Silence

Chapter 3

I walked with Owen to all of our classes until the period before lunch.

"Here we, sadly, split up to go our own ways." Owen joked and we both laughed. The only person who's been able to get me to laugh as much as I have in the past hour, has been Dixie because there's not really anything for me to laugh about. This time though I did a full, from the very bottom of my soul, laugh. It must've surprised Owen as much as me because his mouth was slightly open, eyes wide, as he stared at me. I waited for him to say something, but instead, he just shook his head and walked away, giving me a little wave before disappearing into the crowd. I figured that since we're finally separated, I wouldn't feel that pull anymore but it followed him, still connected to me. I could feel him, the pull stronger now, making me want to run after him and never leave his side. Instead I go to class, only thinking about the hot boy and the way he affects me.

..

When the bell rings for lunch, I'm both joyful at it but also dreadful. Dixie and probably the rest of my friends are going to know something is up since we've practically known each other since birth. I'm used to lying to them about my home life and making up excuses for why they can't come over, but it won't work this time. I can't seem to keep this huge ass grin off my face. It's like my muscles are permanently stuck there. Somehow, I manage to get control of it before any of my friends can see.

"Sup, Alex?" Caiden Stewart asks, his mouth full of food. I scrunch my face in disgust and shrug. Caiden is the clown of the group. His twin Jackson on the other hand is serious and motivated. The only way you can really tell them apart is their opposite personalities and Caiden's blond hair reaches his shoulder while Jackson's is buzzed.

"Did you hear about the new kid?" Abigail McVeigh, the gorgeous nerd asks, sitting down, not bothering to say hi. "I've heard he's like ridiculously hot." Her question is mainly directed at Dixie but Caiden beats her to it.

"Yeah, he's like totes hot. I feel like falling to my knees and crying every time I see him." Caiden lets his eyes roll back in his head as he moans.

"Ew, knock it off," Abigail laughs, shoving him so hard he falls off the chair. We all join in but our laughter dies when Owen suddenly walks over.

"Mind if I sit with you, Alex?" He cocks his head to the side-which seems to be his signature move- and I blush at the sudden attention of not just my friends but the whole cafeteria. I nod, patting the seat next to me. His smile makes all the attention worth it. I love the way it lights up his whole face and my heart.

"I hope it's okay with you guys?" Everybody nods and gapes at me, but Owen doesn't notice, too busy talking to me. "I hated not having you walk with me to class. It felt lonely." I just give him a small smile and focus on my pizza.

"So, Owen, where did you move from?" Dixie breaks the awkward silence, giving me a weird look before turning her attention to Owen.

"I've traveled all around. My dad's in the military so we kind of drifted. He recently retired though and my parents wanted a taste of the country and small town life."

"That's so cool," Jackson comments, smiling so wide we can all see the chipped tooth he got last year when he finally decided to do something crazy. The whole plan was he would stand in the back of the pickup truck he shared with Caiden while his brother drove, slowly increasing until he hit at least 50. Well, Caiden also barely passed his driving test so while Jackson is smart, he obviously is not a good judgement of people. Caiden pressed on the gas too hard, making Jackson fly out of the back and slam face first onto the concrete. A chipped tooth and several stitches later, Jackson swore off of doing anything like that ever again.

"Well, a little but it's not easy going from place to place. This is actually the first school I've ever been too. All my life, I was homeschooled."

"How are you even sane?" Abigail laughs and flips her dark, brown hair over her shoulder, sending a wave of envy through my body, surprising me. While she's a geek of literally everything, she's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. Even when she has braces for several years. She would be popular if it wasn't for the fact that she's in band, chess club, robotics club, and many more I can't seem to ever remember.

"I'm not sure," Owen chuckles, bringing me back to the conversation. "I was actually in full freak out mode when I couldn't find my first hour until I ran into this angel right here." He smiles softly at me, once again turning me to mush.

"Really?" Dixie draws out, staring at me with the same weird look from earlier. "I know that her first hour is quite far from mine so how on earth did she make it in time?"

"We have a few of the same classes together and that was one of them." Owen cheerfully says, confusing me. "She was nice enough to walk with me though."

"It was no problem," I finally speak and frown when I realize the whole group is staring at me, their jaws literally dropped open in shock. "What?"

"You didn't...." Caiden just shakes his head and looks up at the ceiling. I feel an elbow nudge into my side and I turn to find Owen leaning toward me.

"What's wrong with them?" He whispers into my ear, his warm breath tickling me and making me shudder a little. I breathe him in, taking the sweet smell of pine, making me want to always be around him. The pull seems to be getting stronger since I met him. At first I thought it couldn't be the mate bond, but more and more I'm thinking I was wrong. But how in the world.... It's impossible unless he just hasn't shifted yet. I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, but Owen takes that as an answer from me. He moves away, making me long for the heat that radiated from him.

"It's just," Dixie starts but doesn't finish and instead stands up abruptly, grabs my arm and drags me to the nearest bathroom. "What's going on with you?"

"W-what do y-you m-mean?" Her hands go up and down, slapping her legs in frustration.

"When you talked to Owen, you didn't stutter." My eyebrows shoot up as I realize she's right. For the first time, in possibly my whole life, I was able to say a sentence without stuttering. Tears prick at my eyes but I hold them back, not wanting to cry in front of Dixie. She notices though and pulls me into a tight hug, making me gasp a little at the sudden flare of pain in my ribs. Luckily, she either doesn't hear me or thinks its because of shock.

"This is good," Dixie pulls back, gripping my shoulders. "Now we just have to find a way that you can do that with everyone." I nod and we stand there in silence, basking in hope for a few more minutes before heading back out to the cafeteria.