Page 19 of Shattered Silence Duet

Oh, great. This is going to get awkward. I break eye contact and look around, noticing the other students watching us. I have no idea what to do so I do nothing, turning back to the front.

“Hey, don’t be rude. He asked you a question,” another male voice says. This one comes from the boy beside the first one, who seems a bit bigger and has really short dark brown hair.

“You too good to talk to us?” the first guy asks, starting to sound upset.

“What a bitch! At least she’s nice to look at from behind though. Come to think of it, I might prefer a girl who’s quiet,anyway. Seen and not heard, right, man?” the second says with a laugh, and the first boy bursts out laughing.

I look down at my hands and notice I’m frantically tapping my fingers against the back of my other hand. This was no double tap, this was getting close to full on panic.

“Reynolds, you know better than to speak in such a disrespectful way.”

I look up and watch Tucker move to stand behind me, arms crossed, glaring at the two boys behind me as he places himself between us.

“We were just trying to say hi, and she was being rude, ignoring us!” the first boy complains.

“Mina is a new student here and is mute, so she can’t speak to you. You can ask her yes-or-no questions, but don’t assume someone is being rude just because they don’t respond. What if she were deaf and didn’t hear you? Next time, be respectful. You two can run laps around the gym until we’re done with yoga.”

They grumble, apologize, then get up and start running around the gym. Tucker looks down at me. “Are you doing okay?”

I nod, feeling my racing heart start to settle. He nods back, moves to the front of the class, and gets everyone’s attention to start class.

He spends the next twenty minutes leading us in a yoga routine, which turns out to be an activity where you hold your body in the most uncomfortable positions possible. The worst part is how it pulls on my stomach and arm injuries, no matter the position. I’m not going to lie, though—watching Tucker bend over again and again isn’t the worst way to spend a class. No, that honor is saved for our next activity: drills.

We have to run back and forth across the gym, going a bit further each time before a beep chimes, making us have to speed up or we’re out. I make it through only two rounds. I hear snickers and laughs when I’m eliminated and have to sit on the sidelines. I feel even worse when the next person doesn’t get out until eightrounds later. I knew my stamina was rough, but this is just embarrassing.

Luckily, after that, we do what Tucker calls cool-down exercises, which are a series of stretches. That’s my favorite part of the class—well, second to watching Tucker do yoga.

When class is dismissed, I quickly head back to his office. I have ten minutes before the end of the school day, so I need to be quick. I notice his bathroom has a shower and eye it jealously. I wonder what that would feel like, I’d give almost anything to have a real shower.

Instead, I get dressed quickly and am relieved to see nobody in the office when I leave. I grab my bag and slip out the side door to avoid Tucker and the twins. I don’t want to get held up, and I have a feeling they wouldn’t let me walk home. I also don’t want them knowing where I live—I’m afraid they’d just show up. My mother would lose it if that ever happened. I’d probably never leave the basement again.

As I leave the school property and head down the sidewalk, I know I’ll make it on time today, and I let out a deep breath of relief.

Chapter 10

Mina

Being Friday, most kids probably look forward to the weekend, but not me. It means over forty-eight hours locked in that stupid basement, bored out of my mind. Worse, I won’t get to see my new friends for several days, which is almost harder to bear than the confinement.

Even though I can’t talk to them, something about being around them makes me feel comfortable. For the first time in my life, I actually look forward to seeing someone—or, rather, someones.

My morning routine goes as usual. I even have time to wash my hair in the sink again, although it causes a lot of pain in my arm and stomach. After towel-drying it as much as I can, I braid it into two braids before leaving the bathroom, aiming to give my mother no ammunition this morning. There hasn’t been an incident since the belt lashing on Wednesday, and I’m optimistic that at least that wound is healing well.

The same can’t be said for my arm. It still looks red and swollen this morning, and the hole seems bigger. I clean away all the pus I can, rinse the gauze, and carefully re-wrap it as the pain radiates down my arm. At least with the weekend coming up, Iwon’t have to worry about carrying my bag, getting jostled by another student, or the toll gym class takes on it.

I quietly exit the bathroom, hoping for a quiet escape, but come up short when I see my mother waiting for me with her arms folded and a scowl on her face. I freeze, mentally going over everything. My hair is braided, I’m on time, and wearing my school uniform. I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong, but as her assessing eyes roam over me, I can’t help but feel nervous.

“Just because you look like that doesn’t mean I can’t see the evil that’s still inside you,” she says angrily, making me tense. When she spoke like this, it often meant I was in for a lot of pain. I stay frozen in place, hoping I don’t anger her more. I’m not sure why she thought I was possessed by a demon. It made no sense to me.

I watch as she closes her eyes and shakes her head, taking a deep breath before dropping her arms to her sides. “You can go, don’t be late,” she mutters as she starts to walk past me. Before I can make a clean getaway, she smacks me over the head, making me internally wince, but I don’t hesitate to move quickly to the front door, relieved at getting away relatively easily. I shove my feet in my giant shoes and head out before she changes her mind.

The walk to school is chilly where the cold air touches my bare legs and seeps through my thin dress shirt, but I keep a brisk pace and arrive early, like yesterday. Looking around the parking lot, I wish I knew where to find Max, so I don’t have to go to class on my own. I’ll probably have to do it one day, but I’m still nervous of other students. I’m also worried about the twins, knowing I’m not completely averse to learning. Would they tell anyone? They seemed to be on friendly terms with Mr. Hargrove, and I’m sure he’ll tell my mother if he knew the truth. I need to do a better job of hiding myself. I’ve let things go a bit too far and it isn’t helping me lie low under my mother’s radar while I figure out an exit strategy.

What I really need is a way to learn without anyone knowing. The library study room was working out well for that, but theothers seemed determined to drag me to class. I’d just have to keep my head down, color, and stop writing down answers.

“Mina!” My head jerks up and I see Max waving as he and Jasper jog over to me with smiles on their faces. Their energy is infectious and I can’t stop myself from smiling back. They stop in front of me and grin down at me.

“How was your night?” Max asks, and I shrug and nod my head once, unsure how to answer. It had been an uneventful night, which was a great one in my books. “You ran off yesterday after school before I could offer you a ride home. Can I give you a lift today?”