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

Two|| Wake Me Up

My brother slowed his old, hand-me-down cherry red '04 Charger to a stop alongside the curb at the front entrance of the Mountain View High. The ten-minute drive here had been a long, excruciating ride of uncomfortable silence. It struck a chord somewhere beneath the walls I'd build around my heart that I was no longer comfortable in my brother's company. I'd spent so long basking in the familiarity of his presence in the last sixteen years that it felt as if the realization was taking with it the last of my childhood.

He grasped the steering wheel in his hand now, gazing passed me and out the window at the school. I could see from the faint look of longing in his eyes, that he wished to be entering the school with me. High school had been his time to shine; he'd been at the top for years only to steadily drop back to where he began at the university. In that moment, I almost believed that my brother had lost a little of himself this summer too. He'd lost a remnant of his childhood as he moved from the end of one story and into the beginning of another. The thought quickly faded when he dropped his hands to his lap and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am so glad to finally be out of this place." he stated. "What about you? Are you ready for your first day?"

He'd been asking the question repeatedly for the last two weeks, as if my answer would miraculously change at some point. I touched my fingertips to the cold glass of the window, watching my breath create a spot of condensation beside my wrist. It fade into nothing, my brother's quiet, steady breathing the only thing heard inside the car. My fingers curled into a loose fist, momentarily distracted when Landon grasped my forearm and forced me to look at him.

I jumped back, startled by the sudden action, something close to a cry breaking passed my lips before I could stop it. His green eyes grew wide as he released my hand and held his own up in surrender. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

I nodded. After a moment of tense silence, he eyed me wearily and whispered, "Are you okay, Ave? You seem a little off."

"I'm fine, Landon." I whispered. "Just first day of school jitters, nothing to worry about."

My lie comforted him enough to unlock the doors with a familiar, warm smile.

"I'll be here to pick you up. Try and have a good day. It's always easier when the year starts off nice." he said.

I opened my door and stepped out, shutting it behind me before bending over so I could see him through the window. He rolled it down halfway and waved. Stepping back on to the curb, I swung my backpack over my shoulder, slouching a little under its weight. He nodded curtly before speeding off out of the lot, sure to get a speeding ticket out on the street if he didn't slow down. I stared at the cloud of exhaust left in the old car's wake for a minute, sure he was gone, before I whispered a soft response.

"I'll try."

*

My eyes scoured the overcrowded cafeteria for my best friend Isabelle the minute I stepped in. She shouldn't have been hard to spot. In a school of over three thousand kids, Isabelle Watson was one of the two kids with red hair. For this reason, she had been taunted and teased most of our freshman year and decided then that she'd give the school an attitude to match her "ginger" nickname.

My eyes fell on her at a small, empty table in the middle of the cafeteria. I wasn't at all surprised to find that the new spot she chose wasn't in the forefront or in the back. We'd learned years ago, starting at this school, that the middle was always best.

Her curtain of bone straight red hair was the only thing visible as I crossed the packed lunchroom to her. I nearly tripped over various people's backpacks or feet, and face planted right into my food. Under no circumstances was I going to eat it, but I figured that the action of grabbing the tray would prevent Isabelle from bombarding me with questions about my health. She would no doubt see how much weight I'd dropped over the last couple months.