Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 70

By the end of the day Vivian was mentally exhausted. The whispers going around always seemed to be about her and people openly stared or snickered whenever she appeared. Usually she could brush this off but it seemed to be coming from *everyone*. There was no escape and no break.

When the final bell rang signalling the end of the school day a boy from her class even came up to Vivian and boldly asked if she wanted him to take some photos for her. In true Vivian fashion, her response was to ignore his existence and walk away, head held high as if she didn’t feel utterly insulted being asked such a question.

As she made her way out of the building, Vivian checked her phone to find Gabriel had texted her some more. It was a bit odd; he was the sibling she spoke with the most — at least over texts — but today he’d been chattier than normal and it made her suspicious. The timing was too convenient to not be about the incidents from yesterday, which had her wondering if he was genuinely concerned and just wanted her to know he was there if needed, or had Samuel instructed him to do this for whatever reason.

Even if the latter was the truth, Vivian found the thought didn’t bother her as much as she’d expected. In his own way, Samuel was showing how much he cared by wrangling people to keep an eye on her, like Gilbert and now Tyrell, while also making sure she felt she had someone in her corner who’d listen if she needed to talk. Sure, it was a bit intrusive, but there was care involved even if a bit misguided.

Vivian found it amusing that her father assumed she would confide in someone she’d only known for a bit over a month; even Miriam, who she spent much more time with and spoke to far more than anyone else, wasn’t someone she felt comfortable confiding in. There was some wiggle room with certain events — like Theo’s maybe interest and the wet clothes incident — but that was because these were things happening at school where secrets weren’t really secrets.

Or maybe Gabriel was just worried and wanted to keep in touch a bit more than usual. Vivian knew she had a habit of overthinking and overanalyzing things, always leaning towards the most detrimental outcome but that didn’t stop her from hoping for the best; so long as she didn’t expect the best then no matter the outcome she was able to readily accept it and move forward.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t feeling particularly chatty, even over text. After a day spent hearing people talk about her like she wasn’t there and being forced to stand her ground against the opinions of her friends and brother, the last thing she wanted was to give someone else the opportunity to try and make her deal with the situation their way.

Tyrell was waiting by the car as Vivian walked up. “Afternoon, Miss Vivian,” he greeted her with a smile. “Ready to head home?”

A little startled by him waiting by the car and talking to her, Vivian could only nod and watch as he opened the back passenger door, holding it open so she could slip inside before closing it again. Gilbert had never done anything like that and she wasn’t sure how to feel about being asked questions by someone else.

It was obvious Tyrell meant well, but Vivian enjoyed not talking and had come to expect it from her driver. Pushing this aside, she pulled out her phone, which had dinged with a new text while she’d been climbing into the car.

Miriam: \[Sooo, tell me what happened between you and Laurent???? What did he wanna talk about? And Theo! I was soooo excited when he just jumped up and ran after you guys. It was like I was watching a romcom!! Please share the details!\]

Letting out a sigh, Vivian began typing up her response.

Vivian: \[Same thing you and Theo were going on about. He wants me to do something about the fake account and stuff. Then Theo showed up and I had to stop them from fighting. It was stupid.\]

Miriam: \[Wait, are you saying they were fighting over you??? That’s kinda hot.\]

Vivian: \[Ew. No. They were not. Theo got the wrong idea about the whole thing and it snowballed. It’s all good now. They aren’t friends, but they aren’t gonna punch each other anymore. I hope.\]

Miriam: \[You’re leaving out WAY too many details. I’m gonna call you later and we are gonna discuss this for real then.\]

Vivian groaned and let the phone drop onto her lap as she leaned back in her seat to stare at the ceiling. She knew exactly what Miriam wanted to know, and didn’t want to talk about it but there wasn’t a way out that didn’t involve hurting her friend’s feelings. Besides, she’d told Theo already — to avoid a fight, but she still told him — and not telling Miriam about being a Devreaux would cause issues down the road when the truth would inevitably come out.

*Since when am I thinking about further down the line than my next foster placement*, Vivian wondered absently as she turned her head to watch the passing scenery. Usually she wouldn’t bother thinking these things because by the time it became an issue she was on her way to live with a new family in a different town. Did she honestly think this time would end differently?

There was only a month and a half left before the adoption could legally be done and as things stood, with the bullying and shooting, would Samuel want to keep her around if it meant she’d need a bodyguard every time she left the house? Wouldn’t that get expensive beyond belief sooner rather than later?

Not that he was stingy with money, but it bothered Vivian to think how much of a waste it must be to pay a single person to be on call all day every day, on the off chance she wanted to venture outside the home.

The phone in her lap dinged, bringing Vivian’s thoughts back down to earth as she looked to see who was texting her now.

Miriam: \[Theo keeps bugging me to ask you if I can give him your number. I told him to ask you himself tomorrow but he ignored me. So can I give him your number or nah? I’d be more than happy to tell him no and make him ask himself tomorrow!\]

Did it matter if Theo had her number? Laurent wouldn’t like it if he found out, not that Vivian was going to take that into account. She had started referring to Theo as a friend so it would make sense to have each other’s numbers, wouldn’t it? Would Samuel approve of her having a male friend? He’d seemed fine about her having a hypothetical boyfriend, even when she’d hinted at a physical relationship with someone; well, maybe not ‘fine’, but he hadn’t been against it so long as she was upfront about being in a relationship.

Not that this was going to become a romantic thing.

Vivian shook her head, chasing those thoughts away. Why had she even gone there? It wasn’t that she liked Theo so why did these things keep coming to mind when she thought about him?

Having made up her decision, she sent her response to Miriam without waiting for her mind to change.

Vivian: \[Go ahead.\]

Dropping the phone back to her lap, Vivian tried not to regret the choice.

They were almost home when her phone dinged again and when she looked at the screen she saw it was from a new number.

Unknown: \[Hey Vivian! Miriam said you were okay with her sharing your number with me. It’s Theo. Would you be willing to meet up with me this evening?\]