Silent Melody: Chapter One
Before my mom found out that I wanted to be a pianist, she’d always told me to follow my dreams. When she found out though, she stopped saying it. But I continued to tell myself to go where the music took me. It could take me down a hill, or to a fancy college, or even on a green soccer field, trying to keep up with everyone else.
“You’re lagging, Rush!” my soccer coach yelled towards me from the side of the field. Looking around, I realized that I was the only one still on the right side of the field. “Get moving!” I picked up my speed, sprinting after the other girls who kicked the black and white ball. My breaths came out in a short foggy mist.
Missy nudged my shoulder when I caught up to where she was running. She continued to jog after the ball, but slowed when I approached. Missy cheered when another teammate scored a goal. “You okay, Auden? You seem pretty distracted. Coach has been yelling at you all practice.” I nodded absentmindedly and she smiled, her green eyes sparkling. As she huffed, Missy pushed away a stray piece of her golden hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. “Okay. If there is something wrong, though, just tell me.”
I laughed, “Are you okay, Missy? You seem pretty tired. If there’s anything wrong, just tell me.” She punched me in the shoulder playfully, giggling halfheartedly.
“Touché, my friend, touché.” I grinned at her comeback, and shook my head. She ran off towards Alexia, laughing and calling for the soccer ball.
My mom told me that the only way she’d continue paying for my piano lessons was if I joined a sport of some sort. She told me that scouts sometimes went to games to see who deserved a scholarship. Of course, I agreed quickly, not really caring about the scouts but just the fact that I’d be able to continue playing piano. My mom always wanted me to be a successful and rich college graduate, unlike her.
“Okay, girls, nice work today! Head home,” coach shouted, pulling me out of my thoughts. A sigh of relief echoed throughout the team and everyone started to sprint towards the locker rooms.
I splashed cool water on my face when I reached the sinks, rinsing away the sweat. My body felt hot and sticky and disgusting. That was the only downside of soccer.
Leaving the locker room, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and straightened my shirt with the tips of my fingertips. Missy had already bid her goodbye, and I was off to walk home as I did after every practice.
The pavement was smooth and I carefully strolled down it, staring at my feet as I walked with one foot directly in front of the other. Cars passed me by on the street, and people on bikes rode carefully down. The stoplights turned from green to yellow to red, and an elderly couple sat on their porch. They sat hand in hand talking about who knows what. I was acutely aware of my surroundings.
I put my ear buds in and pressed play, letting music take me wherever it wanted to. This was how I liked to be; alone and listening to my music. With it going full blast in my head, I had no worry in the world. There was nothing that I had to care about. Once my headphones went in, all other thoughts went out. It was like my life was put on mute.
In the distance, the sun was setting and making the sky look as though it were an ocean swarming with salmon. Little splotches of orange were placed randomly in the sky and clouds were barely noticeable. They almost looked pastel.
I wandered up the driveway of my best friend’s house, knocking on his door. I took out one my ear buds and let it hang loosely on my shirt as his mother answered the door. “Auden Rush! Hello, my dear.”
I giggled, “Mrs. Thomas! Hello, ma’am. Is Kyle around?” My eyes darted to the boy of our conversation, who was sneaking up behind his mother.
“Kyle, if you have a brain you will not jump up and attempt to scare me. I saw you in the reflection of the glass of the screen door. You are not a ninja,” Mrs. Thomas spoke coolly, all the while looking at me. “Now, your friend is here to see you. Do you wish for me to invite her in or do you want me to be rude and close the door in her beautiful face?” I giggled once more, and Kyle made his way to his mother’s side groaning.
“I don’t know if I want this monstrous being in my house again, last time she ate all of my Twinkies,” Kyle huffed, crossing his arms across his chest,
I sighed halfheartedly, “Okay, Kyle. I guess that I shouldn’t bother inviting you over next time we have homemade cookies and brownies.” I smiled at him enticingly, knowing that my homemade desserts would make him take back his words.
Before I knew what was happening, he attacked me in a hug, “Oh, Auden, I love you so much! Oh, and your cookies too. Want to come inside? I’ve got extra Twinkies!”
“Kyle, you’re such a fool,” Mrs. Thomas said, chuckling to herself and walking away. I grinned as Kyle led me inside and up to his bedroom.
“So what brings you here on this fine evening, Ms. Rush?” Kyle wondered, sitting in his computer chair as I sat on his bed. His bed sheets were an ugly shade of grey, and I missed his Power Ranger ones.
I shrugged, “I don’t know. Just thought I’d meander my way over here and see my best friend! Soccer practice was a drag. Coach made us run four miles before getting us on the field, and I was ultra distracted.”
“Hmm. Want a Twinkie?” Kyle asked, reaching into his computer desk drawer. I nodded my head hastily, quickly catching the pastry and opening the package. Twinkies were definitely my weakness.
“Thanks Kyle!” I said with a mouthful of cream. I felt around his sheets with my hands. “You know? I really miss your Power Ranger sheets. They were awesome."
He burst out laughing, “They were so childish!”
“Is that why you still have posters of them on your walls?” I replied, smirking and motioning towards the said posters hanging on his walls. “You seem to have a keen interest in the pink Power Ranger.”
“Shut up,” he muttered his face warming.
I laughed, “Aw, sugarplum, don’t be mad. I was kidding.” His faced warm even more when I used the nickname his mother always used for him when he was upset.
Kyle turned around and started to click around on his computer. I picked up one of his comic books that were in paper protectors. “Hey, can I read Green Lantern? Do you have a mock-copy? I don’t want to ruin your future fortunes.” I smirked, placing the comic book back down onto his big stack. He had real copies that were in mint condition, and he had what he called ‘mock-copies’ which were used copies that wouldn’t make any money in the future. I thought it was pretty smart; especially since comic book stores were going out of business because of the Internet.
“Sure,” he responded, spinning in his chair and opening another desk drawer. He searched for a minute before pulling out a ratty Green Lantern comic book. “Here.” Kyle tossed me the comic book, and then closed out of whatever he was doing on the computer to come sit by me. “What’s up with your weird obsession with Green Lantern?”
“He’s awesome! I mean, come on.” I opened the old comic book to the first page.
Kyle pursed his lips, and then scoffed, “You’re so naïve.” I chuckled, but ignored him, continuing to read the comic book until it was abruptly snatched away.
“Hey!”
He smirked, “I know what we can do. When do you have to be home? Does your mom have someone over tonight?”
I checked my invisible watch, “I have to be home half-past whenever. And I don’t think so.” He chuckled, and grabbed my hand, pulling me downstairs. “We have to walk? Really, I just ran four miles, plus got yelled at because I wasn’t keeping up. Oh, and I just walked all the way to your house which is like four miles from the school.”
“Oh stop complaining,” Kyle mumbled, rolling his eyes. He let go of my hand when we reached the sidewalk outside. “We’re going to the park.”
A sigh of exasperation left my lips, “Really? I haven’t been there since last year.” He shrugged and walked a few feet in front of me. “Hey! Slow down!”
He slowed, “I shouldn’t have to slow down, Grandpa!”
I scoffed, “Grandpa? I’m not a man! I’m a chick!” My face contorted into mock hurt, and he sniggered. I wasn’t really hurt because we acted like this all of the time; I just wanted to see his face turn all apologetic. But it didn’t.
“Prove it,” he countered.
I burst out laughing, “As if! We had this conversation, or debate, last week!” He grinned and bumped his shoulder with mine. The rest of the way to the park was left in a comfortable silence.
When we approached the swings, I jumped on one and tucked my feet under the seat. “Push me, Kyle. Be a good best friend. Remember, I’ve got homemade cookies and brownies waiting for you.”
He chuckled, “Oh, Auden, why must you act as though I am your slave?”
“Aren’t you?” I countered, smirking as he brought the swing back and pushed my back gently. I let my feet swing out and pushed them back in forth.
“I must be.”
“Kyle! Do underdog.” He grabbed the chains on each side of the swing and pushed me forward, ducking under me and running forward. “Whoop, I’m good now, Kyle, you can swing if you want.”
He laughed and climbed on the swing that was next to mine. It had dried up bird droppings but I decided not to tell him about it. His face became serious, “So, Auden, what are you going to do about your mom?”
“Kyle, we’ve talked about this before. There’s nothing that I can do. It’s her life. I disagree with her being a prostitute wholeheartedly, but there are some things you just can’t fix,” I stated, slowing the swing down by moving my legs.
“Do you realize how much danger that you’re in, though? What if one night you went home and she had one of her, you know, buddies over? He could touch you. No, he could hurt you, Auden. I don’t think I could bear the thought of something like that happening to you,” Kyle replied, lightly pushing his foot back and forth on the ground. “She’s so irresponsible.”
I sighed, “I know. But it won’t happen, okay?” I reached over from my now gently moving swing to nudge him in the shoulder comfortingly. “If it ever did happen, I’d scream as loud as I could so that he couldn’t get away with it.”
“I don’t want an: if it ever happens, Auden. I don’t want it to happen at all.” Kyle kicked a piece of thick mulch in anger.
“But I can’t say that something like this may or may not happen; it might. It’s really unlikely though, and the cops would put the guy in jail and send me off to my dad in Arizona. I’ve thought about scenarios like this a lot, Kyle. It’s nothing new to me.”
He groaned and threw his hands up in the air, “You act as though you aren’t even scared of the possibilities!”
“Because I know that I wouldn’t be too severely hurt.”
“How, Auden, could you possibly know that? He could have a gun! He could try to . . .” his voice carried off and I knew what he was thinking.
I smiled sincerely, “Kyle. I’ll be okay.” He shrugged and looked away, and I felt helpless. He was right, but I couldn’t tell him that. My mom’s ‘buddies’ have tried to do things to me, but nothing I or she couldn’t stop. They were simple, yet not so simple, things like trying to grab my butt, or talking to me in a certain way. Kyle was the only person who knew about my mom being a prostitute, but he didn’t know about these occurrences. They would break his heart.
“I think I should walk you home. It’s getting late,” Kyle suddenly said, looking at the sky with curiosity. The sun was barely showing in the distance, and the sky was turning a darkish pink and orange, now not so similar to an ocean swimming with salmon.
I nodded, “Okay, sure.” We stood from the swings and began to walk in the direction of my house. “So, do you still have your Power Ranger bed sheets or did you throw them away?” It was a question that I had randomly thought of to lighten the mood.
His face brightened, “They’re in my attic. Why do you care so much about them?”
“What, are you kidding? They’re awesome! They were my favorite thing in your room,” I replied, chuckling.
“They’re childish.”
I smiled, “I know.”
We walked up my driveway and he hugged me goodbye. “There is a guy here,” he mumbled, referencing toward the dark green car sitting behind my mom’s beat up SUV.
“I’ll be okay,” I said. “Now, be careful on your way home. It’s getting dark.”
He smirked, “We’ve done this a thousand times, right? I’ll be okay.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started to walk down to the sidewalk, but paused. “Oh, and Auden?” I perked up at my name, looking at him again. “Don’t forget about my cookies.” Then he left.
I chuckled to myself and opened the front door of my house. It was covered with two voices murmuring and I began to feel nervous. All of this talk with Kyle had me jumpy. On the couch with my mom sat a man that looked to be in his late 20s. His black hair was slicked back with hair gel and he wore a black suit.
“Oh, hey honey!” my mom said when I entered. “This is George.” I shuddered when he looked at me, his dark eyes studying me thoroughly.
“Uh, hi,” I spoke nervously. “I’ll just be going up to my room now.” I headed towards the hallway.
The man cleared his throat, “Wait.” I turned, halfway towards the hallway, aching with regret. Just a few more steps and I’d be away.
“Yes?”
“Come here,” George said, motioning me to come over with his hand. I shook my head. “Oh, come on pretty girl.”
“George,” my mom said cautiously, “Leave her alone. She looks tired.” She glanced at me worriedly from the couch as the man stood and came over to where I was standing. He grabbed my face in his big sweaty palm and squeezed my cheeks together.
He smiled, “How old are you; fifteen, sixteen?” I shrugged, trying to pull away, but he only squeezed my face harder. “Answer me.”
My jaw was beginning to ache, “Fifteen.” The word came out slurred because of the way my mouth was being held, but he smiled happily.
“Come on, George. Leave her alone. She’s just a girl—” my mom spoke before getting interrupted.
“Shut up, Lauren!” the man shouted. My mother stiffened and neither of us even bothered to correct him. Her name is Laurel. “So, pretty girl, you have a name?” I shook my head again, and he let go of my face. George pushed me roughly into the wall, unsatisfied.
“It’s Carson!” I lied, feeling my eyes water as my back ached in pain.
“Carson. Hmm, such a pretty name for a pretty girl,” he replied, bringing his face closer to mine. I did what I was always taught to do: spit and kick. I spit in his face, and kneed him in the groin. George doubled over in pain and I tried to run away. Up the stairs, out the door, anywhere but here was fine with me.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed as he stood, grabbing unsteadily for my arms. How could it be that Kyle said something about this exact thing happening when he didn’t know it would? Maybe we should have knocked on wood; maybe that would have stopped it from jinxing me. It sounds stupid; so ridiculous.
He stood, finally recomposing his stance, “Come back here!” He grabbed my arm as I attempted to run away. George pushed me against the wall once more, this time right next to the front door. And I screamed. So loud I thought people from miles away could hear me.
“Shut up!” he growled, bringing his hands to my throat. My screams became inconsistent, and I tried to pull his hands off of me. I looked to my mom for assistance, but she just sat on the couch looking helpless. My face felt numb, and air disappeared.
My mom jumped off of the couch and attacked George from behind. His grip loosened, and then completely disappeared as he wrestled with my mom. I opened my mouth to scream once more, but nothing came out. It’s like my voice had completely disappeared.
George stood from the floor where my mom sat with a busted lip and a handprint imprinted on her cheek. I hadn’t even heard a slap. He made his way over to me where I stood trying to control my impaired breathing. Once he got over to me, sirens became distinct in the distance and I fell onto the wooden floor crying.
He mumbled profanities under his breath and slapped himself in the head. “I don’t want to go to jail again.” If I could speak, I would have said something like: ‘that’s your own fault.’
Police busted through the front door, spotting my mother on the ground and me clutching my throat. Four of them aimed guns at George, telling him to put his hands up while one person came to me and asked me if I was alright. I nodded, still on the floor with my head buried in my hands.
“Can you tell me what happened, ma’am?” a policeman asked, and four more cops came inside with a stretcher for my mom. I shook my head, pointing at my throat. I didn’t think the man would understand, but he did. “Can you not speak? Did this man choke you?” I nodded. “Okay, come with me, I’ll take you to the hospital. We’ll follow the ambulance that your mother will be in.” I nodded once more, standing up with the help of his outstretched hand. He led me to his police car, and a police woman struggled to keep hold of George who was in handcuffs. I’d never forget the look I received from him.
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New story! The longest first chapter I've ever written :D A LOT happened in this chapter, I know, But I tried to spread it out, and it was almost seven pages on my word document. I'm proud of this, I hope you all like it. Please comment, vote, and fan if you want to. I could really use the support or critizism. :3 Also, thanks so much to LynnDesigns for making the photo on the side (: