Sound

Chapter Four

Jack has the dream again, only this time he recognizes the voices.

“I can't believe you'd do this,” says Luke. “We trusted you. We loved you. You were our brother.”

“I never trusted you. I never loved you. I never loved any of you,” Sebastian says, his voice dripping with hate.

“You don't mean that.” Lindsey’s voice cracks.

“Yes, I do.”

And then a scream. It was Peyton’s scream.

“Peyton!” A familiar voice yelled- his voice.

“I love you, Jack.”

And then the voices start to get jumbled together, and Jack can’t tell who’s speaking.

“Mr. Greys, where did you go yesterday?”

“Go to school, Sebastian.”

“It isn't fair that you get to hear and I can't see.”

“I know. You're right, it's not fair.”

“Stay away from my brother.”

“Get away from her!”

“Peyton, stay with us. Come on, don’t do this.”

“I’ll kill her. I swear I’ll do it.”

And then the scream again and Jack sits up in his bed, sweating and breathing heavily.

Peyton stirs beside him, reaching to cover his hand with her own.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks.

“No, I need to get a shower before work.”

She turns her head and checks the clock on their bedside table.

“It’s three in the morning.”

“I’m going in early since I missed a few days and I have some things to catch up on.”

He pushes the blankets off of him and gets up.

Peyton stares after him for a moment, then lays back down.

    After he showers, Jack stands in front of the mirror debating on wearing his ear plugs. He didn’t want the kids to ask too many questions, but he doesn’t know if he can take all the noise, especially in a building full of teenagers. He decides to just tell them his ears are sensitive if any of them ask, and leaves them in.

    He takes his time getting dressed and eating a piece of toast, then he gets in his car and stops for coffee on the way to work. When he gets there, it’s still only five-thirty.  He sits in his car and drinks his coffee while grading papers until other people start showing up.

    He’s sat in his classroom working on a lesson plan and waiting for the first bell to ring when the counselor walks through his open door. She’s followed by Sebastian.

    His blonde hair is messy, and he’s dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a black T-shirt that seems to have a hole in it. Jack figures he doesn’t care what he looks like if he can’t see it.

    “Good morning, Mrs. Sadelko. Can I do something for you?” Jack asks, putting his pen down and looking up at them.

    She smiles at him. “This is Sebastian, he’s going to sit in for your class until lunch; he’s deciding if he wants to transfer here. We thought you’d be the best fit since you had a ….similar disability.