Unbroken

I shook my head urgently. “No, ma’am.”

Her blue eyes narrowed as she turned her heated stare at Hunter. “And what hole didyouclimb out of?”

But Hunter didn’t answer. He just stared back at her, his face growing cold. I didn’t like when he teered on the edge of a dangerous emotion. He might react—

“Are you mute?” she prodded. “Dumb? Both?” She didn’t wait for him to answer when she shrieked, “Stay away from my fucking boy!”

I jumped from her sudden yell, and this time I caught the way Leo’s shoulders tensed for a beat before he erupted. He suddenly grabbed at her arm, his grip tight enough to make her wince and dragged her off the sidewalk. He was taller than her, probably weighed more, so she had no chance fighting back. She stumbled in her heels, almost falling over. By this point, a bus had come down the road and stopped, honking its horn at her car parked in its place.

Once they got to the car, Leo opened the driver’s side door and said something to her, something I couldn’t catch. I caught the shocked look in her eye mixed with fury. She said something back, but Leo was still talking, and she winced even more at the grip he had on her arm.

Whatever he said next made her face pale, and when he dropped his hold of her, she immediately slid into the car and drove off.

Leo moved to make way for the bus, his hands now shoved into his pockets as he paced the street for a few moments. He looked really upset, his face red as he tilted his head to look up at the sky.

“And that,” whispered Hunter, “is just a little taste of how bad it can be on the other side.Thatis what I warned you about.”

I looked at him, meeting his solemn gaze. Emotion filled me as I brokenly said, “Maybe she’s protective—”

“Stop,” he hissed, shaking his head in frustration. “Stop trying to see good in everyone, Skye. A lot of us don’t deserve to be redeemed.”

He stormed off, holding tight his worn backpack as he headed into the school. I watched after him, at his shaggy black hair blowing in the wind. I itched to chase after him, to tell him he was right—

But I looked back at Leo who was no longer pacing, who was standing on the edge of the street, looking right at me.

Whatever anger he felt was gone. His face was warm again, his eyes apologetic. Still shaky, I went to him, wanting to remove that sadness, to reassure him, to let him know I was okay.

“Nothing she said was right,” he said quickly, his voice tight. “She was being stupid, Skye—”

I pressed a finger on his lips, silencing him. “It’s alright, Leo.”

But he shook his head. “I’m really angry at her.”

“I can see that.”

“She’s such a headache, Skye. She is a selfish, horrible person—”

“She’s your mom.”

He scoffed, shaking his head again, more viciously this time. “Doessheknow that?”

Leo looked like he was going to explode. “They say to be patient, they say to fix it with words, but…shenever listens. It doesn’t always work, Skye. It’s like…like I have to be vicious or something.” His face twisted again, filling with anger. I had to resolve this before it got worse.

“Forget about her,” I told him, taking his hand into my own.

“I can’t,” he said. “I hate her, Skye. I hate her so much.”

“You’re angry—”

“You don’t know what she’s like! You don’t know what she does to people, Skye.” His breaths came out faster. “You think it’s luxury, you think it’s pretty because they make you think that, but it’s ugly inside. They’reallugly, and I hate being in the centre of it all. I hate the way it makes me feel. Fix it, they say.Fix it, fix it, fix it…”

Leo was on a tangent, saying things I couldn’t follow. I frowned, attempting to catch up, but he was venting to me about things I didn’t know about—not yet.

“Stop,” I said softly, even though my heart sat heavy in my throat. “Stop, Leo. Breathe, okay? Just take a deep breath.”

He did. He breathed deeply, shutting his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I’m sorry for losing it—”

“It’s okay—”