Savoring Silence

#4: Guests

I got up and opened the door. 

A group of guys greeted me, grinning, at the door. My heart froze. I had never talked to a boy before. Only once did I in kindergarten, when Marvin Hellfrey called me a booger-face, and I told him to "leave me alone, before I chop off your booger-face." He left me alone after that.

These boys were, well, attractive! I had never really felt this way about guys before, or anyone for that matter, besides envying pretty girls at school when I was young. Yes, six years old with a low self-esteem. That's partly why I stopped speaking to people.

The boy standing in front was particularly... cute. He had soft blue eyes, a strong jaw, and brown hair with bangs above his eyebrows. All I could do was stare. There were about five guys standing at my door, smiling at me. I was beginning to panic -- I could feel my palms sweating.

"Hey." The guy in front reached out a hand. His arms were quite muscular. My heart quickly thawed and beat harder and faster than a snare drum in a marching band. I smiled and took his hand. I shuddered. He was warm. I tried to shake my head and snap myself out of it... What was I doing?!

"Name's Michael. Michael Saldana." He smiled, showing his sparkling white teeth. I panicked again and withdrew my hand quickly. Michael Saldana... where have I heard that name before? What to do, what to do! I haven't been in very many social situations!

"We just wanted to stop by and welcome you to Bridgeton High." Another boy said, who was equally attractive. He had darker blue eyes and shorter brown hair. His muscles were quite large as well, I saw, as he reached an arm out to shake my hand, pushing past every other guy. "I'm Roy O'Reilly."  I quickly shook his hand, and did the worst possible thing someone could think of in this situation.

I slammed the door in their face. There were murmurs and groans and footsteps quietly echoing away. I breathed heavily as I leaned on  the door, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor. I placed my face in my hands. I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time. Eight years. Did my voice even still work?

I stood up slowly and walked to the bathroom, marveling at the beautiful decoration. Everything was either bright yellow or sparkling white. The walls were yellow, the toilet, bathtub, sink, and mirror white. I stared in the mirror at myself. My curly brown hair down to my shoulder-blades, my light brown eyes, my thick lips. At that moment, I kind of realized that I was... pretty. 

I sighed and cleared my throat. I took a deep breath. If I ever wanted to "get better" and be accepted, I would have to do this the hard way. I started to push a breath out to speak, when suddenly an alarm went off. It was loud and I grunted and held my hands against my ears, hurrying out of the door. Everyone was shouting and running outside. The sprinklers came on.

"Fire!" One girl yelled. Everyone was yelling and screaming and I rushed outside with them, getting soaked wet. Luckily it was spring and warm outside. We all rushed to the side of the street and watched as the stampede stopped and we waited for the clear to go inside again. What caught on fire anyway?

Then, Kelly Bradshaw strutted out the door and looked angrily at all of us.

"Someone unnecessarily pulled the fire alarm." She said firmly, her lips pursed. Everyone groaned and sighed of relief at the same time. She demanded that the culprit fess up by the end of the day or there would be so school dance on Friday.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grasp around my waist. I jumped and turn around, swinging fists. My clenched fist smacked hard into rock-hard muscle. I looked up. Michael. He was smiling at me. I looked at my hand. I had punched his arm. I gave him an apologetic look and looked down at the ground.

"They told me you don't talk." He said. I looked up at him, meeting his bright blue eyes, which were smiling at me and shimmering. I almost fainted.

"It's okay." He continued, "I can do all the talking." He grinned and took a step toward me, grabbing my waist again." I gasped quietly and stepped back, shoving his hands off of me. He frowned.

"Sorry," He apologized, looking down at the dirt for a second before meeting my eyes again, making me blush. He smirked. "I just wanted to know.... Do you want to go to the dance with me Friday?" He waited a long moment before adding, "Nod for yes, shake your head for no." There was a long awkward pause and I stared into his eyes, thinking. I tried to hide any fear or panic, and kept a straight face. I wouldn't even go to the dance. Too much of a social situation for me... right?

"Shrug for maybe?" He suggested, crinkling his nose slightly, but it was more cute than annoying. I smiled and my face turned red hot. I look at the ground and shrugged. I looked back up and grinned at him. He came in for a hug, and I awkwardly leaned in, stiffly wrapping my arms around his waist.

As he leaned back, he said, "Do you want to hang out with the guys? We're real nice once you get to know us." He winked at me, and I blushed, then shook  my head. He smiled, a little disappointed.

"We all want to meet you, you know. Least you could do is stand there, shake their hand." I considered it for a long minute, then shrugged and nodded my head. He grinned again. His grin was so adorable.

"Then it's a date." He laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and walking me inside.