Realistic or Modern The Sound of Silence (1x1 w/ @Tiff the Odd)

[NickNacks]

Luca wasn't the kind of person that would be considered friendly. Virtually since he'd first entered the world, he'd drifted through life from place to place, seeking connection where there was none to be had, seeking approval where none was offered. After a time, he'd stopped searching for that sense of belonging-his father, a well-off man who treated his son and wife with an equal measure of disdain, rarely saw him, and his mother had decided to pick him as the cause of everything that had gone wrong in her life. Eventually, it became clear that he would simply have to settle with the fact that he was far from wanted-by his parents, his teachers, other kids his age. And, for the most part, Luca had settled with that.

But sometimes, it hit harder.

Even the hall monitors knew better than to interrupt Luca as he strode past, a stereotype to the fullest. Every bit of his appearance seemed to radiate anger, from the flash of his grey eyes, the firm set of his jaw-even his hair, black and unsettled, appeared to carry an air of irritation. A permanent scowl seemed to alight on his face as he made his way out to the empty football field.

His head felt heavy. The intention had been to go out for a smoke, but the constant ringing in his ears seemed to be building up slow and steadily, his eyes burning. He wasn't sure what the right word for it was-he was always angry, and it never seemed to strike him this heavily. He couldn't even recall what, exactly, had gone wrong. He'd roughed some guy up earlier in the day, mostly because he just hadn't left Luca alone, had sustained the usually screaming monologue from his mother that morning, and then had sat through a lecture in the disciplinary office until one thing had just gotten to him and he'd stood up and left.

He didn't need anybody telling him he was stuck. He didn't need anyone telling him he'd never make friends, was frittering away both his youth and his education, would achieve little in his life aside from a potential job at a fast food place.

He knew that shit already.

"Son of a fucking bitch," Luca cursed under his breath, emphasizing the swear with a sudden kick at the metal bleacher. It hurt his foot a moment, but the pain seemed distant and far away, so he followed it up with another, and still another. Eventually, the sound of ringing metal faded, and he was left with the crushing empty feeling that always followed an outburst.

With a heavy sigh, Luca sunk down to a sitting position in the grass, just beneath the bleachers. He knew he was about to cry, and hated the sensation, particularly the fact that once he actually started, he wouldn't be able to stop crying until his eyes decided he was done. A palm reached up to cover his face, an audible sniff being the only sound leaving him.

But not the only sound in the area.

Luca's head jerked upward at the noise of footsteps nearby, embarrassment flashing red-hot in his stomach. He swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, though it would do pitifully little to conceal the fact that he was in the process of breaking down for seemingly no reason at all.

"You got fuckin' tickets for the show?" he grumbled, too weary at the moment to offer much more aside from the biting comment.

 

[Tiff the Odd]

Piper didn’t remember exactly when she stopped talking, just that one day she opened her mouth but found she had nothing to say. Her parents loved her but their jobs kept them from seeing her and so she spent most of her days alone. She never really fit in with kids her age. When she was little, she would run around chasing frogs by herself and pretend that she was a witch. She had loved witches but the other children weren’t thrilled. It had started it 8th grade, she had lived in a different town then. The prank was what triggered it, everyone in her grade pretended that she didn’t exist. They ignored her. They would look past her and soon, she just became what people made her.

She became invisible.

She moved that summer and that feeling of being invisible didn’t fade away. She stopped talking. Piper use to have long, pretty red hair but she cut it all off just above her ears so now it sat a curly mass on her head. Her green eyes hidden behind glasses. She was 18 and she hadn’t spoken a word in four years, it had concerned her parents at first but after a year of nothing changing; they soon began to just accept reality.

4 years of not speaking and of nobody ever speaking to her. Piper had gotten use to invisibility until today. She had gone to the bleachers to study like she always did but she heard cursing and banging noises. She followed them and soon found a boy, she believed his name was Luca. He was known for being a trouble maker though now his eyes were red from crying. His words made her shrink back a little. He was looking at her, he was talking to her.

Piper quickly shook her head and took out some pocket tissues from her pocket, it was cold and flu season after all. She slowly approached him, holding out the small packet of tissues. She hated seeing people cry.

 

[NickNacks]

He hadn't recognized her at first glance, but as soon as he'd wiped away the blur and focused properly, he noted the presence there. He didn't know the girls name. Truth be told, Luca had never payed much attention to her in particular, probably because she was quiet and left everyone alone for the most part. He wasn't sure if she got picked on, but it wouldn't have surprised him if she was-she seemed just outside of the ordinary enough that girls would do something like that. Luca cleared his throat, attempting to throw up his guard once again, hunching his shoulders. At least she wasn't someone who'd give him hell over something like that-or at least, he hoped not. Still, it was embarrassing enough just being caught out here.

"Well. Show's over."

Steely grey eyes fixed on her as Luca drew his knees to his chest, resting his arms atop them. If she was going to laugh at him, she probably would've done it already. As it was, though, the whole situation radiated awkwardness. Luca continued glaring down at the grass. His stubbornness preventing him from just getting up and leaving, after having been pushed around pretty much all day. If this girl wanted to sit and stare at him, she was welcome to it. Why the hell not?

His brow furrowed, this time in brief confusion, as the girl silently held out a tissue. He shook his head, wiping his nose on his sleeve again. "It's fine," he replied, his voice flat and gruff as it typically was. His head now felt congested from the brief crying spell, which was an annoyance. Plus, carrot top over there didn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. "What are you doing out here, anyway? Class is still going on." He couldn't remember ever seeing her skip class, but then again, he'd never actually noticed her much.

His nerves now frazzled, Luca drew out a carton of cigarettes from the pocket of his jacket, sighing heavily as he placed one in his mouth. "You smoke, Lil Orphan Annie?" He asked, though the nickname wasn't particularly malicious as he held the carton out to her in offer.

 

[Tiff the Odd]

Piper withdrew the tissue and placed it back in her bag, this was pretty awkward. She had just seen this boy have a breakdown but she had no idea what to do. He didn’t seem to be leaving which surprised her a bit, she thought that he would have stormed off angrily by now. She let out a low sigh, resigning herself to sit down next to him. She had come to sit under the bleachers so that’s what she was going to do. She wore plain jeans and a purple sweatshirt so nothing she was too worried about getting dirty. She glanced over at him when he spoke to her, not saying anything. She didn’t know how to respond to him. She had a free period right now so she usually hung out here.

Piper then shook her head frantically when he asked if she smoked though she scowled at the nickname. Something about this boy was sad and it was something that she had never experienced. He was a cute and she knew that lots of girls in school though he was “sexy” or whatever but right now he just seemed sad. She also hated the nickname that the boy had given to her.

“Piper...”Her voice was quiet and a little raspy from misuse. Her eyes widened a little and she looked away. Why had she spoken to him? Was she that annoyed by his nickname or was she talking to him because Luca was talking to her? She didn’t know.

 

[NickNacks]

Luca turned back to his lighter for a moment, igniting the cigarette and taking a few puffs, careful to turn his head to avoid blowing the smoke in the girl's direction. Smoking was a shitty habit, he knew, and he kept wondering if he should try to quit. But, when he got stressed or overwhelmed, it calmed his nerves quicker than anything else. Even now, his hands had stopped feeling shaky, and the headache was starting to go away. The girl didn't seem particularly thrown off either by his presence or the fact that he'd been crying a few minutes ago. Whatever-he felt apathetic towards it for the most part, at least for now.

It was rather unexpected when the girl-Piper-spoke. Luca glanced over, giving her a curious look. There was something odd about her voice-it was barely audible, and the only reason he felt like he could hear her was because it was so quiet outside. He withdrew the cigarette from the corner of his mouth, letting it rest between his fingers instead. "Piper, huh?" He said, the name seeming to come almost thoughtfully from his mouth, as though he were trying to figure out if it suited her.

"I'm Luca. Don't think I know you, but then again, I'm not in class much." He glanced over again, a little taken aback by how shocked Piper seemed to shrink away once she spoke. They were just talking-it wasn't a big deal, right?

 

[Tiff the Odd]

Piper watched him smoke, it seemed to calm him down a bit though a small part of her wanted to scold him for even smoking in the first place. He was a perfectly healthy young man and smoking was his one way ticket to an early grave. Piper rolled her eyes a little to herself, she sounded like her mother. She looked away for a moment as he continued to speak, it didn’t surprise her that he didn’t know her. She didn’t really talk to anyone in school and she didn’t have friends so Luca had no reason to know her. She knew him though, everyone knew Luca. He had a bad attitude and was known for being a “bad boy”. She didn’t think that he had many friends either.

They weren’t so different, his sadness reminded her a little of her own. Piper decided that maybe she could speak a little more for him.”Nobody knows me...”She said softly with a shrug before looking back at him.”Everyone knows you though.”She added. Piper then decided that she would be a little more bold, it was a pretty off day for her so why not go outside of her comfort zone?

“Why...Why were you crying?”She asked him curiously though she didn’t know if he would actually answer her. He seemed pretty defensive about it but he hadn’t run off on her yet so maybe there was still a chance that he wouldn’t.

 

[NickNacks]

Luca took a slow inhale of the cigarette, watching the small stream of smoke float upward, the back of his head resting on the metal pole which supported the bleachers. He'd been sneaking out to this spot since he was in sixth grade, and no one had ever come across him in it before, least of all in this state. He was still embarrassed from the situation, but thankfully, Piper wasn't drawing much attention to the situation. She did strike him as very quiet-he skipped class a majority of the time, but he was sure they shared at least a few classes. Her hair was too bright not to notice, even if she didn't speak much.

A soft snort left Luca at Piper's next comment. Sure. Everybody knew him. He was the scary one, the loud one. People knew him well enough not to mess with him, but he was also someone who had maybe one real friend in his life, and she'd moved away ages ago. "Nah," he replied, shaking his head. "Nobody really does."

Then came the question. His brow furrowed into his typical scowl, directed at no one in particular. He put the cigarette out on the grass next to his feet. "Why do you care, anyway?"

 

[Tiff the Odd]

“No, I suppose that nobody really does know anyone.”Piper said softly as she watched him smoke, still trying not to look too disapproving at the fact that he was smoking so heavily. She was use to going unnoticed so nobody really knew her anyway. They probably didn’t even notice that she never spoke, though she didn’t know if she wanted them to know. They would assume something traumatic happened to her because something must have for her not to talk. She didn’t care to explain why she never spoke, not that she would.

To his question, she simply shrugged.”You seem like a pretty tough guy...”Piper told him as she glanced over at him.”It must have been a lot for you to break down unless you just hold it all in until you explode.”She glanced over at him with a small smile on her face.”I don’t talk to anyone so I won’t tell anyone.”

 

[NickNacks]

His expression hardened. Apparently, he'd been wrong to assume Piper wasn't going to talk about the event, like he'd thought she might at the start of the conversation. "If I wanted a psychoanalysis, I'd go to a shrink," he said firmly, bristling once again. The fact remained that this girl was essentially a stranger to him. Whether she told anyone or not, it wouldn't matter-Luca could always insist she was lying, and he would probably be believed given his reputation.

"I just don't take shit. That's all." He was carefully avoiding looking at her for the time being, conscious of the fact that his eyes were probably still at least a little red. "What do you mean by not talking to anybody, anyway? You've gotta talk to at least someone. Don't people crack up if they don't, or something?"

 

[Tiff the Odd]

Piper needed to remind herself that Luca was defensive about his little breakdown, he was embarrassed. He clearly came out here because he thought that nobody would see him and she just happened to stumble upon him. It was just a weird twist of faith that she had stumbled upon him and she figured that he would never talk to her again after this whole incident."Shrinks aren't all they crack out to be..."She told him with a small smile before it vanished at his question. She couldn't really answer that question for him.

"You are the first person that I have talked to in years. One day I woke up and my words were just gone. My parents were never around, they loved me but they worked a lot. I was alone a lot so I guess that I got too use to silence."Piper told him before glancing at him."I guess that I never met someone as sad as me until I met you though your sadness clearly is more anger."She added with another smile.

 

[NickNacks]

The first person in years. It was kind of a humbling thought, even if Luca did wonder what exactly it was that made him so special, outside of the back he'd been found having a full-on breakdown. If she was going to try to talk, he would've rather not had been...What, more meaningful circumstances? He wasn't sure. It wasn't like he knew all that much about her situation, though as Piper explained a little, Luca did find himself listening.

A small, thoughtful nod followed her explanation, though Luca was still avoiding her gaze. "That's that, huh? They ignore you?" Finally, he did turn his head, grey eyes meeting green in a distinctly analytical manner. After a moment, he nodded again, as though in conformation. "Rough." There was a quiet certainty in his face that seemed to convey the fact that he understood the feeling, at least a little.

"And listen, I don't normally go around throwing a fit like that, okay?" He clarified quickly. "It was just a hard fuckin' day, that's all. I don't normally do stuff like that." For some reason, it felt necessary that he explain himself. "Maybe we oughta start over. Here."

Carefully, Luca extended one hand. "I'm Luca."

 

[Tiff the Odd]

“They don’t ignore me! They are just busy...”Piper felt the need to defend her parents because they were really busy and didn’t have time for her but they loved her. She looked back at him and the look on his face was familiar, like he understood somehow though she didn’t say anything about it. She wondered if that’s why he had been crying or at least a part of the reason why he was crying. She then couldn’t help but hide the small smile on her face as he insisted that he didn’t cry like that a lot, as if it would have an effect on her opinion on him. He really was a tough guy sort of person but she merely humored him.”Of course, I hear you loud and clear tough guy.”She told him with an overly serious look on her face.

Though she looked a little surprised when Luca held out his hand, introducing himself again.”Whatever you say, tough guy.”She then reached out so that her hand wrapped his bigger one.”I’m Piper Ann LeRoy.”She then gave his hand a quick shake though suddenly the end of the day bells rang and students came pouring out of the building. Her whole demeanor seemed to change and she instantly retracted her hand.

Damn it, she still couldn’t just be herself around other people. Her words were locked up again which was annoying because she still wanted to talk to Luca.