Silent Love (Published)

Chapter 6

   We stay silent as Tyler drives us back home. I had stopped crying, feeling like such a fool for tearing up in front of him. I wonder what he truly thinks about me. Even if we all get upset, but it's embarrassing crying in front of someone, especially if you don't know them.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Tyler asks me as we walk through the front door.

I turn to him, signing 'yes please'. He tells me to sit down on the couch and I do. I watch him take off his jacket and he places it neatly over the couch. He takes off his tie as well, setting it down with his jacket before disappearing to the kitchen.

I sit there not knowing what to do. Everything was quiet and it annoyed me. I could hear Tyler opening and closing the fridge and cabinets. I reach over and grab the remote, switching on the TV. I flip through it until I came to a music channel. A band name Simple Plan comes on with their song Summer Paradise.

I sit there staring at the video and listening to the song. I bob my head a little to the music. I like the beat and it felt relaxing. It made me want to sing along, and I wished I could.

"Oh I love this song," I hear Tyler say.

I stop bobbing my head and turn to see him walking into the room with two glasses of Coke. I blush, hoping Tyler didn't see me bobbing to the music.

He walks over to me and holds out a glass in front of me. "I hope you don't mind Coke."

I sign 'thank you' and take the glass, taking a sip. Tyler sits down beside me and we watch the TV without making any eye contact with each other.

"So are you feeling okay now after what happened?" he asks me when the song was over. Another song came on. This time it was an RnB song.

I nod.

"So you like music?" Tyler asks me.

I reach for my marker and write the whiteboard that was on my lap. That's what my friends say.

"I like music too. I play the guitar sometimes. If I wasn't a surfer, I would be a musician."

I smile at him.

"Do you reckon that you could play something on the piano for me someday when you get your memory back?"

I stare at him, not so sure if I wanted him to hear me play. I turn to the board. I don't know. Maybe. But what if I never remember how to play again?

Tyler stares at me before replacing his drink on the coffee table. He sits back and rolls up the sleeves of his shirt. He shifts in his seat and moves closer to me. He moves his hand up to my head and pushes some of my hair away from my face. Tyler strokes my hair. "Listen to me, Ruby. You're going to get your memory back. It will take time but you will remember again."

I smile at him. Tyler's family really has a lot of faith in me in remembering everything and learning to speak all over again. Why can't I be just as faithful to myself?

We sat there staring at each other. His hand was still in my hair, stroking it. I stop breathing as I stare into his eyes. I don't know what made me want to do it, but I placed my glass in my left hand and moved my other one towards his face. I want to touch his face, to feel his skin against my own. Tyler stops stroking my hair and rests his hand on my cheek.

I was about to place my hand on his cheek when I hear Gabe's voice, stopping my hand from touching Tyler.

Tyler and I quickly move away from each other and turn to see Gabe standing in the room with Kaleen and another girl with blonde hair. She looks a lot like Shannah. She must be her sister. The three of them had a sneaky grin on their faces, like they were up to something as soon as they see us together.