CHAPTER TWO
deafening silence

It was safe to say that dinner at the Hoovers and the Demonts were completely the same. Well, besides the fact that there were different people. So technically, almost the same.

There's that sickening word again.

Anyway. . . the dinners were almost always the same. Which was a good thing because it ruled out all embarrassment that the two fifteen year olds could somehow gain. Though it did contain pure boringness every single evening from the constant repeating of events.

It started with quiet greetings, everyone present getting their food and talking about how their day was from before that moment.

Next came the deafening silence that fell upon the group and suffocated them. . . at least until the arguing came and exploded as though it was a volcano waiting to erupt.

And it never failed.

So as they sat, side by side, hearing nothing but the rustling and chewing that made Winnie mad with each passing second.

She clenched her fist underneath the table and grinded her teeth. . .which was a habit Dwayne and Olive had tried to get her to stop. It was no use though, yet they never gave up.

"Are you going to eat that?" Edwin asked, kicking her shin to get her attention.

She jumped, not realizing she was staring at her food in front of her and not touching any of it, and winced at the pain on her shin.

She looked up at the old man, sending him a confused look as if she wanted him to repeat his words.

"You haven't touched your food Winnie," Dwayne's mom pointed out making Winnie's head snap to Sheryl.

She gulped and took a piece of the fried chicken before putting it in her mouth. Her eyes widened when she remembered what Edwin asked and she passed him her plate.

He shook his head and pushed it back toward her and told her to eat.

Silence engulfed them yet again.

And Dwayne and Richard were done by the time Winifred had even started.

It took about 5 minutes before the first argument started and it was a race against the clock as Winnie tried to eat quickly so her and Dwayne could leave.

But today had other plans, or maybe they time jumped. Maybe she shouldn't have zoned out.

She didn't know how it started and didn't care to pay attention. It most likely had to do with the 10 steps Richard had. Or was it 9?

You'd think that she would remember from the amount of times she's heard it but honestly, who gave a fuck about what came out of Richard Hoovers mouth?

He was stupid anyway.

She looked over at Dwayne, eating the last piece of her chicken, and watches as he rolled his eyes.

She smiled and bit her lip as though she wanted to laugh but wouldn't allow herself to.

He sent her a smile and motioned with his head toward the front door, indicating that he wanted to leave.

She nodded and grabbed her things ( to hopefully make cleaning up easier ) before standing up with Dwayne by her side.

"Where are you guys going?" Sheryl asked before shaking her head and looking back to Richard. She honestly didn't care, they finished their food.

"Can I come?" Olive spoke up.

The two shared a look, Olive was a sweet girl, they didn't mind if she tagged along. So, Dwayne gave her a nod and grabbed Winnie's hand and they were out of the door.

( ☀️ )

"I miss your guys' voice sometimes," Olive said, swinging Winnies hand back and forth with Dwayne trailing behind them. "But other times I don't because it makes it so we can talk longer."

Winnies heart swelled, not thinking Olive liked talking to her that much, and looked back to see if Dwayne heard. She found him already looking at her, the ever so smallest smile present on his face.

"Because I have to wait for you to write," she continued. "You write slow."

Winnie opened her mouth as if to scoff and let go of Olives hand to push her over softly.

The little girl let out loud laughs as they neared the gas station.

Winnie slowed her steps so she was next to Dwayne. She reached in his pocket and pulled out his notepad and pen. He jumped at the odd feeling and stepped away as she wrote frantically on the first blank page that she found.

Get what you want I'll pay.

She showed it to Dwayne, who just stared at it, before jogging to Olive and showing her too.

"Sweet!" she exclaimed, running into the store.

Winnie smiled as she walked in, the only thing she wanted was a slushy. Normally this gas station was always out, or the machine was broken or something. There was just always no slushy.

So when she saw the filled machine with the mixer ( she didn't know what it really was ) spinning around in circles with no red light, she bolted over faster than you can say yellow.

Her eyes immediately went to the red as though she was some bull, and immediately grabbed a cup in the biggest size they had. She filled it up to the complete top ( she had put the lid on previously so she wouldn't have to deal with a spill ) and grabbed a purple straw and stuck it through the hole in the lid.

She felt content.

Winnie took a sip of the cherry slushy and felt something nudge her arm. She looked over and saw Dwayne holding out a notepad toward her.

She sent him a confused look and he held up his notepad that had, you need your own, written on it. She shook her head in response.

Why get her own when his was just right there? It wasn't like she talked to anyone else unless he was there anyway.

She watched as he flipped the pages before stopping at the one she wrote on. The one that said, get what you want I'll pay.

He underlined 'Ill pay' and held it extremely close to her face. She took a step back and sent a glare his way.  He sent a mocking smile toward her and she grabbed the notepad in annoyance before taking off in search of Olive.

( note. )

wrote this while watching ruby sparks and had major block right in the middle, bon appetite