Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 73

Theo’s question caused a frown to form on Vivian’s face. When had she given him that impression? “What do you mean?”

“Well…” he trailed off, running a hand through his hair as he glanced away. “You always seem to shut down our conversations and leave at the drop of a hat.”

“…okay…” she nodded again, waiting to see if he’d say more. When he didn’t, Vivian decided to ask for more clarification. “I’m still lost how that means I don’t enjoy your company?”

He looked back at her and blinked once, a crooked smile forming on his lips. “You’re more socially awkward than I realized, I think.”

It’s not that he was wrong, but having it pointed out to her again in such a way, emphasizing the awkwardness, made Vivian somehow feel less than. Theo was a social butterfly and this kind of thing must come easy to him while she struggled with the basics. “I’m aware.”

“Sorry. It’s not that I’m trying to be mean, I just thought… I don’t know. I didn’t really realize just how much? Part of me thought it was just kind of who you are but it’s more than that, isn’t it? You just really don’t… know, you know?”

*Now who’s being the socially awkward one*, Vivian thought to herself as she watched the boy struggle to find the words to backtrack his earlier statement. It was rather entertaining, watching him struggle and she suddenly realized they’d switched places.

This was how he experienced conversations with her as she muddled around trying to figure things out while he watched, finding the process fun. The realization made Vivian chuckle a little, which caught Theo’s attention as he frowned at her sudden amusement. “What’s so funny?”

“I think I finally understand why you find me entertaining,” she explained with a small smile. Maybe a normal person would be insulted to find out their lack of social skills brought amusement to another person, but Vivian could tell he wasn’t the type who did it out of malice.

Theo’s face froze for a second before a grin slowly spread across it. “Does that mean you find me entertaining?” He paused for a beat then said, “You know what, don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter.”

Back to his confident self, Theo took another drink, his grin never faltering.

“So was there anything else you needed to say in person?” Vivian prompted for a second time.

“No,” he replied. “I just wanted to apologize face to face when no one from school was around to gossip about it.”

Vivian nodded solemnly, understanding his want to stay out of the gossip pool. With her current infamy, anyone associating with her was bound to get dragged through the mud and wanting to avoid that should be everyone’s priority.

“But we still have some time before the half hour I asked for is up,” he’d continued, catching Vivian’s attention again as they locked eyes. “At least keep me company til five, yeah?”

So far the conversation had taken a bit less than ten minutes, but she wasn’t opposed to sticking around. Even with the possibility of the shooters showing up Vivian felt comfortable, maybe not completely relaxed but enough to enjoy Theo’s company. Tyrell was also still hanging out, though he’d found a seat where he could keep an eye on her and the rest of the room. It was far enough away that, with the din from the other patrons there was no chance he could overhear anything said between the two of them either.

“Alright,” Vivian agreed. “But you’ll have to figure out what to talk about.”

Letting out a laugh, Theo was quick to find another topic.

Time flew by and it felt like they’d only just started talking when the half hour was suddenly up. True to his word, Theo took note of the time and said, “Guess that’s it for today. Thanks for sticking around to hang out, Vivian.”

“Sure,” she nodded. “I had fun.”

“Same,” he laughed, taking her empty cup from the table before she had a chance to stop him. “I’ll see you tomorrow at practice.” Without waiting for her to respond, Theo had turned and left, tossing their cups in the trash on his way out. As he walked by the front windows, he turned his head and gave Vivian a wave before disappearing from sight.

A lot of thoughts were going through Vivian’s mind at this point. Feeling so relaxed while talking with another person was a relatively new experience; the only other person she’d ever have this happen with before was Miriam. Was that what it meant to have a good friend? Is that why things felt natural when they talked? She’d have to ask Miriam about it later.

Vivian looked over at Tyrell and gave him a small smile, which he took as his signal that their time at Coffeeholic was over. She waited for him to leave before following after a few seconds.

Outside he’d come to a stop just out of view from the café’s windows and Vivian soon joined him so they could cross the street together. One of his giant hands pressed lightly between her shoulders as he guided her to where he’d parked the car, his head turning this way and that as he kept his eyes peeled for trouble. His actions helped her feel less anxious while simultaneously reminding her that there were people out there who wanted to cause her harm.

Once they were on their way back home, Vivian felt herself begin to relax again. It gave her the opportunity to go over her interaction with Theo and wonder what had changed to make her feel so comfortable around him.

His presence had never been one she disliked, and the few times they’d spent chatting throughout lunch had all been fine; never awkward but they also hadn’t felt so easy, either. Something had happened during their brief time at Coffeeholic that flipped some unknown switch in her head and suddenly she wasn’t as worried about finding the right things to say, or if he’d think less of her when she made a social faux pas.

She also found herself wishing they’d had more time to hang out. The thought caught her by surprise as she didn’t think she’d ever had that happen before, even with Miriam.

What did that mean? Was Miriam on to something with her crusade to get them together?

No, that couldn’t be it. Vivian didn’t get attached to people as a rule of thumb so there’s no way she could be developing feelings for a boy.