The Whisper Seekers

Alone Together

The music is the only sound in the car during the short ride to my house. I live in the suburbs, about ten minutes from school, where most of my classmates also live. As we pass Derek's house, I gesture toward mine, tucked at the end of a long gravel driveway. It looks like a modern castle, built with gray bricks and stone trim.

He pulls up in front of the house, and we sit in silence, both staring at the white garage door.

"I know I don't know you that well, but... is something wrong?" he asks, his tone cautious.

The whole ride over, I had been focused on listening to his thoughts, but as usual, I heard nothing. Just silence. I'm confused, but I can't exactly tell him why.

"It's nothing really, I just don't feel good." I release my seatbelt and start for the handle when he places his hand on my forearm. I feel this electric energy between us, and I dart my eyes down to his hand. He quickly snatches his hand off my arm as he says, "Sorry, just let me grab your door." He jumps out of the car and strides over to the passenger side. 

I fully embrace him being a gentleman and wait for him to open my door. I gracefully climb out, but I don't really want him to leave. For some reason, I want to get to know him more.

"Since you're going to miss math anyway, do you want to come in?" I ask, trying to keep my tone from sounding too flirty. Without hesitation, he shuts my car door and follows me toward the garage, hands tucked into his pockets. I punch in the code, and the door slowly creaks open as we stand there awkwardly, listening to the mechanical hum.

We walk through the garage, and I open the door that leads into the kitchen. I drop my book bag onto the floor and head straight for the fridge. As I rummage for something to eat, Liam pulls up a barstool, taking in the spacious, ornate kitchen.

"So, what do your parents do?" he asks casually.

I laugh. He asked Derek the same thing yesterday when we visited his house. I grab a bag of baby carrots and set it on the counter between us. Climbing onto the barstool next to him, I rip open the bag.

The moment I take a bite, I realize I've chosen the loudest snack in the house.

"My dad owns a real estate company, and my mom stays at home and does charity work and stuff. She's actually off planning a charity event today."

"No siblings?" He asks and I shake my head. I realize I am still chewing extremely loudly. I toss the carrot onto the counter and wipe my hands on my dress.

"What about you?" I ask.

"I'm an only child too. My dad is a political advisor who spends most of his time in D.C, and my mom never seems satisfied, so she bounces around from job to job." I swivel from side to side on my bar stool, letting my feet dangle as I ask, "Is that why you moved here?" He sways in the chair and starts playing with his own carrot.

"Uh, yeah. There was some stuff she wanted to work on here, so we moved." The way he hesitates in saying it makes it seem like he's covering something up. I guess we all have secrets. He spins his chair and points to a picture my parents have on the fridge where I'm holding a medal with my right hand and a certificate in my left. I'm smiling and wearing a dark gray business suit.

"What's that from?" He asks, and I hop down from the stool and pull the picture off the fridge. "Just a stupid mock trial thing I did. We pretend to be lawyers and have a fake case and everything. I won my case." I shove the old picture into a drawer of utensils and slide it shut. "It was silly."

"Prosecution or defense?" He asks like he is interested in my middle school lawyering days. I grin and put my hand on my hip.

"Prosecution." My intimidation doesn't work as he leans back and laughs. "Why is that funny?" I ask as I throw a carrot at him.