16 | songs of the silent (part two)

A STORM SETS INTO MISERABLE grey skies, tainted with clouds of crumpled tinfoil swallowing any glimmer of sunlight. Dimming the morning light, dousing it in slate-grey and shades of stone, solidifying the precipice of the broken dawn.

I hug myself in the chilly air, bitten by relentless winds and a deep-rooted Autumnal bitterness that seems to embed itself in the air caressing every sliver of bare skin and ravages it raw until my skin is tinged white and blue, and my body feels near-frozen.

At this time of day, the roads are silent and deserted. Lulls last for as long as ten minutes before the next car speeds past in a blur, the whir of its engine lonesome and almost eerie. I hate this period, deep in morning's recesses, when sleep still seems to be suspended over time, and each fraction of a moment seems more predatory than the last when there is no one around you and everything is almost too still.

The next car to pass is careful. Its advance is steady, keeping apace with me with too much purpose to be accidental. A spear of fright tabs into my spine; my skin prickles, and I'm half-contemplating quickening my pace, before there's the sound of knuckles against glass, and someone knocking against the window.

Through the smudged glass, Archer's coalescent eyes find mine. "Get in," he mouths, gesturing to the passenger seat.

I consider ignoring him. Breaking into a sprint as fast as my legs will let me and arrive at school sweaty and breathless, if only to avoid Archer and my brother.

But I know it's too late for me when Archer smiles, nodding his head to the passenger, this time encouraging. I can't help but smile back, grasping the straps of my bag before climbing in.

It feels weird to be back here when the world has done a full three-sixty since the last time. From being driven home from the disaster that was the firsters' party, to this morning, when Archer and I are desperately taciturn and Ebony's face is coloured with concern in the rearview mirror.

I at least feel the need to reassure him, so I say, "I heard Mum singing this morning."

"Singing?" His frown deepens. "She doesn't sing. She hasn't sung since she was with GD."

"I know." I nod. "But she was singing today. This morning. She sounds no different."

"Really? Wow," he comments, almost indifferent, but there's the faintest traces of a smile beginning to break out on the corners of his lips. "I wish I'd gotten to hear. I would have paid more attention to those performance recordings if I'd known she was ever going to stop. Do we even still have those?"

"Yeah. We can watch them tomorrow," I say, smoothing my skirt over my lap. "I loved Gold Diggers. Maybe they're still around,"

"I think they are," Archer says, adjusting the rear-view mirror. Even when his eyes are trained on the road ahead, I could swear he's looking at me. "Your mum sang with them for a bit, didn't she?"

"She toured with them around the country for a few months," I reply.

"Oh, yeah, I think I remember that," he says. "But then, who did you stay with?"

And suddenly, I feel cold all over. "I stayed with Rebel, at the mansion." The words don't sound right as they leave my tongue, but they're the only ones I have.

Silence seems to steep the car's interior until Archer can manage to swallow. It feels like an eternity has passed when he says, "Oh. I don't know why I didn't expect that...you guys were friends for a really long time, right?"

Behind us, Ebony stiffens, and I dredge out a nod. "Yeah. Eb and I had rooms on the bottom floor, and we got to live like Rebel...I don't remember much, but looking back on it, it sounds great. Apart from the whole Rebel part."

"Yeah," Ebony and Archer agree, but I'm not sure they really understand at all.

Archer blinks, taking one hand off of the wheel to shift his hair out of his eyes.

"So...what was your mum's tour like?" He asks. "I listened to the Gold Diggers a lot as a kid too. My mum went to a few of their shows and got me some of her songs with them."

"She and the Gold Diggers performed to full houses," Ebony says. "They loved her. She would have toured with them again if it weren't for us. Maybe she'd be happier if she had, I don't know."

"I do," I cut in, "because after she got back, she never really sang anymore. Or played the piano. Ebony and I have never understood why, so it's really nice to be hearing her sing again."

"Is she where you got your talent from?" Archer asks, taking one final turn before the school is visible in the approach foreground.

I toy with the hem of my skirt. "I mean, I guess, but I'll never be like her. I blew my chance to work with somebody amazing after all."

"JJ doesn't hold it against you," he says, and while Ebony frowns, asking who's JJ? I'm unable to keep the swell of hope rising in my chest at a minimum. "If you ask, I'm sure he'd love to work with you. He was really excited."

"I was too, I really was. I just got...caught up in being a Witch again, and forgot what really mattered." I bite my lip. "You really think he'll still want to work with me? And what about you, do you even want me to come back there with you?"

"He would love to," Archer insists, pulling into the King City Academy car park. "And, of course I would."

A smile breaks out on my lips. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Besides, everyone needs to hear you sing. You have an actual, proper gift, and it'll suck if you don't get to share it," he further explains, smoothly gliding into a parking spot and turning off the engine with a quick jerk of his wrist. "We can go tonight―or tomorrow night, since you probably have plans with Ebony and I wouldn't want to interrupt."

"We can go tomorrow, just late. And he can come too, can't he?" I ask, turning my attention to Eb. "Do you want to come?"

"I have no idea what you're on about," he confesses, leaning forward from where he was previously sat rigid in the backseat. "But...yeah, sure. That'd be really cool. To hear you sing, I mean."

"Okay, yeah. I'm pretty excited to, so I hope JJ's forgiving, but I guess I won't find out until I see him. So, we're going to the Chain tomorrow night?"

"Yeah. And it's good to have you back, Ivory Blue." Archer cracks a grin, one that lights up his whole face. It warms me too. "The Chain hasn't been the same without you."

☆☆☆