Silence - Andy Fowler

Eleven

Take my hand, take my whole life too - Elvis Presley - Can't help falling in love - Samantha Harvey Cover

Lou's POV

When I arrived at Andy's house on Monday to walk to school with him, he wasn't there. Instead, his mum answered the door.
"Hi Lou, love, Andy's already set off." she said.
"What? Why? He always waits for me. We always walk together!" I shouted. Andy's mum had never heard me speak and seemed taken a back by my shouting.
"Maybe he had some work to finish, darling. Have you two had a row?" she asked me, looking concerned.
"No. Far from... I'll go find Samuel and walk with him. Thank you." I said, walking away.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone to text Samuel. He said that he hadn't set off yet so I walked back up to his house.
"I don't know what I've done wrong." I sighed.
"Lou, you know I don't like him. Maybe this was his plan all along. To just leave you in the dirt on your own. I'm so sorry, Lou. You deserve better." Samuel sighed, sympathetically. This made me cry. I loved Andy. He was my best friend. Maybe I even liked him as more. He couldn't leave me now, could he?
"Hey, Lou, don't cry. Look, I don't care who hurts you. I don't care what happens. I'm always here for you. I'm always going to be your best friend. I won't let anything hurt you. Especially not an egotistical idiot like him. I love you to bits, Lou. Me and you against the world." Samuel said, hugging me.
"I'll talk to him when I get into maths, first lesson. I need to know if he's okay. What if he's upset. What if something's happened. He could have got a break musically. He could have found a manager or something." I said, beginning to smile.
"But more likely, he's showing his true colours. I always saw right through him, Lou. How could he leave someone like you? You're amazing." Samuel sighed.
"I'm going to run ahead, see if I can catch him before school. Thank you so much, Samuel. Love you!" I said, before running to school to find Andy.

Andy was sat in the dining area drinking a cup of tea. I smiled as soon as I saw him and ran to the table. I sat opposite him.
"Hey there, Andrew. Where'd you run off to this morning?" I said with a smile.
"Here." Andy said quietly. He didn't look at me. He stayed staring at the table. I tried to sound happy. Maybe it would cheer him up. I was trying not to cry. Had I done something wrong?
"I noticed. Are you okay? Is it the music? Did someone turn you down? You'll find someone better. You're super talented and amazing. They'll love you Andy." I said.
"No it's... It's not that. I've got to get to maths. You know... First lesson and that." Andy sighed.
"I'm in your lesson, silly. I hope Dan isn't there. Samuel knows that we... Samuel knows about us kissing. He seemed upset at first but be was fine this morning. I'm lucky to have him." I said.
"The luckiest." Andy said, rolling his eyes and walking away.
"Andy, wait! I'm in your lesson, you idiot." I laughed. Andy carried on walking.
"Andy!" I laughed. Or at least I was trying to. They sounded more like strangled sobs trying desperately to escape.
"Andy!" I said, running over to him.
"For God's sake, Louise! Just leave me alone for once! You're so clingy. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just felt sorry for you? That I never even liked you? You were just the weird little freak that got picked to be my tour guide because you arrived late and dropped your books everywhere. So I was nice to you. Because it was pretty obvious that you didn't have any friends. Then specky showed up. He's even worse. He's awful. You make a good pair. You deserve eachother. Just leave me alone now, Lou. I've had my fun. I don't need you anymore. I never needed you. You're not important. You never were. So leave me alone, Louise Parker. Forever." Andy shouted. It didn't sound like Andy. He didn't sound angry. He sounded hurt. His words sounded forced as if they weren't his own. He didn't look angry. He had a pained look upon his face as he turned to walk away from me. Everyone was looking. Staring. Some people were whispering.
"Who's he? He's fit." I heard someone say.
"Isn't that that adopted lass? Even her parents didn't love her." Someone laughed. I heard giggles. Laughs. Some gasps. It was like I could see everything happening around me but I wasn't there. It was like I was watching it all happen on a program on the television. It was as if I was dreaming. The whispers got louder until they erupted into chatter. The giggles developed into an ear piercing series of cackles. Andy had gone. Presumably to maths. I was supposed to sit next to him in that lesson. How was I supposed to after that? Everyone knew what had just happened. People had stopped their journeys to lessons. They'd put down their phones. Stepped out of the queue. Put down their hot chocolates and coffees. They'd all seen. Teacher's trying to keep themselves awake. Caretakers readying themselves to clean the dining hall before lunch time. The headteacher who's office was next door. They'd all seen Andy leave me.
"Lou, it's okay. I'm here." I heard Samuel's voice from behind me. I wanted to turn around a run to him but I couldn't move. I was frozen.
"Lou? Lou are you okay?" Samuel asked me. I tried to speak but no words came out. He stood in front of me, trying to get me to say something but I couldn't. I took a deep breath and fainted.