Broken Silence by Laura Noelle

Author:Laura Noelle [Noelle, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AngelInk Illuminations
Published: 2012-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

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The next day, Jake wasn’t at school. I kept looking, but he wasn’t there. I had no one to ask, so I just had to wait. A day later, I spotted him and demanded an explanation.

“Oh, yeah.” Jake said. “I had to work.”

“Work?”

“Yeah. I work at the auto shop downtown. Sometimes I have to help my mom with the bills and stuff.”

I blinked. Bills? Did I hear him right?

He noticed my questioning gaze and nodded. “Yes, I said bills. It’s not always easy for us to get by, and I promised to take care of my mom, so I have to make sure money comes in.”

I didn’t know what to say. Here was a sixteen-year-old who had to take care of his family?

“What about your dad?” Yes, sometimes I’m a little tactless.

Jake was quiet for a minute. “He died when I was ten. Lung cancer. He made me promise to take care of my mom and Lilianne, my older sister.”

“Oh my gosh, Jake, I’m so sorry.” I placed my hand on his arm.

“It’s okay. I’m over it.” Even through his tight smile, I knew he was struggling. I didn’t know what to say or ask to make him feel better so I just took his hand and scooted closer to him. I was falling more for this guy every day. Just knowing he’d been through pain too made me want to cry. He knew hardship. It made me feel better, and worse at the same time to think that he of all people would understand how much I was hurting. It didn’t fix anything, but I whispered it anyway. “I know how you feel.”

I felt him stiffen next to me. “No you don’t.” I could barely hear the words, but I knew why he spoke them. To Jake, I was the perfect girl who had two awesome parents, a popular best friend, and amazing grades. But he didn’t know. No one knew that behind the masquerade there was too much pain to put into words. I didn’t respond to his accusation. I couldn’t unless I spoke the truth, and that wasn’t going to happen.

Jake could believe anything he wanted to about me and I wouldn’t disagree. It was too much effort to do that. If I couldn’t face it—no one could.

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