Silent Desires (Shattered Silence Duet Book 1)
Silent Desires: Chapter 21

As we head toward the gym, I let myself actually look around at the other students. What catches my attention the most is that no one else is holding hands. There’s one guy with his arm around a girl’s shoulder and a couple of girls with linked arms. I watch two girls hug each other before leaving in opposite directions. That must be a goodbye hug, like Dom and Atlas gave me earlier. I should start giving all my friends those. They seem to like holding my hand, and they’ve both hugged me, so they’d probably like it if I initiated it. It would show them I like them and that I’m their friend.

But what I don’t see is any other friends holding hands. Weird. I don’t really know what to think about that. I like holding their hands, is that strange?

When we reach Tucker’s office, the twins pull me inside and shut the door. Jasper reaches into his bag and passes me a small, wrapped present. I stare at it with wide eyes. Another present? Max already gave me the mp3 player, and now Jasper was giving me a gift? I try to keep the tears from falling so they don’t think I’m crazy. I need to stop crying so much around them.

“Go on, unwrap it!” Max says excitedly.

I smile and rip the paper off. It’s a cell phone in a beautiful green case covered in trees. They remembered my favorite color.

“It’s a phone!” Max says excitedly.

I stare at it in shock. This is a big present.

“We want you to be able to reach us by phone or text any time of day.”

I look at the two of them, more tears forming in my eyes at this heartfelt gift. I mouth, thank you, to them both and clutch it to my chest. They seem relieved, like they thought I might not like it.

Jasper shows me how to make calls—not that I’d be doing that—send them texts, and use Google. All seven of them are already programmed into my phone. Texting is so cool. I can send them a message at any time if I want to chat, and since I don’t speak, they thought it would be easier than writing most of the time, too. Google is… spectacular. It’s like the dictionary on steroids or like having an entire library at my fingertips. I can look up everything. He even shows me how to type in an entire question. This feels life-changing for me. I have to make sure to keep it safe and away from my family’s eyes. They show me how to turn it on and off and silence it for class and home.

I turn to Jasper and give him a big hug, then turn around to do the same to Max. He laughs and says, “You’re welcome, Sweetheart.”

They leave me in Tucker’s office and I replace my gym clothes and shoes waiting for me in the bathroom. I change and head into the gym. Unfortunately, there are no mats set up this time. I see Tucker talking to a couple of students and head in that direction. Tucker sees me, excuses himself, and meets me a few paces away from the other students.

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t wait for you. Another student came to ask me something, so I thought it was best to clear my office for you.”

I give him a smile at his thoughtfulness. None of my other teachers are this nice.

“We’re playing soccer today. Do you know how to play?” he asks, and even though I would rather skip gym class, with my arm constantly bothering me, I don’t want to draw any more attention to myself, so I decide to make an attempt to participate today. At least it’s Friday and I’ll have the weekend off.

I shake my head.

“Okay, well, I can have a couple of students teach you the basics at the side while the rest of the class plays a game. Alright?”

I don’t really want to interact with other students, but I don’t really have a choice. And I haven’t had a panic attack recently, so I think I’m getting used to being around people. I give him a smile as I hear a student call to him. He excuses himself and tells me to stretch like we did last week in the cool-down.

I move to the side and start stretching. It actually feels pretty good after sitting all day. More students start to fill in around me when I hear a girl speak to me.

“Hey, you’re the new girl, right? The one who doesn’t talk?”

I want to ignore her but think I can get this over with easier if I at least acknowledge her. I look her way and nod. She looks a little like me, with long brown hair and a similar height. She also has similar curves to mine, but our faces are very different, she’s much prettier.

“Did you have an accident or something?”

It wasn’t an accident that directly stopped me from speaking, but it was the outcome of one, so I nod.

“Shit, that sucks. Can you speak with sign language?”

I don’t know what that is, so I shake my head.

“Oh… Well, are you going to the party tonight at Brandon’s house?”

I shake my head. I don’t know about the party or who Brandon is, but I definitely wouldn’t be able to go even if I did.

“Alright, class, who wants to play some soccer?” Tucker asks, and a few kids holler. He splits the class into two, then pulls me and the girl I was talking to aside.

“Lisa, would you mind teaching Mina some basics of soccer? She’s never played before. You can use the area over there.” He points to a corner of the gym not in use.

“For sure, Stone!” she says excitedly, batting her eyelashes at him before grabbing a soccer ball and motioning for me to follow her.

“Stone is so hot, don’t you think?” she asks once we’re away from everyone else.

I look at her with wide eyes. I’m sure it’s not acceptable to have a crush on your teacher. I also don’t want her to have a crush on him specifically.

“Girl, you totally do!” She laughs, and my face heats with embarrassment. “I’d be all over him if I didn’t already have a boyfriend. He’s in college. He’s probably older than Stone.”

Wow, that’s a big age gap. Is that normal? Glancing towards Tucker, I really want to know the answer to that question.

“He’s so hot, too. Beautiful green eyes and wavy brown hair. He’s like five-nine, which is the perfect height for us short gals, you know?”

I nod like I understand why height matters, but I don’t.

“Anyway, I was hoping he’d come to the party tonight so I could show him off, but he has to work. Lame, right?” I nod, not really understanding what’s lame about her boyfriend having to work.

She starts to show me the basics of kicking the ball and the rules of the game. It’s easy enough to understand, but I am not very physically fit so even this small effort makes me tired. When Tucker comes to check on us, I indicate I’m not ready to join the game, so he has me watch to see how it’s played. Watching the students run up and down the court, I know I won’t be ready for quite some time. I don’t have enough stamina for that.

When the class finishes, I quickly and quietly sneak back into Tucker’s office to change. After getting dressed back into my uniform and Jasper’s hoodie, I grab my bag and head outside. As I start my walk home, I can’t help but wish it wasn’t Friday. I’m not going to see my guys for over two days.

That reminds me of my new phone, so I pull it out of my bag and see I already have a bunch of missed messages.

Max: Where are you?

I wish you would wait for us.

I wanted to say goodbye.

Jasper: Can we give you a drive home?

Msg me if you need anything, Angel.

Tucker: You must be a ninja. You always seem to escape my office without me noticing.

Gideon: I hope you have a good weekend. Please message me if you need anything.

Atlas: Malishka, tell me when you’ve gotten home safely.

Dom: Text me if you need anything.

Ben: I hear you got a cell phone. Now I can show you some of my favorite games to play on it!

I laugh as I read their messages. Maybe this weekend won’t be so bad after all.