Silence and Sound

The next day, Echo wakes up and finds that she is still very tired. She was tossing and turning all night because she just had to have that terrible dream again. Well, it was more like a nightmare, but it really is neither. It was a memory, a sad memory that never leaves her.
The young artist gets out of her bed and stretches. It does little though. Have you ever had one of those bad nights of sleep that cause your neck to be stiff and sore? Well, that is what happened to this brunette. She tries cracking it by moving it from side to side, but nothing happens. She was hoping that it would. Coral once told her how Wakana cracks her neck multiple times a day by moving her neck from side to side. Echo was hoping that it would help, but she just feels more stiff. It looks like this will be one of those days where she needs a painkiller to destroy the headache that will surely come.
There is only one thing that is good that comes out of this. She will have a headache, and that means that she has an excuse for not acting so cheery and jokingly. Now, she didn’t have one yesterday, so that was a bit of a problem, but she can actually use this as an excuse for yesterday as well. If anyone asks, she can say that she felt it coming yesterday but didn’t bother taking anything because it wasn’t all that bad. Today, it’s enough to take it. However, she still doesn’t feel so hot. If she’s grouchy, it’s because of the headache. If she’s a bitch, it’s because she doesn’t feel well. This is the only good thing that comes out of this. Besides this, it’s just annoying.
The teen gets out of her bed and goes over to her closet. What should she wear...? Well, if you consider the fact that she isn’t feeling well, she can pretty much wear whatever she wants. If she wants to look like some kind of cloth that you wipe the paint off you hands, she can. Echo is about to grab the first stained and holey jeans that she sees and a paint-covered shirt, but she stops herself. She has no idea why, but she is feeling the way that she did yesterday when she made herself look rather nice.
The teen isn’t sure why, but she starts to actually look through her shirts and pants. She tries to find some pieces that aren’t that stained and that look decent. It’s a bit hard since her closet looks like you just threw a bucket of paint in it, but she does find a couple of tops and bottoms that look alright. Echo picks the ones that she thinks look the best. It’s a pair of olive green jeans that only have a few black spots on the bottom and a nice cream top that only has some light brown on the collar. Luckily, the way that the paint looks almost looks like it was done on purpose. Maybe it would be a good idea if she started taking some of her clothes and making the spots look deliberate. It wouldn’t be that hard, and it would make her selection for nice clothes bigger. She may do that later.
Now that her outfit is picked out, she grabs the other stuff and changes into the outfit. The artist then goes into the bathroom. She puts on deodorant and a hint of perfume that she never wears before going to work with her hair. She grabs her hair and holds it up and then puts it back down. She repeats this. Echo isn’t really sure if she should wear it up or down. Of course there is still the question of how she is going to do her makeup as well. The teen wonders what that certain blond would prefer.
There she goes again. Why does she have to think about him again? She’s told herself how many times to not bother with him? Why is he becoming like a drug to her? Why is he in her thoughts? Why does he make the memories go away and take over her? What is it about him that makes him so special? Surely, there has to be a reason. It can’t just because she likes him. It can’t be that at all. There must be a deeper meaning to this.
The biggest problem is that she can’t figure out what it is.
Sighing, the short brunette puts her hair up in a messy bun. It’s that nice kind of messy and seems to go nicely with her paint-stained clothing. She feels like she’s giving off that creative artist type which is always a good thing since that is what she is. If she was giving off something else, she would be lying. Now, Echo always lies and acts different, but her clothing is something that she never lies about. Her clothing has always been the most honest thing about her. Well, there is also her personal sketchbook, but no one is going to see that.
Now that her hair is done, she finds an easier time doing her makeup than she thought she would. The teen just so happens to have the same color eyeshadow as her jeans. She applies that with the usual stuff. Although it does take longer than she would like since she’s not used to doing any of this girly stuff. Liking cheesy stuff has always been the only girly thing about her, but now it looks like she’s becoming even more like a girl. Well, it could be worse. She could be a crazy fangirl instead of just being their artist. Yes, she could always be one of those people that she thinks need to be locked up in a mental hospital.
Actually with her trauma and mind, she could be locked up in one anyway.
Since it takes longer to do her makeup than she thought, her headache is now in full swing. Her hand holds her head as she makes her way over to the kitchen area and grabs a bottle out of one of the cabinets. The stuff is bit stronger than what most people buy, but that also means that she’s going to be feeling a lot more like herself. That’s good is most ways, and it’s still bad in that one. Oh well. There is always acting. She’s good at that anyway.
Echo takes one of them and swallows it down with a sip of water from the sink. The taste makes her make a face. It’s not that she doesn’t like water. It’s just thought she doesn’t like the water that comes out of her sink. She would much rather be drinking bottled water or something like that. However, she’s not in the mood for that either. She’s actually in the mood for some tea. She prepares it by heating up some water and then putting the packet in it. She waits and waits. The brunette doesn’t take it out until the tea is nice and strong. Echo leaves it like that. She doesn’t want any sugar in it. All she wants is some strong black tea. That’s how her grandmother always made it for her, and that’s how she plans on always going to drink it. Now there is one thing that she does that is rather strange. After it’s strong enough, she puts it into the fridge for a bit. No, she doesn’t want ice tea. It’s just that she prefers it to be room temperature. She’s fine with drinking it hot, but she likes it more room temperature. She finds that it’s easier to drink fast for some reason. She drinks her water room temperature as well. That’s just how she is.
The artist draws for a bit. (Pics that definitely have nothing to do with the blond.) She also sips her tea as she does this. It doesn’t take long before she sees her phone blinking and knows that Coral is there waiting. It seems that she was either lost in dream world while drawing for longer than she thought or it took even longer than she thought to put her makeup on. It’s probably a miss of both, but it really doesn’t matter. Why would it?
Coral is let into the place after the older teen puts the sketchbook with her stuff. The hazel-eyed girl waits for Echo to fill up a traveling cup with tea. She was smart enough to make a lot extra in order to bring with her. The brunette also grabs one more of those painkillers before grabbing her stuff and heading out of the door. Coral follows right behind her.
“What did you grab out of the cabinet?” the manager asks when they are in the car and ready to go.
“Painkillers,” the artist answers. “I have a headache today, and I can’t concentrate with a headache.”
Coral doesn’t say anything else. Her friend has a headache, and although sound isn’t going to bother her deaf friend, bothering her will. She has learned from experience to not bother the older teen when she’s not feeling well. Last time she did that, she got an earful, a rather loud earful. Yes, Echo isn’t one to stand being bothered when not feeling well. That’s just how she is, and Coral accepts that. Besides, it’s not just her. Everyone can only stand so much at a time.
The car ride is quiet and so is the ride up the elevator. There isn’t any noise until they get into the room with five boys that are talking rather loudly. If it wasn’t for the fact that Echo is deaf, she would be annoyed and aggravated. Just like ignoring people, this is one of the things that are actually good about not being able to hear. Her headache won’t get worse from hearing people blab on and on.
Another thing that she is lucky for is the fact that the painkillers have kicked in, but no one needs to know that.
Of course the blond notices her and also notices the frown on her face. This doesn’t seem to phase him though. He hides something behind his back and walks up to her. “Great,” she thinks. “Well, at least I can get my top back.” When he reveals what’s behind his back, she can’t believe what she is seeing.
It’s her shirt, and it’s stain free.
The blond hands it to her, and she doesn’t know what to say. She wants to ask how it was possible, but her mouth won’t move. Echo can’t believe her eyes. She didn’t think that it was possible, but somehow, her shirt is there in her hands and clean. It’s her shirt too. he may be famous, but there is no way that this can just be a new shirt. 1.) She got that shirt years ago. 2.) It has been less than a day.
“I looked up online how to get the stains out,” he says when she finally looks at him and not the shirt in her hands. “Surgical spirit.”
“I never would have guessed...”
The blond smirks. “I believe that you owe me something.”
“Oh.” The brunette feels her cheeks heat up, but she doesn’t know why. “Yeah, I guess that I do.”
The blond is now grinning. “So, where would my lady like to go?”

Notes

Well, I meant to write this up a couple of days ago...
But I'm back, and I'm staying! I didn't write my last month of school because of all the school stuff going on. Well, I'm no longer a high school student, and it's time to write and read. (There is also video games, but that's not a good thing. It distracts me from writing and reading. LLN.)
I don't have that much to say about this chapter...
1.) That's almost how I like my tea. I just put two spoons of sugar in it. :)
2.) I learned about another thing that makes Americas different than the British and Irish. We call it rubbing alcohol, but the British apparently call it surgical spirit. This is going by the USP and B. P.. Learning.
3.) I'm just saying how I could just picture that cute little smirk at the end. It's in my head. Hehe.
Anyway, I hope you liked it!
Oh, and I wonder how that drink out is going to go...