Broken- Chapter 9

A few weeks had gone by since Miley's first day at school. She had managed to avoid giving out her secret. She simply pretended she was a very shy girl that just kept to herself. She sat in the corner, avoided making eye contact, didn't raise her hand to answer any questions, and tried her best to stay in the shadows. In the halls between classes she would take the scenic route to classes, around the crowd, down the stairs, through the janitors rooms which connected classes. Every day for lunch she sat by herself on the couch in the girls bathroom. Whenever someone came in she would jump up and pretend she was fixing her hair in the mirror. As far as 7th hour goes, she simply played the hiding game, but mixed herself in with the "normal" students in the class. Mrs. Parr, the schools special education instructor didn't attend the class, so she had no reason to have to stay with the group.

No one suspected a thing. She had put a lot of work into this and tried hard to stay unnoticed. Selena, the girl she had met on the first day, never approached her again. Granted that every time Miley saw her come around a corner, she would turn away and hide as to avoid Selena. It worked, so far at least. As long as no one tried to mess with her, or try anything with her, it would continue to work.

She knew it wasn't the most wonderful thing to do. Heck, she of all people knew how dumb and dreadful her choices were going to make the rest of the school year, not to mention the rest of high school. But she felt it would be plenty worse if she spent the rest of high school being the freak in school.

If going on the rest of her life without any friends, not a single boyfriend, and no where to go at night or on the weekends was all she had to do to stay free of the pity and embarrassment, then she would do it.

Embarrassment.. that was a big word... Was she really embarrassed? Was that even the right word? She never remembered being embarrassed before. Agitated, maybe, uncomfortable, maybe. But never before has she called her discomfort embarrassment. Perhaps because she had never been in a real high school with other kids. Other judging, roll play, label naming kids.

This morning she had woken up quite early. Giving her time to ponder the idea of herself being embarrassed. It was true. It was a weird feeling, but it was real.

It was Thursday morning. The 23d of September. Although she woke up 26 minutes before 6, when her alarm would've gone off, she couldn't go back to sleep, but she didn't want to get out of bed either. She had simply spent the long while letting her mind wander with those ideas. Her mind was mixed with emotions that were suddenly broken apart when she heard the obnoxious alarm on her clock go off. She looked over at the clock and slammed her hand on the snooze button. She sat up and leaned on her elbows. Breathing in she pulled the covers aside and lifted herself out of the bed.

Grabbing some casual clothes, she made her way to the bathroom and started the shower. Sharon had taken her out shopping, insisting she get the clothes she wanted, regardless of price. But Miley didn't WANT nice expensive clothes. She wanted her old clothes. The ones she was comfortable in. Not what everyone else was wearing. After choosing plenty of tops and jeans and shoes that Sharon approved of, she managed to slip in a few tshirts and sweats, and plain straight leg jeans into the pile before they checked out of each store.

Sharon was usually gone by the time Miley left for school, so she didn't have to worry about her feeling bad that Miley wasn't wearing the things she had bought her. So that was never a problem, and Jason, who didn't leave for work until 8 at night, never noticed a thing. He stayed pretty silent most of the time anyways. He didn't keep himself to himself much though. Several time Miley had been down stairs or out by the pool and she had seen him watching her. She couldn't figure out why he was always watching her, but she ignored it since he never said anything to her.

As she finished her shower she stepped out into the humid bathing area. Wrapped in a towel, she just stood there, looking at herself in the mirror hanging over the jacuzzi tub. She stood up straight with her hands at her sides and sighed. Crooking her head to the left just a bit, she stared into her own eyes. She looked herself up and down. Looking for something, nothing particular, she couldn't figure out what she was looking for. Finally giving up, she let her towel drop as she started to dress herself.

She stepped in front of the sink and opened the cabinet. She took out a bottle of beige cove cream and began to apply a thin layer over her almost flawless skin. She brushed he hair but didn't fix it nice or anything. She simply grabbed a headband and slipped in on, tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ears.

As she watched herself in the mirror, she lifted her finger to her mouth and began to chew the finger nail without realizing it. By the time she noticed her habit in action, she had already chewed away the once long nail on her left middle finger.

She walked out and glanced at the clock on the stereo on the wall. 6:47am. She had taken much longer in the bathroom then she had anticipated. She quickly ran into the kitchenette and grabbed a few granola bars. Walking back into her bedroom she grabbed her book bag and a jacket. By the time she got out of the house and was on her way to school, it was 6:57. She walked faster than usual, hoping to get to school by the time the first bell rang at 7:10.

Finally she made it to the front steps on the high school, she quietly galloped her way up the stairs and headed towards her homeroom. Glancing at a clock in the hall, it was about 7:08. She had just enough time to slip into her desk at the back of the room without being noticed.

Quickly, but quietly she made her way down the east hallway. She kept her eyes on her feet so no one would look at her. Unfortunately this lead to a scene that had everyone's eyes on her. She was just turning the corner when she slammed into another being. Their heads collided which caused an instant headache, and the books and papers the other student was carrying had flown all throughout the hallway. Quickly looking up, she saw her collision partner. Nick Grey, a friend of Selena's. Or so she believed, since he was always at her lunch table, and she was often with him in the hallway before 5th period. He chuckled,

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Nick" he held out his hand to shake hers. Not wanting to seem suspicious, she forced her own arm forward.

"What, I don't get your name too?" Nick laughed. He pushed it aside and continued talking, "If you don't mind helping me pick up my things before my papers are trampled over..." He left his sentence staggering. I knew I should help him but that was too much for me. It would lead to questions, and then an expected conversation, and it would go too far. Without thinking another thought, I quickly flew to my feet and sprinted around the corner and out of sight. So much for trying to be invisible...