picking Beth up till ten. I had some thinking to do regarding Charlie. What he did to me was so bad and I didn’t think I would ever be able to forgive him but I didn’t know what was going on with his parents. Still should that be an excuse to cheat on me and if I do forgive him will he just do it again because he got away with it? When did life get so complicated?

I had already started to wind down my evening. I had put on my pjs and made myself and Max a cup of tea. He was watching some show about cars and I was reading. I kept looking at the clock to see what time it was. At quarter to 9 I started to pretend to fall asleep. I was hoping since I never mentioned the party they wouldn’t be suspicious. Jessica was out with friends so I was just hoping we didn’t come home at the same time or she came home first and checked on me. By nine fifteen I was ‘asleep’ on the sofa. I wanted to wake up about five to ten say goodnight and go upstairs and straight out the window. Brooke had what I was wearing in her car so I didn’t have to get changed.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Max mumbled something about how it was a bit late for visitors. I kept my eyes firmly closed.

‘Jack’ Max said when he opened the door. I nearly opened my eyes. ‘She is grounded’

‘I know I know’ Jackson said ‘I’ve come to talk to you’

‘Ok come in’ Max said. They stood in the hallway though. Max didn’t invite him in properly. ‘Go’ Max said

‘First of all I want you to know how sorry I am