The Sound of Silence (Previously I Know What You Did Last Summer)

{Thirteen} How To Get Away With Murder

Mr. Hefford eventually took the hint that I wasn't going to respond.

"Your brother, Landon, was such a wonderful student here at the school. Great grades and a great player for the team. I know he cared a lot for you, Avery, as he was always talking about you before and after games." he paused, looking over my shoulder and at the office door, then back at me. "Have you tried to speak to him about what's causing these episodes in class?"

I shook my head, trying to force a smile that probably couldn't even pass as a grimace, as I whispered shakily, "I'm fine, Mr. Hefford."

Even I don't believe the words that leave my mouth.

"I'll be back in one second. Please stay here." He said before stepping out of his office, leaving me alone in the room.

My eyes drifted from wall to wall, eying the USC posters and flags pinned up all over the room. It was no secret Mr. Hefford had graduated with honors from the school and as the star football player on his way to be drafted into the NFL. But only days before the draft he was in an accident that resulted in his knee being shattered in multiple areas and a recommendation to never play again. Despite his disposition, he was able to overcome it and finished school, ending up as a high school principal with a great back story years later.

I stretched my feet out under the desk, my eyes falling on the small black frame facing one of the two monitor's on Mr. Hefford's desk. It was a little girl with a lopsided smile, her white-blonde hair in braided pigtails as she held up a Kindergarten diploma. Not far from it was a similar picture of the same girl, but with her hair in a mass of waves down her back and cascading her shoulders, wide rimmed black glasses askew as she holds her middle school graduation diploma with a bored expression.

I was stirred from my daze when a set of pamphlets was dropped on to the desk in front of me, Mr. Hefford leaning against the corner of his wide desk.

He smiled weakly upon seeing my eyes dart from the picture of his daughter to him. "We're here for you and can help you through whatever it is that's bothering you, Miss Spencer."

I wish you could, I wanted to agree. But you won't ever truly understand.

Instead I said, "Can I leave now?"

Mr. Hefford examined me carefully for a moment before he rubbed one hand down his face and nodded curtly. "Yes."

The last bell of the day sounded throughout the school as I grasped my backpack strap in my hand and stood. I wiped at my tear stained cheeks, hoping I didn't look as bad as I felt. The second Landon would see me, he'd immediately try to push and pry for answers that I wasn't going to give and would lay thinking about in the middle of the night after hours of the continuous torture of my own thoughts.

Clearing my throat, I thanked the principal and followed him toward the door. Once I was out of the claustrophobic room, I hurried toward the door and stepped outside.

For the first time in years, I was thankful for the mid-August humidity. It would aide in my excuse as to why I looked like I'd just had a metal breakdown.

I slowed to a walk and stared down at the pamphlets. I almost laughed hysterically when I saw one was for suicide prevention and the other for bullying. It was the third that sent a shiver through me and stopped me dead in my tracks just outside the front doors of the school.

I didn't see a pamphlet in my hands, but only one word; Rape.

"Avery!" Landon's shout was soon accompanied by a loud whistle. I stared at that pamphlet for a second longer before stuffing it deep into my backpack and jogging across the parking lot to meet my brother. 

***AN***

*Unedited*

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