The Silent Ones

Chapter 1

Lilly awoke startled from her peaceful nap about dancing pencils in Social Studies, the last class of the day, to Henry poking her side.

The short girl blinked in the burning light of day and sat up in the stiff chair she had been assigned. Drool layered her desktop where her head had been laying and a strand of her hair was wet. The sleeve of her One Piece hoodie wiped her face and the desk away of drool, uncaring.

Finally, the gears in her head began to turn properly. Lilly had exactly three minuted before the last bell in the high school rang and if she didn't want to spend her weekend at school, she had better be leaving and soon.

Henry watched his friend silently as she began quickly shoveing her school supplies into her blue backpack. He knew that he wasn't supposed to talk when in public places, but his friend was doing a terrible job resulting in Lilly hearing silent snickering to her left.

Lilly was making a mess as pencils and a blue notebook showered the floor beneath her assigned seat. She reached down hastily to pick them up.

BRING...

The other brainless students in the school raced for the doors leading to freedom, each of them ready to escape the place most preferred to call Hell.

Lilly stood quickly as she threw her blue backpack, that had seen too many grades, over her shoulder and pushed her way out into the white hallway that lacked color. The other children her age whooping and hollered since it was Friday. Henry disappearing like always as Lilly was lost within the crowd.

Lilly walked home everyday after school and today was no different. Her frizzy, long red hair swayed behind her as she walked at a steady pace towards the pizza place that was coincidently in between the school and her home. Another "coincidence" was that she always had seventy-five cents in her Jean pocket to buy herself an ice cream.

Lilly's red converses scuffed the sidewalk as cars of all colors and sizes flashed by at a fast pace, ignoring the school zone speed limit.

At the rendezvous point, Henry reappeared beside her in the empty chair left open for anyone daring to sit near "the odd child" as the local towns people had taken to calling her. Lilly continued to lick at her chocolate ice cream like he wasn't there.

Whispers of juicy gossip and the soft Italian music was all to be heard as the waiter read a fashion magazine. Her bubblegum popping as she chewed was the only break in the other two constant sounds that continued to drone on and on. Henry waited patiently for Lilly to finish, he had all the time in the world. A holler came from the kitchen as the cook burned himself on whatever he had been cooking with.

Finally Lilly finished her soft serve and stood to exit the dusky restaurant. The three quarters rested on the counter where she had been seated as her payment.

As soon as she reached the glass door, chatter filled the air behind her. All conversation appeared to be on one topic, Lilly. It was always about Lilly.

Though she heard, Lilly ignored them all. She had heard this before and she had, overtime, learned to ignore the world with more ease than breathing.

***

Lilly dumped the contents of her backpack out onto her soft, pink bedspread she had gotten when she had no taste in color several years earlier. Henry silently glided over to where she sat with a strange expression on his face.

"Do you think the other creatures really think that way about you?" He had used the simple term the friends shared for the living race they scuttled around with.

His question sounded innocent enough, but the results were unknowingly disastrous.

"I have told you over and over again that I don't care about them. I'm different from everyone else so why should I intermingle in their affairs?" Lilly wanted to scream back in anger, it was hard for her to ignore the world with her only friend bringing it up all the time, not to mention they had gone over this before. She had already given up on them. She had already given up on a normal life.

She began to calm herself down, her face filled with the sadness she tried so hard not to feel. As much as she denied it, it was clear she wanted to be normal like the other children her age. Her calm composure crumpling in the safety of her room and the safety of her only friend.

Henry hide in fear sarcastically as if she was going to get violent. They both knew she was more sad about the truth, plus she wouldn't harm him, even if she could. Her hand would just slide through his cold torso unless he decided not.