Free Broken & Damaged Love by T.L. Clark Page B

take her back to the darkness?
    “Tina, are you OK?” the teacher was asking her again.
    Tina hadn’t consciously heard her the first time.
    Tina raised her head over the top of her arms, which were folded on the desk and looked bleary eyed at her inquisitor.
    “Yeah. I’m fine,” she said meekly.
    “Then eyes this way please,” her teacher said pointing towards the whiteboard.
    She obeyed, but her thoughts were still miles away.
    At the end of the day Tina, taking lots of deep breaths, made her way down the long corridor towards Frank’s classroom.
    She saw him walking towards her, which made her smile, then her breath caught as she remembered why she was there.
    “We need to talk,” she declared.
    “Oooo kaaay..,” Frank replied uncertainly.
    “Can you come to mine? I can’t talk here.”
    He nodded and they headed over to Tina’s in total silence. Tina was still contemplating what to say, and Frank just didn’t know what to say. Tina opened her front door, which felt heavy.
    It was quite dark in the house, but she didn’t switch the lights on. Frank went to reach for the switch but she stopped him.
    “No, it’s better this way,” she explained and led him to the sofa.
    She sat as far away from him as she could.
    Feeling restless, Tina dashed to the kitchen and gulped down a glass of her mum’s wine, needing some Dutch courage.
    Was she really going to go ahead with this lunacy? The flashbacks started coming in thick and fast, and she felt her bile rising. Just another quick sip of wine?
    Frank’s voice called her back to the present moment, “Tina are you OK?”
    She sat back down as he queried, “Tina, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong? Is it something I said? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he began, looking increasingly worried.
    He had already begun to cherish this friendship. He didn’t make friends easily and he was scared he’d just really messed up.
    “No. It’s not you, it’s me,” Tina tried to say to comfort him.
    It just made him smirk.
    “I bet you say that to all the boys.”
    “Please. Don’t,” Tina said, trying to remain serious. “Look, my picture. You saw something in it that day.”
    “It was nothing. Sorry. Forget I said anything.”
    “Will you please just shut up? This is hard enough already.”
    “OK. Sorry,” Frank said, motioning zipping his lips shut.
    Tina turned her body so she wasn’t looking at Frank at all.
    “That place you said about; the one that should have been safe? It’s here. My house. The ones who should have protected me are the ones who did me most harm.”
    Frank’s breath hitched, but he remained silent.
    It was lucky Tina couldn’t see his face. If she’d been able to see his look of horror she wouldn’t have been able to continue.
    He’d already guessed, but he’d hoped he was wrong. To hear Tina confirming his worst fears for her was appalling. He was shocked.
    “It started when I was very little,” Tina bravely went on. “My mum went out to work, leaving my dad to look after me.”
    She felt a hand cover her own, which was gripping onto the sofa cushion.
    “You don’t have to carry on if you don’t want to,” Frank whispered hoarsely.
    The words were struggling to get past the lump in his throat. Tina hadn’t even felt him edge up to her.
    She shook her head.
    “No. I have to do this.”
    She felt a squeeze around her shoulders, and she felt some courage stir within her. She’d half expected him to have bolted out the door by now, but of course, sweet Frank wouldn’t do that. She should have known.
    She carried on, and told him everything.
    Once she had started she couldn’t stop, even when the floodgates had opened, and she’d cried her way through the more horrific parts. She left nothing out, it was a full disclosure; the abuse, how it all came out at school, the kids tormenting her. And all the while Frank had just sat there, silently holding her together with all the strength he had.
    Once