You Broke Me

Chapter 4

Cades POV

I woke up with a knock on my door. Its Trinity.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” she asks. I look at my phone. It's freaking 6 AM. I huff but don't deny her.

“Don't go through with this bet Cade.”

I sit up and look at her. “Why do you care? It's just a freaking loner kid.”

She looks down at her hands. “Megan confronted her yesterday. She said some things. Some awful things. And Taylor just took it. Almost as if she believed them all. She looked so sad and pitiful. Cade, you didn’t see her face. I can't force you not to. I can't tell you what to do. But, I am asking you to think. You're messing with someone's life. You don't know what people are going through. She may end up being the girl to get through my twin brother's tough exterior and by that point, you'll fall in love with her. But it will be too late. I'm begging you to reconsider.”

She doesn't wait for a response from me. She stands up gracefully and walks out of the room. I think about her words. “As if I'd fall in love with her. I'm Cade f*****g Thomas. I don't fall in love with anyone.”

I get up and dressed for school and see my mom downstairs in her surgical scrubs and white doctor's coat.

“Hey, baby. Here's breakfast.'' She slides a plate of sausage, bacon, and pancakes in front of me, and my mouth waters. It's so nice to have a full stomach.

I get to school and look for the boys. I spot them huddled next to Megan's car. They haven't noticed me yet. I see Nick lean in and kiss her then suck on her neck. I know me and her aren't together anymore, but she's off limits to them!

I clench my fists. f*****g bro-code. Oh well. Play it cool. I take a deep breath and as I'm walking up, Mason nudges Nick. They disconnect and he looks at me with wide eyes.

“Hey, man.” I nod my head not ready to speak words.

“Baby.” I hear Megan's whiny voice and cringe.

“We've been over this. We're not together. And considering you just had your tongue down my best friend's throat, it sure as heck isn't happening again.” she scoffs and looks at Nick to stand up for her, but he says nothing.

“I'm sorry.” he says to me. I just shrug. Now I'm in a shitty mood. I lean against the car and shove Nick's shoulder.

“I deserved that.” I nodded and hummed. I scan the parking lot looking out at our school. These are the kids we are graduating with. I don't know why, but I'm finding myself wondering which car is Taylor. My question is answered when I see her running up the sidewalk. Does she not drive? She's got on a black hoodie and is wearing baggy sweatpants. Her hood is pulled up and is hiding most of her face, but I know it's her.

“Still think you're going to win the bet?” the guys ask following my line of sight. Megan scoffs and stomps off muttering profanities. Trinity just sighs.

“Of course I will,” I walked towards Taylor. “Hey Taylor, wait up.” I shout and jog towards her. I know she heard me. But she sped up. She runs into the building and I see her grab Amanda's arm and pull her towards the girl's bathroom. She shuts and locks the door and I hear muffled voices.

All of a sudden I hear a “WHAT THE f**k IS THAT TAYLOR” Taylor shushes her and I can't hear anything past a muffled voice. It makes me wonder what's going on in there. Their voices start raising again and it sounds like they're arguing.

“I know, I know. I just need your foundation. I ran out this morning and didn't have enough to hide it. Please, Amanda.” Taylor's voice begins. What is she hiding? Amanda is next to speak.

“You know I'm just trying to look out for you. You need to stop this. You need to talk to someone.” she says with a gentleness to her voice. I don't hear anything else other than sobbing. I back off the door and lean against the wall so I can see her come out.

Amanda leaves and doesn't notice me. Taylor comes out 5 minutes later. Her eyes red rimmed and her hood pulled up.

“Taylor,” I say and she startles and gasps. Whatever she was trying to hide was well hidden. But not well enough. She's got a red mark on her cheek. It almost looks like a burn. She probably just burned herself with her straightener or something. I realized we were just standing there looking at each other. It's awkwardly tense and quiet.

“Uh, I was thinking we could meet after school before football to work on the project?” she just nods.

“Sure, I'll be in the library after school.” and with that, she walks off.

She was late. School ended 20 minutes ago. She avoided me at all costs today. But she said she would be here. Taylor may be recluse, shy, and quiet, but she is never late for things. I was starting to get a little nervous that she bailed. Ha, me nervous? Yeah right. I was about to say screw it and head home.

As I was gathering my books, she rushed into the door flushed, hood up, and head down.

“About time Shaw.” I said with a joking edge to my voice. She flinched at my tone but didn't say anything. Didn't look up, and she didn't seem comfortable being there. She sat at the table timidly.

“Alright, let's get to work. I have to leave in an hour.” I sighed. I'm never going to get anywhere with her closed off like this.

“Are you alright?” I am trying to make conversation.

“I'm fine.” I internally groaned. I may need more than 4 months after all. I need to kick up the charm. I have to befriend her before I can get anywhere. We get to work on the project. She's actually very smart. As if supporting my previous statement she had mumbled something about history being her best subject.

“So I think we have enough for today. Mr Thornton said the project had to be at least 20 pages. Since today is Wednesday let's take a break for the rest of the week. Maybe we can meet up over the weekend? I could come to your house.” I offered hoping she'd say yes. But I was wrong. She bristled. Her whole body stiffened.

“No.” is all she said.

“No, what? No meeting up this weekend? I mean, we can wait, but I am surely not doing this whole thing by myself.” I said with a huff.

“No it's just, can we meet anywhere other than my house? Please?” I smiled at her and nodded and she relaxed ever so slightly.

“We can meet at my house. I'll text you the address.” she nodded. Her phone rang and she grimaced while looking at it. She answered and turned her back to me. I couldn't quite hear what was being said but I could hear yelling. Her shoulders slumped and she mumbled a yes sir and hung up the phone.

“Everything alright?” I asked and she turned and looked up at me. Her eyes convey so many messages. Fright, sadness, hopelessness, and indifference.

“Yeah. I have to go home. Thanks for working with me today. I'll see you Saturday.” she doesn't give me a chance to answer and just leaves. Her whole demeanor changed. It makes me wonder if Trinity was right. What is she going through? Is she okay? Why do I care? She's just going to end up as another notch on my bedpost. I can't afford to care. God, if my mother knew what I was doing, she would be so disappointed in me.

‘So why don't you f*****g stop and do something about it.’ that inner voice of mine said to me. I sighed, gathered my things and headed home.

I walked in to a rare sight. My mom at home in the kitchen cooking dinner. She was wearing her surgical scrubs but she was actually home before nightfall and cooking dinner. I walked up to her and kissed her cheek.

“Hi, mom.” she smiled and ruffled my hair. My dad walked into the kitchen carrying a bottle of wine.

“What's the occasion?” I asked. My dad smiled and Kissed my mom on the mouth, then her forehead. They have loved each other since the moment they met.

“There's no occasion. When you get older and wiser and fall in love, you'll want to take every moment you can to woo her and show her love.” I just smiled. I don't know why I had such a grim outlook on love. I was showered in nothing but love. I have a happy home, a happy family, and have been showered with love since I was born. So what the f**k is wrong with me?

“Don't forget we have dinner this weekend.” mom reminded me.

Shit. I forgot about that.

“Uh Mom, actually I have a project and my partner is supposed to come over. Is that okay?” she looked at my dad and looked at me.

“Sure. invite her to dinner too.” she said with a smirk.

“I never said it was a girl.”

She just laughed. “Baby, if it was a guy or Nick or Mason, you wouldn't have even asked. Invite the girl for dinner. The more the merrier.”

Great. Taylor will definitely not come now. I just won't tell her until it's time for dinner. Shell has no choice but to join us.