The Whisper Seekers

Silence

I come home exhausted after our five-hour shopping trip and collapse onto my plush, queen-sized bed, leaving my shopping bags by the door. Seconds later, I hear the click of heels in the hallway, followed by the crinkling of paper. I turn my head and spot my mom moving my bags into my closet.

"Hey, Ellie. I thought I heard you come in," she says, dropping onto the end of my bed. I watch as she plucks a tiny fuzz from her sleek wrap dress and crosses her long legs, leaning onto one arm. Her root-free blonde hair sits perfectly on her shoulders, sprayed so stiff that not even a hurricane could budge it. Whenever we travel, people take one look at her big hair and immediately know she's from Texas.

"How'd dress shopping go?" she asks.

I roll off the bed, grab the garment bag from the floor, and peel back the plastic, holding the dress up in front of me."What do you think?" I ask as I sway, letting the light reflect off of the glitter.

"Oh, Ellie, it is very pretty. You and Derek will look very cute together." I look in my full-length mirror and imagine the whole outfit, including the shoes, which I still have to find. 

I picture my dreamy boyfriend and homecoming date, Derek, standing next to me, and I'm more than happy with what I conjure up.. Since we have been dating for a little over a year, we've already gone to a few dances together, so I know how good he looks in a tux.

"Yeah, I'll have to go with him to pick out his tie, but black is easy to match with anything," I say once I'm done letting my imagination run wild.

I tuck the dress back into the garment bag, then walk into my spacious closet and hang it beside all my other one-occasion dresses. A minute later, I stride back to my bed and sprawl out next to my mom.

"Harper and Lily ended up finding dresses too. Now they just need dates," I add.

My mom lightly laughs as she pushes herself off the bed and heads toward the door.

"I'm sure they'll each snag one of the football players; they always do. Or maybe it'd be cute if they went as each other's dates?"

I roll my eyes. Harper thinks "friend dates" are for the pathetic or the socially doomed. 

"Dinner'll be ready in a few. I'll holler when it's done," she says, pulling the door shut behind her.

I continue to lie in my bed, staring up at my ceiling, imagining what Derek will wear and wondering what shoes I should pair with my dress. I pinch my nose again and slowly exhale, relieving some of the stress of trying to block out my mother's thoughts.

I always struggle to silence the whispers, and most of the time, I just end up with a headache.

I've made it a rule not to read my parents' thoughts. If they ever found out I could, I think they'd feel completely exposed and vulnerable, which are not emotions I've ever seen from either of them. It's different with my friends and peers. My parents are always composed, always professional. Both are successful in their own ways, raised by wealthy, strict parents who taught them that failure was never an option.

They never let emotions or anyone else's opinions get in the way of what they want. And I know that mindset has rubbed off on me.

If they ever knew about my "talent," they wouldn't be impressed. They'd be disappointed, convinced that all my achievements were just the result of cheating. And cheating is something that's absolutely not tolerated in the Adler household.

I first discovered I could break into people's thoughts in the fourth grade, completely by accident.

It happened during our annual spelling bee. I was standing at the microphone, completely blanking on my word. I could see my mom in the crowd, nodding furiously, her wide eyes trying to communicate the answer through sheer willpower. The word was accessible, and I couldn't remember if it was spelled with one s or two c's.