Shattered (2 page)

~
Punishment~

Laura dragged her feet as she made her way to the math classroom after school. Thankful y, she hadn’t had any classes throughout the rest of the day with

“Mr. Sutherby” – she didn’t know his first name – so there wasn’t any awkwardness between them. Not yet, anyway.

She wasn’t looking forward to the arrangement that her math teacher had set up for her, and thought that the punishment she received what completely out of proportion with anything she may have done. Al she did was look back at him for a second! Mrs. Mil burn was known for a harsh demeanor, though, and Laura was caught experiencing it firsthand. She hadn’t bumped into Brady today, either, which only worsened her mood.

And then she had to endure her friends’ ominous projections of what being forced to spend time with the new student was going to be like. They had picked up al sorts of new, swirling rumors about him, and now that some of them had put a face to him, it only made them exaggerate the tales even more.

“Have you
seen
him?” Molly asked Laura at lunch,
before shaking her head quickly. “Of course you
have. You had class with him this morning, after all.
He’s scary, isn’t he? Looks like an axe murderer to
me. Like those creepy guys you see in the movies.
And he’s quiet, too. Secretive, maybe. Like he’s
hiding something.” She laughed uneasily. “I’m sure
you’ll be fine, though.”

“I heard he started a massive fire at his old
school,” Kelly added, “that nearly killed half the
students. And he jammed the doors so that they
couldn’t get out. Luckily, the sprinkler system kicked
in to stop it. He looks like the type to do something
like that, doesn’t he? That’s just crazy.”

Before Laura could interrupt, her friend Stacy
jumped in, adding all the bits and pieces that she
had heard. And on and on it went, despite Laura
repeatedly trying to assure her friends that it wouldn’t
be that bad, that he couldn’t have possibly done all
those things, and that people were just excited by a
new student in school so couldn’t help but spread
those rumors.

In the end, Laura just gave up, and did her best to ignore the more disturbing pieces of gossip that came her way during the day. But despite being absolutely certain there was little truth in the rumors, she stil found herself feeling apprehensive as the clock ticked closer and closer to 3:15 PM. Which was exactly the time her cel phone showed, now. Laura sighed and pushed open the door to the classroom. It was empty, except for Mrs. Mil burn seated at her desk.

“You’re early, Miss Cubus,” Mrs. Mil burn said without looking up. “Take your seat, please, and wait quietly for Mr. Sutherby to arrive.”

“Yes, Mrs. Mil burn,” Laura sighed, and walked over to a seat at the far back of the classroom. If she was going to be spending time with this new kid, she wanted to at least be able to talk to him without Mrs. Mil burn overhearing every word.

Laura didn’t have to wait long before he burst through the door, hair frazzled as if he’d been running. Laura looked, and saw his face for the first time.

If her friend Stacy could be considered too-tanned, he was the polar opposite. His skin was pure white, and reflected the light strongly. It wasn’t a sickly white, though; rather, it reminded her of the strong, clean white she could imagine on a horse or unicorn. His eyes were sharp and dark, and set deeply into a strong, lean face. If Laura hadn’t known that he was her age, she would have guessed him to be in his early twenties. And he looked more a man than a boy.

His face looked strong – proud. At least, that’s the first impression she got. Although at this particular moment in time, it looked like al his strength and pride had drained away, and he felt every bit the young boy of sixteen or seventeen that he was in an unfamiliar school.

“You’re late,” Mrs. Mil burn said sharply, and he dropped his head, looking right at the floor. He mumbled something, but Laura couldn’t make it out.

“What? Speak up, boy! There’s no shame in being loud enough to be heard.”

“I said, I’m sorry,” he repeated, louder this time. “I got lost in the hal ways on my way here.”

“Yes, yes, that’s perfectly understandable,” Mrs. Mil burn said waving him away with one hand. “The only one you’re harming by being late is your friend over there, sitting at the back. Every minute you’re late is an extra minute she’l have to stay.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Bah! Don’t apologize to me, boy. It’s her you should be saying sorry to. But that’s neither here nor there. Miss Cubus?”

“Yes, Mrs. Mil burn?” Laura said.

“For your first day at Mr. Sutherby’s personal tutor, I want you to go over al the chapters we’ve completed so far this year. Take note of anything he may have not seen before, and make sure he learns it wel .”

“Yes, Mrs. Mil burn.”

“Hmph. Good, then. Wel , Mr. Sutherby? You’re not going to learn anything standing up here. Go say hi to the nice girl at the back, and get started.” Laura knew that Mrs. Mil burn knew how awkward this whole thing was going to be for her, and figured it was just a way of punishing even further. “Go on, she won’t bite. Although I’m not sure how good her attention span is.” And with that, Mrs. Mil burn turned her attention back to her desk.

Laura switched her gaze to “Mr. Sutherby,” who stil stood at the front of the room, looking at his feet. A bag – the same one that hit her this morning – hung slumped over his shoulder. Final y, she saw him shake his head, and start to make his way over to her. He walked slowly, and every step he took looked like it was one step closer to agony.

In spite of herself, Laura began to feel a little nervous, too. Her heart started beating faster, and she could feel her palms start to clam up. He sure was taking his time coming over. Was he always like this? Was there something wrong with her that he didn’t like? Was he just shy? Questions raced through her mind as the distance between him and her closed ever-so-slowly.

Final y he came up to her desk, pul ed out a nearby chair, and col apsed heavily into it. He stil hadn’t made eye contact with her.

“So…” she began unsteadily after a moment’s silence, not sure of what to say, “…are you, uhm, any good at math?”

He shrugged his shoulders in reply.

“Do you… know what we’re doing in class?”

He shrugged again, eyes glued to the floor. Laura swal owed. She felt like she was talking to a wal . She didn’t know what else to say. The silence stretched, growing awkward.

“Thanks for dragging me into this,” he final y mumbled. Laura could barely make out the words, but when they registered, she was taken aback.

“What?” she demanded.

“I said, thanks for dragging me into this,” he shot back, and rose his eyes to meet hers. His eyes were fiery, ablaze with untold emotion. For the first time in her life, Laura felt truly scared. It looked like they pulsed – angrily or not, she couldn’t say – and wielded supernatural power. She felt cold, lost, and alone. Isolated from everyone else in this world, stuck forever in his unnatural gaze, helpless to ever escape. Then he blinked, and al that died, and her fear disappeared. His eyes were normal again, and he as looking at her askance.

“Why are you looking at me that way?” he asked.

“What way?” she answered. “And what’s wrong with your eyes?”

“My eyes?” He looked perplexed. “There’s nothing wrong with my eyes.”

“But just now, when you looked at me, they were…”

“—they were what?” he asked.

“They were… raging.”

“Raging?” He laughed. “I’ve never heard
that
one before.”

“Ah! So you
do
know what I’m talking about.”

“No, I’ve got no idea.”

“But you said ‘that one,’ like you’ve heard things before?” she answered slowly.

“Did I?” he mused, and smiled at her. “No, I promise you, I’ve got no idea.”

“Then why’d you say it?”

“Say what?”

“That you’ve never heard that one before.”

A wide smile slowly spread across his face, and she suddenly understood. He was teasing her!

“Very funny,” she said drily. He spread his arms in response. “So, Mr. Funny-man, it looks like we’re both stuck here for what remains of this week, and potential y this whole semester. So I think we’d better start this relationship by exchanging names.”

“Logan,” he said simply.

“Logan?” He nodded. “That’s funny, you strike me more as a ‘Jonathan’ or ‘Steve.’ I’ve never met a

‘Logan’ before. My name’s Laura.”

“Nice to meet you, then,” he said. “I’ve never met a

‘Laura’ before, either.”

“So it’s something new for the both of us.”

“Looks like it is.”

“Ahem!” An angry voice at the front of the room interrupted, causing both of them to look up. Mrs. Mil burn stood behind her desk, frowning. “You two lovebirds are here for a reason, and that reason is to learn math, is it not? Laura, why do I not see your textbook, or a single worksheet, on your desk?”

“Sorry, Mrs. Mil burn,” Laura said, thinking quickly.

“I was just… asking Logan how much math he’s done in the past.”

“Wel , you’d better start to
show
him what
we’ve
done in the past. Unless you want me to extend your stay here?”

“No, Mrs. Mil burn. I wil , Mrs. Mil burn.” Laura hated being so subservient, but it wasn’t like she had much choice. She reached down in her bag to pul out her math textbook, and put it on the table.

“She’s a bit of a hag, isn’t she?” Logan asked, eyeing the desk where Mrs. Mil burn stood warily.

“What’s the history with you two? Did she always hate you, or did that just start today?”

Laura sighed. She didn’t feel like explaining al of that to Logan right now. “Never mind that. We need to at least start looking through this math book, or else she’s going to yel at us again.”

“Yea, alright.” He looked down again, and for a second Laura found herself admiring Logan. There was something about him, something… different. Something mysterious, maybe. The way he walked around, shoulders slumped, was a stark contrast to the way he had just teasingly interacted with her. He was probably just shy, coming to an entirely new place, and found it easy – for whatever reason – to open up to her.

And now that she’d talked to him, she thought it even less likely that he could possibly have been responsible for any of the horrible things that were being said about him. He seemed like the shyest, most peaceful kid ever.

In any case, Laura didn’t think she’d be dreading coming here afterschool anymore. She thought Logan might develop into somewhat of a friend.

~Brady Shel ~

The rest of the week passed without incident. Laura stil hadn’t managed to find Brady anywhere, and began doubting whether she’d be able to do good on her start-of-semester resolution. She was stil determined, however.

But thankful y, her afterschool detention sessions with Logan were turning out not quite as bad as she’d imagined. She learned that Logan actual y knew
more
math than she did, and ended up teaching her some of the things she didn’t yet understand. He was sharp, and afterschool, in the relative privacy of the near-empty classroom, he was engaging, lively, and interesting.

Which was why she didn’t understand the way he acted
during
school. Every math class she had that week, he’d arrive after her, and shoot her a shy smile as he passed. Otherwise, though, he didn’t acknowledge her presence in any way. Or anybody else’s, real y. He kept his head down, and always wore the same, dul clothing. It was like he wished he could shrink his long limbs so they would stop taking up so much space.

Laura found herself starting to wonder what happened to cause him to transfer here. What
really
happened. She didn’t put any stock into the rumors she heard. At the same time, she had been unable to force herself to ask him about it herself. It felt like she would be invading his personal life if she pried like that, and she didn’t feel comfortable doing that yet. One time during math class, Laura snuck a peek back at Logan. As expected, he sat with his head down. But just at that moment, an image flashed in her head of a powerful lion – a king – who’d been disgraced. It felt like al the power was stil there, just…restrained. Like it was forcibly being thrust down. Just as quickly as it came, the image disappeared. And she found Logan looking back at her, meeting her gaze strongly.

She spun around quickly. He had seen her looking. She hoped he didn’t get the wrong impression. She also hoped Mrs. Mil burn wouldn’t notice.

Thankful y, their teacher was busy writing on the board. Relieved, Laura returned to her notes. But she could feel Logan’s gaze on her back.

Logan was also always the first to leave at the bel , brushing by people to get to the door. Laura knew he had heard the rumors swirling about him by now, and hoped they weren’t getting to him. She couldn’t imagine the instability his life held. But she knew things would get better for him, if only he started speaking up more.

Which is what she decided to tel him at their next detention session together on Friday. Today’s session – Thursday’s – was cancel ed by Mrs. Mil burn on account of her grandson’s birthday. So, it was on a rainy Thursday afternoon, in the break before the last class of the day, when Laura found herself in a hal way struggling with the mechanism on her locker. The second bel had already rung, marking anybody coming to class late, so the hal way around her was completely empty. But no matter how many times she tried the combination, her locker wouldn’t open. She banged her fist against the cold metal in frustration, producing a clang that ran al the way down the hal .

“Do you need a hand?” a strong voice asked her. It seemed familiar, in some way…

Laura looked towards it, and felt her heart freeze in her chest. Brady Shel was standing beside her, with that easy smile gracing his face. Brady Shel ! And he looked handsome as ever.

She couldn’t believe it. Al this year, she hadn’t seen him pass by her locker
once
, and now, with almost everybody else already in class, he was standing
here
, beside
her
, offering to help. What were the odds?

“Uh… yea,” she muttered, stumbling over the words. “I think the lock is busted.”
Idiot! That was the
best you could come up with?

“Oh, wel that’s OK,” he said, turning his attention to her locker. She stepped aside, letting him examine it. Which was when she felt a strong hand grab her ass.

“Hey!” She whipped around, and came face to face with some guy she’d never seen before. He was grinning widely.
He
was wide, too, and built like a footbal player. “You can’t do that!”

“Oh real y?” he asked, stil smiling. “Can’t do what?
This
?” And he reached around with one hand to grab her again. She shoved his hand away, and stepped back, trying to get some space, but felt herself bump into another body. She looked behind her. Brady was standing there, grinning as widely as the other guy.

“Didn’t we know each other, before?” he mused at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw another two guys approaching them. “I think we did. You’re…

Laura, right? From back in ninth grade? My, but how much you’ve grown since then…”

“And developed very nicely,” the wide-guy added brusquely.

“Yes, she has, hasn’t she?” Brady said. He grabbed her by the waist, and started moving his hand up her back.

“Get
off
me!” she exclaimed, pushing him away. But those other two guys she saw approaching had already surrounded her, blocking any escape route she had.

She looked in terror from one guy to the next. Al three looked like big, mean footbal players. And then there was Brady, who didn’t look like he matched them at al , yet he was smiling as wickedly as the rest.

“Ooh, she’s a feisty little vixen, isn’t she?” one of the two new guys crooned. Somebody pushed her – hard

– and she went flying right into the guy. He caught her easily and spun her around, then wrapped his arms around her body, hugging her close to him. “Why, I didn’t know you liked me already,” he said crudely, and al four of the guys laughed. She struggled, trying to escape, but his grip was too strong. She looked desperately to Brady, but he was laughing just as much.

“What should we do with her, Brad?” the guy holding her asked. She tried to swing her head into his, to do
something
that would cause him to let up on his iron grip, but she was too short. Wait.
Brad
?

Was that what these guys cal ed him, now? The guy final y let go, and she stumbled into the middle of the clearing. Al around her, hungry eyes stared at her body.

“I think she’s a good girl,” Brady said ominously, stepping closer to her, “so I think she’l cooperate with anything we say. Won’t you, Laura?”

Laura shrunk back. Al four guys stepped even closer. She was trapped, with no way out. She felt another hand slap her ass, and a roar of laughter erupted from the group. She was scared, now. She could scream, but she doubted anybody would hear, here in the most abandoned corner of the school. Brady took another step towards her, and she was about to make a fist right when her arms were grabbed and held. She struggled, trying to get out of the grip, but it was no use. There were four of them, and only one of her. Oh God, what were they going to do? How could this be happening to her,
right here in
the school
? And Brady, of al people, seemed to be their ring-leader. She felt her whole world start to col apse on itself.

“Stop.”

A loud voice broke cut through the laughter, causing al four of the guys to look up. Laura looked up, too. And found Logan standing a few meters away, feet spread in an aggressive stance, looking right at them.

“What did you say?” Brady said ominously, turning to face him.

“I told you to stop,” Logan replied simply.

“Or
what
?” Brady rounded on Logan.

“Or I wil make you.”

“Oh real y?” Brady’s tone was incredulous. “Boys, this guy here thinks he’s going to
stop
us.”

That caused another roar of laughter to come from the three guys stil around Laura.

“We’re probably scaring his little
girlfriend
,” Brady continued derisively. The words stung, despite everything what was happening, because they came from Brady’s mouth.

“Hey, isn’t it that new kid?” the guy holding Laura offered. “Yea, Brad, I think it is.”

“
And
you’re new?” Brady asked, walking right up to Logan. “Wel , new kid, I think you better get on your way. We wouldn’t want to see you getting hurt.” Then he shoved Logan right in the chest, knocking him back. He staggered back, but made no move to counter. Laura’s arms were stil twisted behind her, and they
hurt
.

Brady turned around, back to face Laura and his crew, satisfied that he’d dealt successful y with the nuisance. But then Logan spoke again:

“Last chance, Brad. Tel your friends to back off.”

Brady spun around furiously. “Nobody ever cal me
Brad,
” he spat, “except for my teammates!” And he threw a punch right for Logan’s head.

Everything happened at once.

Logan stepped aside easily, avoiding Brady’s fist, and Brady lost his balance and staggered forward. Logan swept a foot out, tripping him, and al owed Brady’s momentum to carry him to the floor.

At the same time, one of the guys standing behind Laura charged at Logan. Just as he was about to slam his shoulder into Logan’s side, Logan raised a knee hard, and the guy’s chest rebounded against it. The guy gasped, having the wind knocked out of him, and fel back to the floor.

Brady had already gotten up, and was in the middle of swinging a sucker punch to the back of Logan’s head. Laura screamed, but Logan twisted around just in time to block the blow with his forearm. Brady looked stunned for a moment, but that expression quickly turned to pain as Logan clubbed him in the midsection with a fist. Brady fel down, clutching at his stomach.

Growling, the guy holding Laura let her go, and ran at Logan. So did his friend. Laura col apsed to the floor. When she looked up half a second later, the wide-guy who held her before had his hands at his face, trying desperately to stop the blood flowing from a vicious gnash on his nose. And his friend was also writhing on the floor in pain.

Logan stood there, amongst the four bodies, completely unscathed. And looking worriedly over at her.

Just then, the second guy – the one who had gotten a knee in the chest – decided that he hadn’t had enough yet. He got up, and ran at Logan from behind.

“Watch out!” Laura screamed, but Logan just graceful y – majestical y – extended his left leg back in a roundhouse kick. Logan’s foot struck the guy in the chest, and he col apsed heavily to the floor.

Logan looked back at Laura. Seeing that she was stil there, he walked over to Brady, who lay face-down against the floor. Gruffly, Logan kicked him over to his back, and dropped to one knee to pin both of Brady’s shoulders to the ground. From where Laura was, she thought Brady was in enormous pain.

“Listen to me,
Brad
,” Logan began, “I don’t want you doing that to her, or any other girl,
ever
again. Do you understand?”

Brady whimpered desperately and nodded his head in agreement.

“In fact,
Brad
,” Logan continued, “I don’t even want to so much as
hear
of you being in this part of the school again. Do I make myself clear?”

Brady kept nodding, over and over. Laura thought she could see tears running down his face. Somehow, holding him like that, Logan was hurting him.
Really
hurting him. She had to end it.

“Stop it!” she yel ed. She tried getting up, to pul Logan off, but her knees were weak, and didn’t want to support her.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Logan looked to her. And removed his hands from Brady’s shoulders. Brady exhaled in relief, and weakly rol ed to one side to cradle himself with his hands.

Logan rose, and stepped quickly over the bodies to walk up to Laura. Before she knew it, he had his hands gently under her arms, helping her up.

“Are you OK?” he asked, frowning with worry.

“Yes,” Laura answered. “But… why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Logan asked quizzical y.

“D o
that
,” Laura emphasized, pointing to the four guys stil mostly on the floor. “Why did you do that to them? Why did you interfere?”

“They had no right to treat you that way.”

“But I didn’t
ask
you to do that!” This felt wrong, somehow, arguing like this with her rescuer, but she couldn’t control her emotions. And right now, they were demanding an outburst. “Oh my God, now Brady’s going to hate me. They’re
all
going to hate me. Al going to blame me!”

“You cannot be complicit in things like this, Laura…”

“Oh, like you would know?” she spat.

“I know more than you might think,” he said.

“Oh, give me a break. You haven’t lifted your head once in school! I don’t think you’ve even spoken to anyone other than me! You had no right to interfere, no right to do that at al !”

“And without me, Laura, what would you have done?”

“I don’t know,” she said. She felt herself getting close to tears, and had to bite off the end of every word. “But I know I stil would have had a chance with Brady! Oh, who knows what he’s going to think of me now. He’s probably going to hate my guts! Why did you have to
do
that?” Her eyes began to water, and she clenched a fist, swinging it right at Logan’s stomach. He made no move to get out of the way. Her blow connected, and it felt like she had hit a concrete wal . The reverberation ran al the way up her arm, hurting both her elbow, her shoulder,
and
her knuckles.

“Very wel ,” Logan said quietly. He turned and walked away, leaving Laura to slump against her locker. Tears began to stream down her face.