I Want to Say Hello

Chapter 3

Laney was dropped off at her home's bus stop and walked down the sidewalk towards her house. She told her parents that she'd be heading off to spend some time with Jamie. "Oh no you don't" her mother called from the kitchen, "are you forgetting what day it is tomorrow?"

"What day is it, Mom?" Laney asked, annoyed.

"Tomorrow it will be one week before Halloween, and you don't even have a costume or any decorations up,"

"Mom, I don't even go trick-or-treating. Why would I need a costume in the first place?"

"I'm throwing a Halloween party for your little brother and I'd like you to help out, it's a costume party so you need a costume. I know you're in highschool but it needs to be appropriate, alright?"

"Mom! Like I'd wear something inappropriate, like ever, and how do you expect me to help out with a kid's costume party? Dress as a mime and keep the whole mute thing they have going on?"

"That's so clever, Laney! You should be a mime! But the goal of you helping was actually to have you come out of your shell a bit,"

"It's not a shell, it's a disorder as you say,"

"Well, it certainly isn't a disease as you call it, you can hang out with Jamie, but not for too long, we need to go shopping,"

"I'll buy a costume while I'm out with Jamie, just give me twenty,"

"Be careful what you buy, dear,"

Laney sighed, "I know, mom, I know," before holding out her hand and waiting for the money. She always got money when she needed it. Her family was rather well off, surprisingly. Laney rather enjoyed this because it meant she and Jamie could go shopping all the time. They could get their nails done, go to movies, get smoothies, and everything would go smoothly unless the two were separated. This rarely happened, though, so it was often nothing to worry over. Laney's relationship with her mother was slowly getting worse as the days went on. It was fueled originally with their constant feud over calling selective mutism a disease versus a disorder. Laney feels that calling it a disorder proclaims that something's wrong with her, and disease shows that she cannot help her condition. Her mom doesn't view it as a disease, she feels that whenever she wants to fix her current state she will be able.

The lessening relationship with her mother is not a help to her constant anxiety, but Laney tends to ignore the fact her life seems to be falling apart as of recent. Her best friend is depressed, her mother and her are fighting, but the rest of her family is still holding stable. She just hopes it will stay that way. She always has her dad and sister there with her. She couldn't really rely on her brother, as he was only 10, but the thought was still there.

Laney grabbed her bike and headed north to the richer neighborhoods. Laney and Jamie liked looking around the big houses in the neighborhood and talking about which ones they were going to live in together when they were older. They had silly dreams of living with each other in college. Dreams that would seem insincere if one didn't understand how close of a friendship they had with each other. It was closer than some families will ever be. They had a continuous bond that would never be broken. Everyone seemed to know it, too. Wherever they went they would just emit an aura that they were inseparable.

When Laney entered the FoodStore parking lot she saw Jamie sitting on the bench, laughing and smiling with one of the workers. When she saw Laney she waved excitedly. It had been a while since they had seen each other in person, she seems better already Laney thought.

"So you and that worker, huh?" Laney asked with a quick wink.

"Oh my g- Laney!" Jamie covered her face in embarrassment before walking over to the smaller store next door. They walked inside and were quickly greeted by an overly peppy worker. Jamie casually replied and told her they didn't need help finding anything as a more friendly way of communicating "go away".

They walked over to the dresses, a soft pastel pink dress looked gorgeous to Laney, a red and black striped mini dress was more appealing to Jamie. They grabbed the dresses and some random accessories and headed to the dressing rooms. Laney put on the pastel dress. It poofed out slightly at the bottom and fell to just below her knees, it was strapless and had a small bow at the top. She added a tan sun hat and denim jacket over the dress. Jamie in the other room put on her minidress that fell just barely to her mid thigh, it poofed out quite a bit. She put on some short black gloves and a dark red beanie. The two of them walked out of the dressing room and took a look at the other's outfits. Laney nodded approvingly as Jamie jumped forward to hug her.

"You look perfect, Laney! Wear that to my wedding," Jamie proclaimed.

"Spaz," Laney whispered, knowing her friend definitely wasn't getting married for years to come, "we have to change now, come on," The two quickly changed back into the clothes they entered the store in, and walked to the register. The lady smiled her plastic smile as she took their clothes, scanned them, and folded them into bags. Laney and Jamie exited the store and walked into the parking lot and sat by the curb.

"Wanna get ice cream?" Jamie asked. Laney shook her head. She never really liked ice cream. Jamie loved it though, so she had to eat it a lot when they were kids. Suddenly Laney heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw nothing. But then she heard the footsteps again, Jamie did too, the two turned around and there behind them at an alarmingly close distance was Norris.

"Hey Jamie," Norris said, "I got a new truck, my girlfriend is in it and I told her you can do piercings, wanna help out?" Laney was quickly alarmed by his statement. It seemed so ominous, dangerous even. Jamie must've been talking to him since Laney tried to separate them, Laney assumed. Jamie just shrugged and said, "sure, but I don't wanna leave Laney here,"

"Come on it's just for a quick septum,"

"That will not be quick, and I'm not leaving Laney in a parking lot alone," Just then, Laney's mom called. Laney quickly waved Jamie off and took the call. Her mom explained how the fight was childish and that she wanted Laney to know that she'll always love her. Laney quietly listened as she hated speaking to a phone, it lacked comfort. Once Laney hung up she sat quietly and waited for Jamie's return. Ten minutes passed. Laney didn't mind, she knew how long things like that could take.

Thirty minutes passed. An hour. Laney was terrified. Why hadn't she stopped Jamie. They probably drove off somewhere to do bad things, she didn't want Jamie to go back to her rebellious ways, bright pink hair, black clothing. Laney had gotten her to replace it with blond hair and soft grays and whites, Jamie never did like colors on her clothes. Laney knew Jamie was going back. She knew they drove off. She knew Jamie would return.

The sun began to set. There was no sight of Jamie, not even a text. Laney stood and walked to where she locked her bike, and she slowly rode home. She knew Jamie would email her in the morning, tell her sorry for leaving and that they were just having so much fun. They probably got ice cream, Laney thought. Laney felt like a bad friend, she couldn't even keep her friend by her side for more than an hour. She headed down her home street and felt tears sting at her eyes. Laney hated crying in public, it was so revealing. She wanted to hide. Laney sped home and dropped her bike in the front yard, not taking the time to lock it up. It was a safe neighborhood, it should be fine. She pushed open her bedroom window and climbed into the room, crashing down to the floor with her weakened legs. She looked towards the ceiling and began to cry. She'd never be good enough to be a friend, would she? She's too quiet, she thought.

She fell asleep on that floor.