EVA
"What if he's mute?"
The conversation drifted to me. I had not been paying attention for the most part of it—mainly because my thoughts were all over the place—and Laura being Laura, didn't necessarily require an audience for her to speak. She could very well speak to herself, so the fact that we were there was a plus for her.
"I doubt that he is." Abi said and her speaking, coupled with the 'he' in the sentence, piqued my interest enough for me to forget about my issues at the moment and listen to them talk.
I really really wanted to know who that he was.
Laura shrugged. "Well, I've never heard him speak."
"Just because you've never heard him speak doesn't mean that he cannot speak."
Laura rolled her eyes so hard, I thought they were going to fall off her head. "I get that you don't go to parties, so you wouldn't know, but Abi, he has never uttered a single word. Not one. Who knows? Maybe that's why he doesn't even let girls near him. And I totally feel him because that would be so hard to explain." She suddenly turned in her seat to face her best friend, giving us the full force of her incredibly beautiful face—and her pink lips that were currently twisted to the side as she shot Abi an accusing look. "Why are you suddenly so interested anyway?"
Somehow, I knew that this person they were taking about had to be one of the four most popular guys at school. It was either Axel, Henri, Alexander or Vaughn. The first two talked a whole lot. In fact, they had trouble keeping their mouths shut. The last two, however, barely spoke. Although between the both of them, the former spoke more than the latter. Which meant that there was a high possibility they were talking about Vaughn.
I wanted to speak, but I decided to remain silent until I was sure.
"Interested?" Abi's face twisted in genuine confusion—at least it looked that way—as she unzipped her bag, rummaging through it. "I'm just saying that the fact that you haven't heard a person speak before, doesn't mean that they can't."
"Not 'a person'," Laura smirked evilly, her bows dancing. "Vaughn."
So, they were actually talking about Vaughn.
Honestly, I couldn't blame Laura for thinking that he was mute. I probably would have thought the same thing too if I didn't know better. But I did. It was so easy to assume the worst of people or to assume that people were a certain way simply because of how they behaved in the presence of other people.
I wasn't saying this simply because he had talked to me that day, but from experience.
People had gone around calling me a freak without second thoughts, judging me simply because of a feature I possessed. My eyes were a part of me, but they didn't define me. Although they had ruled my emotions for a long period of time, not anymore.
I might have digressed a bit, but the point was that it was so easy for people to assume the worst about a person, not caring that they might be far off the mark. He probably had a reason for refraining from speaking in public. Or maybe he just didn't like it.
Wasn't enough for him to be called mute.
A sudden feeling of protectiveness surged in me, which, I was positive, was what had me rising to his defense. "He's not mute."
Two pairs of eyes swung in my direction. Two were surprised, the other two, narrowed. The first to speak was Laura.
"He's not?"
"No." Suddenly, with the full focus of their eyes on me, I found myself fidgeting. It wasn't merely their attention that had me uncomfortable, rather, it was the fact that the driver was right there. He might not be paying actively paying attention to us, but he was sitting directly in front of me anyway. He had to be hearing us even though he didn't want to.
"What proof do you have that he's not?" Laura cocked a brow, forever the inquisitive one.
"He spoke to me today." I informed them, torn between who to look at. In the end, I just focused on the headrest in front of me.
"He did?!"
"He did?!"
Both Abi and Laura spoke at the same time, unable to hide their curiosity. It was a norm for Laura to be curious. For Abi though, pigs might as well be flying.
That was when Laura's question started to make sense. Why was Abi so interested? I would ask if I could—or if there was a possibility that she was actually going to answer.
"Yeah." I nodded, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal when in truth, I was still freaking out about it inside. "I bumped into him in the staircase and he..." I trailed off when I realised that I couldn't tell them why he had actually spoken to me in the first place. At a loss, I reached for something else to say. "He asked if I was okay."
From the looks they gave to me, it was quite obvious that they didn't believe Vaughn had bumped into me and had casually asked if I was okay. How could I expect them to? Even I didn't believe it.
"Vaughn bumped into you and asked if you were okay." Laura repeated, her eyes darting to Abi as if to silently ask questions like 'Are you hearing this?', 'Are you sure she's okay?'
"Yes." I toyed with the hem of my skirt, avoiding their eyes.
With every lie I told or tried to tell, I kept on getting more reasons to stop it completely. It was obviously not for me.
"Why would he do that?" If it was possible for Laura to angle her seat to face me completely, she would. "You're telling me that the one time this guy talks, it's to ask how you are."
Again, it wasn't a question. It was a statement, but I answered anyway.
"Yes." Then, deciding to make my lie more believable, I added. "I fell and he was there. He was just asking whether I was hurt."
"Huh." She commented, then turned, finally facing her front. "I guess he's not mute then."
I could tell that Abi was still staring at me. Was it so hard to believe that Vaughn had spoken to me?
Yes. Yes, it was.
Which begged the question; Why did Vaughn ask if I'd actually written that letter? Why did he care?
That day when the whole thing had gone down, I didn't spot his face in the crowd. I didn't find his friends either. Plus, in my head, I had automatically assumed that everybody—with the exception of Abi, Laura and maybe Phoebe—believed that I'd written it since nobody had bothered to ask. The fact that Vaughn asked meant a lot to me, even though I didn't know why he did.
And the fact that it was the first time he talked to me, made it all the more interesting.
The remainder of the journey back home went by in silence. When the car parked, Laura, Abi and I wasted no time in getting off. My eyes caught on the extra car in the driveway—the one that belonged to Mr Lawson—and before I could even process it, excitement trickled into my bloodstream, my heart beating faster than it did before. When I did understand what was happening, that I was getting excited at the prospect of seeing my foster dad, I tamped it down hard.
Over time, in between his work trips and the short amount of time I spent in his presence, I'd started to get to like him. Like, genuinely like him. I didn't have to force my smiles in his presence anymore, didn't have to pretend as if I was interested in what he was saying. My smiles came freely, my comments flowing non-stop and once, I had even started a conversation.
I could tell Mrs Lawson was happy about the development too, because I'd connected to her first before him and she subtly tried to bring him into our conversations sometimes, however short they were.
The couple sat side by side on the couch, indulging in an easy conversation while they watched TV. They looked up when they saw us coming, their already smiling faces brightening even more.
After a very very long round of greeting, Mr Lawson asked how Laura's mom was. Laura said that her mom was doing well and as we all made to move towards the stairs, I suddenly remembered that I had to tell my foster parents what the principal told me.
I was also a bit curious to know what their reaction would be.
Abi stopped when she noticed that I had stopped walking and cocked her head in the direction of the stairs asking, "Are you coming, Eva?"
"I'll be up in a bit." I told her with a small smile.
She nodded before continuing up the stairs. Laura looked so much like Zoe as they walked up the stairs that I almost thought it was her. The two did look a bit alike from the back.
I turned back towards Mr and Mrs Lawson, who were already staring at me expectantly. They could read me so well.
Pushing my shoulders back, I took a step towards them. "The school principal told me that a teen magazine would love to feature me." A surprised look passed between them. "She said they're very responsible and reputable, those exact words, and that I would not have anything to worry about. She said she's also going to call you and let you know after I do."
I studied their reactions closely, searching for the slightest sign that showed that this was a bad idea, but nothing about them was giving off that energy. They just looked surprised, but not that surprised.
"If the principal says that they're responsible, then they probably are." Mr Lawson commented. "I'll discuss with her and do my own research on them before concluding, of course."
I nodded, a huge part of me already wanting to be up in my room, carrying out my plan. Although for it to be called a plan, it had to have a chance of succeeding. I didn't know if this one did.
"The important question is, would you be comfortable with it?" Mrs Lawson asked, dragging my unfocused eyes back to her.
God, I loved this woman.
How sweet was it that the first thing she thought about was if I would be comfortable being featured? She was asking because she knew how hard being on the face of the magazine had been for me.
I decided to answer truthfully. "Honestly, I dont even know yet. I'm still thinking about it."
She nodded. "Take as much time as you need, love."
"Your mother's right." Her husband agreed. "There's no hurry."
My heart gave a small pang at the mention of the word, 'mother'. The way he had causally said it as if she was actually my mother. As if she was my biological mother.
Shaking the feeling off, I excused myself and bounded up the steps, unable to slow down in my hurry. I just couldn't wait to fix this rift that Axel was trying to force between us.
That I was trying to force between us, because I'd started the whole thing. It was my fault for insisting on us being friends. I mean, we were friends. I wanted us to be friends. But I didn't want us to be different. I didnt want him to act differently around me.
I didn't want him to treat me the way he treated everyone else.
I didn't want him to be with me the way he was with everyone else.
My bath was quick and in less than thirty minutes that I had stepped into this house, I was on my bed with my phone, turning my wifi on as I entered my instagram app. It refreshed quickly and I wasted no time in checking to see if Axel was online.
He was.
My finger hovered the keyboard, every fibre of my being wanting to text him, but I just couldnt bring myself to do it.
The truth was, I was scared. The way he walked away from me today was still fresh in my mind. It felt a lot like rejection and me being someone that had struggled with rejection my whole life, made it hurt more. Especially considering it was someone I actually cared about.
One of the few friends I had.
I exhaled and forced myself to leave his chat, scrolling down until I found Omar. Thankfully, he was online.
Hey, I texted him, are you busy?
Never for you, baby girl.
Warmth unfurled in my chest and I fought the urge to smile. We texted much lately, but God, i'd missed him.
Okay. I need to talk to you about something.
I was waiting for his reply when a video call request came in. Groaning, I answered it. I had to admit that I was excited to see his face. Since we'd started texting, we had only video called once and that time, he had been the one to call too.
His face filled my screen, bright and handsome and so very welcome. He was grinning and without even knowing that I was doing it, I smiled back at him.
"Why are you calling me?" I cried. "I said I want to talk to you."
"Yeah, and I know you. If whatever you want to say is important, which I know it is, I want to be able to see you so that you won't be able to lie to me."
I gasped as if I was hurt. "I'd never lie to you."
"Mhm. Sure." He rolled his eyes.
He was lying face up on his bed, I could tell because his head was on a pillow. I, on the other hand, was lying face down on my bed with my legs kicked up behind me.
"Now, what do you want to talk about?"
I hesitated, my eyes darting away from the screen. All of a sudden, I wasn't so sure about telling him anymore. What was I even about to fo really? What if it all turned out pointless?
Maybe I shouldn't tell him.
"You see, this is exactly why I called instead of talking over text." Omar said, dragging my eyes back to the screen. "You're thinking about lying to me and im not going to have that. Out with it, Eva."
Sighing, I decided to give it a shot. It wasn't like I had any other option at the moment.
I explained everything to him. About the kind of relationship I had with Axel and how several times, it felt like there was more between us when there wasn't. I also told him about the two near kisses—I almost died. Omar's teasing smirk was too much for me to bear—and how he'd given me the cold shoulder after.
Omar ate everything up with a smile on his face. Honestly, it seemed like he was taking pleasure in seeing me suffer. I would pinch him if I was close to him.
"Damn, Eva. Who would have thought?" He showed his whole teeth in a deep laugh and even though he was annoying me, I couldnt get mad at him. I also loved that he was laughing.
At least one of us found it funny.
"Be serious, Omar."
"Okay, okay." He turned serious. "From what I just gathered, he's always trying to reach out to you. He's the one that initiates contact, tries to get you guys to hang out and basically puts up with your confusing ass."
I ignored the last part. "Yes, thats right."
"And on top of all of that, he told you he has feelings for you and you shot him down. As if that isn't enough already, you almost kissed him. Twice."
"I... I-it was a mutual thing." I stuttered, fumbling for a bit. "We both—" I stopped when he gave me a look. "Yes." I said simply. Finally.
"The poor boy." He sighed, shaking his head. "He's the only one who reaches out between the two of you and even when he does, you're not so willing to hang out. You say you want to be strictly friends, but then you're wanting to kiss him. You're confusing him."
"Oh God, I am." I groaned in shame.
"I think hes giving you the cold shoulder because he's fed up with your hot and cold treatment and honestly, I dont blame him. I would stay far away from you too."
Shit. Everything was so clear now.
I never tried to reach out to him. It was always him trying to reach out. I called him my friend, but I didn't act like it.
I needed to do better.
"What do I do now?"
"Text him. Ask him if he's free to hang out. Reach out for once." I was nodding when he said, "No, don't text him. Do it face to face."
That would be so hard, but if that was what I needed to do to get us back on track, then I was willing to do it.
"Okay."
"Eva, do you like him?" He asked suddenly.
I shook my head.
It was obvious that he didn't believe me, but he refrained from saying anything about it.
We talked about random things from there. School, my foster sisters and parents. Admittedly, I felt ten times better than I did before now that I knew how to resolve my issues with Axel.
The main reason I'd decided to tell Omar about this thing in the first place was because him and Axel were somewhat similar. They were both impulsive, carefree and reckless people. I felt like maybe he would be able to put himself in Axel's shoes since they were so similar and obviously, he could.
Apparently, my plan turned out to be a stellar one.
Personally, I can't wait for the next one or two chapters(not that I've written them or anything) but ik I'm going to love it.
You will too :)