Different Sound

THREE

TW: SUICIDE
Maya's Pov

I put on my pajamas, I had a feeling the pending conversation would a rather long time so I put on my fluffy socks, threw my hair in a bun and picked out a grey pajama top with a matching pajama bottoms. I make my way downstairs, as slowly as possible, I wanted to prolong having this conversation. I knew this would never end well for me, how could it? Nobody ever wanted me. 

"Hello dear." Edna greets as I enter the dining room. I smile at her and wave. 

'Hello Edna, need any help?' I sign, yes Edna also knows sign language, she knew it almost as well as I did. 

"No dear, go sit down." Edna refuses, I send her another smile and sit down with Allison and Jeffery. It's slightly awkward with a strange tension in the air. We were quiet as we ate which was unusual, usually Jeffery and Allison would be telling me about their day and such. They would be happily chatting and still finding ways to help me join in. It was great, but tonight we were all silent. Occasionally the couple would send glances my way but I kept my eyes cast down to my food. I had already broken down once today I didn't need a repeat. 

We finished the dinner rather quickly, probably due to lack of chatter or maybe we were all tense and nervous, or maybe the couple were anxious to get this conversation over with. Jeffery motioned for me to follow himself and Allison into the living room. Edna was making us coco and we all sat down. Allison was sat in the same spot she was sat in for our earlier chat and I sat a little away from her, Jeffery was sat in the armchair right next to the sofa. 

"So, Maya, um..." Allison started, well she tried. I don't think she really knew where to start. Every time she tried it just came out stuttered and weary. 

"What Ally is trying to say," Jeffery took over and Allison sent his a grateful smile, but he too paused and stuttered. "We want to tell you why we agreed to be your foster parents." He suddenly changed tactics, he said it so fast it was almost as if he was trying to convince himself. 

'You don't have to.' I sign, it's at this point Edna comes in and places three cups of hot chocolate on the table. Each has cream on top and a tray of toppings came with the cups. 

"Thank you Edna." Allison smiled, it's a while before anyone talks, but soon a sigh leaves Allison's lips and she continues. "We want to tell you. We had a daughter. It was about 4 years ago, she was 12 when she died." Tears came to Allison's eyes and I pushed down my shock and moved closer to her, placing my hand on hers in an attempt to comfort her. It was clear Allison was still very much a grieving mother. Allison sends me a small smile and allows me to continue holding her hand. "She was bullied, badly. Jeff and I didn't know. We should have known." Again I move closer and pull her in for a hug. Even sat down she was much taller then I was so it must've looked awkward but Allison didn't say anything as we hugged and she cried into my shoulder. 

"We should've seen the signs. Allison herself is actually a child psychologist. Anyway, we didn't." Jeffery gulped and took a deep breath before he continued. "Ally and I went on a trip for the weekend, Edna was here, we had been gone for about 12 hours. Our plane had just landed and we took our phones off airplane mode to call for a taxi. When we did we had calls and texts coming from our daughter, they were all over an hour old." Jeffery paused again, taking a deep breath. I could see how hard he was trying to be strong, Allison was in complete tears as she held me closer to her, I gently let my hand flow through her hair. "We called her back straight away but got no answer. We called Edna and asked her to check in on her. Half an hour later Edna called back and informed us she had called an ambulance to take our daughter to the hospital. She died on the way, overdose and blood loss. She never even gave herself a chance to survive." A stray tear falls down Jeffery's face. I tap the sofa next to me and he moves over to take it. "We were on the first flight home, we were much too late. We still aren't completely sure what pushed her to do it that night." Jeffery moved closer to me still. He wrapped his arms around both me and Allison. We sat there is silence, the only things that could be heard was Allison's sobs and Jeffery's deep breathing.