silence speaks in volumes {karlnap}

~how it happened~

This one-shot is linked to the main storyline, just so you know. This is the backstory of when Karl first started getting bullied. 

TW: mentions of a car accdient, mentions of injuries, mentions of death, bullying, violence, funeral

(Karl POV)

I had a big group of friends. There were at least 20 people. I was sort of popular, within the group at least. I was funny. I talked all. The. Time. 

Then my dad died over the summer.

I spoke at his funeral. I thought I owed it to him. 

"I don't remember my mom. Dad was there for me my entire life. I told him everything. We played games together. We went on road trips, took pictures, painted. We did everything together," I said. I wiped a tear from my cheek. "Now he's gone."

It was a car accident. I was lucky enough that I only ended up with a cracked rib, a broken arm, and a very bruised face. Maybe a few other smaller injuries I don't remember. When I woke up three days after the accident, the doctors told me he was dead before the paramedics got to the crash site. The people who caused the accident got off scott-free in way of injuries. 

I had to live alone for a week. It was scary to suddenly live alone in a big house. I guess I got used to the silence. Maybe that's what got me started on not talking.

My first foster family was a straight couple with a baby and a 16 year old. I was "too young" to get along with the older kid, and too old to do anything with the baby except watch her. The parents put pressure on me to watch her right after I got back from school, which meant I never got to hang out with my friends.

I left a month later.

I bounced around foster homes the rest of the school year. I tried to stay upbeat and happy around my friends, but knowing that I wasn't going home to Dad made me quiet and sad all the time. Keith was really the only supportive one.

I focused on my studies more than my friends. My GPA rose. My grades got better. My friends drifted away. 

The first day of seventh grade, I wore big clothes to drown my body out. I spent all my free time studying. When I did hang out with my friends, I was sad and quiet, barely talking. I joined the conversation as times, but it wasn't enough. 

A few months into the school year, I only had Keith and a handful of others. I was depressed. Losing things left and right, I got into therapy. It didn't work out as I didn't want to talk. 

One day, Keith stopped talking to me. He stopped looking at me. I had no one. No dad, no real family, no friends. No one to talk to. To make it worse, I wasn't in the best foster home. 

A few weeks after Keith "broke up" with me, I had given up hope of finding friends again. I closed my locker and glanced down towards one end of the hallway. My old friends walked through, talking and laughing like old times. I looked away. 

I started down the hallway. "Karl!" I turned around to see the group walking closer, Keith in front of them. He had a forlorn look on his face, like he didn't want to do something. I watched them silently.

"Hey, bud!" Preston called. I smiled weakly. "What, not gonna say hi back?" I didn't respond.

Josh elbowed Keith. I blinked at them. Keith stepped closer to me, then again. He looked at me apologetically as he kept coming closer. My stomach dropped.

"Keith?" I asked quietly. 

"So it can talk!" Ron joked. I stepped back, clutching my books to my chest. Keith balled up his hands into fists.