I may be quiet, but I have so much on my mind.

Mae

"You're worthless. You're nothing," Mitch started yelling at me. I didn't want to cry because of his hurtful words, but they were so mean. "That's why your mother left us because you're so damn annoying! Your voice is a disgrace. You're such a damn burden."

I let the waterworks go, and they didn't want to stop. I missed my mom so much. I needed her in my life, but I guess she didn't need me in her life.

"Please stop," I whispered. I never spoke normally after my mother left only in a whisper.

"Shut up, I should kill you! You make my blood BOIL!" He roared in a fit of rage and came after me with a knife, slicing my leg. I wasn't thinking; I let out a shrilling scream as the knife went deeper, making my blood run on the floor more than it should have.

"It was just a dream," I whispered to myself as I woke up and sat in a sitting position. I heard the door open, so I backed away but it was just Zach.

"Three hours until school," Zach whispered, and I nodded. I sighed as I remembered I didn't get a backpack.

"I need a backpack," I whispered to him.

"I have football practice," he told me with an apologetic look on his face.

"I can drop you off. Then I can get a backpack," I told him quietly, and he nodded before walking out.

I threw the blanket off of me and saw the scar on my left leg. It was in the middle of my thigh but if I wore a dress that went to my mid-thigh, only the bottom of my scar will show.

I don't feel self-conscious with my body image because I know my body isn't bad looking, so I could wear dresses that went to my mid-thigh without feeling embarrassed but if I showed my scars then I would feel embarrassed. It's a different type of insecurity I feel.

I didn't care if I showed my scars to Zach; he has similar ones, and I trusted him. But just because I could wear dresses, doesn't mean I do. I still like to hide.

I like to take showers at night after I work out, so I didn't need to take one now. I decided on black jeans, my high tops, and a grey hoodie. My hair is naturally a little wavy, so I don't do anything to it.

I put on some light makeup which consists of a little foundation only on my blemishes such as acne scars on my temples and two red pimples on my chin.

I didn't have any bruises on my face because Mitch never really hits my face, except for the last time when he slapped me but that didn't leave much. Just a little purple bruise on my lower lip.

When I fight, I don't bruise easy but when Mitch hits me, he leaves bruises. He does the rest of the damage from the neck and lower. If he hits my face, people would ask questions.

I lifted my arm to the doorknob and felt a slight pain flare-up from my side, but I ignored it and opened the door. It wasn't from Mitch, it was from a fight I had this previous Saturday.

"Mitch is gone!" Zach shouted. I walked out and went to the kitchen. My brother was sitting at the table eating his favorite cereal, Captain Crunch.

After that dream, I didn't have much of an appetite, and I wasn't a breakfast type of person, so I just grabbed an apple.

"Do you have lunch money for today?" I asked my brother. He just nodded, but I knew he didn't, so I handed him twenty dollars just in case.

"I don't need it. Thank you, though," he slid it back to me, but I slid it back to him.

"Okay, but still take it just in case. You take care of me, and I make good money. I don't care if you need anything, or you feel embarrassed to ask. Don't. I'm your little sister, and I want to take care of you."

"Eww! Brother and sister love," He gagged, and I shoved him, which made him laugh.

"It's supposed to be the other way around but thank you. We should get going. Do you want me to drive?" Zach chuckled. He always asks me but the answer will always remain the same.

"Nice try but no one drives my car but me," I gave him a teasing smile and finished the apple.

Once we walked to my car and got in, we buckled our seatbelts. I turned my key in the ignition, having it roar to life, and I peeled out of the street.

"Did you do a muffler delete?" Zach asked as I drove off, and I laughed and nodded. He doesn't know much about cars so it's funny when he asks, especially if he ever gets the term wrong. I just nodded and kept driving. I like my cars loud and fast and a muffler delete helps with that. Even though it might be considered slightly illegal.

Might be? Slightly? Suuuuuure.

I pulled into the school and stopped in the front. "You can leave your backpack," I told him and nodded. His gym locker wasn't that big. "You can pick it up when I come back."

"Thank you," he said and got out of the car. "Be safe."

"You too," I told him. Once he closed the door, I drove off and went to the mall. Hopefully, it wasn't too packed. Kids liked to come to the mall before school.

Once I arrived, I parked and got off. The first store I decided to go into was Kohls. I walked towards the backpack section but the shoe sections caught my attention.

I'm a sucker for a nice pair of Nike's, or Jordan's, or Vans, or Chucks. Basically, just sneakers.

Except, sketchers.

The ones that light up. Those are cool.

No. That's- no.

I smiled at my thought and skipped the women's section, going straight to the men's section. I chose a box that held my size and pulled it out before opening it.

"Nike's. I pictured you more of a chucks type of girl," a voice said, so I looked to my right, where the voice came from and saw a guy. "Nice choice though, I have a pair just like them."

I smiled and returned to trying on my shoes. I don't talk so what was I suppose to do? Just keep smiling like an idiot? Yeah, no thanks.

"Brenda to Electronics. Brenda to Electronics," the intercom spoke. I took my shoes off, but I remembered I still had school today, so I checked the time. It was six-thirty in the morning, so I had an hour and a half left.

The book store.

Yes.

"I'm Owen, it's nice to meet you," the guy smiled as I slipped on the shoe. He extended his hand, so I stood up and shook it. "Your name would beeee?" He dragged, wanting to know my name.

I pulled out my phone, open the notes app, and typed my response.

I'm Mae, it's nice to meet you, too.

"I actually need a women's opinion. Do you mind?" He smiled and to be quite honest, it was a really nice smile.

No.

"Do you... do you not speak?" He was hesitant to ask, but I shook my head. "Oh, uhh." This is usually when they run away because it'll be awkward to speak to a person who was mute because apparently, we don't have feelings for being ignored.

Is that a problem? 

I showed him my phone, but he surprised me when he shook his head. I say surprised because it usually happens like this:

"Hey, I'm John," a guy with specs came up to me. I smiled and pulled out my phone.

Hey, I'm Mae.

"Uhh... It's uhh nice to meet you," he said and looked a little uncomfortable. Geez, imagine how I felt.

Actually, I don't, I'm a soulless bitch.

Well, apparently, that's what they think because they act as if I don't have feelings.

Hi, it's nice to meet you too.

"You know it's rude not to speak to someone when they're speaking to you," he said and rolled his eyes. He walked away and went to his friends. "What a bitch!" I heard him telling his friends but the way he said it, it was meant for me to hear.

Or like this.

"Sup," a guy came up to me. "Whatcha doin'?" He sat down at my table, leaning back, so I smiled to be polite.

Hi, can I help you?

"Geez, I was just saying hi," he snapped and got up. "Ignoring someone is rude. Don't need to be a whore about it."

He left and again I was pissed off.

"I've never met anyone who was mute before," he said. "So you don't speak? Ever?"

You seem awfully interested in my personal life.

After taking off the shoes I was going to buy, I put mine on and closed the box.

"It just makes me curious. Does that offend you?" He asked, so I shrugged.

I don't really like noisy people.

"Noisy?" He asked, so I checked my phone and he laughed, making my face burn a little from embarrassment.

Yeah, I don't really like noisy people along with nosy people.

"Played it off well, I'll give you that." He smiled, and he looked friendly. He didn't look old either, but I knew he wasn't in high school. Considering I had never seen him before.

Thanks. Bye.

I walked around him and went to the backpack section. Jansport? Nike? Or Adidas? I looked at the backpacks but Nike didn't have the one I wanted.

"I say Jansport," Owen said and grabbed two black backpacks. "Not that many pockets so it wouldn't get heavy with unnecessary things, like garbage and it has black so it wouldn't get dirty that easily."

Thank you.

I put my phone and the shoebox in my left hand and grabbed the backpack with my right hand. I pointed to his backpack, so he looked at it.

"For my little sister," he said, and I smiled. It reminded me of Zach because he was older. "Although, I think she might want red."

I pointed at the red one, but he couldn't choose which one he wanted.

Can't decide?

After I typed, I showed him and put the Nike box in the backpack and put the backpack on.

"Do you mind holding both up, so I can send it to my sister?" He asked as he held them to me. I grabbed the backpacks and held them as he took the picture, but I looked to my right, letting my hair curtain my face as he took the picture. "Thank you."

I nodded and handed them back to him as I went to go pay.

"Is this all?" The cashier asked, so I nodded.

I mean, does it look like I have anything else?

Why are you so rude?

I don't know it's just a thought that crossed my mind in a split second. I feel bad.

I looked to my left and Owen set his stuff down too. He settled on the red backpack. "I'm not stalking you, I promise." He smiled, so I smiled too before showing him what I typed.

Words from probably every stalker.

"But not this one," he said and then realized what he said. "I mean not like that. I mean not from me because I'm not a stalker. Scouts honor." He held up his hand, and I smiled.

Sure.

The cashier told me the amount of money the purchase was, so I paid and grabbed my items. "Have a good day." The cashier said. I returned the smile and nodded.

"Bye," Owen said and waved, so I waved too. I walked to the book store which was around the corner from the store and walked in. It was really toasty in here, but I loved it.

I wasn't too much of a reader, and I also didn't have my head in a book all the time but for some reason, I loved coming to the book store. All the books around me made me feel whole or something.

I went to adult fiction and chose a book. I started reading but was cut off by a cough. I knew it was the cashier, I closed the book and put it back on the shelf.

"You're supposed to buy the book first and then read it," she said and crossed her arms. Mrs. Corneal was this old lady who has probably been alive for as long as dinosaurs have.

If I brought her some cornbread, all was right with the world. I guess, her name suited her well. I got up but another book caught my attention. "It's a good one."

You've read it?

"I like to read some young stuff once's in a while," she said and grabbed the book from my hand.

Young stuff?

Anything you'd recommend?

"This one is about a vampire who falls for a human. But the human betrays him, despite their love for each other. His mother warns him- well, I shouldn't say too much," she sounded enthusiastic about it, so I read the description of what the story was about and it sounded good.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite mute," I turned around and saw Zach with his best friend, James. He's like my best friend too but if I told him he would want me to have it written down along with a recorded message. He'll say it's for safekeeping but we all know it's to blackmail me.

We've been best friends since we were seven, but he still hasn't heard me since. Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean I'll speak to him. He's heard me laugh and cry but that's all.

He was a super nice person, and I was actually very happy to be friends with him. Although I do think his popularity made him a bit different ever since we started high school. All the girls seemed to fall for his dark caramel skin and light brown eyes. His perfect white teeth also add to the effect. He used them to his advantage and was now very flirtatious.

Despite his flirtatious side, he was a really kind and sincere person. He's the one who told me about sign language. He wanted me to talk to him, so he looked things up. We all learned it, actually.

"Well, if it isn't my not so favorite person," I signed, but he frowned.

"You wound me, sweet cheeks," he said, and I cringed. "Oh, the horror in sweet cheeks." He mocked and I laughed, quietly. He loved to make me smile, and I didn't mind. I loved to laugh, it was great.

"What are you doing here?" I signed to Zach, but James answered.

"Trying to catch you in the act with your lover."

"What are we going to do with him?" I signed and kept laughing.

"Throw him in your trunk and ditch the car?" Zach offered.

"And leave Lexi? You monster!" I signed, so Zach put his hands up.

"I'll take care of him, Mae," James said and went all actor mode. "What should we do with him?"

"Take him to the back," after James looked at my hands, he nodded, but Zach being the party killer just smacked the back of James' head. 

"Rude," James muttered and pouted. He opened his arms, wanting a hug, so I hugged him. "Better." I smiled and attempted to pull my arms free but to no avail.

I snapped my fingers to get Zach's attention. He set his book down and pulled James off. "Rude."

"What can I say, you smell like mangos," he gave me a boyish smile, making any frustration wash away. "So where is your secret lover?"

"If I said he was standing in front of me?" I asked. I looked for any signs of him being flustered but there were none. He pulled me close and now I was the one feeling flustered. I swallowed, and he smiled.

"Stop joking around," Zach said and tugged on James. James didn't move, instead, he kept looking into my eyes. It was always hard to look into people's eyes but with James, it wasn't. His presence was light and his eyes were soft. "We have school!"

"Shh," Mrs. Corneal shushed. James backed away, so I turned to Zach who shook his head at
James

"Sorry, Mrs. Corn," James apologized.

"It's Corneal," She said and returned to the front of the shop.

"I'll get it right next time!" He shouted and the store echoed with his voice.

"That's what you said last time and the time before that," I told James once he turned around, and he shrugged.

"Promises get broken without ever being held," James said. His phone buzzed, and he smiled. "Well, pleasure's calling."

"Thanks for the ride," Zach said sarcastically.

"You're welcome. Bye, sweet cheeks," James smiled and walked out.

"Ready?" I whispered to him, so he nodded. "Let's go." We walked to my car and got in.

"Ooh and we didn't have practice after all. Just a meeting. I told James this is where you'd be so we came here," Zach told me and I nodded.

I was halfway to school when a black dodge came next to me and revved their car. I looked at the car and they were trying to look in, but my car windows were tinted.

"It looks like they just got a car wash. What a shame," I said. I looked ahead at the light but it was still red. I revved my car; it was louder than theirs. I waited for the light to turn, but I felt like it was taking forever.

Red...

Green...

"GO!" My brother yelled. I was racing, and they were behind. They tried to catch up, but their car was too slow. We were almost at school maybe four minutes till, but my car pinged. Signaling that cops were near.

I slowed my car and went the speed limit. I looked to my right to see that the boys were cheering while they passed me.

The cop's sirens went off and pulled the black dodge over. I passed by them, and the driver had a mad look on his face. I looked at my brother, and we started laughing. Don't race, if you don't keep an eye out for yourself.

"Idiots," I mumbled, humorously, and my brother laughed harder. We arrived at school, so I parked my car. When we got off, like usual there were still people in the parking lot waiting for the bell to ring.

We heard the same rev of the car, so we turned around and so did everyone else. I recognized the light skinned boy as Ryder and darker skinned boy as Bennett, but I didn't know the one who was in the back seat. It was Ryder who looked mad.

"How'd they get here so fast?" I whispered to my brother so no one can hear, but he shrugged. They started walking to us but before they did I whispered to my brother once more. "If they're mad about the race pretend like it was you please," he nodded, so I turned around.

"ANDERSON!" Yup, I was right, Ryder was mad.

"Take it easy, man," Zach smiled before they were in front of us.

"Take it easy? I got a ticket because of you!" Ryder shouted as he furrowed his eyebrows, clearly angry.

"Because of me?! You were the one who got caught." Zach scoffed.

"I want a rematch," Ryder demanded as he stood tall to my brother.

"So you can lose again?" Zach chuckled, and Ryder took a step toward my brother, but I stepped in the middle. The tanned guy with grey eyes, I didn't recognize, put his hand on Ryder's right shoulder, and shook his head.

"I want a rematch! After school. Today." Ryder demanded. Ryder's green eyes started into my hazel ones for a second before looking back toward Zach.

"Why should I?" Zach asked with a slight nod upward.

"Because if you win, which you won't then you get my car just like that. But if I win-" he laughed and smiled evilly before continuing. "Then I get that sweet ass Camaro of yours." I looked at my brother and nodded, slightly, meaning to take the deal.

"Fine. Name the place," Zach said.

"Downtown. We'll deal with the rest."

"Okay, I'll be there," Zach said. We turned away and started to walk away until one of them called me.

"Bye, Mae," The one I didn't know said as he smiled. I was confused but gave a small smile and turned away. We walked down the hall, but I pulled Zach into an empty classroom.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Shh be quiet," I whispered to Zach.

"Easy for you say," I gave him the 'I don't care if you're my brother, I'll kill you' look, and he put his hands up in surrender.

"You're not driving my car."

"What?! I have to race!" He whispered but still held a smile on his lips. He just wants to drive my car.

"No. He said 'Anderson! I want a rematch.' Did you forget I'm one too?" I smirked, but he just rolled his eyes.

"How could I forget? You've been with me for the past seventeen years," he said, and I raised my eyebrows. "So what do you say we do?"

"We-" I was cut off by the bell ringing, so I continued after the bell finished ringing. "We'll talk later. Meet me in the library. We have Math right now. Let's go," I whispered.

We walked out and went to our Math class. I liked to sit in the back of all my classes, so we sat at the back. We have six classes but Zach and I only have two together.

My schedule was AP Statistics, Office Aide, AP Spanish, AP Economics, AP English, and Study Hall. Zach's was AP Statistics, Government, Study Hall, Weight Training, AP English, and Woodshop.

As a senior, we don't have to take math but it looks good on our college application. Juniors and Seniors also don't take P.E because we have it every day for two years, instead of every other day for four years.

Only people in sports take P.E but it's categorized as weight training. I actually liked P.E because we got to get out of class.

The late bell rang and were all seated by the time the teacher walked in and sat her bags down. She took the items out that she'd need for today but the door opened and in cane the boy that I didn't know and Bennett.

Good thing Ryder wasn't in this class.

*~*

By the time I knew it, it was lunch. I went to the library and waited for Zach. I did a sweep of the place to make sure no one came in.

Paranoid.

The library was big, but you couldn't really hide anywhere in here because there were those mirrors in the top corner of the room so other people at the far end could see you.

They put them in here when kids started getting freaky with each other.

The door opened and my brother walked in. Zach had seen me and walked to where I was.

"So what's the plan, if I'm not driving?" Zach grumbled.

"You may not drive my car, but you'll get the dodge," I whispered to him.

"You're gonna give it to me?!" He exclaimed.

"If you don't yell, then yeah," I whispered.

"Okay, I won't. But what's the plan?"