The Girl Who Doesn't Speak

Chapter 3

I wake up to a flock of seagulls screeching outside my window. I listen to them, not wanting to move from the bed, exhausted. I crashed at Rhett’s apartment rather than going to mine. I didn’t want to return home in case my parents were already in bed. Devon hadn’t returned home last night, and Kaylie slept over as well.

I hid my head under the pillow to block out the seagulls, but it doesn’t work. I give up and get out of the bed, heading to the bathroom before checking on Rhett. Both he and Kaylie were naked under the sheets. I leave them alone and head to the kitchen, deciding to make breakfast. It was only seven o’clock and I didn’t think the two of them will be waking up any time soon, especially the hangovers they will have.

I take out some eggs out of the fridge and sausages from the freezer, frying them. Within minutes the kitchen smells delicious and I knew the smell will soon wake up Rhett and Kaylie. I slice some tomatoes and then fry them with garlic. I thought of cooking some bacon as well, but I couldn’t find any in the fridge. I butter some white toast and then put the food on the table.

As I made the breakfast, I try not to think about my sister. It was a tradition we did every New Year’s Day and on some special occasions since we were eleven where we would cook a big breakfast for our parents.

I had just finished cooking when Rhett stumbles into the kitchen half asleep. He rubs his eyes, staring at the food on the table in confusion before turning to me.

“You made breakfast?” he asks.

“Yeah, I did. I couldn’t sleep, and I figured with the hangover you and Kaylie will have, you aren’t going to want to cook any food.”

“Thanks mate.”

Rhett walks over to the jug, heating up the water to make himself a coffee.

“Are you still up for surfing later?” I ask him.

He groans. “I was really hoping you weren’t going to ask me that.” He turns to face me as he walks to the fridge to grab the milk. “Yes, I will go with you. I just hope this headache goes away soon.”

“Could you make me a coffee too, please?”

Rhett grabs another mug from the cabinet.

“Is Kaylie awake?” I sit down at the small round table.

“Yeah, she is just taking a shower. So did you manage to get much sleep last night?”

“It was a bit hard when you and Kaylie were making a lot of noise.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

Rhett finishes making the coffee and then sits down at the table with me. Kaylie soon joins us.

After breakfast I walk upstairs to my apartment. I enter quietly in case my parents were still sleeping. Dad is up, drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen and greets me, asking me if I had a good time. I lie to him and said that I did.

Dad watches me and knew straight away that I wasn’t telling the truth. “You know you don’t have to pretend, Riley.”

I nod, knowing he was right. I don’t need to pretend. I had a good time. My parents already know that the only thing that made me happy was surfing.

“How are you and Mum?” I ask. “Did you do much last night?”

“We had an early night. How were the fireworks?”

I nod. “Okay I guess. I’m just going to go surfing with Rhett for a while. I will see you later.”

I head out on the balcony, grabbing my wet suit that was now dry and walk inside to my room to change. I then say goodbye as I grab my surfboard. Mum walks into the lounge room just as I slip out the door. I say a quick hello/goodbye to Mum and then hurry downstairs. Rhett is already waiting for me outside on the lawn.

“Is Kaylie going to join us or has she left already?” I ask as Rhett and I walk down the path towards the street.

“She had to head home. She will probably come by later.”

We cross the quiet street. Hardly anyone was around except for a few joggers or people walking their dogs. Other than that everyone is probably home sleeping off hangovers or catching up with sleep. If I wasn’t a surfer, I would probably be still in bed. And there are some days I feel like doing just that, not sure whether or not if it’s worth getting up knowing Tiffany is no longer here.

The beach is full of rubbish from parties from last night, where people were too lazy to throw away their rubbish into bins. A few people were lying on the beach, who probably passed out from drinking too much. Later when the lifeguards come on duty they will wander up and down the beach to clean up and ask anyone who has passed out to wake up.

Rhett and I stand on the sand, watching the waves to see where the best waves were. The centre of the beach near the surf club was the area we needed to go. Rhett heads in the direction. I was about to follow when I heard a moan from behind me.

Lying to my left on the wet sand was a neon blue hair girl. Her back was to me and her clothes were damp from when the waves wash up onto shore. I was going to leave her, but then I notice the material of her shirt was ripped, like it was torn against something and not because it was worn out. Blood strains were on her clothing.

“Riley, aren’t you coming?” Rhett calls for me.

I ignore him and walk over to the girl. I normally never approached anyone on the beach after New Year’s Eve. I have no idea if they are still drunk, but I knew they wouldn’t like to be woken up with a massive hangover. But when I approach her, I didn’t think she was one of those drunken people passed out. She was injured with scrapes on her arms, her legs, back and forehead. She looked as if she might have fallen on the rocks on the cliff that's to our left. Maybe she had been drunk and fell off the cliff and then washed ashore.

I put my board down and kneel down beside her, rolling her onto her back. A wave watches up on shore, sending cold shivers through my body as it came up under my legs. The girl’s skin was cold and I knew I had to move her away from the water before she caught hypothermia. Who knows how long she has been out here beside the water. There was a huge gash on her forehead. I check for a pulse. She had one.  

I look up at Rhett. I ask him to help me move her away from the wet sand. He jogs over and helps me to move her a little up the beach. She moans as we move her, but doesn’t open her eyes. We put her down gently. Rhett kneels beside me as I gently tap the girl’s cheek.

“Hey, wake up,” I tell her. “Can you hear me?”

The girl slowly opens her eyes after a few minutes.

“Hey, are you alright?” I ask her.

The girl doesn’t respond. She suddenly panics when she sees Rhett and me. She sits up, groaning as she moved quickly. I told her to stay still or she will hurt herself more. But she doesn’t listen to me. She gets up, pushing me away with fear in her eyes like she was afraid I was going to hurt her. She limps across the sand and towards the street. Rhett and I watch her to see where she was going. She limps out onto the road without looking both ways to see if it was clear. In horror, I watch as a station wagon came down the street, its brakes screeching as the driver tried to avoid hitting her.

Not being able to get out of the way faster enough, the girl hits the bonnet and rolls onto the road. She lies there still.