Silence Speaks Louder

Banner by Katelyn. I really appreciate it:D Update uber short and filler-ish. Comment anyway.


It had been a week and the atmosphere of an excited high school still had not died down. Emilee personally thought it was completely ridiculous. He was just a boy for heaven's sake, not something to worship. Still, it never ceased to amaze her when day after day he would slump in his chair, trying to blend in. She had to give it to him, he tried. It was still annoying, however.

It was a movie day in geography and Mr. Curado was gracious enough to not make taking notes mandatory. She knew this was directed at her, that she didn't have to pay attention if it was too much for her, and she was grateful for that. It was November, and Emilee's attention was claimed by the small white fluffs beginning to fall from the bright grey sky. She smiled. She loved it when it snowed. That whole 'no two snowflakes are alike' was one of her mother's favorite expressions for Emilee. That was annoying as well. She wasn't five, she knew she was deaf and different. This still didn't make her dislike snow.

Only one more period to freedom, two more before she would walk to the center. It was odd how attatched she had become to the place. Even weirder yet was how much she actually enjoyed being there. The children were always so excited to be with her, to see her and learn. It really wasn't her passion, though. It was the feeling she got when she watched Denise and the passion she had. It was something to envy, no doubt, and she did. Emilee truly did.

The lights were dim enough that she could focus on nothing but the oustide world, the soft flurries of snow and winter breeze lifting them along. She could ignore the moving lips, gossiping over what Nick had done that was oh so utterly hilarious. Emilee rolled her eyes. Just a boy.

Of course she wasn't exactly annoyed with him. It wasn't his fault he was sogood-looking attention prone. It wasn't like he asked for it. He actually did the opposite. Did that stop the girls? Would anything stop the girls? Emilee highly doubted it.

The lights above her suddenly flickered on, catching her attention. She relucantly turned away from the window, from her thoughts. Girls in her next class, her reading class, were all sunshine and smiles as they hurridly gathered their things to rush to Mrs. Hammond's room. Emilee shook her head. She just could not get over the absurd actions of teenage girls. Whatever happened to dignity? All of that was gone as the two practically ran out of the room.

Grabbing her notebook and textbook, she strode out the door, blinking furiously as her eyes tried to adjust to the light. The way blind people's hearing senses sharpened, her eyesight sharpened with the loss of her sound sensitivity. It was a larger shock to her eyes than most when the lights suddenly came on. She stopped short, almost getting run over by a kid in a zip-up grey hoodie. She gasped, catching her balance just before falling backwards.

The boy's hands flew out, grabbing her arm just before she fell. She looked up just in time to read "I'm sorry" in a silent exclimation. She looked up to meet his eyes, then smirked. "That's not going to help, you know," she pointed out. Nick's shoulders moved up, then down in a shrug. "It was worth a try. Sorry again," he said. She just nodded before heading off to her locker. It was weird, she noted, how easily she had just talked to him. It was the first time she had ever said a word to him, first time she ever really looked at himand allowed him to agknowledge it anyway.

Emilee quickly dialed in her locker combination before pulling it open. The mirror on it's door reflected some of the light into her eyes, temporarily blinding her. She ignored it, however, and grabbed Breaking Dawn, which she was re-reading for about the sixth time. Closing the door behind her, she was off to Mrs. Hammond's room.

She sighed, finding no use in conversation. Emilee enjoyed being by herself, and most of the time when she talked to someone, they acted like she was mentally slow. That bothered her. There was nothing wrong with her. She could respond clearly and as quickly as any other human being. Sometimes it was aggrivating how they forgot that so easily. Nick was already in his seat behind her, and as always, Emilee had to push girls out of the way to get to her own seat. Rolling her eyes, she took out her bookmark and jumped into the book before class had even started.

It had only seemed a matter of minutes before the bell rang again. How easy it was for her to get so caught up in a book. Sighing, Emilee reluctantly stood and headed to her locker before running to the empty orchestra room. It was free period and she knew it would be vacant. Mrs. Strance, the orchestra teacher often let her use this time in her room, playing her violin. The good thing about Mrs. Strance was that she didn't linger. She was allowed to leave early and usually did so as soon as Emilee was in the door.

"It's all yours," she said with a smile as she headed out the door when Emilee arrived. "Thanks." Emilee returned the smile and began walking to the storage room where her school violin was. How was it possible for someone so musically involved to have only one of their favorite instruments? She obviously was not the keeper to such information. She had two others at home, each with their own unique look and names. Pulling it out of the musty smelling black case, she carefully examined it.

Emilee ran a finger down each one of the four strings, carefully composed of thin wound steel. Grabbing the bow, she made her way back to the large orchestra room and sat down in an empty chair. She ran the horsehair against the steel strings, checking if they were still in tune. They were, and she began to play.

[&silence]

Emilee tilted her head back as she walked the three blocks to the center. Opening her mouth, and with a smile on her face, she stuck out her soft pink tongue to catch a cold, white snowflake. Laughing to herself, she shook some snowflakes from her hair. The white fluff that had just been there had become nothing more than small raindrops as they fell from her brunette hair. The snow made a crunching sound below her as she walked, but of course, this soothing sound was of no use to her. All she had was her other four senses, which were kicked into overdrive.

It didn't feel just as if Jack Frost was nipping at her nose, but more like ripping it off. She was positive it was red by that time and it sent sharp pains through her nostrils anytime she tried to inhale. Instead, Emilee had taken to breathing through her mouth, which was making puffs of steam before her face, burning her eyes a bit. It was still better than breathing through her nose. It was surprising that not all of the leaves had fallen off the trees. They were shaping the snow into their shape rather than just clumps clinging to bare branches. An old man was shoveling his driveway and didn't bother turning to wave at her as she passed on the covered sidewalk. Some kids were having a snowball fight in the front yard of their home and Emilee smiled as she watched them.

Suddenly, a hand touched her elbow and Emilee let out a short yelp of surprise. Looking down, she realized it was Frankie. "I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized. She smiled. "It's okay. What are you doing?" He looked to his left and she realized he had jumped out of a running car, stopped just by the street's curb. "Mom wanted me to ask you if you want a ride. It's really cold out for you to be walking," he explained.

Emilee pondered this. It was only another block and a half to the center, but it would be hard to pass up a heated van. She smiled and nodded. "That'd be nice. Thanks," she said, following the boy to the van. Denise reached across the length of the front seat and pushed open the door to the passenger side. "Hop in," she smiled. Emilee returned it, shaking some snow off her before she sat down, pulling the door closed behind her.

It was a mostly silent ride, which Emilee was thankful for. Denise must have also got the point that it was hard to talk to Emilee while driving and keeping her eyes on the road. She watched as Denise said something to Frankie in an angry manner and guessed he had forgotten Emilee couldn't hear him and had tried to talk. Other than that, it was pretty silent.

As she jumped out of the car after Denise had parked, Emilee had one of the oddest and abruptest feelings she had ever encountered. And it said you are home.