Three: Silence

Prologue- https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work/notmaria/...

Chapter One- https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work/notmaria/...

Chapter Two- https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work/notmaria/...

I really should've known what Lorelai was thinking when she invited me over for a sleepover. She'd brought it up one morning and I'd agreed after texting my dad and getting a reply the same afternoon. I should've guessed it, but I didn't even suspect a thing until she mentioned that her parents weren't going to be there.

"My mom and dad are going on their anniversary trip.” Her “dad” was really her stepdad, Levi Velenti. He’d been married to her mom for six years. We hardly ever talked about her biological father, and she never called him “Dad” when we did.

I looked at her, now knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Nope. Absolutely not."

"But Ver," She whined. "It's the first bonfire of the year."

"And you can go and have a great time. I'll just stay in your room, binge-watch Criminal Minds, and eat all of the chocolate chip cookie dough you always keep in the freezer."

She just smiled and shook her head. "I'll convince you eventually."

I didn't say anything because I knew she was wrong.

***

“Oh my gosh, Ver, you’ll never believe what just happened.” Lorelai slid into her seat beside me just as the bell rang. “Rex asked me out.”

I looked at her, probably looking as unimpressed as I felt. “And?”

“Like on a date.”

I tilted my head. “Seriously? That’s new.”

She nodded, barely containing her excitement. “I know. No one’s ever actually asked me on a date before they ask me to be in a relationship with them.”

“How did he ask you?”

I couldn’t help but feel just as giddy as Lorelai was as she described the exact color of the roses that he’d given her. Lorelai was always laughing, but this was the most euphoric I’d ever seen her.

“So, did you say yes?”

She bit her lip. “I told him I’d think about it. I think he was surprised that I didn’t just say no.”

“Are you going to say yes?”

She giggled a bit and pressed the palm of her hand against her mouth. “I think so.”

On Friday night, Lorelai dragged me to the football game. I knew enough about football from my brief stint in the marching band to follow the game, but I'd never really enjoyed watching sports as much as everyone else seemed to.

Lorelai screamed her head off beside me while I grinned half-heartedly, and the game was over quickly. It was a good thing, because Lorelai told Rex that she’d give him her answer after the game and I don’t think I could take another second of her stressing out over it.

I followed her out onto the field, but I kept my distance. I hadn’t told her anything about the car ride with Rex and I just hoped that I’d go unnoticed, as usual. I wasn’t sure why, but the experience had felt too personal to say out loud. I could see the exact moment that she told him yes, by the way all the vibrating energy in her body stilled.

And I could see, a few seconds later, when he realized what she’d said, by the way his face lit up with surprise.

A little herd of small children surrounded Rex very suddenly and Lorelai was swept up in it as well. The three older kids trailed slowly behind them.

“You know, his name really is funny.”

I glanced at the girl who was standing beside me, a pensive expression on her face. I could tell immediately that she was one of the many Kumar siblings. She had the same sharp cheekbones, pitch black hair, and warm russet skin.

“What?” I asked softly, still not entirely sure that she was talking to me.

“Rex. Did you know that his middle name is Icarus? Personally, I think that he’s much less of a king and more of a boy who doesn’t realize that his wings are melting.”

I looked at her again. “How old are you?”

She smiled. “I’m eleven. I like names, and mine’s Wren. What’s yours?”

I didn’t know how else to respond, so I told her name. “Verity.”

She shook her head like she was disappointed in me. “What’s your full name?”

“Verity Novak.”

“No middle name?”

I laughed a little bit. “Nope. You know, I like names too. And it’s such a strange coincidence- my sister’s middle name is Andromeda.”

Wren narrowed her eyes. “Really. How interesting.”

I glanced back over to Lorelai. She was grinning at the smallest Kumar, and I felt my lips form a smile. She really was great with kids.

“Well, Verity Novak, it was nice to meet you.” Wren waved at me and went to join the rest of her family.

I smiled and tugged my jean jacket tighter around me. I stood there, by myself, until Lorelai detangled herself from Rex’s siblings.

“C’mon,” She said, the electricity in her eyes nearly blinding. “I need to go get ready for the bonfire.”

***

True to my word, I wrapped myself in my favorite of Lorelai’s blankets and burrowed into her bed with a spoon and a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough. She’d picked out an outfit for me, and I even tried it on, but we both knew I wasn’t actually going to go to the bonfire with her.

“Please, Ver? It’ll be so much more fun with you there.” She stuck her bottom lip out.

I laughed and shook my head. If I went, she’d be talking to other people the entire night and I’d be an afterthought. I was way too tired to pretend to be okay with that.

As she walked out of the house, I almost convinced myself that I could be someone else for a night. That I could talk to people besides Lorelai, and I would have fun if I went. For a single moment, I wanted nothing more than to run out of the house and jump in her car and be that other person.

But then I blinked, and it was gone. I’d never feel anything but out of place.

***

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon cooking. I stretched, accidentally hit Lorelai in the face, and extracted myself from her bed. She was impossible to wake up before noon on Saturdays, so I wasn’t very careful.

I pattered into the kitchen, instantly seeing the source of the smell. Sloane, Lorelai’s older brother, was flipping pancakes at the stove. The oven was on, so I assumed that the bacon was in there. This was a regular occurrence in the mornings, as was his lack of a shirt.

“Hey, Sloane.” I greeted with a tired smile as I grabbed the juice from the fridge. “Are you making enough for the rest of us?”

Sometimes, I call Sloane by his nickname- soldier. When Lorelai and I first became friends, he was away at military school. She used to call him her little toy soldier, because when he left, he’d been shorter than her. He’s the only person in the world besides my mom who knows about my nicknames, and I’ve never really been completely comfortable around him because of it.

He grinned at me over his shoulder. “I’m making enough for you. We both know that Lorelai will barely be up for lunch.”

I laughed softly and hopped up onto the counter, pouring a glass half full of juice. “I can’t argue with that logic.”

I closed my eyes and yawned, feeling my skin warm under the sunlight filtering through the windows.

“So, do I want to know where my sister was last night?”

I glanced at him, narrowing my eyes. “You mean the football game?”

“You’re a good friend, Ver.”

I smiled triumphantly. “Thank you very much.”

He shook his head. “Are you going to need a ride home after breakfast, or are you going to wait for Lorelai to drag herself out of her lair?”

“I think I’ll be fine. I can just do my homework here while I wait for her. It’s not like I’d be doing anything differently at home.”

“Nerd.”

“Burnout.”

He took the bacon out of the oven a couple minutes later and handed me a full plate.

“Thanks,” I murmured as I dug around in the cupboard for powdered sugar.

I heard a sigh, then, “No problem, Verity.”

I got permission to go back over to Lorelai’s that night to help her get ready for her date with Rex. I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon, but it was probably a good thing. Otherwise, I’d have to hear about what she was planning on wearing every waking moment until they finally went out.

“Okay, what about this one?” Lorelai twirled around, gesturing to her wine red dress and black combat boots.

I shrugged. “I mean, you look good in everything, but I don’t think we’ve found the outfit yet. Has he told you where he’s taking you?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. He just said to wear a dress.”

I bit my lip and went back to digging through her closet. She had a lot of clothes, but never wore 75% of them. She mostly stuck to band t-shirts, oversized plaid work shirts, and ripped skinny jeans.

A bit of silver fabric caught my eye and I pulled it out from the pile it was in. “I think I found it.”

“Show me!”

I held up the satin dress, and Lorelai’s eyes widened. “I forgot that I owned that. I think you’re right, though. This is it.”

“Let’s just hope it actually fits you.”

It fit, perfectly, and I tossed her some strappy heels to go along with it. She’d already straightened most of her hair, so I just caught the back for her and picked out jewelry while she did her makeup.

Rex was picking her up, so I’d already arranged for Sloane to drive me home once she left. When she went to answer the door, she was shaking.

Turns out, Sloane had gotten there first. I crept into the room, trying to be quiet while Sloane gave Rex a very detailed lecture on how he expected his sister to be treated.

“Sloane, could you please not? Sorry, Rex.” Lorelai glared hard at Sloane.

“I’ll be the perfect gentleman,” Rex said, a grin on his face. “I promise.”

Sloane glanced warily at him. “It’s fine, really. I’m not too worried about you. I just like seeing Lorelai squirm.”

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

Sloane turned, looked directly at where I was standing, giggling, and nodded. “Ver said he wasn’t a complete jerk, and that’s high praise, considering.”

Lorelai looked thankfully at me as she addressed Rex. “Ver normally hates the guys I go out with.”

I scoffed. “No, you normally go out with guys that I hate. There’s a difference.”

Rex was looking at me too intently, and it was becoming harder and harder to not look back, so I smiled at Lorelai and walked over to give a gentle shove out the door.

I couldn’t decipher the look in her eyes, and that freaked me out.

***

Sloane put his car in park in front of my house. “Your stop, kiddo.”

He reached over to mess up my hair and I managed to duck out of the car before he could touch me.

I giggled as I waved to him. He drove away, and I stepped inside my house.

“Hello, Morris.” I whispered as I walked straight into my bedroom.

I think of the house as one, sentient being. Well, all of the house except my bedroom. Firstly, because it looks completely different. Secondly, because my four year old self didn’t really care about logic when she started naming everything and everyone she saw.

My bedroom even has a different name. I call her Susan, mostly because of her pale blue walls and simple white furniture. Susan always smells of white gardenia, due to the scented candles I put everywhere. They’re probably a fire hazard, but no accidents have occurred so far.

“Good to see you again, Susan.”

After taking a shower and changing into my warmest pajamas, I curled up in my bed and watched a penguin documentary until I fell asleep.

***

Waking up the next morning was no easy feat, but I did it anyways. My dad had already left for church when I went out to eat breakfast. He usually had meetings before the actual service started, so it wasn’t really unusual.

Haven was just taking a pan of blueberry muffins out of the oven. “How many do you want, Ver?”

I stretched my arms above my head and yawned. “Just one. Maybe two?”

She smiled at me over her shoulder and put three muffins on a plate, holding it out to me. “Here you go.”

I smiled back and sat at the kitchen counter. “Thanks, Haven.”

I’m not really sure why, but I’ve never given Haven a nickname. Her name is simple and exactly what she is to me, so I’ve never really felt the need.

“Are you okay?” Haven asked. She’s always known when there’s something wrong, and usually I love her for it.

The truth is, I wasn’t okay.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m still a little groggy, but that’s all.”

I just didn’t know why.