Short Stories

Quietness is My Specialty - First Story

"Alexandraaaaaaa!" I hear my mom screaming as I shut the door behind me.

I finally arrive home and I'm instantly in trouble. Great.

I practically stumble to get to the kitchen to meet her. The whole kitchen is a mess and she is standing in the middle of all of it. A bunch of dessert trays were laid out on the counters and her desserts were baking in the oven. The smell was absolutely captivating and my knees started wobbling.

It wasn't the fact that fashion or even amazing-model-worthy men made my legs turn to jelly. It was the sight of food and food alone. And the fact that I wasn't allergic to any food made my appetite 100 times more consuming. Food was bae for me. If I could I would marry it.

"Andra! You were supposed to help me bake for the gathering tonight! Where were you!?" She complains.

'What do you mean? I told you I was gonna be at the library today. You know, my job!' I sign to her in frustration.

"You said you were gonna get off early to help me!"

In sign language I explained. 'Yeah, I did.'

"It's been like an hour since I started baking! Get off earlier next time."

My brows form a crease. I smelt something you were never supposed to smell when baking. 'Mom. Why do I smell something burning?'

"WHAT!!!!?" She swings around and opens the oven. A fume of heat and a burning cherry pie cloud the air. She puts her gloves on and takes out the pie. The whole outside has totally burned and now it's a crispy black color. Not the golden brown it's supposed to be.

She sighs. "See? This is what happens when you aren't here. You're my good luck charm."

I chuckle and wrap my arms around her. We both stare at the pie for awhile. Then I snap out of my trance and let go of her.

'I'm here now so I'll help you. Sorry I wasn't here before but the gathering is tomorrow so we have time.' I give her my most cheeky grin. 'I also got some groceries at the store so we can make chocolate chip cookies, brownies and your favorite lemon pie.'

I pull out the groceries out of my reusable grocery bag and set them on the counter, next to the trays. Mom kisses me on the forehead to show her appreciation. "Thanks honey. What would I do with out you?"

In sign language I tell her exactly what I'm thinking. 'You would bring a burnt cherry pie to represent us at the gala. Cherry pie is not the way to go, mom. It's ew.' I add the last part as a joke for her to laugh. It kinda works and she smiles.

I throw her pie into the garbage and we start baking from scratch. We get carried away with making so much dessert that we end up having ingredients to also make graham cracker chocolate pie. Which is my favorite kind of pie next to pumpkin pie. But this gathering isn't for thanksgiving so I don't make a pumpkin pie.

The brownies were already stashed away in the refrigerator after we baked them, even if I was attempted to take a bite, I didn't. I really wanted to though. The cookies end up on the trays and we're sealed. All the pies were also put away for tomorrow.

We were invited to a gathering so we thought it would be a good idea to bring some food ourselves this year. It's actually a party but Mama doesn't like the sound of the word party because she thinks party as in "teenagers getting drunk" kind of a party. But either way this isn't like that. It's a party for the rich. My mom and I fit into that category.

Since we moved into this town, in May, we've been invited to a lot of parties but I didn't want to go to any of them because of my...um...troubles with speaking. But my mom convinced me to at least attend this one. She told me that she would take my phone away if I didn't go so I wasn't really given a choice. It wasn't like I was actually trying to socialize around here.

I didn't really need to though. I knew everyone here already. It's a semi small town that my mom and I'd visit once and a while, when we went on vacations. This is where my mom grew up so she always wanted to come back here and then we actually ended up coming back. I didn't have a problem with it. I also wanted to be here. I figured that since it was a small town no one would ask questions or be interested in me. I was wrong. I was so wrong. The fact that this place was so small was actually the reason people were curious about the new girl. That's why we were invited. To the so-called Annual Ball. Kerry and Morty Besher, along with their son Jordan, hosted the party. Oh and we also can't forget that they too are rich. They're the richest family in town that is until we moved in. Then they became second in line. Jordan's girlfriend is in third.

I didn't want to go to Jordan's party; for three reasons.

1. Jordan is the same age as me, which means he's also fifteen, and he's bringing his girlfriend along (Casey).

2. I have no idea what there gonna do when or even if they find out that I can't talk.

3. I don't like to leave my house. Especially because I have to wear a wig and prescriptive glasses every time I expose myself in eye sight.
And let's hope that tomorrow night will end on a good note because I have no intention on embarrassing myself. Having to go out into the world with my ugly as f*ck fake hair and an equally disgusting big pair of glasses is a problem for me already. My dad had a troubled life so that is the reason I live with my mom now. It is also the reason why I have a fake name and a fake personality.

It's because my dad was a real sucker for getting into the kind of trouble that would and could kill. And my mom new that which is why it was her own idea for me to have two personalities and identities so my dads past life wouldn't catch up to me. After all, I lived with him once, I saw who and what went into his apartment as a little kid. And let me tell you, they also saw me. They saw me big time. And now I always have to protect myself. My mom and I learned how to handle weapons and how to fight. But no, no matter how bad ass we were, we aren't in any gang. And my mom isn't a gang leader or something.

We just really care about our lives.