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  BROKEN. Copyright ©2006-2014 by Tanille Edwards. All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address Fire Flies Entertainment LLC 1077 North Avenue, Suite 114 Elizabeth NJ 07201

  (212) 561-1654 [email protected].

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, businesses, organizations, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  Broken by Tanille is a trademark of Fire Flies Entertainment LLC. Undercover Starlet is a trademark of Fire Flies Entertainment LLC.

  Published 2014

  Broken: a young adult novel/Tanille Edwards.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2006908892

  ISBN 978-0-9787302-1-5

  1. Young Adult – Fiction & Literature 2. Young Adult – Romance 3. Young Adult – Drama

  Contents

  Chapter 1 South Hampton (SH)

  Chapter 2 The Saloon

  Chapter 3 What’s a Girl to Do?

  Chapter 4 SH Party

  Chapter 5 The Club

  Chapter 6 SH Lisa’s House

  Chapter 7 The Hotel

  Chapter 8 School Preparations

  Chapter 9 Covert Operation 1

  Chapter 10 Let the Season Begin

  Chapter 11 Waiting for Answers

  Chapter 12 Flutter By Butterfly

  Chapter 13 Sixth Floor Meet-Up

  Chapter 14 Never Phone Me Even in an Emergency

  Chapter 15 The Swap

  Chapter 16 The Real Frenchy, Please Stand Up

  Chapter 17 It Rained, It Poured, My Heart Still Adored

  Chapter 18 After the Rain

  Chapter 19 The Boy I Used to Know

  Chapter 20 Mama’s Cameo

  Chapter 21 Home

  Chapter 22 First Day After Holiday Break

  Chapter 23 Give Me a Break

  Chapter 24 Tennis, What?

  Chapter 25 D-Day

  Chapter 26 Time to Go Stealth

  Chapter 27 And Then There Were None

  Chapter 1 South Hampton (SH)

  Daddy hadn’t asked me if I wanted to wait to go to South Hampton (SH) with him in the copter. Instead, his assistant texted at 9 o’clock last night: “A car will be downstairs at 9 to take you to the house.”

  Dimitri sent the text to both Daddy and me, saying: “Really hate riding with her. Can take own car.” We were so close we even shared a family rate plan. Texting each other was gratis.

  Dimitri was my brother. Six-foot-two, dark brown curly hair, cut in a close fade. Dark brown eyes with dark rims, like he was wearing eyeliner; an earring in his ear—for edge, of course. His smile was perfect. His teeth were even straighter than mine. After two years of braces, he insisted on getting veneers. I don’t know if describing him as handsome would be enough for his ego. But for all the perfection on the outside, there was something dark and even rotten on the inside. He used to be fun, and not so mean. Granted, that was when we were preteens and our mother was alive. Lately, he was so far away. He didn’t want anything to do with me. We were barely acquaintances—felt like we just passed each other by because we shared the same house.

  So it was 8:15 a.m. I sat in the car, looking at my pink-and-white Swarovski crystal watch. This was the third one I’d had this year. I dropped one on my way down the stairs at school. My other one, I left at a shoot in Milan—ironic. I had left my favorite watch in the city I was named after.

  Whenever Daddy upset me, I would think about going back to Milan to get that watch and not telling anyone. It would take him a week before he’d notice I was totally gone. And then another week to even think about checking my jet card.

  The driver was loading the car with my summer luggage. Would Dimitri possibly be downstairs before he was done? He was probably arguing with Daddy. See, Daddy replied to his text this morning, forbidding him from driving out to SH since he’d never taken a trip longer than 30 minutes in his own car. Daddy also gave him permission to drive Mama’s Ferrari around the island.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Not that anyone would ever ask. My best friend, Sierra, would. She took care of me. No one around my house ever asked me how I felt or what I thought. To be fair, Sierra’s twin sister, Frenchy, was my best friend too. No one had driven the car since Mama had. That was almost three years ago to the day. We always left for SH on the same day, one day after the last day of school. Daddy was all too happy to ship us away for the summer to our grandparents.

  I saw the sunlight enter the back of the limo. Unbeknownst to me, Dimitri was actually climbing in. “Hi,” I said. He gave me a head nod. “I want to stop by the agency before we hit the road.” Dimitri shrugged. The car started to move. I could feel a smile return to my face. “You know, Dimitri, maybe this summer won’t be so bad.”

  “We can start with you not talking to me,” Dimitri said. “That would improve things tremendously. Then, ditching Gramps and Nana. … I’m trippin’. With the Ferrari, I’m good.”

  “Don’t have any sleazes in Mama’s car!” I said.

  “I can have anybody I want in there.” Then he just shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about Mom again. … You got it?!” he continued.

  “Ever?” I asked.

  “If you remembered Mom so much, you wouldn’t pretend you are not deaf. You would sign. You would be you. God forbid Edna tries to sign to you or Dad’s assistant. Mom would think you’re the biggest poser of all. Me using the Ferrari would be nothing in comparison. There’s nothing more to say,” Dimitri signed.

  Was it really that simple for him?

  “I’m not a poser! I’m just tired of being on the outside,” I said.

  “You are a liar. You are on magazine covers and lying. How about you stop pretending to be a fake supermodel,” Dimitri said.

  “Fine. Call me a liar, but I’m not changing because you said so,” I said. “This is the most you’ve said to me in the past six months combined. Why don’t you stop pretending you’re not my brother!”

  I did love Mama. Thoughts of her presented a certain cruelty at times. I remembered who I used to be. She was part of me, like the threads of a Chanel suit. You couldn’t make the suit without it. It is the backbone of the darn thing.

  I smiled. I was so good at that. I just reminded myself: What did I have to be sad about? I had the life every girl dreamed of. At least, that’s what my shrink kept telling me. Until I stopped seeing her. Now she didn’t tell me anything. Once, Lisa, my agent, described me as charismatic. That word was on my mind for a week. Was that who I was? I felt like I didn’t know who I was supposed to be. Was I pretty, was I charismatic, was I smart, was I funny, was I still Milan? I don’t know why Dimitri did this. Of course I was Milan.

  The car stopped. We were here. Twenty-First Street, right off Park. There were so many stores downtown. I hadn’t realized that the new apartments across the street had my favorite coffee shop in the lobby. I made a mental note to grab a cup before heading back to the car.

  “Ms. Milan.” The driver opened my door.

  “Thank you.”

  The air was crisp. The day was starting off a little difficult. I couldn’t believe he called me a liar. He never even talked to me anymore. And I wasn’t a liar. I never told anybody I could hear. I just didn’t say I couldn’t. Oh, whatever. I noticed Dimitri put his iPod earplugs in when I got out of the car. I walked into the building as quick as possible.

  The last week of school h
ad been brutal! Finals crammed into two days because of the four shoots Lisa squeezed in. I was taking these commercial classes since I was scheduled to shoot a commercial for lip gloss in the fall. If I kept my head focused on my calendar, I could forget about Dimitri. I got off the elevator on the fifth floor.

  I walked through the heavy metal door to enter the congested, traffic-laden agency. The all-white exposed-brick interior of the agency was fresh. No matter the scene, the agency had become my second home. Lisa was like my family. No one could ever replace Mama, though. Sometimes it felt like Lisa was looking out for me.

  “Hey, Milan, baby,” Raul said.

  “Hello.” I waved coyly.

  “Booking set up two jobs for you today, and it’s only noon, babe! Nothing but couture for you from now on. We were waiting to hear back on something for that Undercover Starlet beauty deal now. We can’t forget where we came from. Still Milan from the block?”

  “The East side, that is,” I said.

  “East side! All right now,” Raul snapped his fingers.

  “You are so silly,” I laughed. “Is Lisa available?”

  “For you, always!” Raul buzzed Lisa. “Doll baby is here to see you,” he said over the intercom.

  Lisa walked out of her office over to me with open arms. I gave her a big bear hug, the kind you get at family holiday dinners or something. “How are you?” she asked.

  “Cool. Just stopping by on my way to the country,” I said.

  “I’ll be out with Stewart this weekend. You two should meet,” she said.

  “Yeah. Maybe we’ll do lunch?”

  “Sure, sweetie. Let me check the schedule.” Lisa scrolled through her phone. I made myself comfortable in the loveseat at the back of her minimalist office. I threw my legs over the armchair like I had no place to be. Wishful thinking. I needed a break from Dimitri. He was going way too Dr. Phil on me. He was probably in the midst of textin’ one of his groupies anyway.

  “Why don’t we do lunch on Sunday?” Lisa asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Come over to the house. Stew can lunch with us too,” she said.

  “I guess.”

  “Is everything okay?” Lisa brushed a loose hair away from my face.

  “I have to share a car with my brother for three hours. He says about three words to me a week. Then today he goes off on this tangent about stuff.”

  “Oh, sweetie. Tell him I said hi. Get some R & R, sweetheart. Next week we have a major on Thursday. We need you fresh,” she said. I felt lazy, but I got up to my feet. “Do you want Raul to make you a latte, honey?”

  “No, I have my eyes on the spot across the street.”

  “I think our lattes are better,” she said.

  “Another time. I need strong stuff to deal with Dimitri.”

  “Before I forget,” Lisa walked back over to her desk. “There are two … no, no … three groups we’re in talks with for you to do like a PSA-type campaign for young deaf girls across the country like you.”

  “Like me?”

  “This is such an image builder,” she said.

  “What do you think people will think about that?”

  “They will think …” She paused for a moment. Then she scanned my face in an odd manner. I was almost uncomfortable. “They’ll think you have everything. That opportunity in this world is for everyone. Being deaf doesn’t stop you from being fabulous. They’ll say you’re cool, which you are.”

  “No, they’ll change their minds about me,” I replied. “They’re going to think I’m weird. They’re going to say I sound funny. Only after they know I’m deaf. I don’t want to do it. It’s going to change things.” I didn’t care what Lisa thought. I wasn’t going back to people feeling sorry for me. Lisa held my hand. It startled me. My peripheral vision wasn’t always what I thought it was.

  “I have never looked like you,” she said. “Authentic, unique, mysterious, yet cheerful in a calming way. Even on my best day with my best makeup, I never looked like you. But I would never not show my face! This is part of who I am. I have my mother’s ears, my father’s nose, my grandfather’s eyes, and my own smile. I feel pretty. That is all that counts. You are deaf. You are not the only one. Anything you need to make your life possible is possible. Other people didn’t have these opportunities. Don’t hide who you are. Make other girls like you proud.”

  “Like me? Like I’m not like everyone else,” I signed. Lisa looked at me blankly. “Right there, you felt different than me. You were confused by my signing,” I said.

  “No, I wasn’t. I just don’t sign. I should learn.”

  “Why don’t we both stay the same and never talk about this again?” I asked.

  “I’m your agent. I also consider myself a family friend. Something about this is not right, Milan.”

  I wanted to tell her to get it straight. I was a normal girl. I just had to work a little harder at things. “I’m not ready to be the face of hearing-impaired girls. Not now,” I told her.

  “Clients …” Lisa started. I gave her a hug.

  “Bye.” I left, looking forward to my coffee. No Noel. Just coffee. I was feeling more than a little down. He knew me. He knew I was a good person.

  “Bye, doll. Have a safe drive out,” Raul said.

  I woke up right when we were getting off the highway. I couldn’t believe I had been double-teamed inadvertently by Lisa and Dimitri. Whatever. No one was going to change me. I knew what it was like before and I liked my life now, so I thought.

  Two hours plus had gone by. Dimitri was on his iPad playing Angry Birds. He was truly unbelievable. There was a time we used to play together. If I knew things would be like this, I would have tried harder maybe.

  The greenery as we made our way through Montauk, New York, started to remind me of the first time Noel spent the summer with us. His mother had passed away that winter. I guess he had really just come to live with us, but it felt like he was with us forever already. He brought this old Pac-Man portable game with him in the car. It was a little arcade box you could sit on your lap. We took turns playing it on the way out. Right before we got off the highway, it conked out. Then Noel asked Dimitri what he was playing.

  “Solitaire,” Dimitri said.

  “Let’s play something together,” I signed.

  “You didn’t want to play before,” Dimitri signed.

  “No, you didn’t want to play Pac-Man,” I signed.

  “It’s cool,” Noel signed and said.

  “Oh! Come on! Deal us in,” I signed.

  “Yeah, can we play poker?” Noel signed and said.

  Mama was knitting a baby’s blanket for our neighbors in SH. It was sort of odd. I hadn’t seen her knit very often. Dimitri started dealing three sets of cards on the food tray he had been using to play solitaire. I was sitting next to Mama. Dimitri and Noel were sitting together. “How do you know when it is done?” I signed.

  “I measured the frame of it. So I know about how many rows across I need to make the size I’m looking for,” Mama signed.

  “Are you sure you know how to play poker?” Dimitri asked Noel.

  “I learned from my grandfather. We used to play for quarters,” Noel signed and said.

  “Up the ante and go risky. How about $10 a round, bro?” Dimitri said.

  “You have to actually pay the money when you lose. We know how you hate to part with money, D.,” I signed.

  “How about you worry about opening that purple purse? Because that’s what you’ll have to do when you lose,” Dimitri said and signed.

  “I’ll shuffle next and deal,” Noel said and signed.

  “You kids should take turns shuffling and such. And no betting money—that is a bad habit. Come up with something else of value, like winner doesn’t have to do their chores for a week,” Mama said and signed.

  “What chores? We’re on break, Mom,” Dimitri said.

  “You still have to keep your room clean and make your bed, young man. Everywhere you
go, you should be tidy,” Mama said and signed.

  “Noel, you’ll learn not to mess up your covers so the bed is easy to make,” Dimitri said.

  “If you’re making my bed, I’m throwing the covers on the floor,” Noel laughed. Dimitri punched him in the arm. Noel curled his body away from Dimitri. “Just kidding,” Noel laughed.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll do the same and then some,” Dimitri said. Noel crawled his fingers up my neck and then behind my ear.

  “Stop.” I held my cards close to my chest. “You just want to see my cards,” I signed.

  “No,” he signed.

  I can remember it like it was happening today, here and now. I had a Jack of hearts, a Queen of spades, a ten of diamonds, a seven of hearts, and an eight of clubs. What the heck did that mean? I wondered. I tapped Mama, pulling her away from an intense round of knitting. She was fast with the needle. “What should I do?” I showed her my cards. She lifted up the ten, seven, and eight.

  “Trade these in,” she said.

  I put those on the tray. Dimitri dealt me three more cards. I reached for them, then he put his hand out on top of them. “Getting help from Mom is not fair,” he signed.

  “This is my first time playing,” I signed.

  “Oh, Dimitri, I’ll only help her the first two rounds to get her started. That’s fair. She never played before,” Mama signed and said.

  “Fine.”

  He let my cards free. Noel put two cards in the pile and Dimitri dealt him two more. Then Dimitri traded in two cards and dealt himself two more. I received a Jack of spades and a Queen of hearts and an Ace of diamonds. I showed Mama. “These two are a pair and these two are a pair.” She put each Jack with each Queen.

  “Want to raise the ante to two weeks of chores?” Dimitri asked and signed.

  “No,” I signed.

  “No,” Noel said and signed.

  “Well, if I raise the ante and you both say no, then you fold.”

  “Dimitri, be nice. Keep it at one week for now and let everyone get comfortable and relax. We’re on break,” Mama said and signed.

  “Whatever, this is boring,” Dimitri said. “Show your cards.”

  Noel put his down. He had three fives, an Ace of hearts, and a two of diamonds. I put mine down. Then Dimitri slowly revealed his cards, putting them on the tray with the edge closest to him down first. He had all clubs, two, three, four, five, six.