No one bothers a Silent
it's... oh... so... quiet, sshhh, sshhh
it's oh so still, sshhh, sshhh
you're all alone, and so peaceful until...
you fall in love
She was eight.
It was the worst day of her life.
She and her eldest brother had been home alone, as her parents and her three other brothers were visiting family. Stevie and her brother were supposed to go as well, but the day before, she had caught the flu and so she couldn't go, and her parents had given her eldest brother the assignment to stay with her an to make sure she was okay.
She'd cried when they left, because she wanted to go so badly. Little did she know she should've been crying because it would be the last time she'd see them.
Ever.
So, about three hours after they'd left, the phone rang. Stevie stayed where she was, knowing her brother would take it (and she was right because the ringing stopped).
But when her brother appeared in her doorway with tears in his eyes, she instantly knew there was something terribly wrong. Baskara Boys never cried.
So she asked him what was going on.
And those where the last words she ever spoke.
She never spoke anymore. Why speak when you've got nothing to speak for? What's the point of talking when you've got no one left to talk to?
Talking became hurtful. She knew that if she talked, she would have to talk about that. So she didn't. She and her brother were taken to an orphange, and it was terrible hearing all the girls talking about their lives. She'd dream about them every night, and every day she'd fantasise about how they could've lived so happy for the rest of their lives. But they're not here, she realizes, amd that thought just makes her feel terrible.
So she dresses in sad colors, black and gray, and she just lets the world turn. No one bothers her except for her brother, but he starts to get frustrated by her silence. Which is exactly her point.
No one bothers a silent.
On her brother's 19th birthday, they move out of the orphanage, and they buy a small appartment together from the money of their parents who aren't actually there to approve of it because - you know.
But their lives go on. She goes to school, he goes to work (because they have to have some sort of income). They come home, they eat, they sleep. And she does all of that without a single word.
She's quiet everyday.
Her brother begins to pay all sorts of psychologists and specialists to help her. Nothing works.
They finally seem to get her message.
Never bother a silent.
It'll just waste your time.
So no one bothers the silent.
No one, that is until Zander Robbins jumps into the picture.
They meet in music class, both fifteen years old at the time. She's printing out some sheet music when he's suddenly standing next to her.
"Hey."
She glares at him, her silent message to go away and never return because no one should bother a silent.
"You don't talk much, do you?"
She looks away, which has been her answer for all those years. I haven't talked in seven years.
"My name's Zander Robbins."
Great- Popular Boy comes bothering her. She just points to the top of her sheet.
"Stevie Baskara. Nice name. You really look like a Stevie."
When she doesn't say anything, he just continues.
"Look, I know we've never talked before-" that's ironic, she can't help thinking -"but I've heard you play and you're really good. Maybe you wanna hang out sometime? I mean, we could play songs together or something?"
There's something about the ukelele in his hands, the sparkly look in his eyes and his fearless attitude, that makes her think he's different from everyone else who ever bothered her.
So she just nods, and scrabbles her address on one of her music sheets. After giving it to him, she walks away and smiles to herself, because she might like this boy (even though he dared to bother the silent).
And Zander Robbins looks down at the sheet music she's given him, reads the original song she's written, and then he realizes what the title is.
Raise Your Voice
He shows up that afternoon after school, ukelele safely tucked under his arm. She opens the door, motioning he can come in. They take place in the living room, he's on the couch, she's on the floor.
"Okay, so you don't talk, but... do you sing?"
She shakes her head. No word leaves her mouth, not even when it's melodic.
"Okay... Well, how about I sing and you just play?"
She nods, and so they do. They spend the entire afternoon together, with him laughing and her smiling the brightest she's smiled in a long time. When they're done playing, Stevie turns on the TV and they just watch whatever.
When her brother comes home that evening, he finds the two of them fast asleep on the couch, her head on his shoulder and his arms around her. At the sound of her brother's footsteps, Stevie wakes up, though, and by doing so she bumps her head into Zander's, waking him up as well. After a bunch of awkward excuses from Zander, Stevie's brother just takes off to the kitchen. But as soon as he returns to the living room to ask who the boy is, he sees Stevie - smiling.
And so, an unusual friendship starts. Popular Boy and The Silent. The gossips are going crazy - from people saying no one should bother a silent, to Kacey Simon practically claiming Zander as 'hers and not the Silent's'. But after most of the gossip quiets down and everything goes back to normal, the two of them form a band together with two other boys, Nelson and Kevin. And soon enough, Gravity 4 is big at school.
Stevie still doesn't talk, though.
But for some strange reason, Zander keeps trying.
She wonders why. She wants to ask, and so for the first time ever she's frustrated that she doesn't talk.
So, one day, while sitting next to him in History class, she writes it down and shows him.
Why do you keep trying to get me to talk? Nobody else has tried for so long.
He just looks at her like she's demented.
"I care a lot about you. And I just want you to feel comfortable with me so you can talk. I'm dying to hear your voice, I want to hear you sing, and I just can't stand seeing you like this becaus. I l-"
She lifts an eyebrow and waits for him to continue, but he doesn't.
She's curious about what he was going to say.
So after class, she drags him to the janitor's closet and shoves a sheet of paper up to his face.
What were you going to say?
He looks at her, takes a deep breath and then starts ranting.
"I was going to say I like you- in more than a friendly way. No wait - screw that I was going to say I love you, and I know love is a big word but I just know it, how cheesy it may sound and I just-"
Knowing that he won't stop unless she stops him, she acts on her impulses and cuts him off by pressing her lips to his.
It's sweet and everything they need.
Suddenly, she feels something change inside of her.
And so, when they break apart, he's the one to witness her first words in seven years. Her voice is very soft, almost like a whisper, and she talks very slow, as if she needs to learn how to talk again. Despite that, her voice seems full of confidence when the words leave her mouth:
"I love you too."
Wow, sorry if some pieces of this story are incredibly vague, it's just that I'm not good at finishing stuff, you know. First Zevie fic, yay! If you're wondering about the song lyrics at the beginning of the story, I have no idea what song it is, but I do know that it was used in BBC's 'Over The Rainbow': Steph sung it. Until next time, please review and thanks for reading!