Page 46 of The Heart That Breaks
And for a day, an entire day, I had thought life might have taken a turn for the better.
But with Carlie’s jab just a short while ago, I realized my life hasn’t changed at all.
I will never fit into Nathan’s world, and what a fool I had been to yield, even for a moment, to the hope that something good could be just around the corner for Henry and me.
I drop my backpack on the floor and throw myself across the narrow twin bed, putting my arm over the side and reaching my hand underneath to rub the top of Henry’s head with my thumb.
He licks my palm, and I start to call him out so he can sit up here with me, but then I think about the reality of what will happen if Lance comes home, so I don’t. I let him stay under the bed, hidden, and at least safer for it.
I think about Nathan again and the look on his face when Carlie had laughed about me sleeping outside. Was it embarrassment? How could it not be though?
Who wants a girlfriend who doesn’t even have a roof over her head?
Carlie comes from one of the wealthiest families in our school. Of all people, she knows what a joke it is that Nathan would consider dating me.
And if he didn’t know it already, he does now.
*
Ann-Elizabeth
“WHAT THE HELL is that damn dog doing in here?”
I come abruptly awake to the sound of Lance’s rage.
I bolt up, panic welling so fast and hard that I am instantly choked by it.
I jump off the bed, stumbling to stand a few feet away from Lance, instinctively putting myself between him and Henry who I am praying is now out of sight under the bed.
“I’ll take him outside! I’m sorry. It’s not his fault!”
Lance’s face is a bonfire of fury. ”I warned you what would happen if you ever let him in here again. And now I’m going to do what I should have done in the first place. That stinkin’ mutt is going to the pound.”
Shock nails my feet to the floor, so that I stand motionless while he reaches under the bed and pulls Henry out by the scruff of his neck. Henry yelps, pulling away. Lance grabs his left leg and yanks hard, jerking him out.
I am terrified that he will bite Lance because he is hurting him.
But he drags an unresisting Henry across the floor of my bedroom toward the open door. “Stop!” I scream, the words tearing out of me.
Rage hurls me at him as if my own feet have become a tornado.
“Let go of him!” I yell again, my voice sounding as if it is splintered with glass.
When he doesn’t stop, I launch myself at his back, my arms wrapped around his neck, choking him while I kick and pummel him with my legs.
“You crazy little bitch!” he yells, letting go of Henry and turning his wrath on me. He yanks my hands free, and I drop to the floor like a lead weight. I scramble to get to my feet, and it’s then that I see Lance’s booted foot swinging toward me. I instinctively curl into a ball. The toe of his boot misses my midsection, but connects with a solid thud at my left hip.
Pain shoots through me like a gun shot, so excruciating that pinpoints of light go off in front of my eyes. Nausea washes up from my stomach, and I feel like I’m going to throw up.
I watch in stunned silence as the boot swings back again, taking aim. And then all of a sudden, without making a sound, Henry launches himself at Lance, his teeth sinking into the boot just before it reaches me.
Henry plants his front paws and pulls with all his might, his back legs slipping on the floor, and then regaining traction. He growls now, and for a moment, I let myself enjoy the look of sheer terror on Lance’s face.
“I’m going to kill you, dog!” Lance roars, struggling to free himself from Henry’s hold.
Henry charges at him, snarling him into the corner of my room, his beautiful white teeth bared. And every time Lance makes a run for the door, Henry barks him back.
I try to get up, but the pain in my hip stops me. It takes me five tries to get to my feet, holding onto the post of my twin bed. “Henry!” I call out.
