Chapter 1

Sang slammed her books down on the desk behind Valdis, making the short quiet and emotionless girl look up at her friend.
"Something bothering you?" Valdis asked quietly almost inaudible to her noisy upset friend.
"I was walking to class and guess who decides to be a dick and push me!?"
"The Jolly Green Giant?" Valdis's tone was plain and dead but was meant in a playful way.
"That's not funny!" Sang whined plopping defeated into her desk chair as their first period study hall class began.
"Sang Argentine?" The teacher called
"Here." Sang said depressingly scribbling on the desk with her pencil.
Valdis watched her friend in silence as row was called.
"Valdis Dyment?" The teacher looked up knowing she wouldn't answer.
"She's here." Sang sighed loudly
The teacher nodded and went back to the roll call.
"You really should get over this no talking issue." Sang set her pencil down to look at Valdis.
"Why?" Valdis asked quietly, "I find silence treasurable."
"As do I but you shouldn't be silent all the time."
Valdis shook her head, no one ever understood her reasoning. After that Sang shot off into a long story about everything that happened over her weekend up to the point she was dropped off by her brother at school this morning.
"A brother..." Valdis thought, "I wonder what it's like to have a real family." She didn't voice this aloud though, she just sat and listened. Silently.
The second bell rang and second period slowly crept by, Valdis never payed attention to her classes, to boring. She took the time to day dream, draw, write, or listen to others carrying conversations. Some of them going like this:
"Did you hear what she did over the weekend..."
"....and he was caught with her..."
"Oh my god, and like, I was like if I can't..."
"Dude! The game Friday..."
Valdis rolled her amethyst eyes as she listened. Some of these people needed their voice boxes ripped out. It was hard to see how people, especially teachers, could tolerate the sound and actions of most the people in this school.
The bell rang once again and Valdis slipped quickly from her desk oddly eager for her third period class. She met Sang in the hallway and they walked to their shiny red lockers.
"I hope we don't have to do much today," Sang yawned, "I'm to tired."
Valdis nodded in agreement as they walked, slightly pushing through the crowds of people, into their poster decorated room. Posters were hung everywhere in an attempt to brighten up the white jail cell looking room. Some looked very bad as they were made by students as some class project, the others were about books, like Hamlet or A Doll's House.
"Valdis?" A muffled voice reached her ears but she found it unimportant at the moment.
"Valdis!" The voice rang out, it was Sang.
Valdis looked over blinking twice in confusion, "Yeah?"
"You didn't hear anything I just said did you?"
"No, sorry." Valdis shook her head.
"I swear, sometimes I wonder what you're thinking about all the time." Sang slumped down into her desk more, pouting now.
Valdis turned away to look around the room, everyone was there today, a click from the door turned her attention to the teacher slipping into the room.
"Okay," The teacher started, looking over her thirteen students, "We will be getting into groups to read a story today."
Sang looked quickly to Valdis, this was always the way they showed that they wanted to be partners.
"I'll be grouping you." The teacher walked to her desk at the back of the room as her students groaned in protest.
"Hm...the people I want out in the hall are...Sang, Valdis, and..." The teacher looked around the room thinking, "And Noland."
"Wonderful." Sang muttered as she and Valdis grabbed their books heading to the door.
They found a corner, almost a crevice, against the white brick wall and they slid down to sit on the brown flooring. Noland looked at the two girls for a moment before sitting down in front of them both, leaning back to the wall behind him. Valdis opened her book to the page the teacher requested before they had left the room.
"Read first Noland." Sang commanded already annoyed by his presence.
"Why?" Noland protested, "Why can't Valdis read?"
"You know she doesn't talk."
"No, actually. I didn't." Noland's cloudy gray blue eyes glanced to the small girl. She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a black hoodie that made her read hair burst with color like fire.
"Nolly-Poo!" A high pitched shrilly voice rang out and footsteps quickened toward the small group.
Valdis winced at the girls voice, Sang rolled her emerald eyes, and Noland seemed to try and shrink away into the white wall.
"What are you doing?" The girl asked leaning over him, her blond, brown low-lighted, hair falling into his face.
"Hey Kara." Noland pushed her away slightly to get her hair out of his face, "I'm working."
"Yeah, so go away." Sang spat suddenly
Kara turned to stare at Sang with wide surprised hazel eyes, "How rude! I'm visiting my boyfriend."
"You are interrupting our work!" Sang replied through clenched teeth. Valdis pulled her black hood over her head slightly to hide her face and to help set up a wall between her and the two arguing girls.
Noland glanced at Valdis before turning his gaze back to Kara, "Go away Kara." His tone was completely serious now.
Kara pouted but complied turning and walking away from the small group.
Noland looked to the girls in front of him and opened his mouth to speak only to pause when seeing Valdis lean over to whisper in Sang's ear.
"Yeah I know." Sang nodded, "I saw."
"What?" Noland looked confused
Sang shot a piercing glare to the boy, "Nothing. If it were meant for you to hear she would have talked louder."
"So, she does talk?" Noland's curiosity increased
"Well no duh." Sang stated plainly, this received a smirk from Valdis. The two were acting like four year olds.
"Wow." Noland suddenly said his attention on Valdis again.
"What?" Sang was confused now but kept her face in that stern, back off look.
Valdis quickly looked away pretending to be engrossed in the book they were supposed to be reading. Noland watched Valdis for a moment, it made her stop breathing, it felt like his gray blue eyes were staring into her soul.
Noland shook his head, "Nothing." He looked to his book and began to read out loud to the girls.
Valdis looked up at Noland. "This boy is weird. You can't predict anything he's going to do like most the students in this school." Valdis was lost in thought again, the only thing that pulled her back was when Noland's voice stopped.
Confused, she looked around and was surprised to find Sang had gotten up and was walking down the hall. Instinctively, Valdis got up and rushed after her tall friend stealing a quick glance back to Noland, who was slowly gathering his things and following.
"The bell's about to ring." Sang stated as she opened the door letting Valdis go first pulling off her hood as she followed.
"Did you guys finish?" The teacher looked up.
"Yes ma'am." Sang said politely as she gathered her things at her desk with Valdis.
The bell rang and the non-related sisters split ways to go to fourth period. Nothing important, Valdis was a student aide this period so she sat in a chair at the front of class and out of the way. Next was lunch, after that another four classed. Valdis sighed.
"Valdis." The teacher walked over, "Can you do me a favor please?"
Valdis nodded.
The teacher handed her a few notebooks, "Can you take these to Noland and Sang? I finished grading these last period."
Valdis nodded again, Sang and Noland had the same class this period so it was a simple task. She got up and walked out of the carpeted room to the cold hall ways, her black boots clicking on the tile flooring as she headed to the science room.
She knocked lightly on the wooden door before entering. She walked to Sang first, who was at the front of the class, and handed her the notebook leaning in to tell her sister why she was there. Sang nodded and proceeded to tell her teacher while Valdis walked to the back of the room handing Noland his notebook.
Just as Valdis was going to leave Noland pulled out a slip of folded up paper and slipped it into her hoodie pocket, if Valdis was surprised -and she was- her face didn't show it.
Noland watched as Valdis left, he looked over at Mikey, he saw the question on his face but he disregarded it. The note was irrelevant to his sandy-blond haired friend.
Valdis rushed out of her eighth period class for once eager to get home. She pulled the note out of her pocket again and read over the messy left handed hand-writing.

'If you wont verbally talk to me, will you try typing it? We'll talk later. - Noland'

His number and instant messenger name was scrawled as neatly as possible at the bottom and Valdis folded the paper up again replacing it back in her hoodie pocket. She didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to talk to her but she would try her best to talk to him tonight.
A black car drove up and Valdis slowly started to slink to the car. She sat down and before closing the door, caught sight of Noland talking to a younger boy as they walked to the buses. A younger brother maybe?
"Close the door!" The woman in the driver's seat shrieked, "You're letting the cold air in!"
Valdis followed her order and closed the door sitting silently as the car drove away from school. Valdis was starting to wish school would have been longer.

Author's Note

Characters:
Valdis - (val - diss) Dyment - (die - meant)
Sang - (like you sang a song) Argentine - (ARE - gin - teen)
Noland - (no - land) Carmody - (CAR - muh - dee)
Jaxith - (jacks - ith) Carnegy - (car - nuh - gee)