Broken Hill High (Broken Hill High #1)(15)

I’ve been through this once before and got myself healthy, though it was through my mom’s constant nagging and a shit load of therapy. It was months that she would barely leave my side, constantly watching me and forcing me to hold food down. That was at fourteen and now at seventeen, the cycle is beginning again.

A throat clears from the doorway and my head snaps up to see Nate standing before me. He leans against the door frame with a less than impressed frown on his face and his arms crossed over his wide chest.

I wonder how long he’s been standing there but from the disgusted look in his eye, I’d say he’s been here a while.

He shakes his head at me as though I’m the most disappointing creature on earth before turning his back and walking away.

Tears fill my eyes. No one has ever seen me this low. Even last time this happened, I never allowed mom to see it. Not even Brooke knows about it, but having Nate, the one person who has made sure to make my life a living hell, witness the lowest moment in my life, makes me want to crawl into a hole and never come out.

I clean myself up and take myself back into the bedroom where I sit on the end of the bed, staring into oblivion. It’s then I notice my leftover dinner sitting on the bedside table and realize he must have brought it up for me. Though, whether he was planning on shoving it down my throat or thought I might get hungry later, I don’t know. Either way, I know deep down, there was a caring thought in there somewhere. Maybe the old Nate isn’t completely lost.

I let out a sigh when I hear a knock in my open doorway. I turn around to see Trish sticking her head in with a bottle of water and painkillers. “Can I come in?” she questions.

“Of course, you can,” I tell her. “This is your home.”

“Yes, but this is your space,” she tells me before placing the water and painkillers down on the bedside table next to the forgotten dinner. “How are you feeling?” she asks as she takes a seat beside me and presses her hand to my forehead the same way my mother does.

“Better, thank you,” I tell her with a grateful smile.

“I’m so sorry, sweet girl,” she says, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me in. “Had I known you weren’t feeling well, I wouldn’t have called you down for dinner.”

“It’s fine,” I tell her. “It’s probably just food poisoning,” I say, hating the lie as it leaves my lips. “I’ll be ok.”

“Are you sure? I brought you some painkillers and some water to wash them down. Do you need anything else?”

“No, thank you,” I tell her. “I might just lay down for a while with my Kindle.”

“Oh, that’s right. I had forgotten how much you love to read,” she says with a fond smile. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

“Thanks,” I say again, feeling like the biggest piece of shit on the face of the planet.

Trish walks out the door before pausing in the doorway. She looks back at me and then across to the plate of food. “Do you want me to take that away?”

I give her yet another grateful smile and nod. “Yes, please,” I say.

She gives me a sympathetic smile before leaning over and grabbing the plate. Within the blink of an eye, she walks out the door and pulls it closed behind her, leaving me to my peace and quiet.

I fall back onto my bed and grab my Kindle. I open it up to find a new release by one of my favorite authors and can’t help but dive straight in.

I get myself comfortable amongst the hundreds of pillows on the bed and get lost in the world of my book.

I must get halfway through when I realize I’ve been reading non-stop all night. I reach across for a drink of water only to find the bottle completely empty and the clock staring back at me telling me it’s past midnight.

The need to read just one more chapter flies through me but with school tomorrow, I’m going to have to call it quits for the night.

Still needing a drink, I slide my Kindle onto the bedside table and slip out the door. I step out into the hallway to see a bright light coming from Nate’s room and find my eyes raising into his room.

It’s exactly as I remember it, only the Batman bed sheets have been upgraded for plain black ones. I tear my eyes away and head down the stairs.

I search through the dark kitchen until I find a cup before filling it up with ice cubes and water. I bring the chilly water to my lips and close my eyes as the water travels down my throat and soothes the soreness from my earlier meeting with the toilet bowl.

A noise draws my attention and I furrow my eyebrows. It almost sounds as though someone is down here with me. Though, that couldn’t be right. All the lights are off down here… but then, Nate’s door was open with the lights on, and I know I was only peeking for a moment, but I was sure he wasn’t in there.

With my glass of water in hand, I go exploring. Both the kitchen and dining room are empty so I go searching through the formal dining and living rooms. They’re also empty. So, assuming the hallway closets and bathrooms are clear, I head for the den where the boys have basically transformed the informal living area into the ultimate man cave and I have to admit, the room is awesome.

I walk around the corner and notice the lights in the room are dimmed right down, then come to a screeching halt as I find Nate, shirtless on the couch with a girl naked as the day she was born grinding down on his lap. It’s not hard to tell that from her long dark hair, this girl is definitely not Ashley.