Speak

4 • Pre Football Game

Scott's second day of school was much like his first, as well as his third. The third day just so happened to be the Friday of the football game, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Kirstie was extra outgoing, Avi wasn't even upset about not getting barbecue sauce with lunch, Kevin was more smiley than usual, and even Mitch was more "talkative" despite not wanting to go in the first place.

He never noticed how excited his friends got when attending social events together, until now. Especially since this time they had the whole group. At lunch, he began to feel a little worried, but Kirstie made it very clear that she would personally stab anyone who tried to hurt him with her high heels. This, of course, made Mitch laugh softly and he thanked her for her bravery.

That night, Mitch was standing in front of his mirror getting ready for the game. Kirstie was sat on his bed behind him, tweaking his outfit slightly and giving input about everything. She looked him up and down, he had on his platform sneakers with leggings and a white sweater, topped off with a black beanie.

"This is perfect, Mitch. You look fantastic," Kirstie said with a beaming smile.

The brunette sighed and grabbed his notepad, debating wether or not to write down what he was thinking. He eventually made up his mind and wrote a short sentence.

I kinda want to do my nails?

Kirstie gasped, "That's a great idea! Can I do them? I can use the polish I always keep in my bag, it's just black but it'll match perfectly with your outfit."

Really? You don't think it's weird or anything?

"Mitch, I don't believe in gender rolls, if you want to paint your nails I'm not going to get in the way of that."

Thank you Kirstie, you're literally the best.

"It's no problem, let me get that polish," the brunette girl jumped up and shuffled through her black handbag, grabbing the small bottle of nail polish and an even smaller bottle of a glossy top coat. She always kept the two bottles in her bag, just in case a situation like this one was to come up and she needed them.

She got to work right away, painting each of Mitch's nails black. The music playing from her phone was a pleasant background noise and she hummed along to each of the songs. At certain times, she was almost sure she could hear Mitch humming too, but she decided against bringing it up.

With Scott's arrival and her best friend's strange attachment to him, she thought maybe he would finally try to talk again, at least to her and the others. She had heard his horrific story, and it broke her heart to know why he refused to speak. Even in the early days when she would try to coax a few words out of him, he was set on not ever saying a word again. Occasionally, she wondered if he ever talked to himself while home alone or hummed along to Lady Gaga, but asking felt like she would be crossing some dangerous boundaries.

But fuck that, Kirstie was going to figure this shit out, wether it involved crossing boundaries or not.

While they were waiting for the first coat of polish to dry, Kirstie dove right into the subject, "When you're home alone do you ever talk to yourself or sing or at least hum?"

Mitch raised an eyebrow but hesitantly nodded, mouthing to her, "why do you ask?" since he was unable to write down anything.

"I've wondered for years, I hope I'm not pushing the limits here but I've got a few more questions," she trailed off, looking to her best friend for approval. When he gave her a nod, she smiled and continued on. "What about your family? Do you ever talk to Mike or Nel?"

He nodded again, mouthing the word, "sometimes."

"So if you were to speak right now, your voice wouldn't be totally shot, correct?"

Another nod.

Kirstie was mostly satisfied with these answers, and proceeded to apply a second coat of black nail polish with no other questions. That was until she was finished applying the top coat, then another question came to mind. One that was a little more invasive than the others, and she almost didn't say it, but tonight was the night for finding shit out and that's exactly what she was going to do.

"One more thing," she said and waited until she had captured Mitch's attention before asking the question. "Why do you never talk to us then?"

The brunette boy looked away, a frown setting on his face. His gaze moved to the floor as he battled in his mind, how was he to respond to that? Explaining a topic such as this one wasn't going to be easy. He took a deep breath, calming his anxiety slightly as he did so.

Then, he grabbed his notepad and wrote the best he could with his still drying nails.

You all remind me too much of him.

Kirstie looked up at him, confused, "You know we aren't anything like him though, none of us would ever hurt you Mitchy."

His hand shook as he frantically wrote down everything he wanted so badly to say, but he couldn't risk it. Not now... not ever.

He treated me so nice all the time, like you guys do. Not that that's a bad thing, I like when you guys take care of me, but him, I can't talk about that. Then the night when... it happened, he would scream at me to shut up. He told me he never wanted to hear my voice again, and I was scared he would someday. You already know that part, but anyone of you could just, turn right around and stab me in the back. The part I hate the most is, he was always happy and outgoing, like you Kirst. He was just like you. That's why I refused to speak to you the most, because I could only hear his words coming out of your mouth when you spoke. I was petrified... I still am. I don't know where the hell he is now, but I can't ever take the risk to just start talking again. I know you'd never hurt me but that's what he made me believe, look at where that got me. You know I love you Kirstie, and everyone else too, but it's still so fresh in my mind. If I ever talk freely again, I don't think a day will pass when I won't think about it.

Kirstie frowned as she read, and her upset expression only grew when she looked up from the paper to see Mitch wiping tears from his cheeks. She closed the nail polish bottles tightly and moved them aside so she could lean across the bed to embrace the crying boy. He gladly moved into her arms buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"Oh Mitchy," She breathed. "Mitchy, Mitchy, Mitchy, you have every right to feel that way. I'm not mad, neither is Kevin or Avi or even Scott, we all love you more than we could explain."

Mitch held tightly to Kirstie, listening to her heartbeat as she spoke. He matched his breathing to hers to calm himself down and she continued to softly whisper kind things. Once he was calm, he detached himself from the brunette girl.

"Thank you," he signed to her, one of the few things she understood in sign language.

"It's no problem queen, want me to do your makeup?" Kirstie asked.

Mitch nodded in reply and followed her to the bathroom to finish getting ready. He didn't know where he would be without her.