The Sound of Silence (Previously I Know What You Did Last Summer)

One || Part of Me

My older brother Landon and I have been on our own for as long as I can remember. I have distant memories of my father taking me out for ice cream or tossing the ball around; but most of them had long since faded and were replaced by new ones formed with my brother.

We had been each other's backbone; in our long, desperate attempt to get our parents attention, we'd found a home in one another. Mom and Dad, who spent most of their time away from us-and each other-had welcomed the unbreakable bond we shared with open arms.

The weekend prior to the end of summer had always opened way for their disappearing acts. They decided years ago that traveling the world on business exceeded their desire to have any part in their children's life. This morning shouldn't have been any different, but the quiet chatter sounding throughout the house said otherwise. By this time, they should have been on a plane to whatever foreign country they decided needed to be graced with their product design. What they were still doing downstairs was beyond me, and if I were being honest with myself, it wasn't the first thing on my agenda to go and find out.

I forced myself upright and ran my hand along the seam of my jeans. They'd been worn to a point that a thread had come undone and had continued to unwind all the way up my inner thigh. I rose to my feet shakily, trying to shake my early morning delirium. Outstretching my arms before me and making my bed, my fingers furled around the tear stained pale gray-blue pillow case as I readjusted my pillow back to its position against the headboard. Just as I was about to leave, I ran my hand over the top of my made comforter once more and turned my back to the bed to step out of my room.

I crept down the stairs with light steps, hoping not to disrupt the war my mother and father were waging on each other. As I edged closer to the last one, a glimpse of my brother's mess of blonde curls flashed within my line of sight. In the matter of seconds, he pressed himself between our parents and into the kitchen. I lowered myself on to the step, watching the scene in the dining room with caution.

It isn't much of a stretch to assume their divorce would be finalized in a couple months' time. The war had been raging since they returned from last year's two month vacation in Ireland. They were at each other's throats if they spent any more than a couple minutes breathing the same air.

As they fought in the kitchen, I winced with every word my father spat. My mother stood strong under every word, not showing any sign of falling victim to his cruel words. Instead, her perfectly manicured fingers were laced through her blonde hair, brushing it back and off her face. Her lips moved along with every word Dad spewed, as if it were a never-ending continuous loop of the same argument, she'd memorized years ago. Very little emotion resided in her brown eyes, giving no insight into exactly how she was feeling about the situation. I suppose it was one of the things I truly envied about my mother; her ability to shield her emotions.

Landon maneuvered his way passed our father once more, eyes trained straight ahead, the fight having no effect on him. He pulled a chair out at the end of the kitchen table, eyes averted from the battlefield a few feet away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

I leaned my head against the wooden railing of the staircase as a hooded figure passed by in a quick, flighty movement. Out of reflex, I shot back a step at the sight of the figure in the black hoodie, my hand slipping from the stair beneath me. I fell back, my head slamming into the edge of the fourth stair. Landon pushed back from the kitchen table, jerking so quickly his knee slammed into it on his way up.

"Avery? What was that? Are you okay?" he questioned, the concern in his deep voice earning a quick nod from me.

I opened my mouth to respond, but my eyes had fallen on the figure that had been the cause of my not-so-graceful incident. He had pushed the hood of the jacket from his head, revealing familiar tousled and wet rusty brown hair and a pair of striking blue eyes capturing the look of a deer in headlights for a second as he processed what was happening.