Silence is the Key (Matthew)

Spoiler:

Ari felt so alone. Her Aunt had left and no matter how much she protested, her Aunt wouldn't stay. But Ari felt that she had gone this long without speaking, that she could go longer. Her parents were out of town, and they had hired a nanny to take care of her. Because, apparently Ari wasn't old enough to take care of herself. Which was complete bull. Ari was the most responsible one in the house. Her parents weren't even there half the time, so she was really taking care of herself when they weren't home. The new nanny was a bore. She treated Ari like she was a child. Ari was going to be 14 soon, and was no child. To her, the nanny was the child. She spoke to Ari like she couldn't understand because Ari chose not to speak. And the nanny called Ari "Ariadne" which was annoying. Everyone except  her parents apparently, knew that Ari went by Ari, and NOT Ariadne.

Ari hadn't spoken in two weeks. It was hard as she was used to talking all the time, but she felt it was needed. Nobody was taking her seriously and she was tired of it. She was the only witch in her family, and she felt that nobody understood her. Her parents treated her differently, and she just felt alone. Today, Ari wore all black. This was another statement she was going to make. Instead of wearing Slytherin green, which was her favorite color, Ari wore black. She couldn't stand all of it, so she threw on a green scarf to accessorize. Her beautiful long red hair was down and hanging over her shoulders. She held her whiteboard with her purple marker in her hand incase the annoying Nanny wanted her to say something. The nanny felt that she needed to be able to understand what Ari was saying, so she gave Ari a white board to communicate with.

At least she wasn't completely ignoring Ari like some people. The Nanny had to go into a toy store for her nephew's birthday or something, and felt like Ari wanted to go with her. Which she didn't. But Ari couldn't object because she couldn't speak. She didn't have the whiteboard at the time, so she couldn't write it down. Ari rolled her eyes at all the children. There was a time when she would've been thrilled to step foot in Hamley's, as it was a giant toy store, but now she was too old for toys. She did get a little bit interested in the Frozen section though. She needed new posters to decorate her walls with at home. She smiled at the little girl who was trying to reach the Elsa doll on the third shelf. The girl was about five years old, and had red hair like her. She said to Ari, "I want the Elsa doll! Can you get it for me!?" Ari being as tall and amazing as she was nodded and handed the girl the doll. Old Ari wouldn't laughed at the girl because she couldn't reach it. Maybe this was a sign that Ari was changing, and for the better, and not for the worse.

She closed her eyes as she heard the nanny's screeching from all the way a crossed the store. She embarrassingly yelled, "ARIADNE. Time to leave." Ari grabbed two frozen posters and set them down on the counter the Nanny had with her nephew's present. She shrugged and paid for it. When Ari looked outside, she saw somebody she hadn't seen in a long time. Somebody she missed talking too. Somebody who always made her laugh, and knew what to say, even if it was insulting her. Like it or not, he was her best friend, and she hoped he would be there for her during this tough time like she would be for him. She held up a finger to the nanny, and ran out of the store like a mad woman. She was already writing his name in big purple letters. She pointed to the board, and finally reached him and tapped his shoulder. And she smiled. It was the first time she smiled in two weeks, and it felt amazing. And she was glad that he was the reason for it.

Being fourteen was completely awesome! Mostly because finally Matthew didn't have to have supervision in order to go and walk around London, or Diagon Alley, or wherever! Of course, he had a radius that he was supposed to stay in and an incredibly early curfew, but it was better than nothing. And his parents wouldn't ever know if he went a little farther than he was supposed to. Not that he had much need to go far - they lived pretty close to anywhere that Matthew would want to go. Like Diagon Alley, where he'd just stopped in order to get a Butterbeer-flavored ice cream from Floreans. Normally he would try a weird, different flavor because it made him look cool and daring, and because they were kind of neat, but since he was by himself there was no need to. And, having discovered the delight of butterbeer last term, it was a little hard to turn down.

Having exhausted most of the things that he'd planned on doing now that he could walk around by himself, Matthew decided to start to head back home just to be sure he made it on time. If he violated his curfew already his parents would take away his fourteen year old rights altogether, and that would be terrible. He decided to take the long way home, though, so that he could walk past Hamley's. Matthew wasn't a kid anymore, so he probably wouldn't go inside - unless the new limited edition Iron Man action figure had been released. Then, he would have no chance but to go in and steal some small child's change in order to buy it. But, it didn't seem to be there, judging by the window, so Matthew continued on past.

Before he'd made it all the way past the store, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder and turned around to see who it was. Before he was able to stop it, a huge smile spread across his face at the red hair that greeted his eyes. "Ari!" he exclaimed brightly, internally kicking himself for his way-too-happy greeting. It would almost seem like he'd missed her if he wasn't careful! And he didn't - definitely not. He was just... in a good mood from his new freedom or - something... "How have you been?" he continued, now that he'd justified his own actions in his mind. "Er... why are you wearing all black, anyway? It looks terrible on you just so that you know - not that I think anything else looks good on you - er, I mean - I just mean you look extra bad in black," he finished, a perplexed look on his face at what he'd just said. Really, even Matthew wasn't sure what he meant by any of it at that point.

When she didn't answer him, though, he frowned. She was smiling, so she wasn't mad at him. What was going on? Was this a joke of some sort? And then, finally, he managed to notice the whiteboard that she was holding in her hands with his name written in big letters. He raised an eyebrow at her, not bothering to hide his confusion. "Er, what's with the whiteboard?"

Ari had been so excited to see Matthew. He was the one person that she was most excited to see over break. Well, he was the only one she could see. Derek lived in Hogsmeade, and she couldn't go to Hogsmeade over break considering her parents were muggles, and the intruder was a muggle. Intruder. That was funny. He started insulting her. Her parents she could handle. But him? She felt hurt, and confused. Why was he caring about what she looked like? "Girls had cooties" that was what she thought Matthew thought last term. He wasn't allowed to change. He was going to stay his oblivious self. But unfortunately Ari had no control over that. Just like she had no control over it leaving. Matthew was asking about the white board. She sighed and erased his name and wrote, "Aunt Evelyn left me...I'm proving a point, because my points are always right." Well... it was true.

Ari was always right and anybody who proved her wrong was stupid. Like Aunt Evelyn. She was stupid for leaving. She was one of the few people left who actually believed Ari could do great things. She grabbed Matthew's arm and dragged him in the next alleyway to make sure the intruder didn't see them. She wrote furiously, "I'm alone, I'm scared, everyone's leaving me." Did that make since? Sure she overreacted most of the time, but this time was for real. With her parents never home, and Derek far away, and Aunt Evelyn gone, she had never felt more abandoned. She'd been meaning to stop by the park and see if Matthew was there, but the intruder had kept a close eye on her and she'd never been able to sneak away until now. She hated the intruder.

This was no drill. This was a code red. The alarms where sounding, and nothing seemed right anymore. She looked at Matthew with pleading eyes. He was her last hope. If he left her, she'd officially have nobody left. NOBODY. Well, maybe Derek, but eh. He wasn't as good of company as Matthew or Aunt Evelyn were. She hoped she really underestimated Matthew and that he would come to his best friend potential and help her threw this crisis. Her real and true happiness was all up to him. No pressure or anything.

Okay, maybe telling Ari that she looked terrible wasn't the best idea. But he hadn't meant it that way really. Not that she looked terrible all the time, just that she looked terrible in black. But that would mean that he thought she looked good the rest of the time, and he definitely did not think that. She just looked - less bad? This was confusing. Why couldn't she just dress like normal so that he didn't have to think about these confusing things. Maybe anyone else would have apologized, but being that he was Matthew, he just ignored her sigh and watched on while she erased his name and started writing something else on the whiteboard. Even more confused, Matthew furrowed his brow. "I don't get it. Is this a game? If it is I've never played it before and it isn't really fair to expect me to play without teaching me how and - " But Matthew stopped talking when she turned the board around again to show him what she'd written.

His eyes followed the words on the board, and after he was done reading he looked back up at her. Her Aunt Evelyn left her? The same Aunt Evelyn that Ari talked about almost as much as she sang terrible princess songs? "What do you mean she left you, where'd she go?" Matthew asked, not really understanding. And then there was the matter of the second part. The whiteboard was meant to prove a point. "So you mean you aren't going to speak at all?" he asked her incredulously. Ari - not speaking? "Does that mean you aren't even going to sing?!" he asked, failing to keep the hopeful tone completely out of his voice. "I still don't get it though," he said. "What exactly are you trying to prove?" What could possibly be accomplished by not speaking to anyone at all? He waited for her to answer, but then remembered that she wasn't talking.

Ari was writing again - that would have to get annoying. But when he read what she wrote this time, he did feel the slightest big bad for her. "But not everyone's leaving you," he replied, shaking his head. "Just your Aunt. That's only one person! Nobody else has left you!" But even as he said it, he knew that nobody mattered to Ari more than her Aunt. She never stopped talking about her - always wanted to be just like her. Actually, Matthew greatly disliked the woman, because she must be very annoying for Ari to be as annoying as she was following in her footsteps. He'd almost forgotten - Ari was annoying. Matthew hated being her best friend. He should go, and hang out with his awesome big brother Ollie instead.

But the look she was giving him made him feel guilty for wanting to just abandon her after she was so upset about being abandoned. So, although a bit unwillingly, he sighed. "Why don't you see if you can hang out for a little while," he said, having to slightly force the words out. "I was going to climb trees in the park on my way home. You don't have to be able to talk to do that. But Ollie can never know, because he told me those trees are under his protection and he'll never forgive me if I break another one."

Matthew was still asking questions. There wasn't anything else to know. She was trying to prove a point. The end. But he wouldn't shut up about it. And the words stung her. Literally hit her in the heart. If she knew were Aunt Evelyn was, she would've gone to her. She rolled her eyes. No she wasn't going to sing. No she wasn't going to say anything. He didn't understand. She didn't have anybody else at home. Literally nobody since her parents were always gone and didn't give a shit about her. Matthew was literally the only person she had left. Well, there was also Derek, but he wasn't reachable. So, Matthew was all she had. She erased what she had written and was working fast to answer Matthew's questions. The boy liked fire and asking questions. Ari was getting frustrated. She didn't know what to write next. Maybe she should just give up and give into her parents, and Aunt Evelyn. But then she wouldn't be Ari.

Ari didn't give up. Ari was stubborn. Much like her aunt. She rolled her eyes as she compared herself to her Aunt again. She had to stop doing that. She didn't like her aunt anymore. Her aunt was a nobody. A nothing. She hoped beyond all hopes that Matthew just didn't say "your on your own" because that's what he seemed to do at school, and now she needed him more than anything. If he deserted her, like everyone else she would break. But when he offered to hang out with her, she knew she picked good when she picked a best friend. Sure he might've been caught in the cross fire, but she saw something in him, and he just proved it. She rolled her eyes when he said she could ask somebody. There was literally nobody to ask. Sure the nanny, but she was busy or whatever. She wrote, "It's fine! She won't even notice I'm gone! Let's go!"

Ari didn't like Matthew's brother. Sure he probably had good intensions, but she just got a bad feeling about him. She felt he gave Matthew a bad impression. Making Matthew think things that weren't at all true. The tree thing was completely ridiculous, Ari didn't see the harm in climbing trees, they were going to die anyways. So what was the point in protecting them?  So, the fact that Matthew didn't want her to tell Ollie about it almost made her laugh. But laughing involved talking. Ari didn't think this whole not speaking thing through all the way. She wrote, "Don't worry, I won't tell." She didn't want to have to tell him that she didn't like Ollie. Ollie to Matthew, was like what Aunt Evelyn was to Ari. And the whole point of that was the past tense. What Aunt Evelyn was to Ari.