A Silence Full of Sound

Chapter 11

The next day at school, we met Alice at the gate. She had been overly excited to tell me all about Justin, the guy from the party who had already texted her at least twenty times the day before. She couldn't get over how 'exciting' it was getting to know somebody new.

"Honestly, Ri, he's really the sweetest guy..." we were sitting in the lunch cafeteria. A fork in my hand as I watched Alice talk about Justin for the fortieth time today.

Seriously, I had counted.

When low and behold, the guy himself walked over, wrapped his left arm around her neck from behind and gave her multiple kisses on her cheeks. She was smiling ear to ear as she leaned back into his chest, giving him more access to her face.

He was a broad guy with a buzzcut hairstyle. He used his right arm to drape his varsity jacket over his shoulder. All around you could see girls staring at him; longing looks. "I hope you weren't talking about me too much." He said sitting down sideways on the cafeteria bench, with his back practically facing me. He wasn't bothered who I was.

Alice looked smitten. Her whole face lit up at the sight of this guy. This obnoxious, arrogant lad who, no doubt, would play Alice's heart.

He swept a hefty arm around her waist and pulled her up so she was standing. "Hey, I'll see you later, Ri." Alice said as he whisked her away. I could see them moving to the 'popular' table.

A hand clapped on my shoulder. I turned to look over at it and was greeted by someone with the same eyes as me.

"Where are they off to?" Sammy said as he sat down next to me. I just shrugged, looking back down to my food in front of me. I was used to being ditched, I just hoped it wasn't a regular thing.

After school, Sammy walked with me to the tree. We both, much to the awkwardness of Sammy, waved and said hello to Daniel as we sat. The flowers left there had wilted over the last couple of days and had began to die. It gave the bench a saddened atmosphere that I didn't like.

I'd sat down under the tree, feeling my back mould to the new familiar feeling of the bark of the tree trunk. I loved the feeling it gave me; the sudden rush of warmth and safety. Weirdly, I felt...protected I pulled out my book, removed my bookmark and began to read.

Sammy stood, he had earphones in his ears. He was doing a mini workout, doing press-ups and sprinting on the spot. Coach had him doing extra workouts, in preparation for the next big game. The whole team were preparing like crazy, apparently it was a big game for the school, and evidently Coach.

I looked up at Sammy as he came walking over to me. Pulling an earphone out of his ear, he tapped me on the shoulder and pointed over to something behind me. Turning around I saw Lucas. He was jogging over to me. He was smiling and waving. I could see him shouting over, but he was too far away for me to see what he was saying. I quickly scrambled to my feet and tried to make myself look half presentable.

I spun back around to Sammy. He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow, a small smirk evident on his face. "Who's that?" he signed. I quickly swatted his hands down. I gave him a warning look, trying, telepathically, to tell him not to sign.

By the time I had turned back around Lucas had reached us. He was wearing a tank top that showed off his muscles, and I tried my hardest not to stare. His hair was crumpled and his body was covered in sweat. He had earphones hanging from his ears.

"Sorry, I was on a run and I thought I'd say hi." He said, looking between me and Sammy; trying to figure out what was happening. "Hi. I'm Lucas." He said holding out his hand for Sammy to shake.

"I'm Sam. Riley's brother." Sammy said shaking Lucas's hand. Sammy gave me a quick look over his shoulder. With a cheeky smile he quickly signed one word whilst trying to be subtle. "Cute."