s o s i l e n t ;;
ODETTE
- 'How can she stand the silence' said a soft voice, barely making its sound over a whisper. She was watching the shadows play upon the walls, the scurrying feet outside the bedroom door of her shared apartment. Currently Odette was sitting on her bed, pen in hand like usual, with her book light perched upon her ever faithful journal. That journal was a prized possession of the twenty year old. The journal was as thick as any Harry Potter book and had been around for quite some time. Just by flipping back the pages one could see all she ever did was write, even if there wasn't anything happening that day she would manage to write down the simplest good morning to the diary, in which she called Layla, which was actually the name of her first and best counselor she had gone to in attempt to help herself out. Sweet Layla, she thought to herself before shewing on the end of her pen cap, an awful habit that she was told more than once would ruin her pearly whites. Odette's fingers ran idly across the tattered and word filled pages of the diary, every once in a while she would go back and read whatever she had written, but mostly it was just filled with anguished words and depressing thoughts that basically consumed the pages.
Her fingers stopped at a particular entry she had written a few years back, one of the first ones she had actually written down in length and description. Layla Diary, today was terrible beyond belief. You know the boy I told you about? He does seem rather fond of me, but I hope he doesn't enjoy my presence in that way. I'm still with Ian, he makes me so happy. I know that some don't think we should be together, for some dumb and probably cliche reason, but he's really the greatest. Still, something is bothering me about our other lying friend, I know he can basically tell untruths until the cow comes in, but he's creeping me out... For a long moment Odette stared at that page, she hadn't really thought of Ian in a long time, nor the whole group really. Her thoughts would randomly go towards the lying, egotistical young man she once called part of their group, but that was because of the incident.
Her thoughts were brought out of the past when she heard the phone ring and more shuffling and running to get it from her other two room mates probably. It had been about three years since Odette had answered the phone, within those three years she hadn't said a word either. If she truly wanted to she could look up the exact date she had written one of her more emotional and raw entries of where she made her decision to in fact become mute, never to say anything to possibly the end of her days. Though it sounds dramatic the reason isn't something to fool around about, being very serious and also very scary to think upon. "Hello? Well, no she can't. I mean, she can but...Can I just take a message?" said her room mate into the phone before entering Odette's room unannounced, not really caring if she was in her pajamas and that he was in fact a boy. Pouting her lips and closing her diary she shot Kaylen a look for entering her private space, but just to annoy her further the male around her age flopped down next to her, almost smacking his head on the wall behind him.
His actions almost made Odette say something, but there would be no slipping, her voice would probably sound cracked and terrible from the non-use of it. Pressing her ear to the other side of the phone she waited for the person on the other line to say something, it was in fact a familiar voice in which she couldn't put her mind to recognize. "No, I need to speak to Odette Voann only, please." Not one of these calls, she thought to herself before backing away from the phone, thinking it was only some stupid sale pitch. "Listen here, you can't speak to her, she won't speak back, okay? Now just tell me the message and I'll give it to her." Kaylen was one to be impatient with others, especially over the phone, and she could already hear his temper flaring. Shaking her head side to side slowly she motioned for the phone, and once it was up to her ear she simply made a coughing sound into it, it was the least she could do for the poor individual over the line. "Odette? Odette is that you?" asked the caller almost hysterical, making her feel quite uncomfortable. Leaning the phone against her shoulder she simply placed her hands out in front of her and began signing to Kaylen, asking who the heck was on the other line, in return he simply shrugged his shoulders. "This is Danielle Harren, Valerie's sister, you remember me?" not exactly waiting for an answer she let out, "Valerie is gone." At first Odette didn't understand, but soon enough she let the phone slip from her shoulder and let it lay on her bed, in which she could still hear the female voice on the other line. "No..." Odette let slip before breaking down in tears and shuddering before being comforted by Kaylen, for once she was happy he was there.
That was just last night, her things were packed and her eyes were still watery. The morning was still young, she hadn't really slept at all the night before because she was too distressed about her friend's death, the cost of the plane ticket, packing, and then going back home. It had been a number of years since she had been to her hometown in Illinois. She was nervous, anxious, and plainly scared out of her mind. This whole ordeal was so odd, so unfamiliar and sickening that Odette wasn't sure what to think of it. To her it was odd that the night before she had decided to look back into the diary and read a few pages from when she in fact lived with her parents and still went to high school with the old group, but this wouldn't be a happy reunion at all.
The hours on the plane crawled by and her stomach churned with butterflies for more than one reason. Odette couldn't have been happier as the plane came to a stop, landing was a little bumpy but there were no true worries. A young lady came up to Odette, quickly signing to her where to go, in which Odette frowned towards. She was mute, not deaf. Shoving her sunglasses onto her crystalline eyes Odette nodded, hiding the red rubbed eyes behind the tinted shades. This was Kaylen's doing, she already knew. Odette had not told the airline of her disability and knowing her overprotective friend too well for her own good she decided to blame him for this happening. Odette could function, she could get what she wanted when she needed to, she didn't need some second class wanna be sign language assistant following her around the airport like a lap dog. For the moment though, Odette would let the annoying flight attendant accompany her, just in case. Just to keep things less hostile from her part she signed to her that she could hear and that all she needed to do was sign her way, not the other way around. At those words the young woman looked slightly embarrassed and said, "Oopsies." as if that would make things better a little bit, in fact it just made Odette smile.
The time was 9:36 and she was quickly off the metal bird with her luggage in hand, barely listening as the attendant blabbered on about her job, children, and where she was going on her next flight, what a bore. "Well, your party is meeting over there dear." said the young lady before bowing, odd, and leaving her where she was. There was one lone young man standing there, looking very familiar indeed. Practically dragging her items behind her Odette slowly walked up to him, smiling lightly but still not saying a word, that should send off alarms in his head if he knew who she was.
