Their Violence, Your Silence.

I woke up shaking, my hands clutching the duvet tightly as if afraid it would disappear in thin air. It was dark around me, pitch black because I'd tripped over the wire of my alarm clock that evening and hadn't bothered to plug it back in. I knew I could sleep in the next morning.

When I unlatched my fingers from their tight grip they automatically went to the bedside table to reach for my glasses. When I found just the book I'd been reading and the bottle of eye drops I realized that I didn't need glasses anymore.

Feeling better now despite the bad dream I got out of my bed carefully. Knowing what hazards lay spread around on my bedroom floor. Mostly books of course but I knew out of experience that standing on a sharp pencil or ballpoint was quite painful.

When I'd made my way across the room I quietly slipped out and then across the hall into the bathroom. There was a clock there that told me it was 7 AM. Not that early then... It just seemed that way because the curtains were closed so tightly.

Splashing some cold water in my face and then carefully dripping the stuff the doctor gave me into my eyes was refreshing. After that I judged it alright to remember what I'd dreamed about and more importantly: what had scared me awake.

Green eyes were vivid in my mind. So vivid that I could almost see them with my eyes open now. It wasn't hard to guess who those eyes belonged too, they were Caleb's and I'd been admiring that particular shade of green for a very long time now.

But try as I might, I could not remember anything else from my dream other then a deep sense of foreboding. It gave me shivers even now in the bright bathroom light.

I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so took a shower and washed my hair. In just a few hours Katie would come to pick me up anyway. She'd drive us to Cassie's house to prepare for the dance.

They hadn't allowed me to take part in any of the recuperation's, I hadn't even picked my own dress. Well not consciously at least... I'd been holding it for a long time without paying attention to it but it had been Katie who decided that it was the one I would wear.

When I was done I slipped into some simple clothes and with a book in hand and the eye drops in my pocket I hurried downstairs for breakfast.



'Are you ready?' asked Cassie excitedly from beside me. She was bounding up and down in her own light blue silk dress that clung to her like water. She looked downright amazing with her brown hair half pinned up and half down in wide perfectly round curls.

Katie had done her make up in light and subtle shades so that her eyes sparkled and she hardly needed any jewelry to make her look prettier then she was. She had on a simple blue silk mask that matched her dress, a few stray Swarovski gems around the eyes.

Katie looked out of place now in her simple pair of jeans and black top. She was just a little sad that she didn't get to come to the dance. Which is why she had insisted on driving the both of us there so she got to see our entree.

'Are you ready Winter?' asked Katie, repeating Cassie's question because I hadn't answered. Too nervous anyhow. I seriously doubted I would look good in such a fancy dress.

'Ready or not you have got to see yourself!' Cassie said, as always impatient. Adding the deed to her words she yanked the cloth from the mirror to reveal my reflection.

The girl staring back at me was a total stranger. She wore a black halter dress that ended just above her knees. The skirt wide and puffy because of a thick layer of black tulle. The top fabric itself black with rose patterns which were enhanced by the occasional red gem.

It hugged the girls waist but left her shoulders bare, there was hardly any cleavage though and of that I was very glad. But the back of the dress was completely open, it meant I couldn't wear a bra because it would show.

There was a set of simply black high heals gracing the girls feet and it made her look tall and beautiful and even graceful. That girl just couldn't be me.

The golden red waves of hair that I often referred to as my untamable mane now hung in stylish girls down my back. Some of them pinned up in an elaborate pattern across my scalp, it looked very classy and intricate.

Katie had even brought along some pins with small white gems on them. They caught the light and made it look like raindrops or tiny stars had nestled themselves between the curls.

The mask Cassie had supplied. Again a simple soft silk band, black this time. Swarovski gems graced them, this time in red to match the dress.

The make up was so subtle that you hardly even noticed it was there, still it enhanced my eyes to make the brown look so dark it was nearly black. Dark pools to drown in Cassie called them.

I nodded slowly, yes looking like this I would definitely be noticed. Nobody would expect me to look like this. Although a lot of people might still think I wasn't going to show up at all. Especially with my three day absence from school.

'And?' Katie asked me, 'What do you think Winnie?'

I swallowed and then drew myself up to my full height, which was considerably taller with the heals on on. Then I smiled at my reflection, confidence surging through me.

'I look amazing... Thanks!' then I turned to first hug Katie and then Cassie.

'You're damn right you look fantastic!' said Cassie.

'Yeah and you better have loads of fun! Make Caleb's jaw drop!' Katie said as she hugged me a second time.



I slowly got out of the car, the same feeling of foreboding suddenly washing over me as I stared at the school entrance. We were late, because Cassie insisted that we needed a big crowd to witness our arrival.

I'm sure she had some sort of big, teenage movie type entrance in her mind. Where everyone would fall silent and time seemed to slow down as the heroine entered. Everyone staring in open mouthed surprise at how beautiful she looks...

I sincerely doubted it would happen that way but I didn't mind the big crowd, it probably meant I would be noticed less. The only thing I should be worried about was finding Caleb in a crowd like that. And maybe a little about his reaction to the eye surgery.

Still it was hard to shake that feeling of foreboding now that it had wormed it's way into the pit of my stomach. It had settled there in the form of a hard knot.

It seemed as if my treacherous feet carried me in the direction of the music of their own accord. I heard Cassie's surprised gasp behind me as I left them and then hurried feet as both girls caught up.

Thats how I reached the gym which had temporarily been transformed to accommodate for the dance. Floating along on an odd combination of dread and foreboding along with confidence I reached the doors where the few people standing outside to smoke stared at me in surprise.

I heard Cassie say a few hurried hello's but I was now focused solely on finding Caleb. I didn't care about what other people thought off how I looked. I just really needed to make sure that Caleb was alright.

As I stepped into the gym the first thing I noticed was the rather stupid, cheesy decorations. Then warmth slammed into me combined with the scent of nervous bodies, crammed together mercilessly on the dance floor.

My eyes quickly found the refreshment table where I was supposed to meet up with Caleb. But I quickly realized it was a rather silly meet up point. There were loads of people there, either standing around pretending to be busy or just talking because it was the coolest spot in the room, right next to one of the open escape exits.

Still I knew he had to be there somewhere for me, waiting.

Squaring my shoulders I strode over to the refreshment table. Finding it rather easy to walk in the high heals, to my own surprise.

When I reached the table I looked around. Caleb was tall and it wouldn't surprise me if he'd be surrounded by a group of girls and probably a friend or two, Shane should be there as well.

Cassie came up beside me, 'My you're in an awfull lot of hurry! You didn't even say goodbye to Katie!' she yelled at me over the music.

'Oh there is Shane!' she then said as the familiar frame of her boyfriend freed himself from a group of guys he'd been talking to and hurried over to greet her.

I tried to see if Caleb was there as well but before I had looked properly a warm hand touched my elbow.

I spun around, expecting it to be Caleb but instead met a very cold set of eyes. The boy wore a dark red mask and an arrogant grin.

'Hello there Winter,' was all Damien said. The blood in my veins turning cold at the next words he uttered: 'Seems like Caleb's left you all alone, saw him run off just moments before you arrived with Marley. How about you and I go for a dance?'