Words

Fourteen

When I placed my drawing face down on the table, Kyle coughed from behind me. I looked at him with a tilted head while Mr. Abington was grading the other students' work during lunch time. "What is it?"

Kyle weakly pointed his index finger at me, seeming hesitant to speak. His mouth stayed agape until he grumbled, "Nothing."

"Okay...? Bye, Kyle." I nodded to him before turning to the teacher, "My work is on the table. Have a good day, Mr. Abington."

"Yeah," he said distractedly while typing into his laptop. With that, I collected my things and headed to lunch a little later than usual.

Even though he may have ripped apart my first attempt at being normal, I can still work hard. If art is the only thing that I can create with my own hands, then I can just make more.

That's... that's right! Since I can't write, then I might as well create my own words through art. But the flowers... is there any way to combine the two? Being a florist doesn't sound too bad.

It's February. Time to start thinking about the future.

As I walked down the steps to lunch in deep thought, I remembered what I told Abigail this morning. I'm supposed to tell her what's been going on with me recently, but... can I? I don't want to burden them with my other worldly problems. I can't. Would they even believe me?

No, no, no! I let out a small gasp at the realization of where my thoughts were going. I can't keep thinking pessimistically. It won't get me anywhere. I just need to tell her the truth in a secluded area away from society. Ugh, that sounds suspicious...

I searched for the table where I normally sat, rubbing my temples in frustration when I noticed Abigail waving at me.

She's here. I squinted my eyes, giving her an uneven smile once I spotted Sophie sitting next to her. Crap, now what do I do? Calm down, maybe she forgot about it? How does one explain that their grades are plummeting down because of an unknown phenomenon that forced me to be unable to write?

I could feel the sweat beads forming on my neck with every step I took. Yet I knew that I had to move forward, for my sake as well as theirs. So I took a deep breath and marched to the table, ready for whatever they planned to throw at me.

After sitting down and taking out a notebook, I turned to them. "Hi," I started, "I've been meaning to tell you guys that..."

I bit my lip, averting my eyes from their anticipating gazes while swallowing down some aglets. Sophie's eyes were brimming with excitement as she stuffed her fish and chips down her throat.

Words, words, words. Anything to make them understand! However, no matter how hard I tried to speak, my throat was closed up from fear. I didn't know how to explain this to them, and somehow I doubted I ever would until far into the future, when I had more of an understanding of my curse's purpose.

I turned back to them with wide eyes, wiping my forehead with a hankerchief. I wanted to tell them, but the memory of their separate career paths halted any words I had from reaching their ears. I don't want to bother them. They should be focused on what they want to do, and I won't hold them back with my problems.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked after guzzling down some lemonade. Her fierce auburn gaze almost penetrated through my resolute decision, forcing me to look the clenched fists that rested in my lap.

I shook my head, letting my white hair cover my eyes when I muttered, "Nothing. But, I'm a little worried the... future." At the end of my sentence, a relieved sigh erupted from me. It isn't a complete lie, and it won't hurt anyone either.

"You both are already dead set on what you want to be while I'm stuck at a fork in the road. On one side I want to just give up and just do whatever interests me, but I also want to leave my mark on this world before I go." Coward.

They were both silent. Abigail let her mouth stay open as she stared at me with blatant eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice. You seem so smart that I sometimes forget we're the same age with similar problems. But Ziv, I don't think that you need to choose between the two. That's not what it's about. You just need to find something that fits your personality and interest like... science. Don't you love science?"

I smiled at her attempt to encourage me. "It's fine, really. You didn't notice because I didn't say anything. And you're right; I do." But I can't contribute anything to the community if I can't write down results, much less research papers. I would be like a mascot. "It seems a bit difficult, though."

Abigail frowned at my reasoning. When she was about to say something, Sophie cut her off by holding her hand up. "But that's what's fun about school, right? Teachers let us explore what we want while we learn to apply our interests to society. I'll be frank; science sucks to me. Which is why you never see me in the class. However, if there's one thing I know it's that you're a very intelligent person and I believe that you'll be successful in whatever you choose to do. So don't worry about it now."

"Is that really okay?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to just let life take me where I was meant to be. I still had to know where these powers came from, why couldn't I eat food and how long would this last. Even so, I guess I can leave that for another day. Besides, eating words isn't so bad. At least I won't have to buy groceries.

Abigail let out a groan when she slammed her palm on the table. "Are you kidding me? Of course it is you dumbass! We're still young; there's no need to worry about it! Just do what you can now and make those decisions when you get there."

The vulgarity of Abigail's speech made me flinch. I was already fourteen yet still wasn't used to the curse words that eased out of people's lips like a cool breeze. I understood how worried she was, just not accustomed to her outbursts. Nonetheless, they were both just worried, though both of them showed it in different ways.

"All right, I get it now. Thank you two for helping me out." There's no need to rush, like Abi said. I need to take things one step at a time and figure out the things I can't understand now later. Seems simple enough.

I relaxed my hands, pushing away any worries I had towards my diet. I shouldn't think too much about it. Once the information of the words I ate settled into my mind, I sighed with content.

"Ziv?" Sophie called, distracting me from my satisfied state. Her head waas tilted, resting against her raised palm when she spoke.

"Hm?"

"Why do you look full when you haven't eaten anything?"

"I uh... I ate in art class!" Yeah, as if Mr. Abington brought doughnuts and hot chocolate on a day like this.

"Ah, the teach did say that he would bring some snacks in for the students who did the most realistic art. I guess that means your art was drop dead gorgeous, huh? Who'd you work with?"

My body turned frigid when I glanced to the other side of the cafeteria. "K-Kyle. I worked with Kyle."

Abigail's chin rose a little when she looked to what my eyes were focused on. "Oh, that one. He didn't mess with you did he? I'll crush him for ya." At that, she cracked her knuckles with a dark smile.

"No, no, no! We're okay. He's just a little... odd," I retaliated, shaking my head in defence. "Anyways, I think it's almost time to leave. C'mon, Sophie! Don't wanna be late!" I looked over to Sophie, pleading her to come up with something. She stood, placing her arm on Abigail's shoulder.

"She's right, Abby. Calm down; whatever happened between them is settled if she can stand him enough to draw his face for three days."

"But―"

Before I could hear the rest, the bell rang. What perfect timing! I snapped my book closed and stuffed it into my bag along with my pencil and stood.

After pulling the bag's strap onto my shoulder, I ran to my next class with Sophie on my trail after we bid our friend farewell. "Hey," she said when we reached the top of the stairway, "Thanks. For opening up to us. I know we aren't very close but I'm glad we met."

My cheeks flushed to a deep scarlet when I mumbled with a nod, "I am too."