Look into my eyes and hear what I'm not saying, for my eyes speak louder than my voice ever will....~Unknown.
~~~
I silently watched as my math teacher wrote foreign symbols on the board with a squeaking blue marker. The words that escaped her mouth were those of an alien language. I stayed still, like Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” statue for the next hour, completely oblivious to everything going on around me.
Mrs. Daniels gave us a ten minute head start on our homework. Not wanting to bring my enormous text book home, I quickly copied down the bizarre symbols into my notebook. The sound of desks being scratched against the cheap tile floor brought my attention up. I peered at Olivia and Hunter as they connected their desks to mine in some sort of awkward triangular shape.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted, tapping my pen on the notebook. “Do you get any of this? I keep thinking she’s speaking in Chinese or something.”
Hunter’s mouth tipped. “You don’t get it?” He leaned over so his head was near mine. “Need some help?”
Moaning, I rapidly tapped the pencil against my forehead. “I hate math.”
Hunter patted my head with a gingerly smile. “You suck at everything. But I could tutor you,” he answered with enthusiasm.
I gawked at him. “I don’t suck at everything!”
Olivia chuckled and brushed her fingers through her herbal essence blonde hair. There was once a time where I though Hunter and Olivia would make a grand couple. She, being a cheerleader and Hunter being a basket player, well, they were a match made in Heaven. Unfortunately, we were all on the edge of just friendship and nothing more. That actually made things a lot easier.
“Why not get your geeky brother to teach you?” Olivia flicked up an eyebrow and exposed her crystal like blue eyes. “I hear he’s quite the nerd.”
“Luke?” Hunter asked, a hint of bitterness crossing his face. Hunter and Luke hadn’t really been getting along. In fact Luke ignored his presence completely.
“I’ve been hearing some odd rumors about your adopted brother, Liliah,” Olivia noted, leaning towards me.
I frowned, knowing what the rumors were about. A week had passed and every student in Lake Forest High knew his position. Sure, in the beginning he was a shiny new plaything that the girls swooned over him. But after the sharp knife-like rejections and silent treatments, they backed off. He hadn’t uttered a word to anyone. Sometimes I would catch his words when he spoke to the teacher but that wasn’t enough to count as speaking.
“What kind of rumors?” Amusement flashed across Hunter’s eyes.
Olivia shrugged. “Like he always sits next to windows like a freaking ghost and never says anything. Her eyes met mine and she asked, “Is he a mute or something?”
“What? No, he’s not a mute!” I retorted, slightly angrier than I should have been.
“Well, does at least talk to you?”
“Not really…” I muttered, lowering my eyes, ashamed.
“You ditched me at lunch to sit next to a wall.” Olivia rolled her eyes.
I ignored her, looking back at my scribbled problems. I had already explained to her that I was incapable of leaving Luke by himself.
Olivia let out a hearty laugh. “You’ve been chasing him like a puppy for the last week and he still hasn’t burst? I’m sorry, but I would have been so annoyed that I would have slapped you once or twice by now.”
Olivia was always a cynic but we got along like peanut butter and jelly.
Hunter bobbed his head in agreement. “Why keep following him around. Just leave him alone and it’s obvious he’s annoyed.”
“I just don’t feel right. I mean, he’s new and he’s got no one but me and my mom. We have to do our part in being his family members now, so don’t expect me to just give up on him so easily.”
“Here comes, Liliah, the saint,” Olivia muttered. She scratched her pencil against the paper in an attempt to make it seem like she was working when Mrs. Daniels flashed her a look. “You can’t save everyone, Liliah. Remember that much.”
“I could try,” I disagreed. For some reason, I really wanted Luke to trust me, to break the wall of ice that surrounded his heart, stopping at nothing until I had accomplished that task.
“Is there such a thing as being overly helpful?” Hunter asked. “Because that’s seriously what you’re doing. You need to take a step back from the guy, give him some space to breath.”
“I just want us to all get along, okay?” I narrowed my eyes at the two. Honestly, there were times where I felt like I was the only humane person in the world. Did they take things like this so lightly? Was it easy for people to give up on themselves and others so easily? I could never, I was a stubborn mule and cracking Luke like a nut was what I was going to do, whether he liked it or not. There was a dark pain in his eyes which I wanted to vanquish, to see a smile on his strict face.
The bell rang. Students suddenly leapt out of their chairs like a pack of rabbits. They tried to squeeze through the small door all at once, inching their way through the small cracks in the herd. Hunter and Olivia gather their materials and set the desk back in their proper places.
“See you later,” Olivia waved, sprinting out the door with her red purse hitting her waist.
Hunter and I walked across the long hallway and down the stairs towards the Science hall. I pushed past a group of freshman who hurdled together, blocking half the hallway.
“I hate freshmen,” Hunter muttered. He led me through the thicket of bodies, acting like a bulldozer. A few of the freshmen actually took steps back when they saw him coming. Of course they wouldn’t get in the way of the basket ball team captain.
I took a seat next to Hunter at our oval table in the Environmental science class. Mr. Roberts was already taking attendance on his podium. Luke was in his seat, his back slouched again the chair and his hands on the desk with a pen and a notebook. I studied his angular jaw, his motionless eyes staring at the blank chalk board, his messy hair was need of a good brushing but that only made him look all the more attractive, like a rogue. Shaking my head, my eyes darted back towards chubby Mr. Roberts. I shouldn’t be comparing my brother to the type of men I liked. Those sorts of thoughts were completely forbidden.
“Alright, pick partners,” Mr. Roberts announced after putting away his attendance booklet. “We’ll be doing a partner test so pick someone who’s smart,” he laughed, as if he told the world’s funniest joke.
If Luke wasn’t here, I would have stayed in my seat and partnered with Hunter. But Luke was here and I couldn’t let just anyone partner up with him.
“Liliah,” Hunter patted my shoulder.
I gave him a wearily smile. “Sorry, Hunter but I think I’ll have to decline this time. I need to partner up with Luke…because I need to talk to him,” I countered, hoping that he wouldn’t think anything else.
“Yeah, I got it,” he smiled. Flashing Luke one sharp Luke before getting up, he walked to a different table and sat next to some guy from his basketball team.
Without wasting any time, I launched myself towards Luke, swinging into the seat next to him without giving any other girl a chance to do so. Sure, I received some piercing eyes from the other Luke-obsessed chicks but I didn’t mind.
“Hi, Luke!” I said a little too loudly. “Can I be your partner for this one?” I grinned. “Since we’re related, it’s only normal for us to pair up, right?”
His dark eyes dug into mine and a sarcastic smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You’re really annoying,” he answered.
My breath got caught in my lungs and my eyes widened. Did he really just say something to me?
“Luke-” My words were guillotined by Mr. Robert’s hard glare.
“Miss Liliah, if you would be so kind to pass out the tests to everyone.” He handed me a chunk of white test papers.
“Sure thing, Mr. Roberts,” I forced a smile. How annoying. The papers were stuck together so I licked my thumb and quietly placed a sheet in front of every pair of students. Students normally would rejoice when teachers asked them to hand out papers. Without a doubt, it was a dumb thing to be a happy about, yet most kids would volunteer for the job with raised hands.
Afterward, I sat down with a sigh and picked up my pencil. Luke snatched the paper and began working on the problems. I stared at him, wide eyed. The sound of his pen gliding across the paper, the way his brows furrowed in concentration as he easily finished the first three problems, made me wish I could listen to what he was thinking. I felt a like a burden to him, a piece of bubble gum on his shoe. Twisting my lips, I played with my pencil.
“Oh, I know that one, it’s D.” I pointed to question number seven. He flashed me a daring look and then circled A. Frowning, my cheeks burned with embarrassment. I knew I wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. An average Joe among the elite here at Lake Forest High. The school was filled with nerds and your over achievers but I, I was merely a girl who strove to get at least a “B” on her next report card.
A cocky smile lingered on his lip as he turned the paper over and began to quickly kill the rest of the problems. Biting my tongue, I wanted to wipe that smile off his lips. What did have to be so smug about anyway? I was just trying to help. Pouting, my eyes scanned the room and locked on Hunter. He lifted a brow to me and smiled. Giving him a satisfying beam, I went back and watched Luke finish the rest of the test on his own. I certainly didn’t learn a thing.
~~~
The smell of fresh vegetables and finely cut chicken made its way up my nose and into my belly. A satisfied smile lifted my cheeks as I turned the stove off. It was my turn to cook dinner today. Normally, Mom and I would alternate days where we would have to cook. I didn’t mind, cooking was one of my talents. Experimenting with nature’s goodies was something that waved to me.
Footsteps echoed down the stairs. Mom came into the kitchen dressed in some slacks and a yellow sweater. “Ah, it smells good, sweetheart,” she said, sniffing the air.
“Yeah, I tried something a little different with the chicken today. Hopefully you’ll like it.” The plates clanked as I set them on the counter, preparing to fill them with my hard work.
Mom walked towards the counter sink and looked out the window. Luke was outside, finishing mowing the lawn with our old red grass eater whom I named Bob. That was back when I was seven. Yes, the machine was quite old.
Leaning my hip against the corner, I aimed to take a peek. He was dressed in some khaki shorts with a red shirt. His hair was ten times messier than this afternoon and had a few drops of perspiration on his forehead where some of his dark hair clung.
Lately, Mom had been giving him some odd jobs to do. Certain things like fixing the blinking light bulb in her closet or popping open that darn lock in our garage, even helping her put together the new TV stand she bought for her room. Certainly he did all those chores without blinking an eye.
“He’s a good guy,” she said, breaking my stare.
“I like him.” The chicken was hot, sending up fumes of airy smoke as I placed them into the round plates. Luke didn’t like peas; he didn’t even take one bite of them last time, so I skipped his plate. “He’s quiet, but I think he’s cool,” I shrugged. But of course Mom would think of him as good. When she brought Luke home, he was already her son. Not just by law…but by heart.
By the time I finished setting the plates, Luke had finished taken a quick shower and came down in a pair of black sweat pants and a loose white shirt. The strands of his raven hair were wet and still dripping with apple scented shampoo. I caught of whiff of him as I rounded the table and popped my bottom down across from him.
Mom smiled, her fork swarming around the mashed potatoes. “Liliah, you forgot to give Lucas his peas,” she idly pointed at the empty section on his plate.
“He doesn’t like them,” I answered. The corner of Luke’s mouth curved up and I immediately bit my lip, holding back a satisfied grin. At least I was doing something right.
“Really, I didn’t know that. I guess I’ll take note of this for the future.” She began eating and halfway through our meal she stopped. “I just had an idea,” she exclaimed with her fork up. “Why don’t you and Lucas go to the mall this weekend? Fall is coming so it’s the perfect time to get some new clothes.” She grinned, probably thinking she had come up with a brilliant idea. “What do you think, huh?” She turned her eyes on Luke.
He looked up, as if he was about to reject. Instead, he met her eyes and a soft smile crossed his lips. “Sure, I’ll go.”
Sure, I’ll go
The peas slipped off my fork. My mouth hung open as his word pierced my ears like a thousand needles. Did words just seriously come out of his mouth? His voice, surely I had heard his words before, but this time it was crisp and clear. Was that the way he sounded? I never thought such short words would get my heart thumping that fast. That spilt second, I thought I had gone deaf and regained my sense of hearing when he spoke. Just for that spilt second.
Luke turned to me. A tongue massaging the tip of his front teeth as his smile faded. I heard myself swallow as I locked my gaze on him.
His eyes were so deep, I was afraid I might fall in.
________________________________________________________
Join the official Taboo Page for updates!
The boy speaks!
Gender:
Points: 44887
Reviews: 816