The Silence She Speaks✔

Twenty eight-Quinn

When Winter Break ended, I went mute again. The Foster Lady calls it a Christmas miracle, and doesn't bug me about talking. Nora and Leigh went back to college, with a few tears from me. What? Nora's like an older, taller version of me, so I obviously like her. Then there's Leigh, who is so funny, and can always make me laugh.

Chance gets to stay for another two weeks because a janitor accidentally caught one of the chemistry labs and a lot of the school on fire at his college. Bad for the janitor, but amazing for me!

Today is the first day back from break, so everybody piled into the van. Chance was dropping us off at school, then taking the van to go and get groceries. I used my notepad to ask why he didn't just use his car, and he said he didn't want anything spilling in his "baby". Apparently, Chance is obsessed with his car.

At school, we all climbed out, and Chance stopped me and Camryn before we could even get a foot away from the van. "You girls go straight to one of your brothers if anybody picks on you again. Got it? I don't want my baby sisters dealing with a bunch of jerks, so you need to promise me."

"I promise," I wrote.

"Yeah, yeah," Camryn said carelessly. Chance gave her a warning glare, and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, I promise I will. Even though I could beat up any of the jerks myself without a problem. Happy?"

He smiled. "Yeah, thanks kiddos. Now go to school and have a good day," he ordered before kissing our foreheads and getting into the van. Camryn held my hand as she and Mason walked me into school. I didn't pay it any mind as I listened to Mason's rant about having homework over break.

In the choir room, Lucy, Joey, Mark, Ella, and Ollie all sat by me. We talked about our break and what we did, which was really fun. Lucy was being Lucy, and told a long story with quick words. I couldn't help but laugh when she stopped to catch her breath. Everybody looked at me in shock, their eyes as wide as saucers.

"Quinn! You just—you just made an actual noise!" Lucy all but screamed.

I pursed next lips and looked away awkwardly, my hands messing with the hem of my skirt. Ollie must have realized how uncomfortable I was, because he suddenly stood up and fell over. He made it a lot more dramatic than it needed to be, that's for sure, but I was grateful.

The rest of school went by in an uneventful daze. At the end, Ollie caught up to me just as I was about to walk outside. He offered to walk me to my car since Mason wasn't around, so I just gave a little nod in agreement.

When we were outside, Ollie hopped down the stairs while I just walked like a normal person. At the bottom, Ollie asked, "Want to see Ollie do an ollie?" Did he really just refer to himself in third person?

Ollie looked really proud, and I did owe him for saving me earlier, so I nodded. That made Ollie grin and he put his skateboard down. He did a weird trick that made him jump into the air before landing, and I figured that was the "ollie". I clapped for him, and he grinned from ear to ear.

"You want to try, Quinn?" He asked, riding back to me. I looked at the board nervously and shook my head. "Come on, I won't let you get hurt, I promise. Here, hop on and I'll at least show you how to ride it."

I hesitated, but got onto his board. I held Ollie's hands in a death grip as he assured me it was okay. After a few minutes of persuasion, and another few of instructions, I let go and did as Ollie said. I did a small push-off with my foot and rode the board a little ways. My fear melted away and now excitement filled me.

"You're doing it, Quinn! You're skateboarding!" He cheered. "Want me to give you a push?"

I'm not sure where my confidence came from, but I gave Ollie a full-on smile and nodded. His grin somehow managed to widened and he gave me a push. I laughed as I rode the board down the sidewalk, Ollie jogging beside me. He laughed too, but suddenly stopped when he looked ahead.