Almost Gone

I had told Kate and Ella. I figured, if I told Carl, I should tell them. He had also, oddly, forced me into sleeping with him. And I had also slept wonderfully.

“Good morning,” Carl says, kissing my forehead. “I have a present for you.”

“What?”, I mouth.

“Come with me,” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him. I stop him momentarily, grabbing the pen and notebook. He rolls his eyes, grabbing my hand, pulling me behind him. He pulls me into a room that looked like it was a music club.

What is all of this?

“I did a little digging, and I found all of these tapes and stuff. And I wanna help you try to get your voice back. Because I heard it. It was beautiful.”, Carl says, smiling at me. I stand up on my tiptoes, kissing him.

“I love you,” I mouth.

“You ready to work on that beautiful voice of yours?”, Carl asks, smiling at me. I roll my eyes, raising an eyebrow at him. I shake my head, pouting. “Oh, Emma, you know I love you,” he says, kissing me. I smile at him, nodding. “What?”

I’ll try talking.

And so began my struggle to talk. Hopefully my other friends will be willing to help me.