M U T E

|| 28 ||

I'm still avoiding that talk with Jocelyn. Every time I think of it, I just get nervous. My panic levels rise, and I start freaking out. 

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Myra announces loudly as she walks into my house.

Oh right! It is the 14th, at last. I get a phone call a moment later. It's from the library, so I pick it up.

"Hey, Reyna. I know it's a lot to ask, it being Valentine's Day and all, but I need you to come in today. If you already have plans, I understand. I just really could use your help because the person I had working tonight had an emergency," my boss speaks through the phone. 

"I'll come in. It's no problem. What time do you need me to come in?" I ask.

"Just a couple hours, so come in at 6, and I'll need you to help me close up," she replies.

"Alright."

"Thank you so much."

"No problem."

"See you tonight!"

"See yah."

The call ends.

"You're working tonight?" Myra frowns. 

I nod.

"What about Bryce?" She asks, and an immediate blush comes to my face.

"What about him?" I ask, shaking the blush off quickly. 

"You two have no plans?" 

"Not that I know of.."

"Bummer." 

I shrug, and we walk to the bus stop.

* * * *

Once we get to school, everyone is talking about the Valentine's Day dance. The dance is tonight like always. I never go. It's for couples. Plus, I'm not good with crowds. 

"Reyna, you doing anything tonight?" Bryce comes up from behind me, putting an arm around my shoulders. 

"I'm working," I tell him. 

"Till when?" 

"Close. So like 8:30, but a little after because I'm helping Hanna close up."

Hanna is my boss. Bryce nods. 

"Why do you ask?" I look at him now with a curious look on my face. 

He smirks, "oh, no particular reason."

Well, that's "not" suspicious..What is this boy up to?




The library is not busy today. I get to sit there most of the time reading, and having to answer questions here and there. Closing time came quickly. I took the books that needed to be put back on shelves and placed them on the right shelves. I helped Hanna do all the closing tasks which didn't take too long. It's 8:50 when I walk out. 

The first thing I notice is Bryce's car parked in the lot. He has a sticker on the back of his car of an eagle with the words "Be Brave" on the top of it and "Stand out" on the bottom of the eagle. I walk up to the car. 

The door opens, and Bryce steps out. He turns toward me. 

"Hey, Reyna," he says, smiling at me. 

He's holding something in his hand. It's a box wrapped in pink with a red bow. It's a small box.
"Meeting someone here?" I ask. 

He nods and walks up to me with no words. He hands me the box. My heart starts racing, and I open it. 

Two charms. One charm is an Oreo. The other is a heart. They go for my necklace. He picks up the Oreo charm and connects it on my necklace.

"Because you like Oreos. Your face lightens up whenever you see them. It is something I find unique about you," he connects the heart charm next, "this is for Valentine's Day because that's when I gave you these charms." 

I try to hide the smile. He lifts my head up, his fingers on my chin. My heart starts racing, and that weird feeling zaps through my body like a lightning bolt. I feel it everywhere throughout my body, and it sends a shiver down my spine. I let out a breath that sounded like a cough.
"Bryce.." I whisper, holding onto the charms that are now connected on my necklace.
The necklace I've been wearing every day since the day before winter break. I didn't get anything for him.

"I-I didn't get anything.." I say.

"That's okay. I wasn't expecting anything," he says, his fingers going from my chin to my cheek, brushing against it ever so slightly. 

My breath hitches in my throat. I grab his wrist, pulling it away from my face. My heart is going crazy. I couldn't take it. I turn my back to Bryce.

"Thank you," I mumble.

I'm not even sure he heard that. I'm so quiet. His arms wrap around me from behind.
"You're welcome." 

I freeze for a moment. I didn't want to pull away, but my heart was racing to a point that I needed to. I pull away and start walking towards the path to my home.

"I'll give you a ride home," he calls after me. 

I nod, and get into the passenger seat. It's a silent ride back, but it's a comfortable silence. My hand still holds onto the necklace. I let go of it when we get to my house. I wave goodbye as I run up to my house. I let a huge breath as I walk inside. It feels like I've been holding my breath for a thousand years. 

I rush up to my room, passing Jocelyn and Lilliana's room on the way. I see Jocelyn inside. The last person I need to talk to. She has kept the biggest piece of my heart for the longest time. It's about time I get it back, but-- I'll worry about that tomorrow. I've been through enough emotions tonight.

It's 9:30 now. I'm too awake to go to sleep, but I'm exhausted at the same time. I keep going over things in my head of what to say to Jocelyn. I keep going through it over and over and over. It's killing me. She's put me through so much. I want to tell her how much pain I've suffered from her, but I can't. Every time I think of telling her what pain she's put on me, I go back and scratch it out. In my head, all that I want to say is I hate you, but my heart only wants to say I'm sorry. What am I sorry for? What did I do?

She always got mad at me after she was hanging out with others. She would be perfectly fine, but change like that. Then, it turned to every day.

"So we were having this great night, right? I-I thought he liked me too, so I decided to go for it. I wanted to kiss him. I leaned in, and he started talking. He was talking about some stupid book to avoid the kiss! I walked home, and on the way here I was thinking. He gave me a $2.00 shell bracelet, and gave YOU this!" She points to the necklace, "why does everyone always like you more, Reyna? What do you do? God, it's just so frustrating being your friend. It's so frustrating to even be around you. You don't even see it. So many people adore you! You! The stupid nerdy Mute that is completely ruining everything I work for. Why you? Why?"

So, what did she mean? She's hurting inside from something. I just don't know what that is. I feel like it has to do with me.