Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 48

It’d been ages since Miriam had a friend over. Usually her cousins would pop by from time to time but that was family and didn’t count.

When she’d first met Vivian, Miriam had been nervous; once people found out she was a charity case it didn’t take long before they dropped her for others. But Vivian hadn’t blinked and stuck around.

It was obvious she was related to Laurent Devreaux — they looked too much like siblings to be anything but — yet Vivian never said anything about her family or financial status. Instead, she acted a lot like a typical person from a middle class family.

Like Miriam.

Vivian had been quite closed off but after the first week she’d opened up a bit. The more time passed the more relaxed she looked. Her manner of speech was still rather blunt but that didn’t bother Miriam in the slightest; she’d rather not have to guess how her new friend felt about anything.

It was surprising to find just how socially awkward Vivian was. General day to day conversations were fine, if a bit short, but when she’d been comfortable enough to not shut down more personal subjects from the onset Miriam learned her new friend wasn’t good at reading between the lines. If anything she was of the mind that what someone said is exactly what they meant, which was rarely true in high school.

There were always hidden meanings, negative compliments, sarcasm… and, come to find out, flirting that just passed right over the poor girl’s head without her even realizing it.

She was also particularly dense when it came to how others viewed her. Whether it was because Vivian just didn’t care about how she was viewed or she didn’t notice things Miriam couldn’t quite figure out but it led to conversations like the one they’d had that day.

To Miriam it was obvious Theo liked Vivian. The guy was a social butterfly, friendly, personable, laid back, and just generally a good guy. Girls were always asking him out and he always said yes until, at most, the second date, then he would let them down with an ‘sorry, I just didn’t feel a connection’ or ‘we’re more like friends if you ask me’.

The cake thing had been interesting to watch, too. Him actually sitting down with them instead of dropping it off and returning to his friends had been a surprise; but then Abby had shown up and Vivian had snubbed the pretty blond without hesitation. The look on Theo’s face when she’d shown no worry over what might come of pissing off a popular girl? That was the moment she’d unwittingly captured the boy’s interest.

But did she feel the same way about him?

Miriam thought about this for a minute. Vivian was difficult to read. For the most part she showed little of what she was thinking on her face, adopting a neutral expression for the most part. Lately there had been instances when the corners of her mouth had turned up a bit — just a bit — showing amusement but otherwise it was like reading a brick.

Looking to her left, Miriam paid attention to the expression on her friend’s face as they watched another cheesy romantic comedy. Her brows were furrowed a little as she munched away on popcorn. A lot of the subtle, unspoken flirting in the two previous movies had been completely lost on her, but this one had Vivian making comments when she caught the hints and scoffing at how ridiculous everyone was acting.

“It’s a comedy,” Miriam explained with a laugh, taking a handful of popcorn as she spoke. “It’s supposed to be ridiculous otherwise it’s not funny.”

“I guess, but this would never happen in really life.”

“Well, no, of course not.”

“So why am I watching it?”

Miriam let out a laugh, choking on some popcorn. After a minute of coughing and some sharp slaps to her back from Vivian, Miriam finally caught her breath enough to answer the question. “Just because the plot isn’t plausible doesn’t mean you can’t learn anything. I figured these would help you with figuring out when someone is trying to ask you out without actually saying the words ‘will you go out with me.’ Everything they do is exaggerated so it’s hard to miss the clues, and once you know what to look for we can switch to movies where they’re more subtle.”

“I really don’t think movies are considered accurate sources for this kind of thing,” Vivian muttered as she flipped the movie’s case around and reread the synopsis on the back for what had to be the fifth time.

“Does this mean you aren’t enjoying yourself?”

Vivian paused for a second, looking up from the case to stare at the television. “No, this is fun, I just don’t think it’d be wise to use them as reference for real world issues.”

“Maybe not, but at least you had fun figuring that out.”

Miriam heard Vivian chuckle a little and couldn’t help the grin that spread over her face. It wasn’t often at all the girl laughed — had Miriam ever heard her laugh before? — and knowing it was because of something she’d said gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling.

“Supper will be ready in half an hour!” Miriam’s mom called out as she poked her head into the room. “You girls having fun?”

“Yes, Mrs. Wilson,” Vivian nodded, glancing over at the woman. “Thank you for having me over.”

“Not a problem, Vivian! You’re welcome any time so long as Miriam still gets her studying done. That scholarship won’t keep itself.”

“Mom!”

“I’m going, I’m going…”

Miriam let out a groan. “She’s usually not like this.”

“I’m more curious what she’s cooking, since you’ve said she can’t cook,” was Vivian’s only comment before her attention was back on the movie.

“Oh… crap!” Miriam was on her feet and out the bedroom door in the blink of an eye. She raced downstairs to the kitchen, shouting, “Mom, please tell me you’re just heating up a frozen meal!”