Tears of the Broken by A.M Hudson Page B

miss you all the time.”
    I
wish he wouldn’t say that. It makes this all so much harder. “So,
tell me what you’ve been up to the last few months. We haven’t
really talked much about, you know, normal stuff.”
    He
sighed heavily, probably running a hand through his sandy blonde
hair and rolling his head back. “Nothing’s really normal now,
Ara.”
    “ Come on, Mike?”
    “ Sorry. I shouldn’ta said that. Okay, well, I’m still working
on my entrance into the Tactical Response Group. I’ve got one more
interview to go and I’m pretty much in.”
    “ You’re kidding me? Mike, that’s so awesome. I can’t believe
you’ve finally done it.”
    “ Well, don’t jinx it? I haven’t made it yet.”
    “ Yeah right. You’re like, super fit and super smart. You were
in when you were born and you know it.”
    “ Yeah. I know. Hey, listen, I was thinking…once I make it in
I’ve got a few weeks before training begins. Can I come over and
see you?” he asked delicately.
    “ Are
you kidding?” I stood up, practically squealing. “Of course you
can. I would love that. There’s so much I wanna show you, and I
really want to talk to you about this guy, and—” I paused. Oops. I
hadn’t planned to talk to him about that, yet.
    “ What guy?” Mike’s voice trailed up. I pictured his face, the
way the corners of his lips would turn up under his rough,
sandy-brown stubble.
    “ Well, I really need your advice, actually?” I slumped back
down in my chair.
    “ Sure, I’m good for it. What’s the deal, kid?”
    “ Well, his name’s David.”
    “ The
one who showed you around today?”
    Does
he not miss anything? I barely even mentioned David. “Yeah, except
I left everything out. He didn’t just show me around, Mike, he
like, I don’t know, he stayed with me all day, and he didn’t really make a
secret of the fact that he likes me.” My brow rose. “He’s, um,
well, he’s. I really like him.”
    “ What’s the problem, then?”
    “ After one day?” I looked out at the corner of the school’s
front car park, just visible from my window. Thinking about
everything that went on today, a long sigh escaped my lips. “Is
that normal?”
    “ How
long did it take you to fall completely in love with Leopold?” he
asked, referring to my favourite movie.
    “ That’s different.”
    “ How?”
    “ Because Leopold’s not real. David is, and I’m not some
character in a love story.”
    “ Ara?” Mike paused. “You’ve always been like this.”
    “ What?” I asked, defensive.
    “ Whenever—” he cleared his throat,
“— whenever a guy
likes you, shows the tiniest bit of interest in you, you run the
other way. They’re not all bad, they’re not all going to break your
heart or suddenly wake up one morning and realise that you’re not
that special.”
    Hu!
I gasped silently. Mike hit the nail right on the head. That’s
exactly how I feel—I just didn’t realise it. How can he be so damn
switched on? “You know me better than I thought,” I whispered with
my eyes closed.
    “ I
know I do, Ara. I’m your best bud. Now stop worrying about this
David guy being a creep and just let him like you—if that’s what he
wants to do. I mean, you like him too, right?” He sounds so mature,
so unlike my Mike—my fun-loving and carefree Mike.
    “ Yeah? I like him, but—”
    “ But what? Are you telling me you don’t want
to be close to him , to hold his hand or kiss him?” he spoke in a mock girl’s
voice on the last bit.
    “ Well, yeah? I do, kind of.” I shrugged, scraping at the wood
grain on my desk again.
    “ So, what if you actually did that? Would it
be creepy to follow through on the things you truly want to do,
Ara? If you feel this way, then there’s a damn good chance this
David guy does, too. And, do you think he’s creepy?”
    “ Mike, you make too much sense.” I sighed.
    “ I
know,” he said with a laugh, “but you do the same to me when I’m
having a girl