LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 5: A Symphony Of Shouts
1 new message
NekoGirl: You said you’d get on tonight
Lady had forgotten his promise the night before to play with NekoGirl. She streamed nearly every day and used a virtual avatar of an anime cat girl. NekoGirl had a very soft and cute voice which helped bring a sense of calm to the often chaotic battlefields the two would fight their way through. As he stared at his phone, he suddenly began to worry about how he should reply. The boy's words from earlier were still stuck in his head.
How did NekoGirl see him? Was he even really her friend? While the hours spent in game and online between the two of them said otherwise, Lady began to feel self conscious about himself. Was it really ok for someone like him to play with her? With doubt swirling in his mind, Lady typed out a response.
LadyKiller: I don’t know, Isn’t it unfair to your viewers if I play with you off cam
Lady held his breath as the typing icon appeared indicating that she was writing a response. He wrote the message expecting her to agree but some part of him still wanted her to invite him to play together.
NekoGirl: Lol If you’re so worried about it. Just join me on stream.
LadyKiller: That’s even worse
NekoGirl: Then become a streamer like me and there won’t be a problem if we collab. You have a cute voice so I’m sure you’ll do fine ;)
Lady nearly dropped the phone as he read the message she just sent. His heart started beating fast and he could feel the blood rushing up to his face. His fingers trembled as he typed out a response.
LadyKiller: How do you know what my voice sounds like!
NekoGirl: You left your mic on during the Shadow Crypt raid last month silly
He vaguely remembered the incident but another player had sent him a message and he quickly muted himself. At the time, nobody else had commented on his voice so he was surprised that NekoGirl remembered and found it cute.
“Are you sick, your face is red?” A voice suddenly asked him. Lady nearly jumped out of his skin as he looked up to see his boss, Noel standing in front of the counter. “N..No I’m fine” Lady replied, still flustered. He realized after responding that the sun was going down and it would be night soon. Noel had probably come down to help him close shop only to find him staring at his phone and blushing.
Lady and Noel began cleaning the store and restocking books. As the minutes ticked by, Noel finally worked up the courage to talk to him.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emma Sierra threw her bag in the passenger seat and started the engine of her car. The first two days working at Silver Lake High had been exciting but the thrill was starting to wear off. Today, the only thing that had kept her going was her hug with Lady. She felt so happy when he was wrapped up in her arms and hoped that she could find a way to hug him tomorrow.
As she drove to her house, she began to wonder what her fiancé John was cooking for dinner. He was a great chef and he always made sure she was well fed. As her mouth began to water, she started to wonder if she was getting fat. While most of her clothes still fit, she felt like some of her skirts hugged her hips tighter than she remembered. By the time she pulled into her driveway, the sun was nearing the horizon casting an orange glow across the land. She briefly admired the view as she grabbed her purse and headed inside.
She was greeted by her fiancé who was sitting on the couch watching tv. He paused the show he was watching as she sat on the couch next to him. “How was your day honey?” He asked in a curious voice.
“It was fine” She replied as she ran a hand through her hair. “Just busy this first week.”
“How are the students in your class this year?”
“They're alright I guess. I…um… I actually have Lady in my class this year”
“What!”
“Yea, He’s still”
“Oh God Emma, don't tell me that's the only reason you applied for the position at this school.”
“No. It was a coincidence I swear”
“Don’t bullshit me Emma. I know how obsessed you are with that boy”
“I just think we should consider it.”
“We're not adopting that boy.”
“But the people at the adoption center were so eager to let us take him in.”
“Yea, He was sick as a fucking dog and probably racking up loads of medical debt for the orphanage. No shit they wanted to get rid of him.”
“But he looked so lonely. And he’s doing a lot better now.”
“I SAW HIM AT THE ADOPTION CENTER A YEAR AGO. HE’S ALREADY GOT ONE FUCKING FOOT IN THE GRAVE EMMA, ARE YOU REALLY THAT EAGER TO LOOSE ANOTHER CHILD!”
“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT. YOU JUST DON’T WANT A CHILD. YOU DON’T WANT TO ADOPT YOU MONSTER!”
“DON’T PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH YOU BITCH. I’M FINE WITH ADOPTION, I DON’T CARE WHERE THE FUCK THE CHILD COMES FROM BUT WE”RE NOT ADOPTING THAT BOY!”
“HIS NAME IS LADY. NOT BOY!”
“I DON'T CARE WHAT HIS NAME IS. I”M NOT HAVING HIM IN MY HOUSE”
“Your house. Your house?” She asked curling her fist in anger.
There was silence for a moment as the two steadied their breathing and looked at each other. Neither had realized but they had both gotten off the couch at some point and were standing in the living room.
“Listen, I’m sorry ok, but you need to get over your son's death.” John said as he grimaced realizing his mistake.
Emma’s eyes began to tear up. “My son. HE WAS OUR SON JOHN.” She collapsed on the floor and began openly sobbing as John looked at her while juggling feelings of anger and guilt. He approached her and leaned down trying to touch her shoulder but his hand was violently slapped away as she screamed “GET OUT.”
He looked at her for another moment as she curled up in a fetal position on the floor before turning to leave. “I can’t deal with this shit any more” he muttered to himself as he grabbed his car keys from the hook by the entrance and walked out. The sound of a door slamming echoed through the house as Emma continued to cry while curled up on the floor.
After some time, she managed to drag herself to her bedroom where she began frantically digging through her closet piling things onto the floor behind her. Her hands stopped and her lips curved into a sad smile as she saw what she was looking for. Gently pulling an old shoe box out of the closet, she lifted the lid and retrieved the leather bound photo album nestled inside.
She opened the photo album and began turning through the pages. There were numerous pictures Some of her and John, some of a frail white haired boy, and others of the three together. The photos of the three of them were distinct in that each photo had a slight white edge around the boy and any casual observer would notice he had been cut from other pictures and pasted in.
Her racing heart began to calm as she flipped through the photobook of obviously fake family photos. She stopped upon reaching the page in the photobook detailing when she and John had gotten engaged. She rummaged around in the closet once more before finding a sharpie in a box of spare teaching supplies, She popped the cap off and began vigorously scribbling out all of the images of his face drowning him in a sea of black ink. When the page had been filled with black splotches, she smiled in satisfaction before turning the page only to be greeted by his sneering face again.
Her hands worked in a frenzy as she blotted out every trace of him from the book spending nearly an hour and using 3 sharpies until he had been erased. Reaching the mass of blank pages that had yet to be filled, she began flipping through the album in reverse and allowed the photos of herself with the boy pasted in to soothe her pain. She had nearly reached the front of the album but stopped before flipping to the first page. Her hand lingered before she finally decided to close the photo album and return it to the shoebox.
The albums first page which had not been viewed in many years only contained one photo. A woman with black hair and blue eyes sat on the couch in the living room where Emma and John had argued hours prior. Her stomach had a noticeable bulge and a man with jet black hair and tanned skin sat next to her with a hand on her stomach and a goofy grin on his face,
The caption below the photo read. John and Emma Pregnant with Baby Oliver. Curiously, no other photos of the boy named Oliver could be found in the photo album.
