Let Me Hear You Speak ~Minor Editing and Slow Updates~

chapter two ~EDITED~

I wake up from my nap suddenly because something was licking me; I sit up and turn to see a dog with its front paws on my bed, and it was still licking me. I push the dog's face away from mine but it just comes right back. Why do we have a dog I thought to myself.

The dog keeps licking me every time I push it away, so eventually I give up with an annoyed groan.

"Oh I see. You acknowledge the dog, but you barely acknowledge me when I say 'hi' or 'good morning'?" my sister asks. "And by the way the dog is yours. You need a companion, and dogs are just that. The leash is in the kitchen near the back door where the kennel is also," she explains.

There's silence for a while.

"Rose I know you have a voice... use it. I'm here if you need someone." My sister exhales in frustration.

I decide to stay in my room, close the door, shut the blinds, and isolate myself from the world.

"I'm going out for a while Rose," my sister yells from downstairs, and a few minutes later I hear the door open and close.

Even though the house is empty, I just sit in my dark room and think.

I need to get these thoughts out of my mind.

I decide to go on a walk with the dog to clear my head. I leash the dog up easily, Lily told me where it was before she left, and exit the house with the dog.

It's a calm evening with a slight breeze, my new brown dog must be eager for its walk since it keeps jumping on me as we walk down the driveway.  

It's annoying to have a dog jumping on you when you just want it to move. Eventually it stops jumping on me and we're on our way.

It starts barking out of nowhere, I try to get it to move, so we could keep walking; but it keeps barking at something. I look down the street thinking maybe it saw a cat or something; it saw another dog.

A dog being walked by that kid Max.

I guess it's a dog thing to bark at other dogs.

"Hey, Rose." Max says when he sees me. "Cute dog. Yours?"

I nod in hopes of that being the end of the conversation but no.

"New dog?" Max smiles and gestures towards my dog who was seconds away from running to him and his dog.

I just shrug. I never asked for a dog.

"Do you wanna walk with me? That might get your dog to stop," Max suggests.

I nod yes hoping this  will get him to stop talking.

"Does it ever get lonely, you know, when you don't talk?" he asks out of the blue.

I want to answer the question, but I don't know how to, so I don't; I just stare ahead.

"Why don't you talk, Rose?" he asks.

I don't want to answer. I don't know anything about him. We just met today. It's quiet for a few more minutes, then Max quickly apologizes.

"One day, when you're ready, you can share your story. I'll listen, no matter how bad it may be," he explains to me. I feel his free hand link with my free hand.

This hand holding thing feels weird, but I get use to it after a bit; it reminds me of something I haven't felt since childhood.

"Hey Rose, are you ok?" Max asks me. 

I nodded, but he doesn't seem to believe me.

"Can I walk you home since it's getting dark?"

I don't really want to go home because I kinda like the hand holding thing and the feeling it gives me.

"Rose, can you tell me where you live, so I can walk you home?" He asks me again.

I just stare at him until he remembers I don't talk.

"Oh, right." He visibly cringes which makes me want to smile.

I nod hesitantly, knowing that this feeling is coming to an end. I point my finger back to my house and we walk back that way.

When we reach my front door, I try to find a way to let Max know I'm fine and that he can go home, but it goes over his head as does my gentle push, so I give up which is when he pulls me into a surprise hug. Even though it was short, it was just long enough to be awkward

"Thanks for walking with me Rose, I'll see you at school tomorrow," Max says.

I nod and walk inside.

Not long after I get home, Lily does too but something's wrong; she doesn't say hi or even acknowledge me. She just immediately goes to the couch and sits down.

I don't like Lily like this, so I try to figure out how to get her to talk.

We sit in silence for awhile when it comes to me: I should talk to her. I run upstairs to my room and grab a notebook and something to write with before going back downstairs to Lily.

After I sit down again, I open the notebook and start writing on an empty page. You ok?

I debate whether or not to give the note to her, and after several minutes of debating I decide the best option is to give her the note. I slide the note over and look her in the eyes. I want to make sure she knows I meant it.

"Not really. Are you okay? You haven't had much of a range of emotions since..." she doesn't finish her statement. Since the fights between mom and dad.

Things are starting to change for me. This conversation isn't about me though. Tell me what's wrong. You've never came in and not greeted me.

"It's nothing, really," she says obviously hiding something.

Spill it.

"Okay, fine," she says a little tense. "So I went over to Brad's house for a while and we sat together and talked for a while. But then about half an hour into being there the doorbell went off. Brad wasn't expecting anyone so he didn't answer it," she says. She had to take a break because by now tears were streaming down her face.

When she got control of herself she continued. "The doorbell kept ringing so eventually he got up and answered the door. While Brad was gone I looked out the window behind me to see that there was a  girl at the door. They stood and talked for a while, Brad was frantically telling her to leave but she wouldn't.He went to the door and told her to leave. To come back later. He came back to me and I was furious. He said there was nothing between them when him and I got together, but little did I know he never ended it. I had to end it with him," she finished, her face red.

I don't know if a hug will do anything, but it's worth a shot. I lean over and hug her, and to my surprise she slowly begins to calm down.

I think we both should go to sleep. It's been a crazy day for us both.

She saw what I wrote and agreed. "I'll call us both in sick tomorrow from school," she said.

And with that we both head to our rooms and go to sleep.