silent

11

     "She's sleeping." I say when I come down. "I found her in the laundry room half conscious. I took her to bed."

     My dads eyebrows knit together in concern. "Is she okay?"

"I think so. She looked a little pale, though."

He looks as worried as he did the time the twins both had chicken pox. More worried, even.

"I'll go check on her." He says.

     He leaves the room quickly, and my grandmother walks towards me, wrapping her arms around my waist. She pulls back and punches my cheeks, I scrunch my nose in annoyance.

     "Have you been eating enough, baby?" She asks. "You look quite skinny."

     I roll my eyes. "I'm fine, Grams."

     She doesn't look like she believes me, but she makes a "hm" noise before opening one of her boxes of pastries, offering one to me.

     I take one.

• AMALIA •

"Lia, baby." Someone whispers softly.

     I peel my eyes open to see my dad sitting next to me, a kind, concerned smile on his face.

     "Hi." He says. "Are you feeling okay?"

     I nod, even though my head hurts.

     He looks skeptical, but doesn't say anything. "Okay. Good. Do you want to come down and see your grandma? She's really excited to meet you."

     I don't want to meet anybody. The people I've already met don't like me, I don't want to add more to that list. Nevertheless, because I don't want to disappoint my dad when he's done so much for me, I nod and sit up.

     "Alright." He looks down at the floor. "Do you want your slippers?" He asks.

     I nod. He leans down and picks up my unicorn slippers, shuffling to the end of the bed and putting them on my feet before I have the chance to take them from him. I smile in thanks.

     He nods to the door. "Come on, sweetheart."

     I slide off of my bed as he walks over to the door and pulls it open, stepping out into the hallway. I walk over to him, ignoring the stinging pain shooting up my arm.

     I follow him down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Elijah and an elderly woman with silver hair and a kind smile are sitting at the counter, talking. She snaps her head over when my dad and I walk in, her gaze settling on me.

     She stands out of her chair, expression warming, and rushes over to me, immediately wrapping me up in a hug.

     "This is your grandma." My dad says as she smushes me against her. I look over her shoulder and at Elijah, who's grinning, amused. I wait for a few seconds for her to let me go, but she doesn't. My dad sighs. "You can let go of her now, ma."

     She laughs. "Right." She pulls back. She smiles brightly at me. "Your dad was right, you're the cutest thing ever!"

     I blush.

     "Come on, honey, let's go into the living room." She takes my hand and pulls me behind her, not giving me any time to protest—not that I would, she seems nice. She takes me into the living room, where Mason is sitting on one of the couches, eyes glued to his phone. He briefly looks up when we enter, sighing softly before continuing to stare at his phone.

     Grandma clicks her tongue in disapproval before sitting down, pulling me next to her on the couch.

     I wrap my arms around myself and sit cross-legged and leaning back on the couch.

     "Oh, Mason, honey, can you go grab the plastic bag from my car?"

     "I'm busy." He mumbles.

     The silence in the room is scary. My grandmother glares daggers at him, and when he looks up for a brief moment he holds her gaze, but then sighs again and stands. "Fine."

     When my grandmother turns back to me, Mason scowls at me. I look down quickly, blinking back the tears stinging my eyes.

     She frowns. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

     I shake my head.

     Her expression hardens. "Is he being mean to you?"

     I don't do anything. I'm assuming my lack of response tells her all she needs to know, because when Mason strolls back into the room, she stands up and grabs his wrist, pulling him out into the hall. He furrows his eyebrows as he's dragged behind her.

     I bite my nails. I hope she doesn't say anything; it'll only make him hate me more and make me look like a snitch. I don't want to be a snitch, I want to be liked.

     I let my head drop into my hands when I hear her shouting.

     "I. Didn't. Do. Anything!"

     "Then why does she shrink whenever she sees you, hm? I swear, Mason—"

     "Hey, Lia." Someone says. I turn around quickly to see Grayson standing by the door. He's looking at me with roaring pity weighing down his gaze. He closes the door, blocking out a bit of the sound of shouting. "You okay?"

     I nod.

     "Elijah told me about your dance. He showed me a few pictures he took. You're really good."

     I blush, despite the fact that my grandma and Mason are arguing on the other side of the wall only a foot away from me.

     "Are you excited to go again today?"

     He's trying to take my focus off of them, I realise after a few seconds. I don't mind. I welcome it, nodding.

     He looks at the TV. "You wanna watch something?"

     I nod once again. He grins and looks around for a second before his eyes land on the remote.