Silence by Rebekah Shimer (summer books TXT) 📕

start to shake, but I folded them so Logan wouldn’t see. I wasn’t sure if what Mark said the day before had been true since I was a far way away, but now it was confirmed. Someone who was living in this town right now murdered Delilah.

Edwyn said, “Audrey? Are you okay? You look really pale.”

I nodded and said, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Logan copied when Edwyn had said before, “You don’t have to lie to us.”

I took a shaky breath and said, “Well, I saw Mark and Lindy outside talking to police. I thought I had seen Mark say something about someone killing Delilah, but I wasn’t sure. Now I am.”

Logan said instantly, “I-I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

“It’s not your fault Logan. Don’t you dare blame yourself for this one.”

He looked at me for a minute before he took my hand, along with Edwyn’s.

He said quietly, “It’ll be okay you guys. We’re going to make it.”

We both nodded with him, but I didn’t really feel like everything was going to be okay. There was a murderer in the town that had killed once already. Who was to say that this person wasn’t going to do it again?

Feelings

Edwyn

 

Hey. I’m back. I know I haven’t written for a while, but life’s been busy. Delilah was found in Lake Titan and I can tell that Audrey is really shaken about it. I think she’s afraid that this killer is going to keep killing people that she knows. I don’t really know what to think about this whole killer incident. The whole town in now looking for anyone that might be even slightly guilty of killing Delilah.

I don’t know what Audrey’s feeling herself, but when we left Logan’s house, she looked so shaken up about what happened to Delilah. I just hope that she calms herself down and doesn’t make any rash decisions. I don’t want anything to happen to Audrey.

Audrey. Just her name makes me smile. I don’t really know how my feelings for her started, but there was no mistake. They are definite. I just want to find this killer to make Audrey calm down a little. I wanted to ask her today to go see a movie with me sometime when we were in her car, but I know that she had other things on her mind.

I don’t know when I’ll ever get a chance to ask her again soon. Logan says that he’s planning on going back to school tomorrow, which means that asking her at lunch is out of the question. Maybe if I show up early tomorrow, I can ask her then. I know I will at least try to take her mind off of Delilah for a while, at least for two hours. Maybe two and a half hours if we went with a longer movie.

I needed to talk to Logan in private today, but I didn’t really want to leave Audrey alone. She always seems like she only thinks about deep things when she’s alone. She seems so carefree when she’s around other people. Maybe she’s just that good at hiding her feelings. If so, I really hope that she isn’t just hanging around me to make me feel better.

Coach told me today that I really need to get my mind right. Set priorities. Since I’m a senior, coach said that I need to start getting some of my running on tape to send to colleges for scholarships. I don’t even really know where I want to go yet, so coach just said to send it to every college that I was thinking about and see where that takes me.

I know that I want to go to college for running, but I really don’t want to leave this town, my parents, and Audrey. I feel as if she’s going to forget about me if I leave. The old saying “Out of sight out of mind” actually holds some truth to it. The person isn’t completely out of mind, but just enough so another person can soon take your place.

I don’t want that to happen to Audrey and me. I really don’t want our relationship to end as soon as I go to college. I know that I really shouldn’t make my college decision based on feelings, but something about Audrey just feels right. I don’t really know how to explain it. She makes me feel more important than running does.

I feel like myself in only two places. When I’m running and when I’m over at Audrey’s house. I know that you’re probably sick of me writing in you about Audrey, but hey, she’s worth it. I like her. A lot. So, I really don’t know what else to say.

Venom

Audrey

 

I left Logan’s house in a daze. Someone had actually killed Delilah. No one knew who it was, which meant that it could’ve been anyone in the town. It could’ve been the nice mailman that waves at me every morning as I drive to school. It could’ve been the usual morning jogger that runs past my house every morning.

Edwyn broke my thoughts, “Audrey? Audrey?”

I pulled myself out of my trance and asked, “Yeah?”

“What’s wrong?”

“It just . . . doesn’t feel right being in this town while the killer is still here. It just feels . . . eerie I guess.”

He nodded and I knew that he was concerned for me. I tried to appear calmer than I actually was, so I turned on the radio. Timbaland’s Secrets came through the radio static. Edwyn seemed to like the song though by the way he was drumming the beat on the armrest, so I didn’t turn the station. We rode the way to his house in silence, well except for the radio.

As I pulled into his driveway I said, “Thanks for coming today Edwyn. I think Logan really needed that.”

He nodded and said nonchalantly, “See you tomorrow.”

I nodded back at him and he shut the car door. I rode the rest of the way to my house on edge, noting how eerie the whole drive home looked. At a few places, some streetlights weren’t working, so the road was completely black. I knew I was getting paranoid when I thought I saw someone standing underneath one of the dead light posts, but after a few seconds of staring I concluded it was nothing and drove past it. I made it to my house without anything jumping out at me, which wasn’t that much of a surprise to the logical part of my brain. I ran up to my house and noticed how the wind had picked up so quickly during the short amount of time between the drive from Edwyn’s house to mine.

I walked into the house and immediately smelled cooked turkey. I knew that my mom had made a thanksgiving dinner, which I was happy for. My mom had always made the best thanksgiving dinner in the entire town, so whenever she made it I knew that it was going to be good. I walked into the living room and saw Andrew playing his Wii that he had brought home from college. He was playing come kind of dancing game and I fought the urge to laugh. He looked like he was a live fish out of water as he flopped all around the living room, doing what he would call “dance moves”.

He jumped up and did a full three-sixty turn and saw that I was watching. He quickly stopped what he was doing completely and paused the game.

He asked me, “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know that you will never win a dancing competition.”

“Oh please. You know that you liked it. Come on. Say it. You liked it.”

I rolled my eyes at him and sat down on the couch. I watched him play the game for a little while longer until he started to talk to me as he was dancing.

He asked as he did the Michael Jackson song Beat It, “How was Logan?”

“He was pretty upset. His room was a mess, but he just learned that Delilah was killed by someone and it wasn’t just an accident.”

Andrew nodded and asked, “When did you leave his house?”

“A while ago.”

“Why did it take you so long to get home?”

“I had to drop Edwyn off at his house. He came with me today so it wouldn’t be just Logan and me.”

Andrew nodded and I noticed that he seemed to be focusing really hard on the song, so I stood up and walked into the kitchen. My mom smiled at me as she pulled the huge, cooked turkey out of the oven. She set the turkey right on the table and I noticed that she had the entire table set like it actually was thanksgiving. She had the special plates set on the table, each one for Andrew, herself, and me. I could see the delicious array of food that she had set out for us tonight, including cranberry jam, stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, baked bread, and a cherry pie set out for dessert.

Andrew walked in and looked at the splendor of the magnificent food with me. My mom laughed at both of our faces and motioned for us to sit down. We all sat down at the table and joined our hands together.

My mom spoke quietly, “God, we thank you for this wonderful meal and the fellowship that we will have together tonight. I earnestly pray for Mark and Lindy, along with Logan as they try to get over the death of Delilah. God I pray for my own children as they try to make this experience a positive one.

I felt her squeeze my hand as she continued, “Thank you once again for this wonderful food and I pray that you will continue to stay by us and protect us with your mighty hand. Amen.”

Andrew and I both said, “Amen.”

My mom smiled and said, “Dig in!”

I smiled as I watched Andrew pile his plate with the cooked turkey. I put some sweet potatoes on my plate and waited for Andrew to get done with the turkey. After a few seconds of waiting, I finally grew impatient and grabbed my own fork. I got as much turkey as I wanted and started to eat it before Andrew was even done. I looked at him to see what was taking him so long, but then I realized that he was being picky and was searching through all of the turkey for only the pieces that seemed suitable