The Loudest Minds

Chapter 7

He noticed.

He noticed everything.

He saw how she hadn't been the same since Sunday. He knew that something had changed. While parts of her were already shattered, something else entirely different had broken; something had been bent so far that it snapped.

So he had questions.

But no amount of questioning could pry the answers from her pretty mouth. She put on a clever little façade, just for him. But he was a far cry from näive. The most common thing she said, or rather, wrote to him nowadays was I'm okay.

She most definitely was not okay.

She was disgusted with herself. Every time she looked in the mirror, the mangled figures of her mother and brother stood behind her like looming shadows, haunting her every waking hour. She grew more fidgety. She scratched at her arms until they resembled pink, freshly ploughed fields. The scratching only ceased when she had bitten her nails to bloody stumps. Her eyes grew dimmer and dimmer.

And all he could do was watch her destroy herself.

********

"So...what happened on Sunday?" Eli mumbled at his sweet potato fries.

Rose's head shot up from her tasteless turkey sandwich. Her features took on a look of exasperation, and she slowly shook her head. Eli had tried to catch her off guard with that question several times that week. He thinks he's being clever.

Instead of answering, she reached across the table and ruffled his hair. He pouted like a little kid, and her heart warmed a little. She silently offered to take his trash, and he handed her the tray. She dumped their trash, hoping Eli wouldn't notice the fact that her entire lunch had gone uneaten.

He did, but said nothing.

Eli stood up when Rose returned, and followed her out of the cafeteria like a shadow. They casually strolled the halls of the breezeway, sticking to the side so they wouldn't get run over by frantic freshman and the occasional holier-than-thou senior.

Rose's parents had picked this school for two reasons: it's orchestra program and it's academic magnet attachment. Seeing as how the twins had insisted on those editions, it was the perfect fit. However, what they hadn't accounted for was the...ahem...bitchy student body.

The whole school had heard about Andrei's approaching memorial, and Rose was the center of many a rumor.

How did he die? She would hear.

I heard she was there.

I heard she just stood there and did nothing.

Has anyone told you she actually stopped talking? Freak.

So what if she's choking on her tongue? Big fúcking deal.

I wish she had died instead of Andrei. At least Andrei was cool.

I heard, I heard, I HEARD...

All they talked about was what they had heard.

No one told her how sorry they were, or how amazing a person Andrei had been.

But did she really want them to? Did she want them to lie to her face? She could see them, people Andrei has called friends but never really were, taking advantage of the publicity of the situation. Pleads for attention cleverly disguised as wails of lamentation.

Rose would be gone by the time they staged the memorial. She doubted that she would be missed.

The halls they roamed were nearly empty at that point. Eli drew her out of her thoughts. "You can feel the chill starting to come." He turned to her and wiggled his deft fingers in her face, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt low over his eyes with his free hand. "Winter is coming."

Rose stared at him in shock, then gave a tiny smile. Now it was his turn to stare at her.

She pulled her phone out. You're such a nerd.

He glared at her defensively. "Hey, you know, I sometimes pay attention to the shows you make me watch. That one stuck with me."

She smirked. Don't quote Game of Thrones out loud, you might just ruin your reputation.

He stared at her blankly, then slowly raised an eyebrow. "What reputation?"

Out of nowhere, someone slammed into Rose from behind, knocking her to the ground. Her momentum threw her book bag over her shoulder, it's contents scattering across the concrete. "Watch it, freak," she heard an uninterested voice drawl from high above her.

"You watch it, jock strap," Eli snarled at the guy. Rose recognized him as a member of the school's soccer team.

Gooooo Cactus Cats.

The guy ignored Eli. He approached Rose where she was twisted on the ground and looked down on her. His eyes were choking on lies and determination. Eli resolutely stood between them like a brick wall.

"I hear that it's your fault he's dead." He sounded almost bored.

Eli suddenly surged forward, his face like lightning and his voice like thunder. "You fúcking--"

Rose stopped Eli with a gesture. She stood up slowly, and when her feet were under her she looked straight into Jockstrap's eyes and tilted her head slightly to the right.

Eli let out a long sigh through his nose. He knew what she wanted to ask. "And where did you get that bullshít?" He gritted out slowly.

Without taking his eyes off of Rose, he said, "Kaia."

Rose was rooted to the floor in shock. Her mouth fell open, and she felt moisture prick at her eyes. Kaia...

That name seemed to have a similar impact on Eli, only instead of freezing, he opted to shove Jockstrap into the lockers. The guy only chuckled and quickly regained his footing. "You need to get your a--"

"That's the story she's thrown out there. And it's nice to know that the other rumor is true...you know, the one about you not talking? In my opinion, you never had anything useful to say in the first place."

"That is it. Get the fúck away from her before the shít you keep spitting fúcks up my record more. Get out." Eli was practically shouting at that point.

The guy's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. "Or else?..."

Was he begging for a death sentence?

A muscle in Eli's jaw ticked. "Or else I'll--" Rose stood abruptly and placed a hand in Eli's shoulder. He hesitated before glancing down at her, his eyes blazing with a familiar fire.

The guy took that as his cue to saunter away without a backwards glance. "You should've let me kick his áss, Rosie," Eli hissed through clenched teeth.

Rose internally sighed, drawing her lips in a thin line and smiling dryly.

THAT reputation, she typed.

********

Rose was literally astounded that Eli hadn't thrown a punch during the encounter with the ever elusive Jockstrap, but at the same time she was immensely relieved. After all, she had taken it upon herself to keep him out of fights. Especially the one's where he defended her.

She was tired of being defended.

Unfortunately, she couldn't tell if it was because she wanted to be able to defend herself, or because she felt she didn't deserve to be defended. Her mind had become such a mess that she found that most of her ideas contradicted each other.

She was an absolute clusterfúck.

(A/N: Right, yeah, so...weird place, I guess? You guys know the drill, school blah blah homework blah blah AP classes blah blah blah. I love how Wattpad is majority teenagers, I mean, we all know the struggle.

Right?

I'm such a bad person. (Translation: I suck at updating.) Anyway, thanks for hanging in there. Ciao!)