Love is Silent

Chapter 7

            Two weeks went by, and I rode Justice almost every night. I never did anything more than walking, but it still felt really good to be riding again. Justice seemed to enjoy it as well; he was always eager and alert when I rode him around. My leg became stronger with each passing day, and my physical therapist was optimistic about me being able to graduate to a cane shortly, which would give me more freedom.

            Chase and I continued to talk a little, but only when there wasn’t anyone else around. It was an unspoken agreement between us that we didn’t really want anyone else at the school to know that we talked to each other. He didn’t tell me anything else about his past, but we discovered that we had similar tastes in music and movies. I noticed that he seemed to enjoy touching me in small ways, but he never did anything that made me uncomfortable. He just had a habit of touching my cheek or my arm when we were talking.

            On a Friday afternoon, he surprised me by offering to give me a ride home. Aside from my birthday, we hadn’t done anything together outside of school. I agreed though, and let Cindy know. I know she was surprised, but I think she was also happy that I was getting so close to Chase.

            Chase drove me to my house, and once we were there I turned to him. “Do you want to come in for a few minutes?”

            I saw him debate internally about it, and then he finally nodded. “Sure.”

            We got out of his car and went into the house. My parents weren’t in yet, which wasn’t unusual. Now that winter had made an appearance, there was more work to be done down at the stables. I led Chase into the kitchen. “Want a hot chocolate?” When he nodded, I set about making us both a cup and then sat down across from him at the table.

            We sat quietly for a few minutes as we sipped on our drinks. Finally, Chase looked over at me. “This is a nice place.”

            I smiled slightly. “I’ve always liked it.”

            “Have you always lived here?”

            I nodded. “Yeah, this is the only home I’ve ever known.”

            He stared into his mug of hot chocolate for a moment. “Before my parents died, I only ever had one home as well,” he said quietly.

            My eyes raised to meet his and I saw the pain in them. “How did they die?” I asked softly.

            “Plane crash,” he replied. “It was a small plane with only ten passengers on it.”

            “Where were you?”

            “At home. My parents had planned to go on a short holiday for their anniversary, so I stayed with a friend of theirs. It would have been there first vacation together.”

            My heart went out to him, and I reached across the table to place my hand on his, but I didn’t say anything. There was nothing that could be said.

            The sounds of my parents coming in interrupted our silence, and I withdrew my hand from his as my dad came into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw that I wasn’t alone. “Hello,” he said, his curiosity evident.

            “Dad, this is Chase. Chase, that’s my dad.” As I made the introductions, my mom came in. “And that’s my mom.”

            “It’s nice to meet you, Chase,” my dad said, though I could tell he was a little confused as to why there was a strange boy in the house.