Silence and Sound

Echo wakes up with a pounding headache. She most definitely doesn’t feel alright. All night long she was tossing and turning in an attempt to make the memories go away. Of course they didn’t. They never do, but this time it was stronger. Mostly the ocean was the strong point. It’s weird. She normally just gets everything that happened in the boat stuck in her head. She never gets the aftermath. The part of when she was found is a rare mental sight. It’s strange, but Echo doesn’t question it that much because it technically is still apart of the worse thing that has ever happened to her. It’s still apart of the sunset picture.
The brunette gets up and makes her way to her kitchen. Forget getting dressed for now. She needs to take some painkillers. Once out there, she takes out the bottle and then takes one of the pills out. She’s about to close it, but then she realizes that it might be best if she has two. The headache is a bit stronger than what it normally is. Echo takes the second one out and then finally puts the bottle away. Not in the mood to wait for tea, Echo instead just gets a bottle of water. The pills go down her throat easily with it’s help.
Now that that is done, she goes ahead and goes back to her room. She walks over to her closet to get clothes, but then she realizes what she has to do today. She had almost forgotten what today was. Not knowing when they are going out, she just stays in her sleepwear and makes her way out to the living room. The brunette finds herself sitting down onto the couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table. Her eyes close out of boredom.

Lips move, but she doesn’t hear anything. Is this normal? What’s going on? This ocean is taking her in. It’s entering her thoughts, and she’s not sure if she’ll ever forget the sight of it, and that bit of gold in it. Is that the sun? It must be because this is the ocean, right? Her head starts to get heavy again. Is she going to die? Is the ocean going to kill her? Has it already taken her family? Eyelids start to feel just like her head. She’s sleepy, so sleepy.

When the brown-eyed girl opens her eyes, she feels a lot better. She stretches and gets used to the feeling of being awake. Echo wasn’t expecting to fall back asleep, but she is kind of glad that she did. If she’s going to be stuck going on this “date”, as Coral put it, she needs to feel at least halfway decent. Thinking about that makes her wonder when it’s going to take place. Niall never told her what time, and Coral hasn’t told her yet either... or has she?
Echo quickly gets up and goes back into the bedroom. She finds her phone on the end table and sees that it is blinking. The brunette picks it up and first looks at the time. She has definitely slept longer than she had originally thought. No wonder her friend messaged her multiple times. Although she knows what they are all about, she opens them up and reads them anyway.

Coral: Are you almost ready for your date?

Coral: Heelllooooo?

Coral: If you aren’t getting ready right now, you might be late.

Coral:Why aren’t you messaging back? Are you alright?

Coral: Seriously. You’re going to be late, and I’m not leaving until I know that you are going to open that door.

Coral: Forget that. Even if I drive fast, you’re going to be late now. I’m coming over now.

Well, it looks like Echo isn’t going to have any time to fix her hair if it got messed up. By looking at when the last text was sent, she can tell that Coral will be here soon. Almost as if her friend knew she was thinking about her, her phone goes off.

Coral: I’m here. Open the door.

Knowing what her friend might do to her if she didn’t obey, she does as told and goes over to the door. When she opens it, she comes face-to-face with Coral, who looks a bit pissed off. The slightly younger teen grabs the other by the arm and starts to drag her out. Echo wasn’t expecting that, but it’s not like that matters now. While bringing taken down the stairs and to the car, the artist can’t help but wonder why her friend is so into this “date” that she is going to have with Niall. Is it because she’s actually going to socialize with someone that isn’t Coral? Could it be because she thinks that they would be cute together? Just because Echo has read romantic manga that have sidekicks doesn’t mean that she quite understands why they do the things that they do. She’d have to understand what goes on in everyone else’s brain which is a skill that she has come to lack greatly in.
Once inside, Echo just sits there as Coral turns the car on and starts driving a lot faster than what she should be. The artist almost wants to tell her friend to slow down, but considering how her friend was acting, she decides that it’s best to not do that. Thoughts fill her head. What should she do? Should she make small talk? Should she just look out the window? Well, the window might help her clear her mind, and it’s not like she can’t stand silence. Everything is silent for her.
The brunette is about to turn her head, but the sight of Coral’s moving lips make her go back and then look over at her. Her mouth is moving a bit too fast for Echo to keep up with. She tries to keep up, but only a couple of words can be made out. Knowing that she should probably be listening to what her friend has to say, she taps her on the shoulder. Luckily for the two of them, this doesn’t startle Coral all that much.
“Sorry about that,” she apologizes. “I’m kind of in a rush to not make you as late as what you already are. Why don’t you text him and tell him that you’re going to be a bit late?”
“I don’t have his number.”
“He didn’t give it to you?”
“No.”
“Damn. And this is why you should always exchange numbers before you go on a date.”
“This isn’t a date though.”
“Yes, it is. Stop lying to yourself.”
“I can’t help but feel like I’m being forced into something that I don’t want to do.”
“Of course you want to go on a date with him. You can’t stop drawing him in your sketchbook.”
“That just means that I like drawing him. It has nothing to do with me actually liking him.”
“Well, it sure as hell looks like it.”
“Well, it’s not! I don’t like him!”
“Sure, you don’t.”
“Stop treating me like some kind of child that doesn’t know what they want. I’m not some indecisive five-year-old!”
“Someone has to do it! Open your mind, Echo! You shut everyone out and don’t even list to what your heart is telling you. There has to be a reason that you like drawing him so much. If it isn’t because you like him, then what is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t want to go on this date.”
“It’s for the best. Plus, you said that you would.”
“I changed my mind.”
“I’m not turning around.”
“Then stop the car.”
“No.”
“Stop the damn car!”
Echo isn’t sure what expression is on Coral’s face. Well, she think she does, but she has never seen it on her before. Is that disappointment? The younger of the two pulls the car over when she gets the chance. Echo just sits there for a second. Conflicting emotions rush through her, but she does get out of the car, and she does just stand there and watches as her friend drives away. They’ve never had a fight before this one, and Echo isn’t sure how she feels about it. She’s keeps everyone at a certain distance from her, and that makes her more upset with herself because she feels like she should be more upset about this argument than what she is. Why does she have to be this way? Why couldn’t hope have stayed with her? Why does she have to be alone? Is she alone? Although she keeps everyone away, people still care for her. However they don’t know the real her. Does that mean that only the fake her has friends while the real her has no one?
Thinking about this all almost gives the brunette a headache. Trying to get herself out of it, she looks to see where she is. She’s not that far from home, but it’s still a walk that she doesn’t feel like taking. In front of her is a bakery, and behind her is a cafe. Echo doesn’t feel like going into either of those, so she looks around a bit more. Two blocks from her is a bench which is the only thing that seems to draw her interest. She goes over to it and sits down. Although she was able to stop thinking about being alone, new thoughts come into her head. It’s the sunset again. Why can’t it just leave her alone? She’s about ready to draw it when she realizes that she wasn’t able to grab her sketchbook, and now she realizes that she wasn’t able to grab her phone either. With no way of getting the image out of her head, it stays there and causes her eyes to water up. Why did it have to happen to her? What did she do to deserve this? Oh, that’s right. She didn’t take the damn advice that she was given. She ignored them in order to finish what she started. If she had listened... she would be able to listen, and she wouldn’t be alone.
Time almost doesn’t exist for her. Echo isn’t sure how long she’s been sitting there. Reality isn’t something that is on her mind. The past is. It draws her in more and more with each passing second, and she doesn’t leave it until she feels someone tapping her shoulder. The brunette snaps out of it and looks up to find a certain blond looking down at her.

Notes

Wow. This is so late.
Sorry about that. I was taking a break to get used to college.... and then that break never ended.
Well, I'm coming back now one story at a time. I even made a new cover for this story. Yay.
Anyway, I didn't plan on this chapter being this way... Like... She was just going to get dropped off... but then they started arguing... and I had no control over it......... Yeah.
Anyway, I hope you like how it's going. Tune in next time to figure out who this blond is. Seriously, I have no idea. LOL.