Moments In Silence

Chapter 1

        I was daydreaming when the bell rang signifying the end of the school day. As students quickly grabbed their things and piled out of the door with so little as a wave goodbye in parting, I waited patiently in my seat. I watched them leave while talking to one another, with a sort of silent resentment towards their ease of conversation and abilities to carry on with their lives as though the day never even happened. I knew better than to think like that, but I couldn’t help it. I was envious of them all, and I hated it.

         I took my gaze out the window, waiting for the rest of the students to leave before I began to follow suit and pack up my things as well.

        Outside I could see Alyssa Digby wrap her arms around her boyfriend Chase underneath the willow tree in the courtyard. They kissed and held eachother close as their friends turned away and laughed. Heading towards them from across the yard was Michael Smith, the school heartthrob being trailed and surrounded by a group of giggling girls twirling their hair and practically drooling at his feet. And beyond them all was Jason Armen, the stereotypical "badboy" leaning on the back of his mtorcycle with a cigarette nestled between his lips at the edge of the parking lot.

        I felt a pang of envy looking at all these kids. They were so carefree. And if they weren’t, then their troubles were the average troubles of a high school student. Something along the lines of pent up teenage angst and difficulties in their own self-discovery. I wished I could have that kind of life. Sometimes I hated how unlucky I was. It just didn’t seem fair at times.

        “Tallis?” Tearing my gaze away from the others, I looked up into the face of Mr. Hyde, my English teacher. He smiled down at me with pale blue eyes. I could see the confusion on his face as he assessed me in my seat. I was never one to stay any longer than necessary.

        “Is it alright if I stay here? I could go to the library if you need the room.”

        “No you can stay here, that’s no problem.” He leaned against the desk next to me.The look on his face told me exactly where this conversation was headed. It was a look I was all too used to seeing. The one where they're not quite sure what to say or how to say it.

       An awkward silence built between us as I waited for him to explain why he was attempting to speak with me.

         “How’s your project coming along?” He was stalling.

        “I haven’t started, to be honest.” I sighed looking at the pages sprawled on my desk, thinking about all the work cut out for me.

        “Do you have any ideas of what you’d like to do?”

        “I was thinking of maybe reworking some sonnets to some music. I saw it done for a musical once, and really loved how it came together. I think that would be pretty interesting to try and recreate on my own.” I stared straight back at Mr. Hyde, both of us studying the other.

        The thing about Mr. Hyde is that not only is he a fantastic teacher, he’s a very personable human being.  He’s attentive and loves to converse with his students and get to know them on a level where they can relate which makes talking to him easy. Mr. Hyde had no trouble with making someone feel comfortable around him, and that goes a long way in this school. All the girls loved him for obvious reasons. I hated to admit it, but I adored him just as much as the next girl did. It didn’t help that he was young and handsome in a probably-has-tattoos-underneath-that-blazer type of way. It didn't help that he always smelled good too.

        He nodded at my response thinking it over in his head.

        "Yeah, sounds good." He cleared his throat and stood from the desk. I watched him walk away and back to his seat at the front of the room.