silent

25

• AMALIA •

By the time lunch comes around, I'm actually a bit hungry.

We gather in the art area, and Gracie and Ollie introduce me to the two of their friends I haven't met yet—Ezra and Mia. They seem nice, but, like Liam, they don't really talk to me much. And I'm okay with that, since it allows me to focus on my Life and Death title page.

Before I begin colouring in the skulls I've drawn, I take my lunch out of my bag. I pull the lid off, furrowing my eyebrows when I see the folded piece of paper on the top of the food. I unfold it and read my fathers scribble words.

have a great day at school sweetheart
—dad

I bite my bottom lip as I tuck it back into the side of my lunch box. I eat as I draw, nodding or shaking my head when I'm asked yes or no questions—mostly by Ollie and Gracie.

Lunch and the rest of the school day passes by without any more trouble. I stay in the back of the classes and don't interact with people I don't know, and they return the favour. When the final bell rings, signalling that it's the end of the day, I let out a short, relieved breath.

     I thought it would be worse, but it still wasn't good.

     I stand up out of my chair and put my backpack on, grabbing my coat that I folded over the back of my chair and wrapping it up in my arms before walking over to the door. Gracie wasn't in this class, nor was Adam, so I walk down the hallway by myself until I get a text from Grayson.

     GRAYSON: Come back to ICT.

I sigh. That's two floors up. I go anyway, taking two steps at a time but stopping when my feet start to hurt. I walk down the hall to ICT, where Grayson is waiting for me. When he sees me, he excuses himself from the person he's talking to and walks over, a small smile on his face.

"Hi, Lia." He says, hugging me. I don't hug him back, only leaning my head on his chest. "You ready to go?"

I nod.

"Alright, let's go. Dad's waiting for us." He says, grabbing his bag before leading me back down all the flights of stairs and toward the exit. He takes me outside to the car park and over to our fathers familiar car.

When I climb into the backseat, my dad smiles at me, concern burning through his gaze as Grayson gets into the passengers side of the car.

"Hey, sweetheart. You okay?"

I nod as I slide my backpack onto the car floor after pulling my earphones out one of the pockets inside it. I put them into my ears and connect the wire to my glitchy phone, putting music on and leaning back. I don't want to answer his—or anyone's—questions. I just want to listen to my music and be alone.

They don't try to talk to me for the rest of the car ride home, much to my relief. When we stop outside our house, I unbuckle my seatbelt and take my earphones out, putting them in my pocket before getting out of the car and walking over to the front door. My dad locks the car and opens it a second later. I'm about to sprint up the stairs when my dad sets a hand on my shoulder. I look up at him.

     "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asks softly.

     I nod, and he smiles before bringing me into the living room. No one is here, thankfully, so we sit on the couch.

     "Do you have the notebook Elijah got you?" He questions. I nod again. "Okay. Could you get it out for me, please?"

I lean down and open my bag, pulling it out along with my pen.