Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 46

The first day of practice could have gone better. In theory sprinting and running were easy activities; just move your legs as fast as possible to reach the finish line first. In reality it meant sore muscles, burning lungs and a whole lot of sweat. Not to mention the start time of six in the morning meant waking up even earlier.

Vivian was regretting her choice of extracurricular activity within twenty minutes. The students who’d been on the team for years made it look so easy and here she was struggling on the 100 meter sprint. How was she going to manage the 200 and 400 meter sprint if the shortest one killed her first?

Finding a spot to sit down and catch her breath, Vivian wondered if it was too late to change activities; maybe she could join the tutoring club like Miriam? No, that wouldn’t work. She didn’t like dealing with people in general and being stuck one-on-one with someone, trying to help them understand whatever subject they needed help in? No, thank you.

“How you making out?”

Vivian looked over her shoulder as Theo came to stand by her side. He was as sweaty as she was but looked like he was enjoying the workout. Averting her gaze, Vivian began half heartedly tugging on the grass between her knees.

Her silence didn’t bother Theo as he dropped down to sit on the grass with her, his hazel eyes watching the students running a mock relay. “You’re struggling, huh?”

Shooting him a glance, Vivian didn’t let his words bother her; the truth wasn’t always comforting. Running wasn’t her thing, plain and simple, and she wasn’t about to deny it. Having someone else point it out to her, though, wasn’t very polite. “Thanks.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he assured her with that cocky grin of his. “Maybe I can give you some pointers? Or we can take some runs together sometime.”

Now she turned to face him, a frown creasing her brow. Part of her wanted to accept the offer if only because Laurent had specifically instructed her to stay away from Theo, but she didn’t feel like practicing with someone who was so much better than herself. Not because she was jealous of his abilities but because she would only hold him back.

Coach Mac had specified most of her troubles stemmed from lack of stamina and only consistent practice and time could fix it. If she collapsed before the first kilometer and Theo was still fresh as a daisy then he’d have to either cut his run short or leave her behind.

“No thanks,” she replied.

The grin faltered a little before he let out a laugh. “Okay, fair. Maybe I’m coming on a bit strong.”

Vivian cocked her head to the side. Coming on strong? What did he mean by that?

“McCullough! Stop yapping and get back here!” Coach Mac ordered the boy, who gave Vivian a sheepish shrug before jumping to his feet.

“Offer stands if you change your mind,” he informed her with a wave as he jogged to where the coach was waiting.

—

Morning classes were a blur as the early morning began to creep up on Vivian. There were a few times she caught herself nodding off as the teacher explained the day’s lesson. Maybe it was time she took the plunge and learned to like coffee; it would make the three mornings a week track ruined a bit easier to deal with.

“You look like death,” Miriam pointed out without missing a beat as she set her tray next to Vivian’s at lunch and plopped into her seat.

“Track is going to be the death of me,” she sighed, shoulders slumping at the thought of how Friday’s practice was less than two days away. “How do people do early mornings?”

“Energy drinks,” Miriam replied. “Lots of coffee.”

In response Vivian hummed a little as she poked at her meal.

Throughout the morning she’d been going over what Theo had said and what he’d meant by it, but couldn’t come up with an answer that made sense. Now that Miriam was here, Vivian wanted to ask her friend’s opinion on the matter but didn’t know how to bring it up.

It was consistently proven Vivian was lacking in a lot of ways when it came to social interactions; not that she’d ever tried to be better at them. Now that she found herself needing to interact with others on a daily basis she was beginning to realize it wasn’t all bad.

For a long time after being placed in child services most of the conversations Vivian had had were to learn about her past. Not that she was a chatty child to begin with but it didn’t make her want to open up; it did the opposite. When all conversations were on things you didn’t want to — no, refused to — talk about it made you want to avoid them altogether.

It became normal for her to not bother, that it wouldn’t be worth the effort because it would all come back to the things she refused to speak on.

Except Miriam had never once asked about her past outside of general inquiries and any time Vivian seemed hesitant to answer it was dropped and the topic changed to something else.

Her first friend understood there were some things people just didn’t want to talk about and never pushed. At first Vivian was certain it wouldn’t last, but after only a week and a half she’d begun to understand why Miriam let things go so easily.

Except for Vivian, she, too, had no friends to speak of. As kind and smart as Miriam was, in this school she was an outcast because she didn’t come from money. A pariah. Because of this her confidence had eroded to the point she would put up with a lot to keep her only friend; like not asking any of the questions she might be desperately wanting answers to.

It made Vivian feel awkward, knowing someone was so desperate for a friend to accept her as one. In reality she, too, was desperate for that connection with another person. With this thought in mind, she gathered her courage and said, “Miriam… What does it mean if someone says they’re coming on strong?”