Prologue

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There were two separate sections of Phil's life. Pre-silence and silence. The second part was split into two parts. Pre-move and post-move. Phil stopped talking between his first and second years of highschool. He was bullied for it and his parents decided to have him move to a new school.

The days after the move were hardest.

Day one, Phil was quiet. His mother yelled at him to say something after a fight between her and his father, and he looked away with tears in his eyes. He couldn't.

Day two, his mother slapped him, and his father watched with pleasure. Phil felt like his father was mentally getting off to Phil's pain. He probably was. He still didn't utter a word.

Day three, his mother apologized and took him out to get pizza. She hugged him, and begged to hear his voice when they had returned home. He shut his eyes and a tear fell from his eye. His father called him weak and pathetic, and his parents fought.

Day seven, he started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer to forget his pain. His parents fought. Phil's father called Phil useless and the source of all their parents marriage problems. Phil didn't cry. He also uttered no words, still.

Day fourteen, his mother broke down sobbing. She hugged Phil and asked where she went wrong. Phil shook his head and tried to communicate she was great. She didn't get it, and he still said nothing. He only whimpered.

Day thirty-one, his mother took him to the doctor. She said Phil and his vocal cords were perfect and healthy. They sent him to a hospital to see if it was a brain injury, but it wasn't. Phil knew that. He let his mother do everything with the doctors, though. Only because he couldn't say he was choosing not to speak. The doctor said it for him. "It's selective," she had explained. "He can only speak when he's ready. Don't force him. Be gentle, and make him feel safe. The safer he feels, the more likely he is to snap out of this." Wrong.

Day sixty-one, it's been two months and school is going to start in one month. Phil's going into his third year of high school. He felt all but safe at home. His father tried to beat his voice out of him. When that didn't work, his parents fought. Phil barely made noises anymore.

Day eighty-four, Phil woke up early. To this day, he still doesn't know why he had to be the first one awake. He wished it were his father, but he was off from work that day. He went into the bathroom and yawned, bleary-eyed. He rubbed his eyes and saw his mother laying lifeless in the bathtub. Her arms had cuts running vertically from her wrist to her elbow. Blood was everywhere. Phil fainted. When he woke up, he was in bed. He guessed his dad found him and called police. To seem like a good dad, he put Phil in bed. Later, he was reminded of why he ever fell silent.

Day ninety, the first day of school is tomorrow. Phil has developed insanely high anxiety. His mother had previously arranged for him to meet with the counselor during school, and his father never canceled it. Not that Phil thought it would ever help. He missed his mum. He felt like he couldn't live without her. She may have let his father hurt him, but she always made him feel worth something. Always hugged him, got him ice cream and pizza, and watched movies with him. He never thought the nights she spent crying and her lack of fighting spirit when arguing with his father were signs of an upcoming suicide. Phil went to sleep that night more anxious than he'd ever been. He actually only slept for about two hours. Then it was show time. Time to stay silent.

Hi I'm Abby I'm a loser and ik this short but I promise the rest of the chapters will be longer c:

I usually shoot for 2,000+ words so don't worry lmao

K bye

<3

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