Broken Hill Hurt: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 3)

by Sheridan Anne

  “Lower your voice,” he warns me. “Everywhere Nate goes, he brings trouble.”

  “That’s bull,” I tell him. “Jackson corned him this morning. Pushed him up against the wall where he had no choice. You’re screwed up if you seriously think Jackson is the innocent party in all this.”

  “I do not believe he is innocent,” Miller says. “Why’d he do it?”

  I shrug my shoulders. I’m not about to tell this guy that Nate lit his car up like a bonfire. “Don’t know.”

  Miller’s lips pull back. He knows I’m lying but there’s not a lot he can do about it. “Why did you feel it was appropriate to insert yourself into that? A lot of people got hurt today, Tora.”

  “You don’t think I know that?” I demand. “I was trying to break it up, and it would have worked if Jackson didn’t try to get his goons to touch me.”

  “Really?” he says. “You don’t think what you said had anything to do with it?” I just stare. “The bomb was already placed. You lit the fuse.” He watches me for a second before disappointment filters across his face. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, Tora, but this isn’t you. You’re a good student, but lately, your focus is slipping. You need to get yourself together, and fast.”

  With that, he turns and walks away, proud of putting me in my place. I sink back down to my chair with a sigh. He’s right, though I’d already figured it out. I did light the fuse. I said things to Jackson that provoked him. Rather than trying to shut it down, I was too busy trying to shut him down. Instead, I pushed far too many buttons and because of that, a whole bunch of kids got hurt.

  I hang my head but snap it back up when Mr. Miller’s voice rings out through the hall. “Sit down,” he demands.

  I search for his target and find Jesse, slinking across the hall towards me. He scoffs at Miller and keeps walking until he drops down into the chair beside me. “You good?” he questions.

  I lift a shoulder in a shrug. “Have you heard from Nate?”

  He shakes his head and with that, we spend the next hour sitting in absolute silence.

  Chapter 3

  “A suspension?” I demand as I stare down Principal Watkins. “I can’t have a suspension.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s the price you pay for being involved with things like this,” he says, giving me a stern look and trying to appear superior, though, it only makes him look like an asshole.

  Mom slowly nods her head. She’s way out of her depth here. She’s never had to deal with this kind of thing before and to be honest, I was horrified when I realized they were going to call her. I mean, she’s putting on a good show right now but the second we get out of here, she’s going to curse me out like never before.

  “A suspension seems a bit harsh. Is there any way she’d be able to do an in school suspension?” mom suggests? “She’s never done anything like this before? I’m sure she’s definitely learned her lesson and this is not going to look good when colleges are considering her.”

  Principal Watkins purses his lips as he looks over at me. Mom continues. “She was attempting to dissolve the situation. Do not take away her future for trying to deal with a confrontation in which should have been handled by your educators before it had a chance to escalate the way it did.”

  Go, mom.

  Watkins' eyes bulge out for a fraction of a second before he rights his features. He studies my mother, and I know he knows she’s right. Maybe hearing about all the times Trish has had to bail the boys out of situations like this has rubbed off on her a bit. “I’ll consider your proposal,” he finally says. “I’ll have an answer by the end of the day. As for now, Tora, you need to return to class.” He turns to my mom. “Thank you for coming in. It was a pleasure meeting with you again.”

  “Yes,” mom nods as she gets to her feet. “Hopefully, next time it won’t be under such… circumstances.”

  “Yes,” he says. “I agree.”

  With that, mom and I walk out of his office and pass a huge line of teenagers and their parents, Nate and Trish being a part of that. Mom stops by Trish to give her a rundown of the meeting while Nate stands and leads me out the doors. “I sent you a message,” I tell him.

  “Oh,” he says. “I lost my phone in the fight. It’s probably laying in the grass somewhere.” I nod my head and look away, but he takes my chin and pulls my eyes back to his. “What happened in there? Are you ok?”

  “Yeah,” I sigh. “I got a suspension but mom maybe talked him down to an in school suspension.”

  “What?” he demands. “That’s not fair. You were trying to break it up.”

  “Come on,” I scoff. “You and I both know that what I said provoked him. If I stayed out of it, you would have been able to handle it on your own.”

  “I think you overestimate my patience,” he says. “I was two seconds from beating the shit out of him. Again.”

  I let out a breath as I study his eyes. “Well, at least now you have someone to go down with.”

  His eyes harden. “I don’t want you going down for this,” he growls between clenched teeth. “You’re better than this. You’re supposed to be going places, not getting in trouble with me.”

  “You jump. I jump.”

  “Shit,” he grumbles, shaking his head. “Don’t say that. I get in far too much trouble for you to be jumping right in with me.”

  “Well then,” I smile. “Maybe you should consider staying out of trouble.”

  He grins, but my mother’s voice has him looking away. “Nathaniel, you should go back inside. Your mother is waiting.”

  Nate nods and squeezes my hand before he takes off back through the doors to discover his fate while my mom glares at me. “Get to class,” she demands. “We’ll be talking about this when you get home.” I nod. “And don’t even think about detouring to Nate’s and coming home after dinner. The second the bell goes at the end of the day, I’ll be expecting you.”

  “Ok,” I say with a slight huff. “I’ll come straight home.”

  “Don’t take an attitude with me, Tora,” she demands. “I’m mortified to be called down here like this.”

  “I know,” I tell her. “If I knew it would end up like that, I never would have inserted myself into it. I was trying to help.”

  “You tore that boy to shreds,” she says, blankly. “I expect more from you. Now, get to class.”

  With that, she turns and leaves.

  Shit.

  I grab my phone and check the time. It’s about ten minutes off lunch break so there’s really no point going to class, so I head to the bathroom to finally get a look at my face.

  I stand in the mirror and gawk with my mouth hanging wide open. “Holy shit,” I whisper to myself. This is bad. My cheek is bruised and there’s dried blood all over my face. I mean, I look like a freaking train wreck.

  I turn on the tap and do my best to clean myself up and once I decide I look good enough to face the world, I walk out with my head held high, only the bell hasn’t rung so there’s really no one here to see, so my head drops back down and I walk down to the parking lot to search through the grass for Nate’s phone.

  The bell rings as my fingers curl around the cool metal of his phone. Naturally, I can’t help lighting up the screen and find a million missed calls and messages. All from me, Trish, Caden, Jesse, and the boys. I slide the phone into my pocket and make my way up to the cafeteria.

  I get looks from people everywhere I go, probably gawking at my face or whispering about what happened. I push my way into the cafeteria to find everyone apart from Nate and Jackson. I head over and sit down next to Brooke, not bothered to go searching for food today.

  “What happened with Watkins?” she asks the second my ass hits the chair.

  A long, resigned breath comes sailing from my lips. “Not good,” I say before launching into the story as all the girls listen in, and honestly, most of the cafeteria too.

  As soon as I’ve finished telling my recap of my day from hell, Brooke
shuffles in a little closer. “What’s this whole rivalry about anyway?” she asks. “Did Nate screw his mom or something like that?”

  “He… um….” My eyebrows pull down as I think it over and realize that I’ve never actually asked about it. I have no idea why they hate each other so much. I mean, did Nate do something ridiculously awful or did Jackson start the rivalry? Maybe it was something else entirely or maybe it was just battle of the bad boys. “I actually have no clue,” I tell her. “But now I need to know.”

  “You’re telling me you got all up in Jackson’s face and you don’t know what for?” she scoffs.

  “Hey,” I argue. “Just because I don’t know what this stupid rivalry is about doesn’t mean that he didn’t deserve it. The guy has literally been an asshole every single time he’s talked to me.”

  “True,” she says.

  “Who cares?” Elle says from across the table. “Watching them face off was hot. I think you should have let them go at it.”

  I roll my eyes. Elle has certainly got her old fire back. She used to be queen of the pom-poms until she was demoted to social hell. Now, she’s becoming one of my closest friends. “Please,” Brooke scoffs with a wicked grin. “You’ve always had a thing for two guys getting hot and sweaty.”

  My eyes widen and I look at Elle, horrified by what’s just slipped out of Brooke’s mouth. They aren’t particularly good friends and the whole threesome thing is still a sore point, but Elle just smiles. “Better believe it,” she says. “You don’t know how good it is until you’ve tried it. But then, I don‘t think you could handle it.”

  Brooke gasps. “Bullshit. I could handle it.”

  Elle considers her for a bit. “Nah. You’d get flustered with two cocks in your face. You wouldn’t know what to do with them,” she says, making a few crude hand gestures and pretending to get flustered.

  I can’t help but laugh as Brooke watches on with a heavy glare. “Don’t tell me that’s how you did Ty and Puck?” Jesse says, scrunching his face up as he drops down beside Elle with a leg on either side of the bench so he can face her. “If I knew it was that bad, I wouldn’t have jerked off thinking about you.”

  Her face flames but she holds her pride. “Believe me, I’m good. I was just making a point about Brooke not being able to handle two guys at once.”

  Jesse turns and looks at Brooke. “I don’t know,” he says. “Max likes to talk. I’ve heard stories and this girl likes to get a bit wild. I think she’d handle it like a pro.”

  Brooke grins back at him. “I don’t know whether to thank you or be frightened that you’re going to appear at the foot of the bed while Max and I are getting it on.”

  Jesse grins wide, showing off a spectacular dimple. “Be afraid, babe,” he chuckles with a wink. “I’m coming for you. Or on you. Whatever you prefer.”

  “Ugh, Jess,” I groan. “Don’t talk to my friends like that.”

  “Can’t help it,” he laughs as his gaze settles onto mine. “Have you heard from Nate? The fucker isn’t responding to my texts.”

  “Oh, he lost his phone during the fight,” I say, digging into my pocket and pulling out his phone. I slide it across the table towards Jesse. “I’m pretty certain I’m grounded for the rest of my life, so you better take it. You’ll probably see him before I do.”

  “So, you’ve seen him?” Jesse rushes out as he swipes the phone off the table. “What’d he get? Is he expelled?”

  “What? No. I saw him for literally two seconds and that was only twenty minutes ago. He’s probably still in with Watkins and your mom.”

  “Mom?” he says. “Dad didn’t come?”

  “Seriously?” I grunt. “If your dad showed up there would have been another fight. Not to mention, I would have had to kick Phoenix’s ass for gloating about her daddy visiting her at school.”

  “I thought we agreed never to mention her name,” he murmurs before pushing himself up from the table.

  “Where are you going? I question.

  “See if they’re still here,” he says. “You coming?”

  “Nah, I’m trying to avoid that section of the school,” I tell him. “Let me know if you find out anything.”

  “Sure thing, Tori,” he says with a smirk, using that old nickname that he knows I hate.

  He turns and walks away while I scowl at his back. “You two argue like siblings,” Brooke laughs as she reaches for her drink and takes a long pull from the straw.

  “I know,” I groan. “It’s the downside of being his long lost, special little girl.”

  With that, I push up from the table and decide that feeding myself is the best thing to do. I mean, while the world around me is going up in flames, I don’t need to as well. Besides, with brawls breaking out, you never know when I might need the energy.

  Two hours later, the bell for the end of school is ringing and I still haven’t seen or heard from Nate. I’m starting to get a little worried. Principal Watkins has had it in for Nate since freshman year when Nate drew a very descriptive picture of a woman taking it up the you-know-what on the whiteboard in the assembly hall. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t in permanent marker. That picture was stuck there for two weeks before the school was able to get the whiteboard replaced.

  I walk down to my car and take it as slow as possible, hoping I’ll be able to get a look at the school bad boy, but with Jesse’s Range Rover out of here, my chances aren’t great. If he got a suspension or an expulsion, he probably would have left with his mom ages ago.

  Realizing this, I pick up my pace and get my ass home. I mean, there’s no point prolonging the inevitable. Mom needs to lose her marbles at me and I may as well get it over and done with. Besides, I deserve it. My actions have caused other kids to get hurt. I never wanted that. Not even close.

  I push through the door and walk through the entryway to find mom already there and waiting for me. I shouldn’t have expected anything less. She instantly looks down at her watch and purses her lips. “That could have been a little quicker,” she murmurs to herself.

  I resist making a smart comment and lay my bag down on the table. I quietly take a seat at the table and patiently wait, though it doesn’t take long. She straightens herself up and turns to face me.

  “What you did today was absolutely atrocious and I have never been so ashamed of you.” Shit, that stung. “The way you spoke to that boy was not acceptable. You sounded cheap, like you were raised with no morals or class.”

  “But he-”

  “I don’t care what he did,” she yells. “I’m not his mother. It’s not my problem. It is my job to care about you, and the young lady I saw in that video is not my daughter. I raised you better than that and recently, I don’t even recognize you.”

  “What?” I gasp, pushing myself to my feet. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that since I’ve been home from Australia, you’ve changed into someone I don’t recognize. You’re harder now. Unforgiving and mean. I don’t know if that’s Nathaniel’s doing or maybe you’re doing it to yourself, trying to fit in with him and his friends.”

  Rage swirls deep within me and I find myself snapping at the woman who gave me life. “Leave Nate out of this,” I demand. She scoffs but I continue. “Did you consider this is what happens when someone is abandoned by her parents for two months?”

  Both mine and mom’s eyes widen as we realize what just came out of my mouth. Shit. I shouldn’t have said that. Pain flashes across her features and instant regret seeps right through me. After all, she was in Australia caring for her dying mother. “How dare you?” she shrieks.

  My eyes cast down. “Sorry,” I mumble. “I didn’t mean that.”

  She leans back against the kitchen counter and crosses her arms over her chest. She studies me for an agonizingly long few seconds. “You really are changing,” she says. “And you don’t care who you hurt in the process.”

  I study my bag on the table. “I guess I’m grou
nded until the end of time?” I say, trying to wrap this up.

  “You bet your ass you are,” she says. “I have no choice but to contact your father about all this.”

  “Why?” I grunt. “You’re just going to worry him.”

  “None-the-less, he’s still your father,” she lets out a deep sigh. “You have a one week, in school suspension. You’re to report to the office every morning. You may have your lunch break with your peers and then you’re to return to the office until the end of the day. Following that, you come straight home. I’m still undecided if you may see your friends in that time.” My mouth opens for an argument, but she cuts me off. “Nate included. Now, get up to your room and get your homework done. Dinner is at seven.”

  With that, she turns and walks away, leaving me completely dumbfounded. I mean, I’ve been grounded before, but she’s never come down this hard on me.

  I let out a deep sigh and grab my bag off the table before trudging up the stairs. After missing most of my classes today, I don’t really have much homework, so naturally, I get it done in no time. With nothing else to do, I grab my Kindle and settle in. I mean, this isn’t too bad, apart from the whole ‘not being able to see Nate’ thing. I guess I’m lucky she didn’t take my phone.

  The thought has me reaching across to check if he’s messaged, but just my luck, there’s nothing. I let out what must be my hundredth sigh for the afternoon.

  This sucks. I mean, it royally sucks. I want nothing more than to walk out my door and drive my ass over to Nate’s place to find out what the hell happened without the risk of getting in more trouble. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom and I hated when she was away, but when she was gone, I had complete freedom. I could come and go as I pleased and there was no one waiting to bust my ass if, and when, I fucked up.

  I get lost in my Kindle and when I finally roll over and shut it off, I realize it’s after ten at night. No wonder I’ve been yawning so bad.

  I reach across and flick off my bedside table lamp and close my eyes, only a noise outside my window stops me from drifting into the sleep my body has been longing for.