Silence And Sound

Chapter 1.

“Alex. Wake up” my dad shouted from the kitchen. I looked at the clock. I still have 30 minutes till school starts. Sleep, sleep and more sleep. Why does some people actually like school? I mean, it’s just sitting on a chair, awkwardly staring at a perverted old man, who pretends to know what he’s talking about, when actually, all he cares about is the two things about 8 inches under your head.

“Alexandra! Get up!” my dad shouted again, this time louder.

“Yeah I’m coming” I shouted back. Why does he have to be at home in the morning? I prefer being alone. Alone, yeah, that’s good. No annoying parents. No stupid teachers. No whiny girls or ugly boys. Yes, that’s how it should be.

As I walked into the classroom 40 minutes later everyone stared at me.

“Alexandra, you’re late. Again” Mr. Palvis said.

“Yeah” I mumbled.

“Maybe you should wake up 10 minutes earlier?” he suggested.

“Maybe you should start your class 10 minutes later” I fired back.

“Sit down and be quiet” he said and continued his lesson. God, he annoyed me. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The door opened and our principal, Mrs. Brown, walked in. She had a blonde boy with her.

“Hello, Victor. This is our new student, Niall. He’s gonna be in your class”

“Great. Hello Niall. You can take a seat over there” Mr. Palvis said and pointed to the chair next to me. Niall looked nervously at me and sat down. Yay… Now I was stuck next to that loser.

“Alex. Maybe Niall could look at your papers? Just so he knows what we’re talking about” Mr. Palvis said and faced the blackboard again. I sighed and gave Niall my papers.

“Aren’t you gonna look at them yourself?” Niall whispered.

“No. I don’t give a shit about them anyway” I mumbled. Niall looked frightened and didn’t say anything to me for the rest of the day. Not until I was about to leave school at least.

“Uhm.. Alexandra?” he asked. I turned around and faced him.

“Don’t call me that. It’s Alex” I said and started walking again. He followed me.

“Okay, Alex then. Do you know where the library is? Mr. Palvis said I had to go to the library to get my books”

“Do I look like I waste my time on the fucking library?!”

“No, it’s just that…”

“Thought so. Ask someone else” I snapped at him. He gathered his things and hurried down the hallway. What a loser.

When it finally became Friday, I felt happy. That was until I entered class of course. Ms. Smith, our biology teacher, wanted us to work in pairs. And because I was late, everyone had already found their partners. Ms. Smith told me to join a group of girls in the back. They all looked very unpleased when I sat down at their table.

“Today we’re gonna start our project about pregnancy. I want you to write at least four pages about pregnancy, and it has to include everything from how the baby is made to the birth of the baby” Ms. Smith informed us. I can’t believe I have to work with these girls! They’re horrible! It’s like three of the same person. Debby, Gabriella and Amanda. Ew.

“You have to do the project in these groups. And that means everyone in the group have to do something!” Ms. Smith said. I felt like the last sentence was meant for me… She told us to start working, and my group opened their laptops.

“Pregnancy. Then you have to have sex… I’m sure Alex has a lot of experience there” Debby whispered to the other girls.

“I bet she slept with at least five in this room” Amanda said. All of them giggled.

“Well at least I’m not the one who looks like I’m pregnant” I said to Amanda and walked out of the room. Bitches. I knew Amanda was insecure about her weight, so I had pushed the right button. I sat down on a bench in the hallway with my earphones on. Suddenly Ms. Smith came.

“Alex. The girls told me you called Amanda fat” she said. Damn, she looked serious.

“Well, they started!” I said, trying to defend my action.

“I don’t care what they did, you do not call a girl fat! What if you were the reason that she got an eating disorder? How would that make you feel?!”

“What are you gonna do about it? I did nothing” I huffed. In that moment Niall came out from the class.

“She only said it because they referred to her as a slut” he said. Why did he just say that? I weren’t nice to him, so why did he help me?

“Well then, I’m gonna talk to the girls about that. But don’t say such things again Alex, got it?” Ms. Smith said and walked back into the class.

“I’m not a slut, just so you know” I said and left Niall in the hallway.

“I know” he said, just so loud enough for me to hear it.

At night I was sitting in my room. Suddenly I heard it; A glass shattering against the wall. I knew my parents were fighting. I knew it. It always started right after the dinner, when I had left the table. They always waited for me to leave, before they started yelling at each other. I couldn’t stand hearing them argue this way, so I grabbed my jacket and escaped out of the backdoor. I didn’t know where to go, but again, I never did. I always ended up at the lake. I enjoyed just sitting there. But today I wasn’t in the mood for the lake. I wish I had some friends to call. Maybe we could go see a movie or eat some dessert. Or walk around in the streets, talking about how stupid our parents are. Or maybe I could just cry on their shoulder, and they would tell me that everything was gonna be okay. But I didn’t have friends. And I didn’t want friends. Friends were trouble. And what was I thinking? Crying? That’s for losers.

“Alex?” a voice suddenly called. I looked across the street and saw Niall. Gosh, not him again.

“What are you doing out now? It’s almost 11” he said.

“Not everyone has to be in bed at 9, you know?” I said. He chuckled. Why is he so happy? He’s always so quiet. Okay, I have known him for under a week; maybe he’s not always quiet.

“I know. But it’s getting dark and you’re alone” he said and looked around.

“I’m not scared of darkness and I like being alone” I told him. If I was like every other teenage girl, I would try to keep the conversation going, but I’m me, and I just wanted him to leave.

“Okay. But call me if you get in trouble. Or if you just want to say hi” he said and handed me a paper with his number before he left me. What part of me being rude to him does he not get? I don’t want his company! But for some reason I put the paper in my pocket. Just in case.