Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

“You know,” I grin. “We can call this place ‘Nate’s Big Bad Cars’.”

“You’re shitting me, right? You couldn’t possibly think that’s a good business name.”

I try to keep a straight face, but the image of Nate wearing a cap with the name across the front is too much for me to bear and I burst out laughing.

Chapter 22

Holy shit. We nearly made it. There are only two weeks left of senior year and so far, we have kicked its butt. I only got suspended twice. Well, they were my only two suspensions in my whole school career, but they’ll still make an interesting story for me to tell my kids one day.

We have prom on Friday night, meaning Nate will have to skip a race for once, though if I know my boyfriend well enough, I have a feeling he’ll be slipping out a side door, racing like he was born to be on that track and getting his ass back to prom just in time to be declared prom king, no matter how embarrassing that might be. Though Jackson might attempt to take the title from him and even though neither of them wants it, they also don’t want the other to get it. I’m sure it will be a great night. One I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

This year has been incredible. I’ve made so many new friends, I’ve had moments that have defined me in ways that I can’t even begin to understand, I’ve overcome mental illness, and have become a stronger, happier version of myself.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s been a whole lot of shit to go along with the good things but I don’t want to dwell on it. It’s all in the past and now I have college to look forward to, you know, after enjoying my summer getting tanned at Broken Hill lake while Jesse finally gets a proper chance to use his stupid boat. I’ll probably end up on the jet ski with Nate though. Nothing gets me hotter than being on that thing with him. He’s so reckless and wild while also being the most caring human being I’ve ever met in my life.

How did I possibly go so many years without him? I hate that he bullied me for five years. If only he just came clean at the beginning, I would have probably said ‘Ewwwww,’ but eventually, we would have gotten together. We wasted precious time together, but we made it work in the end and it’s nothing short of beautiful.

I walk through the hall on Wednesday morning. The bell for first break has just rung and students are pouring out of classrooms, desperate to enjoy the next twenty minutes before heading back to class.

I meet Brooke by my locker as I throw my morning’s books inside. “How was calculus?” she murmurs, leaning into the locker beside mine to watch the students passing by.

I shrug my shoulders. “It was alright. A bit on the boring side, but what do you expect?”

“Yeah,” she grumbles. “Same with advanced science. I wanted to gouge my eyes out. I swear, that teacher just drones on and on after explaining the same thing over a hundred times. It’s like, we get it already. The only good thing about that class is that I had Tyson across the hall, making faces at me the whole time.”

I roll my eyes and laugh. I go to make a comment about the thought of the two of them possibly dating when the familiar sound of someone being shoved into a locker draws my attention.

I look up over Brooke’s shoulder and gawk at the sight of Jesse and Jackson walking down the hall together. It’s clear as day Jesse just shoved Jackson into a locker but what’s surprising is that way Jackson bounces back and hurries after him before taking the place beside him, when in a normal world, Jackson would be grabbing Jesse and trying to get sweet, sweet revenge.

“What the hell?” I grunt, watching them before me.

“Her fucking name is Christy,” Jesse growls, loud enough for the whole hallway to hear.

“It’s not,” Jackson roars back at Jesse. “It’s Lucy.”

Students start hurrying to get out of their way and as they do that, I get a glimpse of a… wait. Is that a baby in Jesse’s arms? I blink a few times. This couldn’t be right.

The boys angrily make their way down the hall and I find myself jumping out in front of them before they pass. “Ummm…. WHAT?” I demand.

The boys stop in the center of the hallway, making everyone else have to walk around, but my attention is on the baby in Jesse’s arms. I focus every ounce of my being on it and quickly realize it’s one of those fake ones that you get in that Child Development elective.