Silence by Rebekah Shimer (summer books TXT) 📕

Andrew noticed my sudden abrupt quietness, and then he saw mom. We both sat quietly in the mud, not wanting to make her madder by saying anything. She began to laugh and we realized that we weren’t going to get in trouble. We started to smile and mom produced a camera from her pocket.

She said, “Say cheese!”

Both Andrew and I said, “Cheese!”

She snapped the picture and the flash blinded me for a minute.

Edwyn said from the door, “They mostly fit. I think I’ll manage until I get home.”

I nodded and he walked up to me.

He said, “I think I’m going to have to go home. It’s getting late. Sorry we didn’t get to finish the movie.”

I shrugged my shoulders and I walked him to the door. I opened the door and he smiled at me.

He said, “See you tomorrow.”

I nodded and he leaned towards my face. He kissed me on the cheek and back away slowly. I smiled shyly as he walked out. I waited until he was at his car to close the door. I smiled and rested my back against the door. I felt like I was floating when I walked up to my room, until I realized that I would have to dispose of the bloody towels before mom woke up. I walked back downstairs and gathered the towels up into a giant ball. I threw the towels into the trashcan and put a new trash bag in it. I took the old trash bag and threw it into the trashcans that were out on our street. I walked back into my house and took a shower. I welcomed the warm, flowing water and let it take over my thoughts.

I knew the next day at school was going to be hard, beings how Logan wouldn’t talk to Edwyn and me, and how Emily was going to pester me even more if she learned about the fight. I shook my head and got out of the shower. I got ready for bed and rested my head on the pillow. I closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me.

The next morning when I woke up, I felt groggier than I had in days. I got ready for school abnormally slow and drove to school the same. I got out of my car and walked into the school building, not really knowing why I was acting so sluggish. I walked over to my locker and saw that Edwyn was waiting for me. He still had the bandage on his cheek, but I could tell that he had had his coach fix it for him so it would actually help his wound heal. He smiled at me as I walked up, but I was too tired to give him one back.

He asked me carefully, “Are you okay?”

“I’m just really, really tired. I don’t know why, but I guess I just woke up a lot in my sleep last night.”

He nodded and I could tell that he didn’t actually buy my story, but he was going to let it slide for now. I shut my locker after I had put my books in it and leaned against it. I almost gasped when I saw Logan walking down the hallway towards us, but I held it back. Edwyn saw where I was staring and he protectively took a step closer to me. Logan walked by and glanced at us. He saw the bandage on Edwyn’s face and visibly chuckled. He continued to walk though, which I inwardly thanked him for. I knew that it would be even worse if the two of them fought in school.

Right behind Logan was Emily. She looked over at how close Edwyn was to me and rolled her eyes at us. I took a step in her direction, but Edwyn stopped me. I looked up at him to reason with him, but he just shook his head.

He said so I could only hear, “She isn’t worth it. She’s just jealous.”

I looked back at him and I could see that he was kidding. I punched him on the arm and he laughed. The bell rang and he walked away to his first class. I walked to my first class and sat down in my normal seat. Mr. Heis started to talk about Pearl Harbor. I zoned out and immediately started to think about other things. I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts, though, when I felt a piece of paper hit my back. I turned around and saw Emily’s sickening smile as she pointed to the paper. She wanted me to read it. I felt my stomach churn as I picked up the piece of paper and I turned back to the front of the room. I opened the piece of paper until it was completely unfolded.

It read:

            Hey. I know that you and Edwyn are dating, but seriously? You really think that you’re in his league? You aren’t in the least bit popular, athletic, or pretty. I don’t know if you’re just doing this for fun, but just so you know, there are a ton of other girls that would be willing to go out with him. If you ever get tired of him or you ever face your fate as a loner, just pass him on.

                                                                                                Emily

I threw the note into my book, not really wanting to look back at Emily's face. I tried to pay attention to Mr. Heis for the rest of the class, but I knew that it would be impossible to pay attention with Emily and her gang laughing the entire time behind me. When the bell rang, I couldn’t get out of the class fast enough. As I was walking to my next class, someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. I was face-to-face with Emily as she smiled at me.

She asked me, “How are you? How’s Edwyn?”

I said rudely, “You sure seem to be interested in him. How’s Bruce by the way?”

Her smile fell off of her face and said, “Bruce is great. We’re going to get married after graduation.”

I nodded in mock concern and I saw her clench her teeth together.

She said, “Well I better go. I have classes.”

I smiled at her mockingly and started to walk away. Emily grabbed my elbow and threw me back behind her.

I said loudly, “Excuse me!”

She said, “Oh trust me. You don’t have to ask to be excused. We almost want you to excuse yourself so we don’t have to talk to you.”

I fought a scream back down my throat and remembered what Edwyn told me. She wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t worth it. As I thought this, I stared at the back of her head. It almost seemed as if a target was forming itself on the back of her head as I watched her walk away. I fought against it for as long as I was able, but I wasn’t able to hold it in completely.

I screamed after her, “Hey!”

The entire hallway stopped walking and stared at me. Usually, I was the quiet kid that never really talked to people other than the people that I already knew. Most of the other kids had eyes the size of saucers, while Emily coolly turned around.

She said innocently, “Yes?”

I stomped up to her, “I swear to God if you do anything to separate Edwyn and me up just so one of your little friends can have a boyfriend-“

She took a step towards me, “For your information, all of my friends already have boyfriends. In my note, I was talking about other people that were above you. Like the band geek and science nerds.”

I felt my hands form into fists by my side as I said, “I don’t care who you want Edwyn to end up with just so you and Bruce will be the cutest couple in school-“

“We already are the cutest couple. He’s the hottest guy in school.”

Even as she said that, she knew that Edwyn had him beat.

I smiled and said cockily, “Yeah. Okay. I’ll just let you think that.”

She reached for me, but she was stopped. I looked up to see who stopped her when I saw Bruce holding her back. I felt someone wrap their arm around my waist and pull me back, but I knew it was Edwyn.

Bruce said loudly, “What the hell is going on here!?”

Emily said innocently, “She was saying things about us so I had to defend our relationship!”

Bruce looked at me and I said, “She was trying to break Edwyn and me up!”

Edwyn said, “Look. We don’t care who started it. We’re going to finish it.”

Bruce nodded at him and I could feel Edwyn pulling me away from the crowd. When I finally stopped resisting, he turned me around to face him. He took my shoulders and shook me gently.

He asked me, “Are you crazy?”

“What?”

“What if Bruce and I hadn’t been there to stop the fight? You’d probably be in detention with Emily right now and you know that you can’t get detentions!”

I shook my head and said, “I had to!”

“Why?”

“She thought that I was indifferent about our relationship and that she was going to give you to someone else!”

He asked after a few seconds, “Well I can definitely tell that you aren’t indifferent about this relationship since you almost got into a fight at school for me. Second, I would never just leave you for another girl. I really want this relationship to work for us okay?”

I nodded and he smiled.

He said, “Good. Now you better get to class. You don’t want to be late.”

“I don’t think I can help that now.”

He smiled and we both walked to our different classes.

Edwyn

I said to Bruce, “Yeah. It was pretty brutal.”

“I bet.”

We heard some commotion down the hall, but I almost started to sprint when I saw what was happening. Bruce and me both ran down the hall to the place where our girls were fighting. They looked like they were going to hit each other. I pulled Audrey back, knowing that she would hit Emily if given the chance. Audrey resisted, but I held her as tight as I could without hurting her.

Bruce said loudly, “What the hell is going on here!?”

Emily said while looking at Bruce, “She was saying things about us so I had to defend our relationship!”

Bruce looked at Audrey as she said, “She was trying to break Edwyn and me up!”

Of course Audrey would fiercely fight against anyone for our relationship the day after we started to date.

I said, “Look. We don’t care who started it. We’re going to finish it.”

Bruce nodded at me and I took that as a sign for me to leave with Audrey. I started to take her away from the main crowd, but she was resisting. When I finally got her down another hallway, I turned her around to face me. I took her shoulders and tried to shake some sense into her.

I asked her, “Are you crazy?”

“What?”

“What if Bruce and I hadn’t been there to stop the fight? You’d probably be in detention with Emily right now and you know that you can’t get detentions!”

She shook