Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

Finally, we have Ashley Samuels. All I’ve ever known about her was that she was with Nate before me. She got a little pissed off when he ended things with her and that was it. Turns out, there’s a bit more to it. Three months ago, she was responsible for the fire that nearly took mine and Nate’s life. We only discovered this a little while ago and so far, I’ve managed to keep my mouth shut about it. Nate is planning something big and the last thing we want is for her to see him coming. But honestly, there’s only so much longer I can wait before I take things into my own hands. I promised Nate I wouldn’t, but my patience is quickly running thin.

As I said, this year is quickly turning to shit.

I let out a heavy sigh as people pass by me in the hallway. I wonder if I could get away with skipping again today. I’ve been skipping a little too much lately and it won’t be long until Nate calls me out on it. He hates when I do things that could affect my future in a negative way, but honestly he has no say anymore. He didn’t want to fight for what we had and because of that, I simply just don’t care. Ok, maybe I do, just a little. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m always going to care about what he thinks. I just want to not care.

Jesus, I’m pathetic.

All I want is to go back to before the fire. None of this would have happened. I mean, all the Phoenix stuff would have, but the fire is what prompted my dad to come home and try to set me on the straight and narrow, claiming I was ‘acting up,’ and it was all due to Nate. As without Nate, I wouldn’t have been involved in fights, I wouldn’t have received an in school suspension, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have given my dad enough attitude to last a lifetime. Dad completely blames Nate, and what’s worse, Nate blames himself too.

I’ll never forgive my father for planting that seed in his mind.

“What’s going on?” My best friend, Brooke says, falling into the locker beside me and leaning against her shoulder. “You look like a depressive ass rat.”

“I am a depressive ass rat.”

“Here,” she says, holding out her coffee to me. “Have some of this. It’ll make you feel better.” I wave her off. After all, Brooke has her own issues to deal with here, and I know for a fact that she’s going to need every last drop of that coffee. “Have it your way,” she tells me before taking a sip, probably just to tease me. “What’s going on? Who pissed you off this morning?”

“No one,” I grumble. “I just don’t like how things are at the moment.”

“Yeah,” she grunts, looking over her shoulder. “At least you don’t have to see shit like that every day.”

I follow her gaze to see her ex-boyfriend, Maxen, with his latest girlfriend, Holly, pressed up against the lockers playing tonsil hockey. It’s a sick relationship really. There are rumors going around that they’re both cheating on each other. I mean, if either one of them had respect for themselves they would call it off, but instead, they continue on, knowing the other is unfaithful. I don’t know how they do it. It would make me sick.

“Just be happy you dodged that bullet,” I tell her. I mean, if I had to watch Nate all over some skank every day, I’m sure I’d tear them both to shreds.

She scoffs and looks at me as though I’ve taken a trip to the nutty hospital. “Dodged a bullet?” she grunts. “I didn’t dodge a bullet. I got shot point-blank, over and over again until I was lying dead in a gutter.”

“Geez,” I laugh, pushing up from my locker. “No need for the dramatics.”

“Yes, there is,” she demands. “Especially when you describe what he did to me as ‘dodging a bullet’.”

“I know,” I say. “I’m just saying you’re lucky you got out when you did. Imagine if you never discovered he was cheating and you were still being played.”

She sulks and looks up at me through her eyelashes. “Do we really have to talk about this?”

“No,” I laugh. “But you better come up with a new topic because I have plenty more to say about Maxen.”

“Fine,” she says as a sly grin cuts across her face. “Did you he-”

“OH, MY GOD,” we hear yelled from down the hall. Both our heads whip to face Elle, who’s currently shoulder charging her way up the hallway, barging anyone and everyone out of her way until she reaches us, completely out of breath. “I just heard the funniest thing.”

“What?” we both grunt, quickly glancing at each other with amused smiles.