Silence [Book I]

[This is the first draft and currently being edited]

Chapter 1

Oakley's POV

'Silence is golden.' To me it was a prison.

I brushed my hair slowly, putting off going to school for as long as possible. I only had two more days left until we finished for the summer and I couldn't wait for all the pointing, staring, jokes and bitchy comments to stop. The six weeks we got off for summer was no where long enough but I only had one more year to get through until I left, luckily Cole would be at sixth form next year too, him being around helped stop the bullying a little.

"You ready to go honey? Cole's outside," Mum said, smiling sadly at me. I want to walk to school but I usually get people shouting at me on the way so Cole insists I ride with him. He's been a great friend which makes me feel even worse, sometimes I wish he'd just given up like my other friends. I nodded and kissed mum on the cheek before quickly running out of the house.

"Morning," Cole said cheerfully as I got in the car. I smiled and looked out of the window, I heard him sigh as he pulled out of the drive.

He talked all the way to school like he usually does, he never expects anything from me though which I love. Occasionally I'll nod or smile when necessary but apart from that I just sit and listen. So many times I've wanted to talk back to him but he pretty much knows what I'm thinking now anyway, we can have a conversation without me speaking.

We arrived at school and I felt sick, immediately people were looking and talking about me. This had been going on since the day I started and although I was used to it I still hated going and just wished they would leave me alone.

"Oakley!" I jumped and looked up at Cole, smiling in apology. "You gonna be okay?" I nodded, grimacing slightly. I hated when we had to go our separate ways. "Text me if you need anything," he said, kissing me on the cheek and walking into the sixth form building which right next to the school. He knew I wouldn't text him but he says it every day, I've never used my phone for anything other than playing games and listening to music.

The bell rang and I walked to my form room, taking my usual seat. I sat next to the same girl, Hannah. We were friends I guess although we didn't hang out together, she was one of the few people in this school that didn't treat me like I was something off the bottom of their shoe.

"Hey Oakley, what did you do last night?" one of the boys shouted from the back of the classroom. "Sorry I didn't quite hear you!" The room erupted with laughter. Most of the comments were like that, they never really come up with anything new. I rolled my eyes and just stared forward. Where the hell is the teacher?

"Ignore them," Hannah said, patting my arm. I smiled at her and sighed in relief as Mrs. Young finally walked in to take the register. She called my name but looked up and ticked the book when she saw me, knowing I wasn't going to answer.

The bell for first period rang and I walked with Hannah to our first class, we had most lessons together and I would sit with her and her two friends even though most of the time they would ignore me, I respected them for that though, I would rather be ignored.

The morning passed slowly and the same as every day, behind the teachers back the students would call me names and make stupid comments and jokes about me, I tried my hardest to ignore them but it's not always easy.

It was pretty bad today they seemed determined to make my life hell and the teachers were late to two of my lessons so the first ten minutes were filled with people making nasty comments. I was so happy when the bell rang for lunch break and quickly grabbed my bag and made my way down the hall.

"Oakley," Ellen said, smirking and holding her arm out so I couldn't get passed. "I'm having a party on Saturday; you know to celebrate the end of year. You should come, what do ya say?" Ellen and her friends started laughing; I pushed passed her, almost running now.

The laughing stopped as soon as I got outside and closed the door. I'd had enough of today already and needed to get away for a while so I was going to go out of the school grounds to have lunch at the park, I did this most days.

"Oakley?" His voice made me relax slightly and I turned around to see Cole running towards me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and smiled, I was not going to let them make me cry again and I really didn't want Cole to see me cry either.

"Hey, are you alright?" I nodded and tried to smile as convincingly as I could. He raised his eyebrow, "No you're not. Hold on a minute, I'll come with you." I grabbed his arm as he turned away, he looked back at me and I shook my head. I didn't want him to come with me. He didn't need to be the boy that hangs out with the freak that doesn't talk. Part of me wanted him to come but the other, less selfish part wanted him to stay away and forget about me.