Broken Swan

By Reggie Stroud

Senior Aurora Andrews spirals down into a deep depression after her mothers suicide. Only after becoming friends with Derek, a shy boy who is also dealing with his mothers death, Aurora slowly puts her life together.

The characters are entirely of the authors own invention, any similarities is completely coincidental.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477113721

Reggie Stroud

About the Author Reggie Stroud is a School Media Specialist who has worked with students of all ages. When not writing she spends her time with her family and friends. Broken Swan is her first novel.

Book preview

Prologue

IT WAS MY fifth birthday party, and we were eating birthday cake at the dance studio where my mom taught ballet. Ms. Caroline, my mother’s friend who also taught at the dance school, and the owner of the dance school, Madam Marie, gave me birthday presents. Madam Marie gave me little black ballet slippers, and Ms. Caroline gave me a pink leotard.

I opened the gift my mom gave me, quickly ripping the pretty paper with cute ballerinas on the paper, with so much eagerness to see what is inside the small little box. I pulled the lid off the box, and surrounded by pink tissue paper was a beautiful handblown glass swan. The swan was so delicate and lovely that it immediately reminded me of the swan from the ballet Swan Lake. My mom had once danced the role of Odette from the ballet. I instantly fell in love with the swan and planned on calling the swan Odette.

Carefully as I could, I wrapped the swan back in the tissue paper and placed it back in box. As I put the lid on the box, we heard a cracking noise. My mom, Ms. Caroline, and Madam Marie had concerned looks written on their faces. My mom opened the box and unwrapped the swan; my beautiful swan was broken in two at the neck. I immediately began to cry and scream nothing could control by five-year-old screams of no. My eyes filled with tears that ran down my face, although my mom said she would buy me another swan.

Maybe your dad can try to glue it back together, Ms. Caroline said.

I knew my swan was broken, and no other swan could replace it. If my father could glue it back again, the swan would never be the same.

Chapter 1

THE ALARM CLOCK went off, sounding like a banshee scream in the middle of the night. Quickly, I rolled over in bed and cut off that horrifying, shrieking noise. I’d been dreading going back to school more than anything else during my senior year.

Next to the clock was a photograph of my mother dressed in a white tutu standing beautifully in an arabesque pose. Her long blond hair was neatly arranged in a bun, emphasizing her long graceful neck. My mother had all the elegance and loveliness of a perfect porcelain doll. Whenever anyone met her, they would always use the words beautiful and stunning and would compare her with a young Princess Grace. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that my mother would have been a perfect prima ballerina.

Usually for the first day of school, I would spend the night before carefully planning my outfit. This year, I could not be bothered thinking about my appearance. I just pulled out the first tank top that I had in the dresser draw, some clean underwear, and a pair of way-too-big jeans.

I went to the bathroom to wash my face and have a quick shower. Usually, I would wear more makeup to school; today, I would only put on some clear lip gloss and comb my waist-length strawberry blond hair.

After getting dressed, I took a quick glance at myself in the mirror. I could not believe how different I look from last spring. Since my mother’s death, I lost weight, which left my small thin frame looking like a skeleton of my former self.

The only good thing was that I am a senior and therefore allowed to drive to school this year. I grabbed my car keys from the kitchen counter, without thinking about fixing something to eat for breakfast. My father had already left for work or never came home from work last night. Since my mother’s death, he has been working extra hours at the hospital, only coming home to sleep and a quick bite to eat. We hardly ever speak to each other since the funeral. The man I knew as my father died the same day, leaving behind a remote stranger.

I pulled into the senior parking lot of the Gold Coast School, an independent private preschool through twelfth grade located on the north shore of Long Island near Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor.

If this were any other school year, I would be looking for my best friends Leeann and Bridget. After my mother’s death, Leeann and Bridget tried to support me with anything I needed. What I needed was to be left alone. I did not need their pity; everyone, including my boyfriend Jeremy, seemed to be walking on eggshells around me as if I was a land mine ready to explode. How could they not feel uncomfortable around me when they knew my mother committed suicide? So when I was invited anywhere the beach, shopping, parties, I always found a reason not to attend. After I declined several invitations, my friends and Jeremy stopped inviting me, and I spent the summer by myself inside the house, watching talk shows and soap operas on the TV.

As I walked up the steps to school, I saw some friends talking at the school entrance. They just gave me a quick wave and an awkward smile. What could they possible say to the girl whose mother killed herself? I knew that I made my friends uncomfortable, and I did not know how to talk to them anymore. My mother’s suicide had taken away from me not only my family but also my friends and my social life.

Chapter 2

MY FIRST PERIOD class was English; I walked into class trying my best not to be seen and took a quick seat in the first row by the door. Leeann walked into the room soon after me, smiled at me, and took the seat next to me.

How are you doing, Aurora? she asked.

Oh, I am fine. And I gave her back a quick unconvincing smile.

That is good. Leeann paused; I could see she was trying to think of what else to say.

To my delight, Mrs. MacLeod, my English teacher this school year, began the class by starting to call