A Golden Silence - Dalia Vaughn (best books for 20 year olds txt) 📗

kind of mental case.
If only they could put themselves in my shoes... They would see that some things simply can't be explained. But even that seemed like a long shot. If they hadn't tried to understand before, how could I be so sure that they would now? It seems to me that we're going around in circles all the time; I don't talk, therefore their solution is to control me. Every day it seems like it just gets worse. It had finally gotten so far out of hand in fact, that I took off! As if there were nothing to it at all, I had, in my mind, fallen completely off the face of the earth with no promise of returning.
Chapter 3

Xander

Where the hell was she?!
It had been three days since Emery had taken off, three days since I had abandoned my search for her, three days since I’d agreed to stay away from her. I haven’t the slightest idea why I gave my word to leave her alone, was I angry at her for leaving and not telling me where she went? Was I afraid of what would happen to us when she returned? Oddly enough, the only one seemingly not fazed by all of this was Ben.
Come to think of it he had seemed rather calm when I told him that she’d randomly disappeared, in fact, he seemed unusually delighted about the whole thing. He’d been acting like it was the most natural thing in the world, as if there was some secret she hadn’t told me yet. But why would Ben know anything about Emery that I didn’t already know? I was beginning to wonder if he knew or had anything to do with why she’d stopped talking years ago. I would definitely have to ask him about that later, but right now I was going to catch some sleep.
I hadn’t been asleep for more than an hour, when Ben burst through the door; I sat up rubbing the sleep from my eyes and watched as he rummaged through the closet. “Oh, for Christ’s sake! Ben, what the hell are you looking for?”
Ben stopped and quickly turned around. “It's nothing, never mind. Just go back to sleep, man.” He went back to searching through the closet, becoming more and more frantic as time went on. I tried not to let his sudden panic affect my rest, but the longer he was there, the more I began to worry about him. Against my better judgment to just leave well enough alone, I got up and walked over to the closet.
“Here, let me help you. You’ll find whatever it is you’re looking for faster.”I took the pile of clothing that Ben had in his hand and shook each item out before I laid it out on the floor, then turned back and waited for him to hand me the rest. “If what you’re looking for is a relatively small item, it’ll fall when the things are shaken out.”
Ben stared at me stunned for a few minutes, the look on his face a cross between pure confusion and gratitude. Although he seemed a bit cautious of my presence in the room, I was sure he needed my help and would appreciate it in the end. Ben wasn’t the kind of person to just up and ask for help, not like Emery. He was independent, and unless he was hanging out with Emery and I you never would have known that he could be pretty outgoing. But even then, he was quieter than usual when it came to Emery. There was something about the way he looked at her, they way he talked about her, that made me wonder if he saw her as more than a friend. But then, why would he? She hadn’t ever showed any interest in Ben before, but even I know that doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not he has feelings for her. But he should know how I feel about Emery, that I’ve loved her since we first met; if this is true then he wouldn’t even dream of betraying me like that.

Imprint

Publication Date: 10-13-2011

All Rights Reserved