Darrel
I wake up covered in sweat beads. I roll over to look at my phone which says 4 am. I place my phone back down and a sharp pain goes through my arms. I get out of bed and walk over to the room Kai is staying in. I open the door to see them fast asleep on the bed. Suddenly a light lights up the room. The light comes from the floor. I walk in and kneel. Pain goes through my whole body and I try not to make a noise. Eventually, I notice that the light is Kai's phone. I pick it up and look at the screen. It reads eight new text messages from Mother, six new text messages from Willow <3, two new text messages from Jay, and one new text message from Taylor. That's a lot of text messages. I place the phone back down on the ground and slowly stand up.
I walk back into my room and change into a tank top so I can see my arms. There are scratches and bruises all over my arms. I walk into the kitchen to get an ice pack to help numb the pain. I sit down at the table and hold the ice pack to my arms. As I'm looking at my arms, I hear footsteps. I look up to see Kai staring at me. They just stand there, not moving.
"Why are you up this early?" I ask
Kai shrugs and keeps staring at me.
"Are you okay?" Kai shakes their head yes. "Why are you staring at me?"
Kai shrugs again and continues to stand there.
"Kai, I hope you know you didn't cause this. It was my stupid ass that caused me to get hurt. You saved me and I promise I'll be alright."
Kai shakes their head in agreement and sits down beside me at the table. So what's for breakfast? They sign.
"I thought you would never ask."
Willow
On Saturday morning I sat around and did nothing. In the afternoon it was a different story. I was sitting with my family watching a movie, there was a commercial and my dad decided that during the commercial he wanted to see if the weather was on the news channel. When he changed to the news channel something unexpected was on there.
A guy was standing there and he said something along the lines of "Currently I'm at the scene of the crime" then he explained what happened.
"Two young people were attacked today in one of the many crimes that have been happening in Westbrook lately. 23-year-old Darrel Hayes and his sister Kailey Moore-"
"What!" I scream.
"..Were attacked today in the parking lot of Greenwood apartments. They stated that a man came up behind Hayes as he was fixing something on the back of his truck. The man jumped Hayes and started to beat him up. Eventually, the man brought out a knife in which Moore was able to get away from him and stab the man. The man's name was Eugene Bardot. He bled out because of his wounds. Hayes and Moore are okay and both suffer from some wounds."
I watch in horror as they show the blood in the parking lot and Darrel and Kai's bruised faces. I know that Darrel isn't related to Kai but they probably said they were to make it easier. I run upstairs to my room and grab my phone to text kai.
Jay
I sit on the couch in my living room on my phone. My dad walks in and turns on the tv.
"You would probably like some background noise, wouldn't you?" He said.
I shrug and he walks away. After a half-hour, I look up and notice the tv is on the news. The words "breaking news" shows up on the screen.
I sit up "ooh let's see who got murdered today"
"Two young people were attacked today in one of the many crimes that have been happening in Westbrook lately. 23-year-old Darrel Hayes and his sister Kailey Moore." says the news reporter.
I stare at the screen with my mouth open. Did he just say what I thought he said? The man keeps talking explaining everything that happened with Kai.
"Dad! Dad!" I scream.
"What in the hell do you want son?"
"Come here!"
My dad walks into the room and I point at the screen. They show Kai's face which has a few bruises and cuts on it. Their lip was bleeding a bit.
"Is that your one friend...Kailey I think?" he asks
I shake my head yes. "Dad what do I do?"
He looks at me then at the tv again. "Well, she seems to be fine. Looks like she just has a few bruises. I would text her just to make sure but I don't think we need to go check on her."
I grab my phone off of the couch and text Kai.
Taylor
DU LIEST GERADE
The Fifth Word
JugendliteraturJoin Kai as they experience their sophomore year in high school but like every good novel, there's a catch. They only have 5 words that they can say. Their home life and so much more go downhill because of their lack of words. What will they say?? W...
