Mute

Chapter 4

Cameron's mother, Joan, is a very strong woman. She left her husband when she was pregnant with Cameron's little sister. Her husband beat her on a daily basis, and he started hurting Cameron. The first day Joan found out, she left him. Ran away with a four month pregnant belly and little four year old Cameron in her arms.

They've been separated for years, but Cameron still remembers him. She rarely talks about the monster, and when she does, she ends in tears. We make it to Cameron's house soon and her little sister, Tracy is outside staring at the ground. She's fascinated with bugs, so I'm guessing she's staring at an ant or something.

We head into Cameron's room. Her walls are a dark blue with a few painted white stars. Her floor is covered in a bright grey carpet that matches the walls. Her bed is centered on the opposite wall of the door and this month it has a Lion King bedspread. She is obsessed with the Disney movie and she has a matching Simba stuffed animal at the end of the bed. She has a few pillows that are arranged at the head of the bed. On either side is a white nightstand with the closet to the left and a window to the right. Her dresser sits by the door with a bookcase desk on the other side in a corner. She takes great pride in her room, and tells everyone she can about it as she decorates it all herself.

We sit on her double bed in a circle as always. Cameron and Meg pull their boards out.

How is Ryan? Meg asks Cameron.

Good, our anniversary is coming up!! Cameron writes. Aww! That's so long they've been together!

I'm so jealous of your relationship with him.

We do fight sometimes, just not a lot. Cameron writes, feeling proud of their relationship. Meg hands me a board, but I don't do anything but doodle on it.

They don't write anything for a little bit, but exchange nervous glances. I finally put my board down and the two look at me. Cameron is the first to write.

What was it about that heart you drew in Drawing today?

I only reply with a nervous shrug and eyes to the left. Meg shows me her board and I reluctantly read it. Luckily, she changes the subject.

How was your classes today? I smile, halfway lying that I loved it. I liked feeling normal, but I also didn't like it for obvious reasons. Meg believes my smile, but I can sense a little suspicion from Cameron. I ignore the mini frown she wears and instead continue my doodling.

We all get a text from Joan. She doesn't know sign language, and she feels weird writing on a board like the other two do. She also does not want me to feel excluded or uncomfortable if she talks to us. So, she decides to text us all.

I look at my phone as the girls do and see two words that brighten my fake smile into an interested frown. No smile. I haven't made a real smile since the accident.

Pizza time! ~Joan

We all bolt from the bed into the kitchen to grab slices. We each have a different favorite pizza place so we've decided to alternate which pizza we get along with the weekends. Like this week is Cameron's turn.

Pizza Hut. It's up there under my favorite though on my most liked pizza places. We watch our favorite show that was on even before the accident. The Walking Dead. None of us are ever tired of this and we still love it. Although I can't hear it, I watch the captions and connect the words to their expressions. It's obvious to tell by their body language if they're angry or depressed.

Once we finish another episode of the new season on Netflix, we decide to make a fort in the living room and stay out here for the night. Well, they decide and I happily agree. I love forts even if they're meant as a children's thing.

We pull in chairs from the dining room and get the giant crocheted blankets from the utility room. We hold them together with some of Joan's giant thumbtacks. Under the blankets that have now created a tent, we set fuzzy blankets for comfort. So now we have a cover with an open front and the back is covered by the couch. When finished, we all crawl underneath the fort and smile at our creation.

I get an idea, and bolt out into Cam's room. I grab my blanket from my back and sprint out, gently placing it over the open front. It makes a nice little door that can open and close. I then crawl back under and see that we have a dark fort now. Meg pulls out her phone and turns on the flashlight, creating instant light.

They pull out their boards back that they must've grabbed when I was gone. Meg hands me mine to which I continue the doodling that was never erased. Cameron shows me her idea of the night and we all agree to it. One good thing... Scratch that. The only good thing that's come out of being deaf is watching scary moves. It's never scary without the music. It's so fun to see everyone else jump.

The two choose The Conjuring. Cam loves this movie though it scares Meg to death. Cam's favorite movies are all the same genre; scary. Throughout the entire movie, Meg jumps and shuts her eyes tightly closed. Cameron laughs at the jump scares and only jumps once.

I fall asleep towards the end, not being bothered since I can't hear it.

The one time I can hear again is in my dreams. I can hear the trees, my parents scolding me, and my loud music. In tonight's dream, I'm in the park. I'm sitting on that bench, looking out to the forest. I have a sketch pad in my lap with a half drawn tree, but I'm taking a break. I can hear the soft wind blow by my ear. I close my eyes and let the rustling noises of the leaves fill my ears. I give a little smile. A real smile. Of course this isn't real. It's just a dream; a memory. When I open my eyes, I see Hunter. He's staring at me, giving a little smile himself.

"Hi Hunter." I say, my voice echoing in the dream.

"Hey." He says. I continue my sketching as he sits beside me to listen to the trees himself.

I wake up and gasp for air. My breathing is uneven and I can't seem to get a breath in. I get up and race into the kitchen, quickly grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. I gulp down at least half the water, pulling it away for another breath.

When my breathing calms, I realize I'm in a sweat. This only happens sometimes and the girls sleep right through it.

Joan suddenly walks out and gives a panicked yet welcoming expression. I breathe through my nose and give a fake smile to the woman and she accepts it. She pulls out her phone and writes something on her Note app.

Are you okay? She asks. I give a thumbs up and start walking back to bed. When I turn around, she's leaving to her bedroom. My lips fall from a fake smile to an emotionless line. I lay back down and look at my phone. Four am. I feel bad for waking her up. The only fallback to hearing in my dreams is people end up hearing me.

I fall back asleep with trouble and thankfully have no more dreams. Meg shakes me up around eight and I open my eyes to see her bright smile. Instinctively, I give a smile back, but everything soon crashes down on me. I'm deaf. I don't show my instant change in mood though. I force the smile to stay in place, and Meg pulls away to eat the rest of her breakfast. Our fort is still up. I look up the at the quilt above me, and trace parts of the patterns with my finger mindlessly.

When looking back at Cam and Meg, the two of them watch me with odd smiles. They think I'm actually getting better. Yeah right. I fake a smile back and take some of Meg's breakfast.

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Hey everyone! I actually updated quickly. Woo! I really hope you're al enjoying Mute so far! So, questions are back, but I'm not going to do as many.

How are you all liking the book so far? What about Ashley's dreams? And why was Hunter in Ashley's dream?

Thank you all so much for reading this far! Please comment and vote! Love you all so much!!!