Breaking Down Your Walls

Chapter 11

Zane

It was as if the universe hated me for the past month. An attempted robbery at my house with the culprits not found yet, my parents canceling out on their visit before my grandpa's first surgery, the news about the muggers that attacked me and Mike were somehow free on probation. And then there was Mike.

Shit, I was bumping on him lately almost everyday. The weather was getting warmer anyway, so it was normal to see him often in the school yard. Still, I didn't like seeing him this often. It reminded me of the time we spent together everyday all these years. It pissed me off and I couldn't decide for what reason; was I angry at him for being a perverted douchebag, or at the suspicion that he wasn't, no the anger was directed at the situation and myself.

'Which' reason would be a better word choice, I heard my mind reminding me with a voice resembling Mike's. I shook my head, as a small smile reached my lips. I honestly missed him. But what if he is a pervert? And what if he isn't and I destroyed our friendship for nothing? But the audio files were there. I was also feeling guilty for not telling him about my grandpa, he cares very much about him. The more I think about it, the shittier I feel about myself. Shit shit and total shit.

I hate self loathing more than pink letters on marine blue shorts. And that's A LOT. Can't get tackier than that.

I sighed as I leaned on the window of the English class. I chose to stay inside, with a couple of music nerds practicing their violins behind me, despite my friends' and Velma's insistence to join them to ditch class for a coffee. I wanted to clear my head a bit.

I looked down and I watched the sun's dim light spreading on the spacious yard. Most of the students were out of all classes. I observed the courtyard, my eyes seeking for my friends and Velma exiting the school gates fast.

Soon I glanced elsewhere and I found myself staring at Mike and Sam talking with some other dudes and two girls I didn't know near the smoking area. They were in some sort of serious conversation, with Mike gesturing something in a book in front of him, then waving his arms as the others didn't seem to understand exactly what he wanted to say. I chuckled.

And then I felt my smile melt as I remembered his hurt yet done with me expression on his face.

Then I thought of something while listening to the violins playing a happy tone behind me. Human voice can be altered. Some voices can be similar. So what if-

'Excuse me lads, may I interrupt?'

The musicians behind me halted their practice and smiled at me politely.

'Sure' the blond said while the red headed nodded.

'Can someone mimic someone's voice?'

They looked at each other puzzled.

'I mean, if someone has to be charismatic, or if there are voice altering programs, or something along those lines, can they do it?'

The red headed nodded 'a voice altering program can be effective. But it isn't easy to alter background noise too. Too much trouble, too much static. A program can usually only be used with a silent background. Then you can add musical of noise layers but it is troubling, sometimes the altering is clear as day too.'

The other one nodded back 'Also, maybe if someone has the same timbre or similar tone, all they need is to learn the voice pattern of someone. Everyone has a unique pattern of speaking. Name it tone, word flow, sentence pacing, or word structure or even grammar. If you want to mimic someone's voice, you have to try a lot. A professional actor or an acting student could do this effectively. Or someone charismatic as you said. How come you asked that?'