Fractured Promises by Lauren Ruiz (ap literature book list txt) 📕

being.
For all she knew, Clark could be a superman.
She ran back into the house, and once she saw the Queen's gathered at the kitchen table for breakfast, she felt her heart crack.
The last time Clark had gone missing, his mother had almost had a heart attack. How was she supposed to tell them that their only son had run away again?
Clark had left home so many times that it felt as though he would never come back.
Each time he took off felt as though a millions years had passed, instead of two days.
"Your breakfast is getting cold dear," Mrs. Queen said to Arianna without looking up. She had a habit of that.
But when Arianna didn't answer her, she looked up, and so did everyone else.
They saw the tears brimming in her eyes, and her mother automatically knew what had caused them.
"He's gone again isn't he?" Julie Anne asked. Arianna didn't want to be the one to have brought that news to the Queens, but Clark had left her with no choice.
She understood that he was hurting, but that didn't mean he had to hurt everyone he cared for either.
Arianna slowly nodded her head.
Tears were forcing themselves out, but she was not going to let them take over and win. She had to be strong for Clark and the Queens, and for herself.
Julie Anne just stared at her, as though she were waiting for her to say that she was joking.
"Dammit!" Terence Queen exploded, banging his fist onto the table. He did it so hard that his glass of orange juice spilled all over the table.
All three women jumped, afraid.
Terence couldn't believe that his only son had run away again. He didn't know whether or not he would be safe in the place he was going.
The first time he had run away, they had yelled at him. He had promised that he would never do it again, but he went back on his word.
After the first time, he ran away six more times in only four weeks. This would be his seventh time of leaving in the middle of night.
"That damn boy," Terrence muttered under his breath.
"I'm so sorry," Arianna said lowly, as though it were her fault.
"It's not your fault Arianna. You have nothing to be sorry about."
Arianna stared at them, poignant.
She was used to Clark leaving all the time, and she wished that she wasn't.
Her mother leaving was enough for Arianna. She didn't need her best friend to keep repeating that day over and over again for her.
"I can't believe this is happening again..." Peyton spoke softly.
Peyton knew that whatever Clark was doing out there was not honorable. Whatever he was doing would end up with him either dead or in prison.
Peyton closed her eyes, while her heart broke for her brother. Since the first time Clark had run away, she had been trying to get close to him, but he was so distant.
Clark was not the type to let anything to get to him, but Zoe had.
"Go on to school girls, we'll find him." Terence said out loud after a long silence.
Both girls nodded their heads, and took off for school.
This time, they had to take the bus since Clark wasn't there to drive them.
Peyton and Arianna made it through school without anyone asking them about Clark, but at lunch time, she found Zoe staring at her.
Her blonde hair had grown through the summer, almost reaching her back but not quite.
Arianna quickly looked away. She was hoping that Zoe wasn't planning on talking to her about Clark.
But once she felt that warm hand on her shoulder, she knew who it was.
Without turning around to face her, she said, "What?"
"Where's Clark?" Zoe asked in such a heartrending voice that it caused Arianna to turn around and face her.
Zoe had heard about Clark's disappearances during summer, and she wondered if he had left again.
Whenever he had turned out missing, she would call and call, but not once did he answer. It was as though he had set her phone calls straight to voice mail.
She knew that she had hurt him very badly, especially since she had fallen in love with Houston while she was with him.
She also knew that his disappearance’s had something to do with her.
"I don't know," Arianna said in such a bitter voice that Zoe's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Arianna was well known for be the sweetheart of all of Ohio, but she wasn't being that right now.
She was staring at Zoe with such a cold stare that she just wanted to run away and hide.
Zoe never thought that she would be afraid of such a nice and beautiful girl like Arianna.
Zoe sat down in the seat across from Arianna. She had no food with her. She had become anorexic after her break up with Clark.
Houston would always try to make her eat, but she never wanted to. The only thing that ever crossed Zoe's mind was Clark. She wished that she had never met Houston in the first place. If she hadn't, she would still be with him.
If she had just made more time to spend with him, he would be there at school with her and every one else.
"Are you still in love with him?" Houston had asked her while they were hanging out in her room.
She still had all the presents that Clark had given her on her dresser, but Houston didn't know that they were from him.
She was so surprised by Houston's question that it took her awhile to answer him.
He just stared at her with those grey eyes of his.
He was obviously waiting for an answer.
"That says it all." Houston muttered under his breath angrily.
Houston knew that he wasn't nearly as handsome as Clark, or as charming or as funny. But she had chosen him over Clark hadn't she?
So why was she becoming so distant?
When she was cheating on Clark with him, she never acted this way. She was always cheerful and laughing. But after the day she had broken it off with Clark, she had become quiet.
"Besides, why do you care? You're the one who cheated on him." Arianna said, fuming. She tossed her black hair in a diva way, and turned her face away from Zoe.
"I care for him Arianna. I never planned on hurting him."
"Well you did, and now he's gone. Are you happy now? While you were with that disgusting boy, Clark was out there waiting for you to call him. But guess what? You never did."
Zoe placed her soft hands on the table, and stared at them.
She knew Arianna was right. She had never made an effort in calling him. It was mostly her fault that they had lost contact.
Whenever he would call, she would ignore them because she would always be with Houston.
The one time that she had answered, she hung up on him quickly.
"I know, and I wish that I could go back in time and change everything that I have done with Houston while I was with Clark. If I had known..."
"If you had known what?" Arianna interrupted. She didn't feel like hearing her useless request for forgiveness.
"I don't know how to explain it..." Zoe said lowly.
Everyone was staring at them now.
They knew that Arianna disliked Zoe with a passion, but they wondered why they were talking.
"I wonder what they're talking about." Gina Evans said to her friend Jacob Crowley.
Jacob smiled and looked down at Gina and said, "You should know the answer about that by now. Look at the irritated expression on Arianna's face, and look at Zoe's sad face. From here, it almost looks as though Zoe is asking Arianna for forgiveness. But Arianna's not the one she should be apologizing too."
Gina nodded, and in a bitter tone she said, "Zoe is so stupid for cheating on Clark. We all knew that it was going to happen sooner or later, but Clark was so in love with her that he never listened. He was hard headed when it came to Zoe Lovington."
"Yes, but still, Clark was too good for her anyway. He deserves better. I just wonder why he's not here now."
"I heard that he ran away more than once during the end of summer, and that he did the same thing last night." Gina said with a shake of her head.
She was close enough with Clark to know how sweet he was.
Not seeing him there made her feel weird. She was so used to his gorgeous smile that when he wasn't around to show it, the place seemed a little gloomy to her.
"I don't even want to hear an explanation from you Zoe." Arianna said while standing up and leaving a speechless Zoe alone at the table.
Arianna quickly threw away her uneaten lunch, and stormed out of the cafeteria.
Every single pair of eyes was transfixed on her, but she didn't care.
She just had to get away from Zoe. If she would have stayed there any longer, she might've reached across the table and attacked her.
Arianna smiled at the thought.
She wanted to hurt her the way she had to her best friend.
Arianna winced at the thought of Clark.
Clark not being there with her was pure torture that she could not withstand any longer.
She just wanted to hug him and tell him that she was there for him, but even if she had, it wouldn't really help.
Arianna blinked away her tears as she ran down the hall. She was going to leave school. She couldn't handle it. She wanted to help the Queens find Clark.
Arianna ran out of the school, and as she ran, she lost track of time. By the time she stopped to rest, she was in the clearing of Lake Hampshire.
"You reached Clark Queen, leave a message if you'd like." Arianna listened to Clark's voice in his voicemail and began to cry.
Beep.
"Clark...its Arianna...where are you? We're all worried about you," Arianna said through tears. "I had a little run in with you know who...and I left school because I couldn't handle it...just knowing you're no where to be found is scaring the hell outta' me...please Clark, can you come back home?" When she was finished with her call, she fell to her knees and poured out all her tears.
She was tired.
She was tired of being left behind all the time.
Clark was doing it too much to her.
She just wanted to hit him, and hug him at the same time.
Couldn't he see how much he was hurting her?
Arianna knew that he was hurting, but did he have to hurt her in the process too? It wasn't fair to her. And she knew that Clark was oblivious to it.
Still crying, she lifted herself up off the