Silently Falling (Original): Chapter Two

Once we got to school, Alyse and I started out walk to Music class while Toby hung back by his truck to flirt with some other seniors gawking over him. Alyse and I carefully maneuver our ways through the dull blue hallways of East Bridge High School, every other locker stamped with a blue and gold Spartan head, our schools mascot.

"When was the last time you and I watched The Hunger Games?" Alyse asks.

"Two weeks ago?"

"We need to watch it again. I saw a tweet about Jennifer Lawrence's ridiculous crying face, so I have to see for myself if it's that bad."

"Every actress has her own crying face, you really think hers is that bad?"

"The tweet seemed to think so."

We reach our Music class, just a short walk from the entrance to school. I follow Alyse through our chatting classmates to our normal seat to the left and in the front. I can't sit too far back in any class because if a teacher wants me to be a part of the discussion, I have to write my response on my trusty whiteboard. I take it with me to every class, otherwise participating is a whole lot harder. It makes it easy for people to buy me birthday presents- every year I think I get 10 new packs of dry erase markers.

"Okay, show me a better crying face then."

Alyse freezes at my response, shifting awkwardly in her seat as she glances around at our classmates. "Right here?"

I nod.

"Right now?"

Another nod.

"What if the new guy is in this class, though?" She rushes out in a voice just louder than a whisper.

I scrunch my face up in confusion, and Alyse tilts her head.

"You haven't heard?"

"No, what new guy?"

"I haven't heard too much about it, but apparently everyone found out he was coming over the weekend. Word is it's West."

I just stare blankly at her. Is that supposed to mean something to me?

"West Love." Alyse adds with more emphasis.

I finally show her the reaction she was waiting for, shock prevalent on my face, and she gives an over dramatic nod.

"The dude who was sent to jail when he was 17? That West Love?"

"Well juvie not jail, but yes that's the one. And before you ask, no. No one is certain of why he went in. You've heard all the rumors, though. One of them is bound to be true."

My mouth is agape, but Alyse has turned her attention to her phone to stalk Toby's Instagram for the millionth time. Just as I'm about to wave my hand near her face to gain her attention again, I hear our music teacher, Mr. C, call for me. I glance to the front of the room where he's standing in front of the whiteboard, a warm smile on his chestnut skin.

"Good morning," he signs.

Mr. C is the one teacher of mine who took the time to learn sign language for me. He's been my music teacher since freshman year, and he refused to let me drop just for my lack of a voice. Instead, rather than pushing me over to band where I would be the only pianist, he broadened this class to include a role for a pianist. Typically, this is a class for chorus, but Mr. C gives me alternate assignments to earn my credits. He has me play the piano for warm-ups, for rehearsals, and even at our concerts in order to pass. It's sort of like a year-long piano class.

On top of that, Mr. C has given me the responsibility of writing extra pieces for our concerts. Lyrics, sheet music, the whole nine-years. It can be a daunting task, of course, being a high school composer, but I have come to love it even more than I once loved singing. Not to mention it gives our school a huge leg up at competitions on the sole fact our music is written and played by a student.

I go and sit by the piano as Mr. C gets the class quiet, and I catch Alyse's eye. She smiles at me and I begin to play the notes for the class to warm up their voices, but the rumor about West Love entering our school plagues the back of my mind and keeps me on alert.

OoO

Once Music ended, Alyse and I went our separate way to our respective classes. I always meet Toby at my locker for second period, and every now and then Alyse will tag along because she 'needs to get something from her locker' that's conveniently right next to mine.

"Hey sis, how was class? You mess up on the piano in front of all those watching eyes yet?"

I scowl at Toby, debating giving him the finger.

"No, I did perfectly fine as usual."

He grins at my response, throwing his arm around my shoulders to pull me in for a side hug. "Aw, come on Raine, I was just teasing."

I am about to sign my response, but I notice his attention get pulled away by a few girls that saunter by and playfully bat their lashes at him. He sends them his trademarked Toby wink, giving each of them a little bit of hope.

I swear almost every girl at this school wishes for my brother to make their fantasies come true. The way they look at him suggests they've read one too many romance novels and dream to be the girl that ends his playerish ways.

The thought leaves me chuckling silently to myself. As if. The only girl that could potentially make my brother finally grow up would be Alyse, but she's too dense to see that and he's too horny to come to terms with it.

"Hey, Raine!"

My attention is brought down the hallway as my ex, Kyle, walks towards us. The hallway is clearing out now, but he wouldn't have been hard to miss anyways. Kyle is potentially the tallest guy at school, which placed him right on the basketball team. He's cute, with buzzed blonde hair and brown eyes, but things between us never worked out.

Toby growls under his breath and pulls me closer to him, his arm resting around my shoulder protectively. I may love him, but good god he put on way too much cologne this morning.

My eyes are starting to water.

I offer Kyle a nod of greeting with a smile, but we don't stop to 'talk.' It's been a few months since I broke up with him, but we were never serious in the first place. After I was...assaulted, Toby became even more overprotective of me than the typical older brother. I've never minded it too much, I know the guilt he carries after that night. I've tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, but he never really listens or wants to discuss it. He thinks he failed me as my older brother, like he let me down somehow. So now, he makes up for it by scaring off most of the guys that look my way. It can get annoying, but it does help with the never ending fear of being taken advantage of.

Kyle was the first guy to truly gain Toby's approval, and rightfully so. He's a very sweet guy, actively involved in Young Life, varsity athlete, and a stellar home life. Things between us could have worked out, aside from his hero complex. He had it programmed into his brain that if we dated, he could get me to talk. Every date he would spend part of our time trying to get me to say something, anything. He didn't understand that trying only hurts me because it reminds me that even if I want to, I really can't talk. And now, most guys at school have the same sick fantasy: to be the one that gets the mute girl to talk.

I don't know why it's such an interest. But you'd think that instead of trying to force me out of my comfort zone, maybe a guy that shows interest in me would try and learn sign language instead. Otherwise, I don't want to feel like a challenge.

Toby jostles me from my thoughts when we reach our class, AP US History. Walking around the tables that sit four each, we head to our unofficially claimed table with our friend Gray. He's busy flirting with a transfer student sitting a table over, but when we walk up he directs his attention back to us, quickly telling her that he'll talk to her later. Gray is no different from my brother with his player-ish ways.

"Hey man, hey Raine. You look awfully cute today," he says warmly.

His words could be mistaken as flirtatious, as the transfer student seems to think from the daggers her eyes are sending me, but I know Gray means it in a friendly way. Gray is the same year as my brother, a senior. And while I'm only a year younger, Gray still sees me as the teddy bear baby sister that he wants to protect just as much as Toby.

I wave hello to him, taking my seat at the table across from him and Toby.

Gray just became our friend last year when he moved here from Alabama, and I can see why so many girls fall at his feet. He has dirty blonde hair that's always styled perfectly and cheekbones that girls dream their boyfriends would have. He has bright blue eyes that are lit with knowledge, his semi-nerdy ways a nice plus to draw girls in.

He's much different from my brother, who has dark brown hair and chocolate eyes. My brother's constant 'couldn't care less' attitude is what draws girls to him. Not to mention he goes to the gym every freaking day, and it's paid off. Both he and Gray have nice bodies, and girls surely don't fail to notice.

Just as the bell rings, Tyler, our other friend, comes bounding into the room at the final ring. He gives the teacher a large smile before walking to the back towards us, taking his seat next to me.

He beams at me, slightly out of breath from no doubt sprinting to make it here on time.

I chuckle, "Hi Tyler."

"Hey Raine. Hey Gray. Hey Toby." He says, smiling at each of us before looking back at me with his piercingly bright eyes.

Tyler is very different from Gray and Toby. He doesn't have the careless attitude of my brother or the brains of Gray. No, Tyler is the clown of the trio.

He attracts girls with his childish, joking, and slightly stupid behavior. Not to mention he has dark black hair and a large build, complete with a sturdy jaw line, and he definitely doesn't fall short in the muscle department either. All three of them are attractive, most girls like to describe them as the hottest guys at our school.

They're the famous trio: all three known to be the players of East Bridge High School. They are the guys that girls flock to day after day, and they can't seem to turn any of them down. Not one of them can keep it in their pants for over a week, which again I don't condone at all, but I love them nonetheless. Alyse and I seem to be the only two girls of the school that don't fawn over them, which for me may be because I see them all as older brothers, and that's why our group works out so well.

"So, you guys will never guess what happened!" Tyler exclaims to us, his voice giddy with excitement.

"We're waiting on the edge of our seats," Toby deadpans.

"The reason I was almost late to class was because I ran into the new guy. Like, literally. I was talking to that Lucy girl-"

Her name is Lilly.

"-And when I went to leave I accidentally rammed right into him. I stumbled back a little, but luckily neither of us fell."

"New guy?" I sign, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as I remember my conversation with Alyse this morning.

Please tell me there's a different new guy that he's talking about.

"He got here today! So anyways, after I apologized and everything I noticed the fact he was wearing a leather jacket and whatnot, cliche I know. But, naturally I figured he was a cool guy and invited him to sit with us at lunch," he states proudly, as though waiting for us to praise him.

I smile at his childish antics, and he beams at me only to have it quickly turn to a grimace as Toby reaches across the table to smacks him in the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" He pouts, rubbing the spot.

I turn to Toby, confused myself as to why he's practically glaring at Tyler.

"Look, I know you aren't one to really welcome new-comers but-"

"You're right, I like our group as it is. But do you have any idea who this new guy is?" Toby says harshly, sitting up in his seat instead of lounging back in it.

"Yeah, I mean he said his name was West Love but-" Tyler stops and raises his brows in realization. "-Oh..."

"Yeah, oh." Toby growls. "I don't need some creep around my sister. Not again."

"How did you not put two and two together?" Gray questions.

I wince slightly at the fact Toby brought him up and that night, but I shake it off. Tyler frowns at me and scoots closer, picking up on my discomfort with the new topic of conversation. It's enough to have what happened to me constantly on my mind, I don't need my friends to talk about it too.

I change my thoughts to everything I've heard about the new guy; West. He's known for being a troublemaker, finally being put in juvie just seven months ago. The rumors of how he got arrested range everywhere from him getting one too many citations for smoking weed to go as far as to say he killed someone, and they mention everything in between.

I've heard almost every possibility there is, but most of all I've heard he isn't someone to mess with, and it's starting to sync in that I can't do the logical thing and avoid him. Because Tyler's heart is bigger than his brain and he invited him to sit with us.

"Why'd you have to invite him to sit with us, Tyler?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't register that he was that West Love."

"Oh, I'm sorry is there another West Love I wasn't aware of?!" I sign, my eyes bleeding sarcasm to get that tone across.

Panic starts to rise in my chest, but Toby speaks up.

"Raine, it'll be okay. First of all, he can't be that bad if he is already back at school. And second, you have us three, you really think we're going to let anything happen to you?"

"He's right," Gray adds.

"Yeah come on Raine, no one would mess with you so long as I'm here." Tyler adds, puffing up his chest.

Already, I can feel my mind and body begin to calm down and I smile warmly at the two of them, shoving Tyler playfully.

"For the record, Tyler, you're kind of an idiot."

Instantly his pout turns into a full blown smile. "But you love me anyways."

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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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