Silence - Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen

9.

Lizzie's Pov
I regretted leaving the house the second I did. The outburst seemed nothing like her and it was clear she felt bad about it right away. The look on her grandmother's face send shivers down my spine, it was nothing like the sweet old lady I know.

My stomach drops, making me turn around. Maybe I should go back? I could pay for the photo frame, help clean up the damage and make sure that Casey is okay. But I turn around once again, continuing my way back home.

I choose to do nothing. A choice that would later turn out to be the wrong one.

It's been over a week since then. Casey hasn't shown up at school and nobody answered when I stopped by the house.

I'm beyond worried and confused. The way Casey looked at me keeps replaying in my mind. I feel guilty for walking away without doing anything to better the situation. I was the reason for her outburst in the first place.

Not being able to take this dreadful feeling anymore, I decide to call Scarlett. Within a few seconds she picks up, answering the call with enthusiasm.

"Hey Lizzie, is everything alright?" She asks, knowing I prefer to text over phone calls. So if I call something must be going on.

"No." I mumble almost inaudible.

"What's wrong? Is that male teacher harassing you again?" She asks in an overprotective voice. I can hear that her whole demeanor changed.

"It's about Casey." I sigh, making her even more worried.

"Is she okay? What happened?"

I take the time to explain the situation to Scarlett, going over almost every interaction I had with Casey. Scar seems to be a lot calmer than I am, but she still sounds distressed.

"Okay I'm coming over, I'll need to bring Rose but I'll be there within 20 hours." She mumbles before ending the call, not giving me any time to respond.

Which is probably for the best, I'd try to convince Scarlett that it isn't necessary and that I don't want to bother her. She would tell me it is necessary and that I'm never bothering her and in the end she would win, because Scarlett always does.

So she just saved us both some energy and time. I already feel better getting everything off my chest.

Seconds later, the phone rings again. I swallow away the lump in my throat before answering the call hesitantly. "Mia? Is Casey okay?"

"Hi Lizzie. Casey is fine." Mia answers sweetly.

"It's okay to say no Lizzie, but I kinda need a favor. I need to go somewhere and I can't take Casey with me, I have nobody else to ask. Would you mind-" She starts but I don't let her finish. What kind of silly question is this?

"Of course I'll watch over her." Naturally, I'm a bit taken back by it, but I already made up my mind. "When can I pick her up?" I ask her. "Whenever you want. Thank you Lizzie, I really appreciate it." She says genuinely before ending the call not long after.

I immediately reach for my keys, put on my shoes and coat before running to the car. It's been more than a week since I last saw her, but it feels like forever.

I make sure to child-lock the car doors first, so she can't get out again and create an unsafe situation this time. It only takes a few minutes to arrive at Casey's house.

Her grandmother told me she would lay a key under the doormat and to my surprise she did just like she said she would. I carefully open the door, not wanting to startle Casey.

I'm suddenly getting a bit nervous, has her grandmother discussed this with her? What if she doesn't want to see me, maybe she still feels hurt?

I swallow away the lump in my throat as I recall the way Casey looked at me. I think about Mia's words, about how she believes Casey chooses not to speak. I wonder if that's the case?

I look up from my thoughts when I hear something shattering on the floor. My eyes immediately connect with Casey, who's looking intently at me. I divert my gaze to the broken plates in front of her and before I know it my legs start walking.

I want to pick it up before she does, afraid that she might hurt herself. When I reach her I notice that's she's biting down on her trembling lip, her eyes starting to gloss over. "Oh sweetie did you hurt yourself?" I ask before crouching down and taking her hands in mine, inspecting them but I don't see any cuts.

Seconds later she has her arms wrapped around my neck as she cries into my shoulder, letting out all her bottled up emotions. I'm a bit startled but decide to just give into it, hoping that I can be the comfort that she needs.

Casey's Pov
I giggle as Granny boops my nose. "Be good. I love you." She says with a teary smile before walking out of the door. After a few minutes I decide to clean up the dirty dishes since grandma had to go in a rush.

When I pick up the plates I hear some noise behind me, a big smile errupting on my face when I see Lizzie standing there. She doesn't notice me at first, too focused on her thoughts. I furrow my eyebrows, disappointment by the lack of attention. Maybe even hurt?

Within seconds my mind starts to replay memories. It started with good ones but ended with the moments when Lizzie left last time. I instantly regretted being this mad at her. Not because of what happened after, but because she didn't deserve it.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when she takes my hands in her. My arms wrap themselves around her before I can even think about it. I give into my emotions, not fighting the tears anymore. Lizzie just holds me close as she lets me drench her clothes.

When I pull away minutes later, she looks at me with a sympatetic smiles. After wiping away my tears she starts picking up pieces of the broken plates. I bend down to grab a few pieces too, wanting to help her. But she tells me not to.

So I watch as she makes sure everything is cleaned up. "Have you packed your bags?" She asks me curiously, making me confused. Why would I need to pack my bags?

She seems to notice my confusion. "Has your grandmother left yet?" I nod, confirming that she indeed left. Not too long before Lizzie arrived. "Do you know why I'm here?" She asks, a lot more cautiously this time. I slowly shake my head, but I don't need to know. I'm just glad that she is.

I wasn't able to go to school until yesterday and Granny insisted on keeping me home for the rest of the week. I agreed reluntacly, wanting to see Lizzie.

She carefully lifts me up, sitting me down on her lap as she takes a seat on the couch. "Your grandmother called me, she asked if I could watch you." She starts as she strokes some hair out of my face.  "I uh- I don't know for how long. I kinda forgot to ask, but I'm thinking for a few days?" She chuckles, making me laugh as I lean into her.

"Is that okay with you? We haven't seen each other in a while and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. If you don't want to stay with me, we can come up with a different solution." She smiles weakly as she looks at me intently.

I nod slowly before standing up, taking her hand and dragging her to my room. When the door opens she stops, looking around the room in shock. I walk up to my bed, taking out a drawing from underneath.

I give it to her, a smile forming on her lips as she looks over what is supposed to be me and her hugging each other. I guess it's my way of apologising. She suddenly picks me up, making me giggle as she hugs me. "I'm sorry too." She mumbles before setting me down again.

She helps me pack my things, which isn't a lot. Basically it's all my drawing supplies, the book I borrowed from Dylan, my elephant and some clothes she took from my clothing pile. We lock the door behind us, walking to her car and driving to her apartment.

Since it's already pretty late and a lot has happened today, I let out a big yawn. I tried to fight it, I really did but it was of no use. Lizzie laughs before picking me up and carrying me to a bedroom. After we did her so called 'sleep routine' she tucks me in before telling me a story.

I slowly drift to sleep, feeling content and safe. Something I haven't felt in a while.