Silently Falling (ORIGINAL): Chapter Nine

"Raine, come on! Alyse is already in the car, we're waiting for you!" Toby hollers up into my room.

I let out a groan and start brushing my hair even faster. My alarm didn't go off this morning, but by some miracle Toby's did. He assumed I was just getting ready in my room and didn't come in to wake me up until five minutes ago.

I glance at the clock in worry; 8:17. We usually leave at 8:05, and we have to be at school by 8:30. It takes ten minutes to drive there with all the morning traffic. That leaves me three minutes to run to my first block class that's at least five minutes from where we enter.

I look at my hair in the mirror and decide that I look fine before booking it down the stairs and into Toby's truck.

"About time. How is it Toby was ready before you?" Alyse asks.

I just send her a look and catch my breath.

"You good sis? You sound like you just had a fucking sex marathon." My brother grumbles from the front seat.

I wince at his metaphor and look out the window to my left as my breathing slows. I know he didn't mean anything by it, but once again I find myself pushing back the memories that are fighting to resurface. And it's no one's fault but Warren's.

"Toby..." Alyse says, sending him a look.

He catches her eye in the rear view mirror and his eyes widen as he realizes what he said and who he said it to. "Shit." He says, letting out a sigh. But before he can apologize, I wave it off.

"It's no big deal, Toby." I sign.

He watches me through the mirror and nods, "Still, I'm sorry Raine. It was out of line."

I give him a smile and dismiss his worry. I'm a big girl, I can handle a simple mention of sex without going all depressed.

At least I should be able to.

We get to school at 8:27 on the dot and each of us rush to our classes, Alyse running with me to music. Toby nearly slips on an old puddle from the rain last night, causing Alyse to laugh at him. He sends her a glare, but I see the way he tries to hide his smile.

"Pretend you didn't see that?" Toby requests.

Alyse shrugs, "Didn't see what?"

Toby chuckles at her, shutting the door to his truck with a small head shake.

As cute as this moment is between the two of them, I grab Alyse's arm and drag her along so that we won't be late to class. We enter music class just as the bell sounds and send Mr. C a smile as we catch our breath. He nods at the two of us as we squeeze through all of our classmates and hustle to our seats.

"So, you never texted me back last night!" Alyse exclaims, lightly smacking my shoulder. "Your first date with West and you didn't even tell your best friend about it."

My eyes widen at her and I instantly shake my head, "Date? It was not a date, Alyse. I'm just teaching him sign language."

"Yeah, but you two were alone for an extended period of time and got to know one another. That, Raine, is a date. When's date number two?"

"We didn't get to know one another. I literally just taught him sign language. And tomorrow after school is when our next lesson is."

"You mean to tell me that for as long as he was over there, you didn't learn one thing about him?" Alyse asks, staring at me as if I'm insane.

It starts to sink in that a big part of the reason I agreed to this was to get to know West and learn the truth behind all the rumors, and I haven't done that at all.

I sheepishly shake my head no.

"Have I taught you nothing?"

I roll my eyes at her.

"So is there anything interesting that you can tell me? Did he secretly already know sign language? Did he flirt with you?"

I shrug, trying not to let Alyse read my body language from her final question. He did flirt with me, and I know from the way I shifted in my seat lets her know that.

"He flirted with you?!" She exclaims, picking up on exactly what I was hoping she wouldn't. "Tell me everything."

"It's no big deal. He's like the boys, they shamelessly flirt with anyone who has boobs. They're called players for a reason." I respond.

She snorts and rolls her eyes, "Raine, come on. He may know how to flirt, but he has turned down every girl you and I have seen come up to him. Yet you said he was flirting with you."

I shake my head and look back at her. "Warren was the same way."

"Warren flirted with anything that had a pulse." She says sympathetically. "West doesn't."

Clenching my teeth, I avoid her serious gaze. I can't compare them. If I do that, I'll just scare myself into ditching my lessons with West. I can't convince myself that every guy is like Warren, I've only just started to get past that mindset. I'm saved from having to answer Alyse when Mr. C calls me up to the front.

"Raine!"

I thankfully get up and rush over to him.

"How far along are you with that new song?" He asks.

"It's almost finished. No lyrics yet, but the melody is done."

I'm glad he knows at least a little sign language, it makes my life a lot easier.

His smile widens a little. "Wonderful. Would you like to share the melody with the class?"

I bite my lip and look around the room. Everyone is either on their phones, talking to friends, or doing the homework they didn't get to last night. My eyes go to the piano and I nod, going towards it to take my seat.

"Alright class! Raine has her new song almost finished, but the lyrics are still being written. She's going to play the melody for you all. Listen up and let us know what you think!"

I place my songbook on the stand, just in case I forget a note or two, and take a small breath to prepare myself. I don't really have much stage fright, but playing an original song in front of twenty judgmental teenagers can be a daunting task.

I begin to play the tune, nodding my head along to the upbeat song. I forget one or two notes and quickly look up at my songbook that I've been flipping along. I glance up at the class every now and then to gauge their reactions, and when I see them subtly bobbing their heads with the beat I am able to relax. They like it. When the song finishes up, I slow it down a little before ending the final note.

"That was amazing, Raine." Mr. C says with a wide, warming smile.

The class murmurs their agreement, clapping for me.

"How soon can you get the lyrics done? I'd love to get started with this as soon as possible."

"Early next week?"

Mr. C smiles yet again, "And this is why you're my favorite." He signs, causing me to laugh lightly.

After class, I meet Toby at my locker per usual and we head to AP US History together. Gray and Tyler are already there, and we walk into Tyler trying to convince Gray that he would win in an arm wrestling match against The Rock.

"Dude, I'm telling you I would win!"

"Tyler, do you realize how much bigger than you The Rock is? He's almost an entire foot taller."

"Height doesn't matter in an arm wrestling match."

"Yes it does. Your wingspan is exactly the same as your height, so his arms are significantly longer than yours and he'd have a clear advantage," Gray retaliates.

"But my muscles are huge."

"Not huge enough to be nicknamed The Rock..."

"I would be called The Boulder."

Toby and I sit down, interrupting the debate.

"Tyler, you couldn't even beat me in an arm wrestling match, let alone The Rock." Toby says.

Tyler guffaws at him, "Couldn't beat you? Okay, bet. Let's do it. Raine- go ahead and put your money on me, I'm about to cream him."

I quirk a brow at Tyler, who is rolling up his sleeves and flexing his bicep. Toby is pretty much ignoring him, instead sifting through his backpack for his textbook.

"Not today, man," Toby says.

Tyler's posture deflates and his smile melts away into a frown. "Why?" he whines.

Toby rolls his eyes, "Because we're in class. And yesterday was arm day at the gym, my muscles are sore and I don't want that to give you an unfair advantage."

I silently thank God when our teacher starts class, cutting their conversation off and saving me from having to listen to both of them go on and on about their muscles. Class goes by as usual, and then we are on our way to lunch, greeting Alyse on the way.

We go through line, choosing between today's Special of Chicken Parmesan or the usual chicken tenders. I would have gotten the special, but the freshmen in front of me grab the last of the batch in my specific line, so I pout and go for the tenders. We pay and head back the table where the others are waiting.

"No fries today?" Tyler asks as I sit down next to him.

"They didn't have any, therefore you cannot steal any."

Tyler chuckles, lightly nudging me. "You know me too well."

As I begin to open my ketchup packets and squirt them onto my tray, I catch sight of West from the corner of my eye. He sets his tray down and I eye his Chicken Parmesan, jealous he happened to choose the right line whereas I clearly chose wrong.

"Good afternoon, everyone," West signs, catching my eye with a proud smile.

"Wait what?" I hear Tyler say.

"So, I take it the lesson went well?" Gray asks.

Tyler scrunches his face, glancing between me and West. "Lesson?"

"Raine is helping me learn sign language," West signs slowly yet confidently.

Someone has been practicing.

"Oh," Tyler says, and I don't really pay much attention to the sad undertone. "Well, that's cool. You seem to be pretty good at it already."

West winks in my direction, "You can thank my teacher for that."

I watch as Toby rolls his eyes, biting hastily into his food.

"Raine helped teach the rest of us, too." Alyse says.

"She was telling me that yesterday," West says before biting into a chicken tender, "Damn these are good."

I furrow my brow and glance at him and then at his tray. He got the special, not chicken tenders? Realization dawns on me as I meet his smirking eyes and I quickly look down at my tray. I pull my lips into a tight line as I see one of my four chicken tenders missing.

"Do you want to lose me as your sign language teacher?"

West chews the tender, cocking his head since he didn't understand my hands. "I got 'do you, me, sign language...' and that's about it."

I roll my eyes, not even bothering to re-sign or have someone interpret for me.

Gray chuckles and shakes his head. "West, if you aren't careful you may find yourself buried alive."

Nothing particularly interesting happens for the rest of the day, other than West occupying my mind. However, when Thursday rolls around I'm already feeling nervous for our second lesson.

I close my locker and follow Alyse as we head to English; the class I have with West. I don't know why he makes me so nervous. Maybe it's because I still can't get a read on him, or because I don't understand his interest in me or sign language. We walk into class and Mr. Patterson sends us both friendly smiles with a small greeting as we walk towards our seats. I settle into my desk and pull out my agenda to write down the homework.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see West smirking at me. I raise a brow at him and he signs "Hello."

I crack a small grin and sign it back, then I get out my infamous whiteboard.

'You know, if you're trying to impress me by always signing your greeting, you're going to have to do better than hello.'

He chuckles, "Good afternoon, Sunshine."

I want to be annoyed with the nickname, but I think I set myself up for that one.

'Glad to see you're remembering what I taught you.'

"I'm a good student when I want to be. But, a good teacher is always helpful," he says smoothly.

I hear Alyse practically gasp out of excitement behind me from West's obvious flirting. Doesn't she get that he just has a naturally flirtatious personality?

"Mr. Love, if you would be so kind as to shut your trap then maybe I could get on with today's lesson." Mr. Patterson scowls in his direction.

I catch West's eye roll, but he sends the teacher a curt smile. "Of course, sir. How could I be so rude as to interrupt someone?"

Mr. Patterson simply narrows his eyes before going into his lesson. Lucky for us, half way through the block he decides to give us the rest of class as a study hall.

"The rest of today will be a free day, I suggest you use your time wisely and research your topic more than I hope you already have."

The teacher's pet speaks up from the front of the room. "Oh, I've already finished my research and am almost done with the essay."

He smiles widely at her, "I'm sure it will be my favorite essay too."

I start to write down my topic on my blank sheet of paper when I feel familiar warm breath on my ear. It cascades across my temple and sends a shiver through my body, causing my heart to do a small leap.

"How much you wanna bet she's even more than the teachers pet?" West whispers. "I bet she's the teacher's sex toy too."

I choke on my own spit and start choking/laughing. I look over at West and cover my mouth with my hand, a smile hidden behind. He's looking down at me, a grin on his lips.

"I didn't know such talk amused you so much, Sunshine."

I bite my lip from behind my hand and go back to my own paper, ignoring his last comment.

"You know, if the teachers pet gets a little extra action...I could always start sucking up to you." He suggests.

I know he's joking, but I can't help the way my mind shuts down and my body freezes. Maybe it's double standards to laugh about him commenting about my classmate but getting freaked out when he jokes with me, but that's something I can't help. I wish I could laugh at this. I wish my mind didn't automatically throw up a warning sign. I wish Warren didn't ruin a part of me.

West must realize I didn't give the reaction he was expecting, because I notice his cocky expression drop within seconds.

"I was just kidding, Sunshine."

I force myself to nod and smile as though I didn't just overreact to something as small as what he said.

"Are we still good for tonight's lesson?" He signs, pausing a few times to remember what the next hand movement is.

I meet his gaze after reading his signs and can't help but smile slightly, giving a nod in response.

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Y'all may have noticed that even though this is the original version, it is still slightly edited. This version has NO PLOT CHANGES, but it has still been cleaned up regarding dialogue, grammar, etc.

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