The Girl Who Doesn't Speak

Chapter 13

Blue walks over to the table and sits down. She stares at the food.

"Would you like orange juice?"

She nods again, and I walk over to the fridge to take out a bottle of orange juice. I grab two clean glasses sitting on the drying rack, and fill them up. I place the bottle back in the fridge before joining Blue at the table. She smiles at me as I hand the glass to her, and took a sip before setting it down in front of her.

We eat out food in silence. I wanted to talk so it wouldn't feel so awkward between us, but making conversation with Blue was pointless when she wouldn't speak. She helps me clean up and then follows me to my room. Mum had placed boxes in my room weeks ago, which I only just left behind the door. Blue sits down on my bed while I made up the boxes. I glance around my room, wondering what I should start packing first.

I make a start on the wardrobe. I haven't cleaned it out in ages, and now would be a good time to go through what I wanted to keep and what I no longer need. I look over at Blue who was watching me asking her if she wanted to help me sort out everything. She gets off the bed and joins me in front of the wardrobe. I open up the door and then instructed Blue with what I wanted her to do. I told her to take my clothes off the hangers and fold them neatly into an empty box. Blue obeys me.

While Blue did that, I decided to sort out a box that I had in the wardrobe. It was mostly just my school books that I hadn't gotten around to throwing away yet since I graduated in September. The first book on top of the pile was my yearbook of 2015. I pull out, sitting down on the floor to flip through it. It was a mistake to. As soon as I see Tiffany's face, my heart had sunk to the bottom of my chest with an ache. Before I knew it or could stop myself, I'm crying.

It takes me a few minutes to realise that Blue has stop removing my clothes from the wardrobe. I don't realise it until she is kneeling beside me, resting a hand on my shoulder. I turn to look at her. She stares at me with a concern look.

I give her a small smile and then wipe the fears from my eyes, sniffing. "I'm okay, Blue."

She shakes her head, not believing how I really felt. She points to a picture of Tiffany and me on the open book of us hugging each other during our twelfth year of school. We were standing on the grass of the soccer field where we were posing with two other set of twins in our grade - identical brothers who you couldn't tell apart, and fraternal sisters who you would never guess were twins, as well as sisters who were triplets. The triplets kneel on the grass while the three lots of twins stood behind them. Since we were the multiple siblings in our grade, they decided to have a page of the yearbook dedicated to us.

I glance at her finger beside Tiffany's face. I then close the book, resting it on my lap so I couldn't have to see my sister's face. I turn to look at Blue.

"She's my twin sister," I tell her. "Her name was Tiffany. She was murdered back in November."

Blue surprisingly hugs me. I didn't complain because the hug felt good. The moment her arms were around me, the emptiness I have been feeling for the past few months without my sister was suddenly gone. We stayed in each other's arms for a few minutes before Blue pulls away. The moment she does pull away from her, I instantly feel the emptiness returning. Rather than getting back to work, we continue to stare at each other. My eyes found their way to her lips, and for a moment I wondered what it would be like to kiss her.

I move slowly towards her, tilting my head so I could kiss her. But the moment Blue realises what I was doing, she turns away. I wanted to kick myself for being such a fool for making that kind of idiotic move. I need to make her trust me. Pulling that kind of move on her was not going to get her to trust me.

"I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have done that. Forget I even did."

She gives me a small smile and then gets back to work. I do the same.

* * * * *

By the afternoon Blue and I had everything pack. I didn't have to worry about my furniture since I was moving in with Rhett, so my parents will be taking it to their new house. I put together something for a late lunch for the both of us while we waited for Rhett to return from work.

Dad had returned home from work early, and he offered to carry my belongings down to Rhett's apartment.

By the time we finished moving my things I suddenly felt like I was a horrible son for leaving my parents to move in with my best friend, his roommate and a girl I barley know. There's nothing wrong with me moving out at all. It's normal for kids to move out after they turn eighteen to begin their own lives. But after everything that has happened for the past few months, I wonder if it was the right time to leave. And then when I think about it, I realise that it will be good because if I stayed with my parents, moving away from the beach that brings me true happiness, depression will most likely take over my life. It's bad enough I'm grieving my sister. I didn't want to feel worst if I couldn't surf no more.

Rhett orders pizza since it was late and he didn't feel like cooking anything. Rhett, Blue and I sat on the couch watching TV waiting for the pizza to arrive while Devon duck out to buy a case of beer.

Blue sat beside me on the couch. After the moment we had in my room earlier, it now felt awkward between us. I still couldn't understand the feeling that I had felt, and as we sat there in silence, no eye contact, I wasn't sure how I was meant to be feeling towards her.

Once the pizza arrives, the awkwardness between Blue and I disappeared. The four of us grab a few slices each, as well as a can of beer. Blue pours herself a glass of water. Once we got our pizzas and drinks, we head in different parts of the apartment. Devon sat himself in front of the television to watch the tennis. Rhett and I weren't big fans of watching the tennis so we decided to sit out on the balcony. I invited Blue to join us, but she decline my offer and decided to sit in the bedroom we will be sharing.

Rhett and I sit on the chairs he has out on the balcony, putting our feet up on the railing. The night was still warm from the hot day. Hearing the ocean from across the street made me want to go night surfing, even though surfing now would be dangerous.

"Thanks again for allowing me to stay with you, as well as Blue." I take a sip of my beer.

"It's no problem. I'm glad you're able to stay. I don't even know what I would do if you had moved away."

"Same here." I put my can on the table between us next to Rhett's can. "My entire life is here, and I can't imagine what it would be like to live anywhere else. And even though I have only just met Blue, I don't want to know what could happen to her if she had no place to go."

"Well, she is safe now." Rhett grabs his can on the table. "She is welcome to stay as long as she wants." He takes a sip of his drink.

I glance over my shoulder to see whether or not if Blue was around, but I couldn't see her through the glass sliding door. She must be still in our room. My mind drifts to the almost kiss in my room. I wasn't sure if I feel anything for her, or if she felt anything for me. I don't think she does. She wouldn't have turned away, would she? Not unless the kiss was too soon. I mean, we have only known each other for a week. Blue is beautiful, but I much rather get to know her more before I decide whether or not if I wanted to date her. I'm sure Blue feels the same.

"I think I may have feelings for Blue," I find myself saying out loud.

Rhett turns to me, surprised. "Really? That's great, mate. Are you going to ask her out?"

I shake my head. "I don't think so. I think I blew it today. We had a moment, and made this idiotic move to kiss her, but she turned away. It was stupid of me to do so, but I just wanted to know what it would be like to kiss her."

"Don't feel too bad. Let her come around. Maybe she is unsure at the moment."

I nod, knowing that's probably one of the reasons. "Maybe. I just hope she can trust me enough to tell me what's going on and why she is running away, or why she won't speak."