Pictures on Silence

I clenched my teeth and pulled at my hair. It hurt so much. The darkness pushed from every direction, filling me with equal parts of air and absolute terror. Every blow sent another sickening pulse to my head, and they just laughed. I flailed, tried to roll away, just to make it stop, and hit my head against something hard.

My eyes shot open and I set my jaw: my head hurt so badly I wanted to throw up. Rubbing my left temple, I looked around at the alien room; Spencer lie sprawled out on the floor, Brendon sat playing video games with the television muted and Jon and Ryan sat asleep on the couch, so I guess I was alright. Except that I'd just bashed my head into Ryan's knee and woken him up.

"Ow," he commented, yawning. He licked his lips and looked at me with a smile. "Good morning."

"Speak for yourself," I grumbled in reply, "And preferably at a lower volume."

Brendon turned around as a loading screen appeared. "You were talking pretty loudly in your sleep," he informed me. "I'm surprised I'm the only one you woke up. But then again, your mouth was right next to my ear." I smiled apologetically and shut my eyes against the glare of the television. "Advil and water are up in the kitchen."

I stumbled to my feet, almost falling onto Jon, and traipsed up the stairs, trying to navigate a house I didn't remember walking through. Eventually I found the kitchen, a glass, and a bottle of Advil on the counter. I knocked back a whole glass before even swallowing the pill.

I lie; I swallowed five pills. I had a high tolerance for pain killers and low patience.

A voice from the doorway made me spin around and grit my teeth. "Uh, who are you?" A girl-- older than I-- with dark hair and brown eyes stared at me circumspectly. "What are you doing in my kitchen?"

"I'm, uh, Brendon's friend," I replied timorously.

"Oh, little brother's home?" She smiled and offered her hand. "I'm Kara, by the way. Brendon's sister." I shook her hand, introducing myself, and put my empty glass in the sink. "Sorry if I scared you. What, you guys get in late last night and decide to sleep in the basement?"

"Yes, actually," I confirmed, smiling nervously. Meeting new people on a one-to-one basis made me incredibly shy and apprehensive. Introverts unite! My killer headache didn't help, either. "And I apologise for any noise we made; we had a couple drinks." A couple? I repeated to myself. I don't remember half the night.

Kara laughed and went to the refrigerator. "That's okay. He's a good kid." I nodded, shifting my weight. "Your hair's curly, isn't it?" I picked up a lock, seeing that it had started to spiral up again and nodded, smiling. "It's really pretty. You want something to eat?" I shook my head politely, fiddling with my fingers. She looked at me as she crossed the room with a carton of milk. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," I said, plastering on a smile.

"If you're uncomfortable, you can go back and do unmentionables with Bren," she offered, pulling out a box of Reese's cereal and a bowl.

"No, I've had enough testosterone in the past two weeks to appreciate some female company." Kara smiled and offered me a chair. I sat down and realised what she meant, which made me redden and blink rapidly. "O-oh, I'm not-- I mean, Brendon and I aren't... God no! No, my band was touring with them."

"Oh." Kara crunched into the delicious orbs of chocolate- and peanut butter-flavoured wheat. "Sorry, I just assumed. So you're another musician friend of his?" I nodded, relaxing a little. "That's cool. You guys have fun on tour?" I nodded again. Chewing, she gave me a curious look. "Not a big talker, are you?"

"Not really," I said and rubbed my head. It still throbbed pulsingly, and talking didn't help much. The chomp of Kara's breakfast and the ticking of some clock filled the otherwise pretty awkward silence. After a few minutes, I tried, "So... um..."

"Hey, Kara." Thank God. We both looked up as Brendon, Spencer, and Ryan walked into the kitchen. Kara got up and hugged all of them. I smiled from my seat and played an interlude in my head while they all had their moment.

"Aww, Angiepants, we love you too," Spencer said, hugging me. "We've just seen you everyday for a long time." I pushed his shoulder. "Well, I can see someone's feeling not so hung over."

"Oh the contrary," I said, laying my head against the table and shutting my eyes.

Someone dropped into the chair beside me and began munching. Opening one eye revealed that it was Ryan. He smiled, still chewing, and waved his spoon. I snorted, smiling lightly, and shut my eyes again. The four of them talked over cereal, though I mostly tuned them out and pretended I didn't want to retch.

"Pst," came a whisper in my ear. I hummed inquisitively, too exhausted to move. "My sister thinks you're cute."

"That's nice, Brendon," I murmured back. "My half-sister thinks you're cute, too."

Spencer and Ryan laughed. "Isn't she, like, ten?" Ryan confirmed.

"Pst," another whispered hissed in my ear after a few minutes of me still having not moved.

"What do you want, Bren?" I demanded without enthusiasm.

"My sister thinks you're funny."

"Fab," I replied sarcastically. "She also thought I was fucking you until I corrected her."

"Really?" Spencer asked, laughing. "Eew." I raised my head-- which felt like it was made of lead-- and frowned at him. "No, that's not what I meant!"

I raised an eyebrow at Ryan, watching with an amused smile, and Brendon, who shrugged. "Eh. I'd tap that."

With a groan, I returned the side of my head to the table; Ryan tilted his head to match mine, still looking incredibly amused. "Hello, Sanity," I greeted. "Have you come to save me from the crazies?" All three of them laughed.