Giselle sighed as she looked around her room. It was a small and simple thing, with lime green walls. There were two posters on them. She was sitting on her bed, which was a mattress on the wooden floor, facing the door. There was a dresser in the middle of the opposite wall of her bed, right beside her closet.
She looked down at the screen of her laptop, which was on her lap. She should be downstairs in the living room. Her two best friends were there, after all. But she didn't want to stand up, much less walk in the living room. Suddenly, her dad, Thomas, walked in. He gave a guilty glance at the mattress." We'll buy you a new bed soon, promise." Giselle nodded. She didn't really care if she got a new bed, or not. She knew the situation her and her dads were in. Thomas and Gally worked hard, but they don't get payed enough to buy all the needs for everyone. She wrote them, since she hasn't talked in a long time, that she could start working, now that she was 15. But Gally forbid her to work until she was 16.
Thomas closed the door and went to sit on her 'bed'." Why aren't you downstairs?" Giselle shrugged." You know, Chloe and Card are there." She nodded, again." You're not coming downstairs, are you?" He deadpanned. She grabbed her comforter and slowly covered her face, then smiled. Thomas took the comforter away from her face and she pursed her lips to cover her smile, but he already saw it. He grabbed her by the waist and slung her over his shoulder, while laughing. She gasped and laughed "stop!" He froze, set her down, and grabbed her by the shoulders." Did you just talk!?"
Giselle opened and closed her mouth. She has always been a quiet girl, sure. But when her biological parents died in a really bad car crush, it hit her hard. She never said a word, after that. She remembered that day. She was a 5-year-old and over at a friend's house. After they died, she was sent to an orphanage, because no one she knew was willing to take care of her.
After two weeks of being there, the staff and the other orphans all assumed that she was mute. Two years passed, and Thomas was there with Gally to adopt. Thomas looked around, hoping to find someone to adopt. Then, he saw a silent, little girl in a corner of the large room, clutching a torn up teddy bear to her chest.
He had walked over to her and kneeled. "Hi," He said and she waved." How are you?" She nodded. This struck Thomas as odd, because most kids would say 'good' or 'fine' or 'okay'." What's your name?" She pointed to her chest, right above her heart. Thomas looked where she was pointing and saw a piece of paper sticking to her shirt. It read: Giselle. She had made it for herself, using tape and notebook paper. She wrote her name on it and taped it to her shirt, above her heart. So, she could feel as close to her parents as possible. Since they were the ones who had, obviously, given her her name.
Thomas licked his lips, nervously." Can… can you talk?" Giselle answered the only way that she could think of. She shrugged. She didn't want to say yes because she didn't want to say the truth. When her parents died, she vowed to talk again. If she said the truth, people would pressure her to speak, and she didn't want that. She, also, didn't want to say 'no', because she didn't want to lie.
But now, he knew the answer to that question. Giselle shook her head, anyway." You did! You did just talk!" He pulled her into a tight hug. She started to cry. She broke her vow. But Thomas was way too happy and excited to notice.
He pulled away, tense from how happy he was. He couldn't even find the words to express himself." Stay here, I'm going to go…"Thomas stopped talking, when he noticed Giselle's wet face." Giselle, what's wrong?" she shook her head." Giselle, tell me what's wrong. I know that you can talk. So, why don't you just say something? Don't you like it here?" She shook her head, again. She loves living with her adoptive dads, despite the money problem, but she doesn't want to talk. Not again. It's too painful.
"No, what?" Thomas spat. No, she doesn't want to speak, or no, she doesn't like living with them, anymore. She flinched. Then, she buried her face in his chest, despite him being fed up with her. Because he was the only one who was going to give her comfort, mad or not. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her. He shouldn't be too harsh to her. He knew that she had a past. The staff at the orphanage had told him so, which is why they were reluctant to let her get adopted, at first. They never told Thomas what it was, though." Why don't you like to talk?"
Giselle stayed quiet for a moment, and then, she told him. She told him, she didn't write it down in her notebook, like she usually does. She told him, how old she was when they died, how they died, where she was at the time, how the mom of the friend she had stayed with that day, sent her to an orphanage. She explained the vow she made, and how painful her parents' death was to her.
He hugged her, afterwards." You know, I'm pretty sure that your biological parents would want you to be happy, and I don't think that not talking makes you feel that way.
Giselle shrugged." It doesn't." She mumbled." How about, you say something tomorrow. Anything, at all.
The next day, she did say something. Although, it was only one word, much to Thomas' disappointment and Gally's surprise. One week passed, and she said one sentence. Months passed, and, little by little, she talked. She grew comfortable with doing, so.
Eventually, she grew up and became one of the most talked about people in the U.S.