In Love With a Mute

Chapter 10: Truth

A/N: when words are underlined, that's Zach texting. Just so you don't get confused.

DANIEL
I ran out the house in search of Zach. He couldn't have gone far, right? "ZACH! ZACH! PLEASE, ITS DANIEL!" I shouted. Tears flowed down my cheeks. He's such a good friend. I don't want to lose him over the stupid things that Jack said. "Zach! Please." My voice got quieter as more tears flowed.

I see him sitting on a curb, knees scrunched up and his face covered. "Oh Zach." I say as I walk over to him. I could tell he was very hurt by Jacks words. I didn't know what to say. He lifted his head and saw my tears. He wiped his own then mine and we engulfed each other in a hug. "Don't cry, please." I whisper, my voice cracking. He nods his head and lifts it only to put it back down again. I tighten the hug as my shoulder becomes more wet from his tears. Though, his cries were silent, it was like the entire world could hear it. In the distance I heard Corbyn shouting our names, or it was a figment of my imagination, I didn't want to let him go. "I'm sorry for Jacks stupidity." I apologize. He shakes his head and pulls out his phone, his hands shaking.

It's not your fault. He's right, I've never told you guys why.

"You don't have to." I respond.

But I feel like I do. Here goes nothing,
When I was around 9-10 years old, my mom said I had an amazing voice, like an angel. She would hear me singing in my bedroom, in the shower, basically anywhere where I thought I was alone. Well, one day, on the far side of the playground where barely anyone goes, I sat there, singing. Boys from behind me heard me singing. They laughed their heads off and shouted, "ew you can sing!" Or "gay!" Or something's like that. It hurt, a lot. And soon, everyone knew about it, and to make things worse, I was the new kid. So all these things about me, built up. I came home crying everyday and just sat in my room, refused to talk to my parents and soon, I just stopped talking all together. And what Jack said, it brought back memories of all of those things. And I didn't want to relive those things, and I wish I could be stronger, Dani. I really do. But it's so hard when things have spiraled out of control and you don't know what to do anymore. So you just sit, and let your thoughts take control. I'm sorry Daniel.

I watched him press send while I just sat there, reading. Tears formed in my eyes while I read what he sent. He watched me while I skimmed through the story once more, tears now dripping on my phone. He look at him as he lifts up his sleeve.

His arm. It was filled with scars. They ran down his arm in perfect lines. I traced them lightly with my fingers and pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry." I whispered. His cries were so quiet, yet so loud. We sat there, trying to comfort one another. I heard yelling and that's when Zach's Head perked up. Corbyn finally found us as Zach stood up. Corbyn snaked his arms around the frail boy and engulfed him into a hug.

"You okay? Both of you?" He asks, clearly concerned. "Yeah. Both of us." I respond with a weak smile. "Good. Jonah is really worried about both of you." He smiles. I chuckle and put my arm around him.

"Let's go back." I say.

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday I was trying to type out the other chapter and stuff. On Wednesday I had a geo poster I had to finish so yeah.

I'm not crying you guys are 😭