Midnight for the Broken by Michael Roux Read Free Book Online

scold. I don't care. I'd rather be yelled at than teased.
    All day, kissing sounds and moans follow me as if someone is making out behind my back. Some kids even get dramatic and act out our kiss in the cafeteria. The girl falls to the ground and starts shaking, as if a kiss from one of the Broken sent her into deadly convulsions. Everyone roars with laughter, and even I find myself cracking a smile at the dramatic interpretation. Still, it's annoying to be the center of attention. It's like my first day back at school all over again, and I'm eager for it to end.
     
    ~ O ~
     
    That night, there's no word from Jessica. I stare at the empty chat box for an hour, wondering if she's seen the photo. It's likely, since nowadays images transmit faster than money. There's probably a whole school in Singapore ringing with laughter at our expense.
    Since there's no one to talk to, I use the time to get an extra workout. The frustration of the day gives me extra energy. I work up a sweat this time and have to catch my breath afterword. I clean up, shower, and decide to do the reading Miss Reeves assigned.
    Everyone's read Romeo and Juliet before. The book was required back in junior high, so I'm annoyed that Miss Reeves assigned it for Senior English, especially today. We're supposed to memorize a paragraph, but the words are fancy and don't make sense to me. I toss the tablet at the foot of my bed and resign myself to a night of rest. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
     
    ~ O ~
     
    Hopes and dreams are one thing, and high school is another. During another day of humiliation and mocking, my neck bleeds again. I curse under my breath when Mr. Heaps sends me to the nurse's office, though I'm partly relieved because no one can tease me there.
    “You were doing so well.” Nurse Jennings grimaces when she sees me in the hall. “I had hoped you would get through the week.”
    I nod my chagrinned agreement and glance behind to make sure no one has followed me. When I'm safely inside her office, I drop my backpack to the floor. “I suppose you've seen it then?” I ask.
    Nurse Jennings smiles and removes a sterile needle from its wrapping. “I don't expect there's anyone who hasn't,” she tells me. She injects me near my chin and presses a bandage there to hold in the medicine. “You've become the symbol of the future for most.”
    I wince. “And what am I to the rest?”
    “Looks like you know that already.” She gives me another shot and opens a package of Second Skin. She's quiet as she finishes her work on me, but her mutters and pauses tell me she doesn't like what she sees. I'm about to ask her why when she speaks again. “There's another treatment for Breytazine,” she announces. “Have you heard? It's a new formula that shows promise.”
    There's longing in her words and she almost whispers them. I understand why, but I don't press. New treatments now don’t help her family, or mine. Our lives have already been destroyed.
    “Did Andre ever have a girlfriend?” Nurse Jennings looks at me, tears trying to break free. "He never mentioned one."
    Andre and I dated plenty of girls in ninth and tenth grade, but we were so busy with basketball that we never had anyone steady. “Why bother,” we had always told each other. “There’s so much time and so many girls.” It had been a joke before, something we had laughed about in the locker room. But that was then. Andre is gone and I'm on my way to join him.
    “Yes,” I answer, smiling so his mother doesn't realize my half-truth. “And many more would have loved the chance.”
    My answer makes her smile and I know I've said the right thing. I can't bring my best friend back, but I can help his mother's loss feel a little bit less sharp. I remove my shirt, braving the chill in the room, and fight the discomfort while Nurse Jennings completes the rest of my examination.
    “What's her name?” she asks, while entering my vitals into her tablet.
    “Jessica.” I