The Silence

Chapter Three

"Nicky, darling could you..." My stepmother did a double take when she saw me. "No headphones tonight?" She asked cautiously. I shrugged and went up to the table. "Could you get me the glasses at the top of the shelf, please? I really hate being short sometimes." She smiled at me and I felt uncomfortable again.

Ever since I'd met Evelyn, I'd wanted to hate her. Every fairytale in the world said stepmothers were evil spawns of Satan and were out to destroy all children that weren't theirs. Evelyn had never been like that though. She smiled a lot, more than my own mother had and she was always nice, even to people she didn't need to be nice to. It had been a year but I still wanted to hate her so badly.

I got her the glasses she was asking for and helped set up the table. My father arrived just as we were done and he waved at us on his way up the stairs to go freshen up.

The Madison's arrived at 8PM exactly and we all shuffled into the living room to chat while the chef who had prepared our supper for today got everything ready.

"Hi." Alison smiled at me, joining me on the couch. "I saw you at school today but I didn't get a chance to say hello." She said.

"First day of the semester is always chaotic." I said but I didn't really care if she had seen me or not. Alison nodded enthusiastically and crossed her legs over each other, making her dress slide up the length of her thighs.

"It's like, crazy. I always have so much catching up to do with my friends." She gushed and I nodded, pretending to be interested. I was saved by a buzz from my phone a dew minutes later.

Zac: Dude! Michelle totally got a boob job this summer. I swear.

"Kids, dinner is ready." My stepmother called and I typed back my reply while we walked over to the table.

Saint: She's probably just a late bloomer.

Zac: Do you think if I ask, she'll let me see them?

I snorted and was trying to figure out how to bash my friend over the head via text when Evelyn said,

"Nicky, please. No phones at the table." She blinked when I actually turned it off and slid it back into my pocket. She shared a look with my father that I ignored and dinner was served.

"Alison, did you tell Nic - "

"Mom." She interrupted her quickly. Mrs Madison smiled serenely and went back to eating her roast chicken.

"I was just reminding you, dear." She said.

"What's this about?" My father grunted, picking at his food like a toddler. Evelyn sighed and gave him another look. He smiled at her and she melted so fast it was embarrassing to see.

"Alison has a winter formal in a few months. I thought it would be a lovely idea to ask Nicholas to be her date." I froze in my chair, my fork halfway to my mouth. What?

"IF you want to, that is." Alison smiled at me nervously, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Nonsense. He has no reason to say no, right, Nicky?" My father looked at me and I sighed with my inside voice. I shook my head as I put my fork down and pushed my plate away from me slightly. My appetite had suddenly disappeared. "That's that then." He smiled and sat back in his chair.

"You see? Its always good to ask, Alison." Mrs Madison looked over at me. "She was worried you would say no." She giggled and I wanted to throw up. She was right to worry, I thought. If she'd asked me herself instead I would have flat out refused. As nice as she was, there was nothing I found appealing about Alison at all.

"I heard there's an interesting new student at school. The deaf boy." It was the first thing Mr Madison had said all evening and I wanted to throw my food across the room for some reason. "Such a shame."

"He's not deaf." I said with a sigh. "He can still hear a little." I said tersely. "Can I be excused? I'm not feeling too good today." I asked Evelyn and not my father, which made her beam with joy.

"Of course, Nicky. If you need anything, just call. I'll bring it right up." She said as I stood up.

I closed my door behind me and sank to the floor with a moan. I hadn't been lying. I DIDN'T feel good. My gut was rolling with each heavy breath I took and I didn't even know why. I just felt sick. I got up eventually and dragged myself to my bed where I collapsed face first and fell asleep thinking about blue blue eyes.

Why was I at school today? I asked myself and my stomach turned again when I moved to lay back on the stone wall of the fountain. I groaned unhappily and hid my eyes from the sun with my arm.

"You hungover too?" Zac asked as he came to sit by my head. I peeked at him with one eye behind my hand.

"What? No." I said, annoyed. "I feel like shit. I think I'm sick."

"Then what the hell are you still doing here? Go to the sick bay." He frowned at me and I sat up quickly.

"The fucking sick bay. I forgot about it." I muttered, grabbing my bag off the grass. Zac scoffed and winced as he rubbed his temples.

"You would think you of all people would know this school better than anyone else."

"I just go to class and the library." I rumbled. "I've never gone to the sick bay before."

"It's down the hall by the offices. You can't miss it." Zac said with a grimace. "If my headache doesn't go away in an hour I might join you." I patted him on the back hard enough to jolt him and he cried out in pain.

"Thanks, Zac."

He was right, the sick bay was kind of hard to miss. The giant bed with a morose looking stick figure next to it was on the sign, right next to the big arrow which pointed to a room on the left.

"Can I help you?" The school nurse said when I stepped inside. She eyed my leather jacket and her lips curled back in a sneer when she saw my cigarette. "You can't smoke in here." I took one last drag and snuffed out the stub on the desk, tossing it in the bin near her feet.

"I just need to lie down for a bit. I feel like crap." I said and she sighed like I'd asked her to build me a bed from scratch.

"Through there. No noise. There are other students trying to sleep." She said. I gave her a small salute and headed through the curtains she'd pointed at. There was a bed open at the end of the room and I headed straight for it.

I was just about to sit down when a small noise from the behind the curtain that was closing off the bed next to mine made me stop. I heard it again and I looked back in the direction of the nurse. Should I call her? What if it was just someone crying though? I'd feel like an ass for disturbing someone who just wanted to be left alone.

The next time I heard the noise though, I swallowed my pride and opened the curtain just a peep.

"Hello?" I said to the figure curled up on the bed, blanket completely covering them. "Are you OK? Do I need to call the nurse?" The moan was a little louder now and I hurried through the curtain, dropping to a squat next to the bed. "Hey, do you need help?" I lifted the blanket just a little and was surprised when I was met by thick curly hair and a set of blue eyes I hadn't been able to stop thinking about.

"Julian?"