Broken (The Siren Series #1)

by L. A. Griffiths

  Becky suddenly blurted “Matthew asked me out just now.” She screamed in a high pitched voice that could almost break glass.

  “Really?” I replied. “That’s amazing.” I said.

  “Yeah it was, well not at the beginning.” Lilly said.

  “Why? What happened?” I waited for their answer.

  “It was so funny Ellie, Becky was just staring at him like an idiot and she just started mumbling. It was so funny.” laughed Lilly.

  “It wasn’t.” Becky shouted. “And I wasn’t staring at him, at all. I was just thinking.”

  “Sorry Becky but it was kinda’ funny.” said Lilly.

  Laughing lifted a huge weight off of me. It was a release, and for a second my troubles were gone. Lilly and I were still laughing while Becky was fighting to urge not to join us. Then the happy feeling shattered like broken glass, as the school bell buzzed throughout the halls. The smile had fallen from my face and I was thrown back into normality of school life. The girls knew it too.

  We started walking to our first class of the day when Lilly said softly. “You’ve got Mr. Drop dead gorgeous today don’t you?”

  I knew what Lilly was talking about. I wanted to forget about what happened yesterday. The feelings I felt came rushing back, I felt my stomach knot.

  “Uh yeah I do, but I’m just going to put it at the back of my mind for now.” I replied.

  “I thought you could speak to him about it, you know, put things straight.” said Lilly.

  “There’s nothing to put straight.” Becky said adamantly.

  “But even if I did, wouldn’t that make things more awkward?” I asked.

  I didn’t want to continue the conversation so I said my goodbyes to the girls and stepped into my first lesson. Science, It wasn’t bad and I kinda’ like science. My teacher was a very small woman in her late fifties. Mrs. Donavan, she wore a long skirt and a comfy looking cardigan, short graying hair that flowed freely down.

  I sat at my usual seat that was next to a plain looking girl called Leah. She really never talked to me and just kept to herself. Just like me.

  As the lesson began, I pulled out my book and began taking notes from Mrs. Donavan. I jotted everything down that I thought was worth writing, Mrs. Donavan did like talking. I was writing down information when my pen had started to fade, I shuffled through my bag hoping to find another working pen, but there was none. I whispered to Leah who was jotting down her own notes.

  “Leah can I borrow a pen? Please.” I whispered.

  Leah rolled her eyes at me and grabbed a pen from her bag and slammed it on my desk.

  “Thanks Leah. Normally I’ve got loads of pens but don’t know where they’ve gone.” I said.

  “Freak.” Leah whispered under her breath as she continued to write.

  Pain shot through me like a bullet. I ignored her comment and continued writing. Many of the students here called me names. I just ignored them as best as I can. Each new day came, and a new name to call me by. Why do people have to be horrible all the time? I tried to listen to the teacher but all I could hear was the word freak. I repeated it several times until the word lost all its meaning.

  I remembered back when I first came to this school. It was in the middle of the year. Everyone had their routine, and along came me. A fresh face to the school, Becky and Lilly took to me very quickly, but not all of them. The first few days of being in a new school, I had a guy come up to me. He wanted to ask me out. (I think). He touched my hand; he went crazy and started to tear at my clothes. Before it got any serious I ran away from him screaming down the hall, and that’s when it all started, between him and the teacher, no wonder they call me names. Ever since then, not many people will come near me, and I’m ok with that.

  I tried to push those feelings deep down. I focused again on the teacher’s ramblings while I wrote into my book. The small bell mounted on the wall began buzzing, making me jump a little. I shoved my books into my bag and turned to Leah to give her pen back, but she was already gone. I threw my backpack around my shoulder and hurried off to my next class. I was caught off guard. Becky stood next to the classroom door waiting for me with her arms folded.

  “You ready?” Becky asked.

  I gave her a slow nod and took a deep breath. English class was below us. We both descended the old stairs (it could use a fresh coat of paint) and entered Mr. Thomas’s class. Both of us sat at our usual seats, two rows from the front. I turned in my chair and grabbed my books, carefully making sure not to look at Mr. Thomas. Grabbing my book, I placed it onto the table with my head slumped down. He stood in front of us clasping a book labeled, Romeo and Juliet.

  “Right then, shall we continue from yesterday?” He said.

  He paced up and down the class giving out the books. Today he was wearing a peach shirt that fit snugly around his strong arms with a pair grey trousers. Finally he stopped in front of me, holding the book out. With my hand clasped at my sides, I refused to take it. Becky could see my unwillingness and reached out and grabbed the book. I mouthed Becky a thank you.

  Mr. Thomas started to read from the book, every girl in the class clung onto his every word, his voice, pure ecstasy. His eyes seemed to glow with passion with every word he spoke. Taking my eyes off the book, I turned to Becky who was deeply enthralled by him. I swore I could see her drooling. While he was reading his eye caught mine, and, for a moment it felt like he was reading the words only to me and not a room full of kids. I knew then why everyone was enthralled by him. He had a twinkle in his eye that could turn your entire body to jelly. I tore my eyes away from his and looked straight down at the book.

  As Mr. Thomas was reading there was a knock on the door. The whole class raised their heads up like a pack of excited dogs. A young woman came into the classroom and asked for him. She was a bit old to be a student but too young to be a teacher, maybe she was a teacher’s aide. Mr. Thomas excused himself and left the room. The room then burst into chaos. Becky and I started to talk amongst ourselves, that’s when I could hear sniggering from behind us.

  “No, you do it.” A voice said.

  “Fine but you owe me.” The second voice said. “Ellie.”

  Uh oh I didn’t want any trouble; I ignore her and wished for the teacher to enter at that moment.

  “Are you a virgin, Ellie?” Embarrassment washed over me, I could feel my face getting warmer. Thank god my back was to them.

  “Well, are you?” the voice pestered me.

  “Why don’t you shut your mouth, plus don’t you have to go some jobs to give out at the back of the school?” Becky did an inappropriate mouth gesture and turned her back on them.

  Before the girl could think of a comeback, Mr. Thomas entered the room and the class was silent.

  I gave my thanks to Becky and she replied with a cheeky wink.

  Finally the bell went, and as fast as I could I threw everything into my backpack and left with Becky in tow, before I reached the door Mr. Thomas called my name. My body came to a complete stop. I slowly turned to face him and saw that he was smiling at me.

  “I’ll just be outside if you need me Ellie.’’ Becky said.

  “I just want to apologies about yesterday, if I offended you in any way, I’m sorry.” he said softly.

  “Uh no not really, it’s ok,” I lied. “Things haven’t really been going good for me lately.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

  I was so tempted to tell him everything about what’s happening theses past few days but I decided not to. He waited for my answer with his sparking eyes upon me.

  “No, it’s nothing really. But thank you.” I said and headed straight out the door. Becky followed behind me. We were meant to meet up with Lilly and eat together, but we were late. We both rushed down to the hall and found Lilly sitting beside herself looking lonely. Down the massive dining hall, sitting at a table was Beth. She was facing the entrance as if she was waiting for someone. Beth was sitting with a group of
girls laughing and giggling amongst themselves. I didn’t want to look at her anymore so Becky and I bought our sandwiches and sat down with Lilly, but before I could eat my food Becky was the first one to speak.

  “What Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous said was really nice.” Becky said as she took a big chunk out of her sandwich.

  “You were listening!?” I asked.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Lilly.

  “Just about Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous.” replied Becky.

  “Did you say anything to him?” Lilly asked eagerly.

  “No, he talked to me as we were coming out of the class and he was ok about it. He even said sorry about it, thinking that it was his fault.” I said.

  “That was nice of him” Lilly said.

  “I think I may even like him more.” Becky swooned.

  I just stared down at the unappealing sandwich I held in my hand. Maybe I had been making a huge fuss of things lately. I just had to relax and try not to get worked up about things.

  “O.M.G Ellie I totally forgot, what the hell happened last night?” Lilly asked.

  “Oh yeah that was scary Ellie.” said Becky.

  I looked up from my food. I didn’t realize what they were talking about until it hit me.

  “Oh you mean when we were on chat last night?”

  Lilly and Becky looked straight at me with intense looks on their face.

  “I just didn’t feel well that’s all.” I replied.

  “Bullshit.” Lilly said.

  “Lilly!” Becky shouted.

  “Come on Ellie, tell us.”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, honestly I don’t.” I said.

  “Come on Ellie tell you what’s really going on, we’re your friends.” Lilly pestered.

  “I don’t, I-I can’t.” I hesitated.

  I jumped to my feet and left the girls sitting on the table. I needed a moment to myself. I ran into the nearest toilet knocking one or two students who were in my path.

  A powerful bleach smell lingered around the toilets. I ran into one of the stalls and slammed the door closed that shook the stalls around me. I sat onto the toilet seat lid, (whipping it first of course, yuck) I nearly started to cry, I could feel it building up, when I decided that I didn’t want to feel like this anymore. I wanted things to get better and moaning or crying about it won’t make that happen. Hearing Lilly react like that was weird, normally she was the calm one, and I would have thought Becky would say something like that. It felt wrong for it to come from Lilly. Maybe she was getting fed up of my crap. I tore off some toilet paper and dabbed at my eyes, trying not to smudge my make-up.

  I walked to my last lesson of the day, art. I love art very much, and it was my favorite lesson. It made me calm and I could sort out my thoughts easily, without any hassle, and sometimes we were allowed to listen to our IPods. My teacher Miss. Days was a wonderful welsh woman. She was a tall woman with a colorful dress sense. Sometimes she had her hair in a bun with pencils woven into it. Miss. Days was always helpful when you needed it, and would listen to you if you had any problems. I sat down at my usual seat and she greeted me with a heartfelt smile. Her smile was warm and loving, a mother’s smile. I don’t really remember my mother’s smile but I would like to think it could be like that.

  I tried to show her my brightest smile I could, but only a fraction of it came out. Miss. Days started talking about color wheels and giving tips about how to get the most out of your paints and our brushstrokes. She gave out our workbooks and with my sharp pencil I started to draw onto the paper. I began to draw thinly delicate patterns of swirls onto the paper, making sure they were equal proportions. Soon I filled in with more detail. I grabbed the eraser to rub out some mistakes when I noticed something.

  Looking around the class, the students were sitting close to each other. The tables were not that big, but there were more students to a table then there should have been. I was completely alone, there was no one sitting on my table. I didn’t think anyone would even consider sitting next to me, where they scared or just repulsed by me? By their standards I was considered a freak, and sometimes I’d think they were right. Thinking deeply about it, I completely ignored the voice behind me.

  “How’s it coming along?” The teacher asked behind me.

  She peered over my shoulder to see my work; she looked pleased.

  “It’s coming along nicely Ellie, keep it up,” she said. “But maybe you could add more detail here and here.” She said pointing at my work.

  I nodded and smiled at the same time. Going with her advice I added more detail to where it was needed. That compliment gave me a little boost. I continued my work in silence. Drawing and re-drawing until the bell rang.

  “Thank god this day is over.” I said.

  I grabbed my things and dropped them into my bag. I left the classroom but not before giving a wave goodbye to Miss. Days.

  As I walked out of school building my phone started to beep. I dug my phone out of my bag and saw the message.

  I’m running a bit late will be outside soon X.

  It was from Aunt Kate.

  Great, I hated waiting around. Outside of the school gates the other students were saying their goodbyes and heading off home and some onto the school bus, while I waited around. I paced back and forth waiting impatiently for Kate. While walking up and down I could hear two familiar voices behind me. I saw Lilly and Becky walking towards me, while waving. Lilly broke into a jog and stopped in front of me panting heavy.

  “I’m so sorry Ellie, can you forgive me?” she said with little breath.

  To be honest I wasn’t mad at her, how could I be. I was really mad at the situation, nothing made sense anymore and now my friends were a part of it. They were just confused as much as I was. I wanted to give Lilly a hug, but I knew that was out of the question.

  She waited for my answer with puppy dog eyes. I gave her a reassuring smile, Lilly’s face burst into happiness. Becky slowly crept up behind her with her head down in shame.

  “I’m sorry too Ellie.” she said.

  “That’s ok. I know I’m not the easiest person to be friends with, but I’m glad it’s you two.” I said to both of them. Lilly’s eyes began to water, but she quickly wiped it away.

  “Do you want us to walk you home Ellie?” asked Becky.

  “No thanks, I’ve got my aunt to pick me up in a bit, Dad insisted.” I said.

  “Oh, ok then we’ll see you tomorrow.” said Becky. “Give Kate our love.”

  They both waved goodbye and set off down the road together. I took my phone out and checked to see if I had any more messages. There were none.

  “Come on Kate, where are you?” I said out loud.

  “Waiting for someone?” A voice full of confidence and seduction called to me.

  Chapter Four

  My body tingled with excitement like it did yesterday. That voice. I’ve heard it before. Slowly I turned around to see the same beautiful Woman. She stood there, facing me with her back to the bright sun, giving her a silhouette of her perfect body. I’d forgotten how beautiful she was. Her eyes were a bright beautiful scarlet, and her hair was a deep shade of red that it looked like living fire. She wore a long white dress that had two straps over her strong shoulders and had a slit at the side showing a bit of her bare leg. To finish off the look her face was flawless. She looked like she’d just come off a runway in Paris.

  I tried to find Becky and Lilly but they were already gone. I tried to pluck up the courage to talk to her.

  “You’re that woman I met yesterday.” I said without any confidence.

  She gave a smile that could light the darkest of nights. I took a step back.

  “You don’t have to be scared of me Ellie.” she said with such a soft voice.

  I burst out into rage “How the hell do you know my name, who the hell are you, and what is happening to my fucking life.” I screamed.

  The Woman just stood there with her eyes brightly attach
ed to me.

  “You’re just like your mother.” she said.

  “My mother?” I said asked slowly.

  “Yes allow me to introduce myself. I am Rhea. You could call me a friend of your mothers.” she said softly.

  My head was swimming with questions. This Woman says she’s a friend of my mother’s? Was she a mental patent?

  “Are you sick or something, my mum is dead!” I yelled. “What is wrong with you? Why do you keep stalking me? Are you crazy or something? Leave me alone!” I started to breath heavily.

  “I know it must be hard for you Ellie, but you need to know that I’m here for you.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t want anything to do with you!”

  “Ellie, you must listen to me. You are..” her words were cut off.

  A car horn sounded behind me and I whipped round to see it was Kate pulling up to the curb. I yanked the door open and jumped straight into the car before it could stop. I told Kate to drive.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as the car traveled away from the woman. Kate noticed my heavy sigh.

  “Who was that woman you were talking to Ellie? You look a little spooked.”

  I didn’t want to say anything at first but I gave in. “It’s the woman I told you about.” I replied.

  “Her!” she said surprised and took her eyes off the road.

  “Kate the road!” I reminded her and she snapped back to reality.

  “Sorry, but when you said about a woman talking to you, I thought it would be a middle age woman or something, but not a supermodel.” she said.

  “Yeah she does look all dolled up.” I said.

  “Dolled up isn’t the word, did you see that dress? Must have cost a fortune.”

  “Yeah it does look expensive.” I said blandly.

  “Right, phone your Dad, tell him you’re with me for the afternoon.” Kate said.

  “Really?” I said with excitement. I took my phone out and found the number straight away, I held the phone to my ear, and he picked up within a few rings.

  “Hi Dad, I’m going to be with Kate for the afternoon, is that okay?” I asked.

  I could hear him thinking it over. “Where are you going?”