Chapter Three
Mary called Troy and Monica downstairs when dinner was ready.
Both teenagers came out of their rooms and walked down the staircase, one clutching a notebook and the other with a cell phone attached to the ear.
When they reached the kitchen, the cell phone was closed after Troy told Chad that he would talk to him later that night.
The meal was fairly typical for the Boltons. For Monica however, it was very nerve wrecking. She felt that if she did one thing wrong, spilling her drink or dropping food on the floor, she would be sent to her room without dinner.
But nothing of the sort happened. Mary kept talking to her about various things, anything to try and get the girl to speak, but the pen and paper did the speaking for her.
"Troy, I want the team to have a practice tomorrow to make up the ones that were missed today. Tell them all to be here by 10am." Jack mentioned. Troy nodded but Mary objected.
"Jack, do you really need to schedule a Saturday practice?" she questioned.
Troy and Jack looked at one another and then at her. "Yes!" came out of both of their mouths.
Mary sighed. "Fine. We will order pizza because I am not making four dozen sandwiches for the team again."
Just then, a notebook was slid across the table to Mary.
May I be excused?
Mary looked at the teenager with a defeated look in her eyes. "Of course Darling. Why don't you go upstairs and take a long hot bath to relax. You have had a long day."
Monica nodded and began to get up from her seat when Troy said something.
"Monica, why don't you just talk? I mean, it has to get annoying for you to have to write down everything. Wouldn't it just be easier to talk?"
In response, Monica shot up from the table and raced upstairs, notebook clutched against her chest.
"Troy Michael Bolton! Don't ask her that again! If you knew why she wasn't talking, you would think twice before asking her that!" Mary exploded at her son.
"Well, I'm just trying to get her to talk. Why doesn't she??"
"You don't need to worry about that." Jack told him.
"Sorry." Troy said softly.
"Don't tell us. Tell Monica." Mary told him.
"Yes Ma'am." He replied and got up from the table. He walked up the stairs and paused outside Monica's closed door. He knocked softly.
"Monica, its Troy."
A piece of paper was slid under the door.
GO AWAY!!
Troy sighed. "Monica, please. I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't thinking. I was just being stupid. Please let me in. I want to apologize."
Another paper appeared.
You're forgiven. Now go away.
Another sigh escaped Troy's lungs. "I don't want to apologize to the door."
He finally heard the knob turn and the door opened slowly, revealing the teenage girl's red face. She had obviously been crying. The door opened wider to allow Troy to walk into the room.
Monica quickly went around to the other side of the bed, as if trying to keep some distance between herself and the teenage boy.
"I'm really sorry for what I said. It was rude, disrespectful, childish and extremely stupid."
Monica nodded softly.
"You forgive me?" he asked.
Again, she nodded softly.
"Thanks. The team is going to be here tomorrow. You can come out and meet them and hang out with us during break times if you want." He suggested.
Monica shook her head quickly. She reached for her notebook and pen, wrote something down and handed it to him.
No thanks. I think I'm just going to unpack a bit more tomorrow.
"Alright then. Well, you're welcome down there anytime. Night." He said and walked out of the room.
Monica rushed over to the door, shut it and placed the desk chair under the knob and backed away slowly.
She sat on her bed and clutched an old teddy bear whose left eye was only hanging by a few threads. She then grabbed her notebook and began to write.
Troy asked me why I don't talk. He doesn't know but his parents do and they promised that they wont tell him unless I say they can.
Troy is having his basketball team over tomorrow for practice. His dad is the coach and since he went to get me today, the team didn't have their usual practice. First day here and I'm already interfering. Only a matter of time till they decide that they don't want me here anymore. And then I will be back in the shelter. Reliving the nightmares over and over again. Sweet Dreams Little Princess.
Again, thanks for the reviews guys. I seem to be on a roll right now with chapters, but I think this is it for a couple weeks. I have finals next week for college and if I dont want my grades to kill me, I need to study. LOL. The theories about why Monica is mute are really good. I wont say if any of them are right or not because I dont want to give anything away, but it will be a while till you find out, hopefully you will still be reading this thing. Keep the theories coming! I love reading what you guys think happened to her! Next chapter will probably not be till the middle of May after my finals, depending on how much studying I accomplish. Keep reading!!
Just a side note: this chapter was originally going to end in a completely different way, but I decided that I didnt want to give anything away just yet. Maybe in a few chapters I will use what I originally wrote for the ending of this one. We'll see! LOL