Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 22

“Hi there!” The one with beautiful blond hair greeted Vivian, blue eyes giving the raven-haired girl a quick once over before flicking to Miriam for a split second. Attention back on Vivian, she continued, “You’re new, yeah? Our resident guide doesn’t usually have a lunch buddy unless she’s showing someone the ropes.”

Carefully schooling her face, Vivian was all too aware of the subtle jab towards the girl sitting next to her. “I am.” Without looking, she could tell Miriam was uncomfortable, shifting in her seat a little before settling down again.

Interesting.

“I’m Abigail Demoine,” the blond continued, smile widening. “But my friends just calls me Abby, so you can too.”

“Vivian St Peter.”

“Hmmm… I don’t know any St Peters… Where are you from?”

“A bit of everywhere.” *Keep your answers short and to the point*, Vivian reminded herself as she took a slow breath to steady her racing thoughts. The conversation so far had been brief but she’d already learned a fair bit from it.

Abby didn’t like Miriam, or perhaps she just saw the auburn-haired girl as inconsequential, and she was interested in last names. Why?

“So you’ve travelled the world, huh?” The girl who’d tagged along spoke up, her own blue eyes fixed on Vivian as though Miriam was invisible. “Girl, I am so jealous. How many countries have you lived in?”

What was this one going on about? Countries? Why would not having a specific hometown mean you travelled outside the country? Was this a rich, privileged thing?

Already over the conversation, but knowing that school was a war zone if you did the wrong thing — especially with people who were considered popular — Vivian held her tongue and counted to ten before allowing words to leave her mouth again. “Just one.”

The look of surprise that passed over both their faces had her now biting back a laugh — a laugh that Miriam failed to prevent in herself as she snorted into her juice.

Abby barely looked over at Miriam as she said, “Not sure why that’s funny when you couldn’t afford the uniform’s socks without a handout.”

A number of different retorts to such a scathing comment popped into Vivian’s mind, but she said none of them as Miriam’s cheeks flushed red. “I earned this uniform,” she mumbled.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Anyways, Vivian, I get needing to stick with the guide on day one, but tomorrow you should join us for lunch!”

Vivian flicked her glance over at the table where Laurent was sat, pointedly ignoring her existence as he leaned over to see something on Reagan’s phone, before returning her focus back to Abby. “That’s very generous of you.”

In a sense it was generous, inviting some new girl to their cool table. Or maybe it was a set up. It didn’t matter either way as Vivian had no plans on taking her up on the offer, but she wasn’t going to say it out loud.

“Of course! And you’ve got a great body, Viv, you should try out for the cheer team, too! I’m the captain, so as long as you’ve got some decent moves you’re almost guaranteed to get in.”

What the hell was even going on right now, Vivian wondered as the blond winked before leaving the table, her tag-a-long following close behind.

“I’m confused,” Vivian finally said after a minute of silence had passed.

“What’s confusing about it?” Miriam mumbled, gathering her trash before standing up. “The bell is gonna ring soon, so we should get our stuff for next period.”

Watching the other girl, Vivian could tell something was upsetting her but wasn’t sure which part of the conversation had been the biggest issue. Them ignoring Miriam? Calling her poor? Wanting the new girl to be one of them? That just having a thin frame meant she was good enough for some cheer team?

It wasn’t as if Miriam was big; in fact, Vivian was sure they were nearly identical in size. The only difference was Vivian’s uniform had been professionally tailored while Miriam’s hadn’t, and looked a little bulky in some places where it could’ve accentuated the body underneath.

Should Vivian even attempt to talk to Miriam about it? That none of that stuff mattered?

Having a singular friend might be worth the effort, she mused to herself while they walked towards her locker. It’s not that I have to actually talk about anything I don’t want to, and even then I can just keep her at a distance; a superficial friendship based on surviving school together.

Running solo had never been an issue in the past, but Vivian could think of a few instances where having a friend would have made things exponentially easier. Why not give it another try?

There was the three month probationary period before the adoption became final; why not do the same with a friendship?

Having come to a decision as they reached Vivian’s locker, she now had to think of a way to bring up the topic in conversation.

“You know, I don’t actually care about any of that.” Perfect. It was brief, to the point, and left the door open if Miriam wanted to explore getting to know one another a bit more.

“…. Don’t care about what?”

The question caught Vivian off guard for a moment before she realized that, without verbal context, the girl wouldn’t know what topic she was referring to — though it was a little hard to believe anyone wouldn’t have automatically assumed it was about the conversation in the cafeteria.

“… Pretty much everything that came out of Abby’s mouth,” Vivian said with a decisive nod of her head.

Something in Miriam’s posture changed, as if she’d been tense and was now able to relax a little. “You say that…”

Snapping her locker shut, Vivian shook her head. “I don’t care about any of that hierarchy stuff. I don’t actually have friends, and don’t want to start making some with those kinds of people.”

Miriam let out a deep breath, her shoulders finally relaxing. “I get it. Quality over quantity, right?” She said with a tentative smile.

“Something like that,” Vivian nodded as she stood and looked around. “We need to get your books now, right?”