Page 39 of On Broken Wings

“Hey, Ev.” A girl dressed in a Jewel Diner t-shirt and jeans waved as she opened the door. “Come on in. I got your spot saved.” She stepped back, and Evan held the door, waiting for me to enter. “Let me know when you’re ready.” She placed two menus on the table, and then rushed off to help other customers.

“How did you?” I watched the girl flit from table to table.

“That’s my sister.” He chuckled. “I have pull here. Pick out what you want. It’s on me.” He handed me a menu, and then leaned back in the booth.

Sister. That was new. I didn’t even know he had a sister. Sitting here and letting that sink in made me realize that I didn’t know much about him. I was doing it again. I was trusting someone blindly, and I didn’t know anything about them. What else was he hiding?

ooooooooo

Evan

On the drive here, I thought this was a great idea. We had such a good time last night, and Jenni seemed to finally be opening up to me. I don’t know what changed, but as soon as I told her Maggie was my sister, I saw her start to shut down.

“You ready?” Maggie bounced back over.

“Give us a minute, Mags.” I held my hand up.

“Sure thing.” She smiled as she rushed away again.

“Talk to me.” I reached across the table and attempted to cover her hands with mine.

Jenni’s eyes flashed and she quickly jerked her hands away, placing them in her lap. “I don’t know anything about you,” she mumbled.

“We’ve talked about this before. What do you want to know?” I couldn’t help but feel hurt at the way she was reacting to me.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” She chewed on her lower lip, and I as watched her I couldn’t help but want to bite her lip too. “Do you have any other siblings?”

“No. Mags and I aren’t that close. She’s a lot younger than me. She’s only sixteen.” I shrugged. “Maggie wasn’t a planned pregnancy. I was in middle school when she was born. We’ve never had anything in common.”

“Oh.” Jenni stared off to the side, watching Maggie. “Where are your parents?”

“Not far from here, actually. Sometimes I see them in here in the mornings getting coffee. What else you got?” I crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted her to ask me whatever she needed to be comfortable again.

“I’m being dumb. I’m sorry.” She shook her head.

“No, you’re not,” I growled. “Don’t call yourself dumb. You’re super smart, Jenni. Some asshole fucked you up. He made you blame yourself for something. I just wish you trusted me enough to tell me.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“You don’t want to know,” she muttered as she picked at the napkin on the table. “I’m broken.”

“You’re not broken, but I can’t keep fighting shadows. I can’t heal you from something when I don’t know what it is. Please,” I reached across the table, “tell me what he did to you.”

I watched as her eyes darted around to anything but me. She leaned back in the booth, and crossed her arms over her stomach as if she was warding something off. Her fingers furiously played with the leather cuffs as her breathing became erratic. “I need to eat.” Her voice cracked as she grabbed the menu, and began to hide behind it.

I signaled for Maggie to come back, and quickly placed my order for my usual. I was hoping that once Jenni ordered her food, she’d finally open up. It seemed as if we were getting somewhere, but I was also worried that if I pushed too hard, she might shut down completely. I knew enough from my training that some fucker had done something bad. The fact that she was still hiding from me proved it.

After Maggie walked away with our order, I slowly slid out of my side of the booth, and slipped into hers. “Talk to me.” I lowered my voice so only she could hear me. “Tell me what makes you think you’re broken? What did he do to you, Jenni?” I reached for one of her hands. As I wrapped my fingers around hers, they trembled under my touch. “It’s me. I’m not going to judge you. Nothing’s changing. Please.” I squeezed lightly. “I’m begging you, Jenni. Talk to me.”

ooooooooo

Jenni

I never thought when I woke up this morning that the lightness I’d been feeling would turn so heavy. Evan was persistent, I’d give him that. Part of me wanted to tell him so badly what had happened to me. My therapist told me years ago that the more I talked about it, the less power it would have over me. I wanted to believe that to be true, but Evan wasn’t going to see me the same way. Once I let him in, he was sure to either run or see me as broken.

“I want to,” I whispered.

“Please.” He squeezed my hand again, and I closed my eyes.

“What kinda guy were you in high school, Evan?” I blinked as I looked up at him. His brown orbs softened as his head tipped to the side. “Were you a jock? Popular? A nerd? A loner? Where did you fit in?”

---