A Broken World

Jerome's POV

I wake up again to screaming. I groan and grab my pillow, pulling it over my face to try and block out the sounds. But it's no use.

"I'm fucking sick of this, Joan! I want out!" I hear my father, John Clarke, screaming at my mother. That's usually what I woke up to in the mornings.

I hear the front door slam and I sigh. I know my father will be back.

I push the pillow away and sit up, trying to force away last night's nightmares, along with the hangover headache I had.

I run a hand through my long, dirty blonde hair. It felt greasy. I wrinkle my nose and shake my head. Our hot water had stopped working, and I hated taking showers in cold water.

I stand up and wince. My father had gotten mad at me last night for talking back to him, so he had gotten a belt and whipped me until I apologized. Me, being extremely stubborn, didn't.. Until his belt had gone into more personal areas.

I force away those memories then go to get some of my cleaner clothes and take an unwanted, but needed shower.

After my shower I head downstairs to make myself some breakfast.

I stop when I see my mom sitting at the kitchen table, a beer in her hand. She glances over at me, a look of disgust on her face. "This is all your fault." She says before taking a long drink.

I sigh and shake my head, going around her to get to the fridge. She stands up to stop me, and looks up at me. Then her hand is flying across my face, and I hiss at the sting in my cheek.

She laughs when I just stand there. "You're pathetic. Just like your father." She says, smirking up at me. I step back to get away from the stench of alcohol around her, and she helps by shoving me back. I grip the edge of the table, but I still fall anyway. I hit my head hard on the wooden floor and groan.

"Why don't you just go to school already? I don't need to waste my food on trash like you." She growls. She walks off away from me, but not before dumping the rest of her beer on my head. "And you need to take a shower. You stink."

I roll my eyes at her once she's gone then stand back up. I had cut my palm on the table when I grabbed it, and I could feel blood trickling down the back of my neck, along with some beer.

I grab some paper towels and press them to the back of my head, waiting for the bleeding to stop. When it finally does, I throw them away, then head out and start walking to school.

I walked alone on the sidewalk everyday to go to school. It seemed like the best way for me, so I didn't get beat up by any of the popular kids that walked. But some always drove by and most of the time they'd stop just to beat me up. Me, not knowing how to fight or defend myself, just take it. It was torture.

This morning was cold for early fall, and I shivered under my light jean jacket with holes in it. My pants also had holes in them, as well as my shoes. I was so obviously poor.

I heard the silver Ferrari before I even saw it. But I knew who it belonged to. I ran away from that sound almost every morning.

But this time, nothing happened as Miller drove past me. I frowned and looked over to my left to see it was just him in his car.

His real name was Edison Miller, but he preferred just to be called Eddy. I never understood why. It sounded so girly.

He was the reason I learned that I was gay. I had never really been into girls anyway, but he made me sure I liked guys.

It started in middle school, where we had most of the same classes. He'd always just lay back in his chair, with his arms crossed behind his head.

I never could stop myself from staring. His skin was golden, like his hair, which he always kept short. It seemed so silky. His eyes were dark green, like a pine forest during winter.

He usually preferred to wear dark colored clothes, which confused me sometimes, but whatever. Every time his shirt would come up just a little, I got a glimpse of that perfect gold skin, stretched tight over his abs.

Sometimes I'd imagine myself running my tongue over that golden skin.. The thought of it made me shiver.

When I first saw him in sixth grade, his skin was pale and made him look like some doll from Twilight. But then he had started going out with some of his friends to the pool, and he got really tan. Which bleached his hair, and made his green eyes more noticeable.

He also had perfect white teeth. I never understood how all of him was just so.. Perfect.

Maybe it was because he moved here from London. They always seemed so sophisticated.

His father was a lawyer, and from what I had heard, a pretty damn good one. His mother was a school teacher; I had her for one of my middle school classes. She seemed really nice, and she was as gorgeous as Eddy was. Except, her hair was more auburn, instead of blonde. And she hadn't tanned at all since she moved down here.

Eddy, like me, was an only child. Biologically. My sister, Poppy, had been adopted only two years ago, when she was just eight.

My mom adored Poppy, and was always pampering her. They never told me her story, but it must've been something tragic, because she was deathly afraid of my father and I.

I had never really spoke to her much, but when I did she was always shy and nervous.

I was brought back to reality when I stumbled over a curb and fell into the street, face first.

I was at a stop sign, which Eddy had happened to stop at. I stood up quickly, trying not to wince. I felt a trickle of blood running down the back of my neck and I groaned, quite loudly.

I start rushing back down the sidewalk and keep my hand on my neck to hide the blood, hoping he won't notice me. But he does.

He drives up beside me, his passenger side window rolled down. "Nice fall, Jerry." He calls out and I sigh quietly before moving faster, not wanting to talk to him. He keeps up with me though.

I was thankful that the blood was only running in a small stream, so he couldn't see me bleeding. "You better watch out next time. Someone might run over you." He says then he speeds off.

I frown and watch him go. I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

What was strange about him, was that he barely had an English accent anymore. It was more Californian now. But his parents' accents were still extremely thick.

I get to school a few minutes later, and glance around. There were some seniors grouped together around their cars, with a few juniors mixed in with them. I barely noticed the only sophomore, which happened to be Eddy. He had his arm wrapped around a junior girl's shoulders.

I feel a pang of jealousy, and I divert my eyes quickly. I didn't want Eddy or any of his friends to see me jealous over him and some stupid girl.

He had actually been dating the girl since we were freshmans. Her name was Patricia Williamson. She had wavy reddish brown hair, which fell down around her shoulders, and blue-ish grey eyes.

She was friends with the queen bitch of the school, Amber Millington. And it was no wonder those two were friends, because they both had bad attitudes and extremely hot boyfriends.

I feel my face heat up when I realize what I thought. I cool it down by continuing to walk away.

"Hey, Gerbil!" I hear a familiar voice call and I turn to see my one and only friend, Alfie, jogging towards me. Alfie had chocolate colored skin, and the same chocolate colored eyes. His head was usually shaved, because when he let his hair grow out, it turned into a giant afro-mess. I force a smile and nod as a greeting.

Alfie knew I never talked much, but he didn't care. He talked enough for the both of us. "God, have you heard that Amber broke it off with Fabian last night. She caught him sleeping with Joy." He says and I shake my head.

"Must've been so embarrassing for the poor girl. She's a real sweetheart. You should get to know her. I'm sure by now she's been exiled from every group of friends she has. Or.. Had, I should say."

I glance over at him and frown as I think about his idea. He notices my look and a grin spreads across his face. "Good. I'll go get her. You stay right here and don't move." He says and points to the ground at my feet before he quickly jogs away.

I shake my head and smile a little. Alfie knew I was totally into Eddy, but he also knew I needed some friends, besides him. But every time I had tried, I failed, because people just seemed to have biased opinions about me before they even get to know me.

I suppose me not talking much freaked them out. And sometimes I would come to school like I did today: a black eye, a red cheek, holy clothes, covered in beer.

I guess it made me look tougher. But I doubt it. My frame was too narrow to be tough.

The bell rings before Alfie gets back, and I wait until almost everyone else was inside the building before I start heading towards the doors.

I don't notice the girl walking next to me, until I hear a shy voice. "Hey, Jerome." She says softly and I look down at her. This must be Joy. Her eyes were red and puffy, probably from crying, and she had a slap mark on her cheek. Probably from Amber.

I nod, but she doesn't see me. She frowns and looks up at me, seeming a little angry. "Well if you didn't want to talk, you should've just said so." She snaps then starts to walk away.

"Hello, Joy." I say quietly and she stops trying to walk away. Her face when she turns to look at me is flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. I forgot that Alfie said you didn't talk much. Sorry.

"What class are you going to?" She asks and as we walk into the building. "Math." I say simply. She nods and smiles. "Well, I have whatever form of science they're calling it this year, so I'll see you later." She tells me and I nod. I had that same whatever-form-of-science class next. Eddy was in it.

She walks away and I make my way to my locker to get my books and things I'll need. Since the science classroom was all the way upstairs, I didn't have time to get my stuff after math.

Alfie was already waiting at my locker. "I told you, man. She's been exiled from everything." He says and I muster small chuckle. I know how she must be feeling.

"Well, adios. Off to Español." He says and starts off to the other side of the building. I sigh then start off to math.

_X_

I make it through without a problem, except for when the teacher noticed me staring at the birds outside, and asked me for the answer to the impossible equation she had put on the bored. Me, being a smartass, just replied with a 'fifty two' and she rolled her eyes, but didn't do anything. I thought I heard her mumble something about stupid teenagers, but I could've been wrong.

On my way to science, I pass Joy and she gives me a small wave. I wave back, and manage to drop my math book, which had thousands of notes stuck in it.

She stops to help me pick them up, but everyone else around us just laugh and talk about what a klutz I am.

I give her a grateful smile as I shove all the papers back in my book, then hurry off towards the lab.

When I walk in, I see everyone paired up with somebody else at a lab table. I sigh and start towards one of the empty ones, but Mrs. Winerheimer, the teacher, shakes her head at me and points to a lab table with only one person.

I don't pay very much attention to the person, until I'm sitting down next to him.

"Jerome." A cool voice says and I almost jump. I look over at the person.

My heart drops when I see who I'm partnered with. Eddy. I look away from him and sigh quietly. This was going to be a long day.

Our assignment for the class was to build our own small plant farm.

I knew Eddy never did much work on anything. Which means I'd have to do this all on my own. After school, I decided, I was going to go buy some seeds.

Eddy had volunteered us to raise alfalfa as our plant. And we were going to use a large box filled with nutrient-rich soil to do so.

I felt a hand on my shoulder as I walked out of the classroom, and I look back to see Eddy. "My place tonight. You know where I live." He says before walking off.

I didn't think he'd actually want to work with me. But.. I didn't know him that well, either. At least not as well as I wanted to.

_X_

After school, I went home to get some money. No one else was home, but there was a note left on the table.

'This house better be cleaned by the time I get home tonight. Or else you and your father will be having a talk' was written in my mother's messy handwriting. I sigh and shake my head. So my father had come back after all.

It figured. He never could stay away from the drug business.

I go to get some money then head out to buy the seeds. I knew my mom would be home late at night, so as long as I left Eddy's place early, I'd have time to clean.

While I was in the store, I kept getting funny looks from people. I just ignored them, bought the seeds, and left to Eddy's house.

I get there a few minutes later, since our town was small. I knock on the large mansion door, and he opens it. I have to stifle a gasp when I see him. He had only sweats on, so his chest was bare. It glistened with water, probably from him taking a shower. I noticed the tattoo on his right peck, which read 'Life of Crime'. I'm pretty sure I had an eyebrow raised, because he just chuckled.

"Come on in, Jerry, and make yourself comfortable. I need to go get dressed."

I nod and walk inside, shrinking a little. Here I was, dirty and smelly, wearing holy clothes, in an extremely rich house.

My throat was dry as I made my way over to sit on the couch, clutching the seeds tightly.

With the image of a half-naked Eddy still in my mind, I realized that this night was going to be the longest of my life.

I let out a sigh and lean back into the smooth, comfortable leather couch.