Silence Speaks Louder

Banner by livelife.breatheair, but she changed her username. I'm too lazy to look up her new username, though. Hahaha. I do talk to her alot, though:] Chapter by Hannah and it's only being posted because sixty percent was already written.



Emilee sighed heavily as she turned off the cold water. Reaching for a towel, to the right of the bathroom sink, she wiped the cool droplets from her face. She hung the towel back on the towel rack before resting both hands on either side of the white marble sink. Looking up, she scanned over herself in the mirror.

Her dark hair was curled and pulled back on the top. She wore a black sweater dress, something to keep her warm in the cold November weather. A gold and delicate chain was fastened around her neck, a black and white cameo hanging from it. A family heirloom, it had been the very first gift her grandfather had given her grandmother in the fourties. Her heels had been kicked off by the door, the house was nice and the last thing Emilee wanted to do was scuff up her boss's floor. The girl was stunning. She just didn't have the ego to realize it.

Sighing, she stood up straight. Emilee knew she couldn't hibernate in the bathroom all night. Denise had invited her for dinner, and even if she didn't feel like eating, it looked delicious. Turning on her heel, she turned the lock and pulled the door open. Turning off the light, she stepped into the hallway and began to make her way back to the dining room downstairs.

She wouldn't have realized if her fingers hadn't brushed lightly against the pale painted wall. She paused, pressing her entire hand to the wall. The vibrations were subtle, but she could make out the lower notes in her mind, though she couldn't hear it herself. The lower notes, she had learned by playing violin, made heavier vibrations, and the higher notes were much harder for her to make out by simply feeling through a wall. The flow was consistant, so she knew when she lost three or four notes, it was because they were in a higher key.

She pressed her ear to the wall, though she knew it was absurd. She wasn't going to hear anything, this she knew, but she couldn't restrain herself from trying. Emilee pushed herself from the wall and began to slowly approach the room the vibrations were coming from. The door was open, casting a rectangle of light on the carpet and opposing wall in the otherwise dark hallway.

Peering her head into the room, she realized it was Nick. His hands were moving swiftly over the ivory keys. He played with a passion Emilee had neither seen nor experienced before. Yes, she played violin, but not with any real measure of passion. She couldn't hear it, and the frustration of that usually overpowered anything and everything else.

Abruptly, realization hit her. Kevin and Joe were Nick's brothers. And they were the Jonas Brothers. She let her hand fall against the wooden door panel for support as she took this in. Emilee inwardly cursed herself for being so idiotic. Why hadn't she realized this before? It was so obvious now.

Her hand gripped the door's panel and she seemed to be able to feel the vibrations better there. He was completely oblivious to her presence, but his hands soon began to slow, and within a few minutes, came to a complete stop. She watched his shoulders raise, then fall and she reccognized that this movement was a sigh.

"It's beautiful."

Emilee wasn't sure why she had said it, but the words passed her lips and it was too late to take it back. He turned quickly with the suddenness of her voice. "What, you haven't memorized it yet?" he asked sarcastically, and Emilee realized that no one had mentioned her deafness to him.

She had figured Denise would have said something, but she was polite and it was probably never brought up. It was easier to believe no one at school had mentioned it, her disability to hear was normal to them. After all, she had grew up with those people. It probably never crossed their mind to clue in the rockstar on how the quiet girl who was in all honors classes and sat in front of him in reading happed to also be deaf. She wished she could have kept it that way. People tended to treat her differently after they knew.

"I haven't had the pleasure of hearing any of your music, actually," she replied, taking one step into the room. Nick looked surprised. "You're telling me you go to Wyckoff High and haven't heard our music?" Emilee half-smied. "It's been a long time since I've heard music," she said and paused. "Will you play more?" she asked.

He watched her cautiously, as if deciding if she were trustworthy. Emilee took a few steps further into the room. His expression changed from cautious to curious. Who was this strange girl? Finally, he turned back to the piano, setting his hands lightly on the keys. Softly, ever so softly, he began to play.

Emilee took the remaining steps to the piano and set her hand on top of it. She could feel it better, touch the notes almost literally. "What are you doing?" he asked, his hand hovering above a key. "Listening," she replied, her face completely blank of any emotion. His expression was one of complete confusion and Emilee, oddly enough, thoroughly enjoyed it. He didn't know.

Well, obviously she'd have to clue him in, but for that moment in time, she wouldn't. She would enjoy this. She would enjoy how he treated her normally. And she would treat him normally. He just wouldn't know it was because she had never heard him.

His eyes stayed locked on her as he played, his fingers swiftly moving over the keys he had memorized from playing the song so often. Emilee found herself amused, which confused Nick further. It was a short two minutes before he stopped.

"Do you play?" he asked. Emilee shook her head, but then paused. "Not piano. Violin." He nodded. "Do you always play when you're sick?" she asked in return. He half-smiled. "I play anytime I'm stressed. I'm sure you've noticed that I don't exactly fit in at school." She nodded, then mumbled to herself, "I wonder why."

This question wasn't meant rhetorically, and somehow, Nick had sensed that. Emilee had simply been observing something. She had simply been wondering why he was treated so highly. She hadn't heard him, and apparently he was good. By the way he played he was good, but she also knew he sang.

At that moment, she wanted to hear more than anything. She wanted to hear more than she had ever wanted in her entire life. She wanted to decide for herself if he was talented. But she couldn't. And that was extremely frustrating. The only way she could ever tell would be by pressing her hand to his back or throat. That was obviously just not going to happen.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. Emilee sighed, feeling the moment die. It had been nice to be treated normally and she knew she would have to tell him right then. She drew a deep breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth. Sighing heavily, she turned to look at the confused boy. "I'm deaf, Nick."